On their own the tips are okay... It's clear they're based on experience, and they reflect my own experience as a marketing consultant.
Unfortunately they lose their practicality when put in an arbitrary list like this. Here's why:
1. No founder has the time to execute on all 10 of these tips. And if they do, then each of the 10 tactics will only get a half-hearted attempt and yield few results.
2. Perhaps they recognize they can't split their attention on all 10 things--plus the 10 things from another article, and the 7 things from another, ...--so they decide to focus on just 3. Now the problem: Which 3 do they choose? The tips vary in their practicality, so choosing the wrong 3 can result in a big waste of time and money.
For example:
> Customize your site with geo-specific elements.
Maybe it will result in "double-digit conversion lift," and maybe (most likely) it won't... But the same can be said for the 1,000 other conversion optimization tips.
There are too many better uses of time for an early stage startup--some of which you mention, such as experimenting with channels and measuring costs per acquisition--to be tweaking a word here and a button color there.
3. Two prescriptive paragraphs on a subject as broad as "paid advertising" can do more harm than good. I've seen too many companies flushing money down the drain on AdWords without even realizing it. In one case, a company meant to advertise to python developers but instead was using up their entire budget on clicks from people searching for snakes.
4. Some of this is easier to say in retrospect than actually do in the present. For example:
> Define value proposition early.
Startups lack a good value prop not because they didn't think to do it sooner, but because it takes time to figure out what exactly is that value prop. As you said yourself, it takes many iterations and many conversations with users before you can reach the "a-ha" moment and figure out the magical sentence.
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All this to say: You obviously have great experience and a desire to share your knowledge, but you're doing yourself (and others) a disservice by diluting that knowledge into clickbait listicles.
Never meant these as "do all these 10 things, and nothing else". Every startup is different and no-one should tell you what 3 or 10 things you should do. Perhaps tips #11 should have been: take all advice with a grain of salt.
And indeed, these tips were of unequal weight and difficulty - and advice that people find useful is sometimes a light tip and othertimes an almost philosophical approach.
I am not sorry to hear you found this post as disservice - can't please them all. But it came from a good place, so you know.
This is a post in itself. But I guess the main thing here is to take time for crafting a value prop before the time you urgently need it. Even if it's not perfect, start using it. When it works, great. If not, have another stan.
How to do it? Talking to lots of customers helped. Having founders keep talking about product vision until it started making sense to yours truly helped - there was development both on their and my part. Being in the business for more than 1-2 years helped as I developed a better sense of what customers wanted and what competitors were/are doing. Also, basic market research helped.
Unfortunately they lose their practicality when put in an arbitrary list like this. Here's why:
1. No founder has the time to execute on all 10 of these tips. And if they do, then each of the 10 tactics will only get a half-hearted attempt and yield few results.
2. Perhaps they recognize they can't split their attention on all 10 things--plus the 10 things from another article, and the 7 things from another, ...--so they decide to focus on just 3. Now the problem: Which 3 do they choose? The tips vary in their practicality, so choosing the wrong 3 can result in a big waste of time and money.
For example:
> Customize your site with geo-specific elements.
Maybe it will result in "double-digit conversion lift," and maybe (most likely) it won't... But the same can be said for the 1,000 other conversion optimization tips.
There are too many better uses of time for an early stage startup--some of which you mention, such as experimenting with channels and measuring costs per acquisition--to be tweaking a word here and a button color there.
3. Two prescriptive paragraphs on a subject as broad as "paid advertising" can do more harm than good. I've seen too many companies flushing money down the drain on AdWords without even realizing it. In one case, a company meant to advertise to python developers but instead was using up their entire budget on clicks from people searching for snakes.
4. Some of this is easier to say in retrospect than actually do in the present. For example:
> Define value proposition early.
Startups lack a good value prop not because they didn't think to do it sooner, but because it takes time to figure out what exactly is that value prop. As you said yourself, it takes many iterations and many conversations with users before you can reach the "a-ha" moment and figure out the magical sentence.
---
All this to say: You obviously have great experience and a desire to share your knowledge, but you're doing yourself (and others) a disservice by diluting that knowledge into clickbait listicles.