Launching a tech product can be a very rocky road for a startup. Technical issues are common, and user feedback during the early days of rollout is often focused around bugs and glitches rather than the product’s core features. This makes it difficult for teams to hone in on what’s working and what isn’t, which can delay the process of reaching product-market fit. And this all wastes a startup’s most valuable resource: time.

For these reasons, our guests on today’s episode of the Igniting Statups podcast believe the traditional process for developing a minimum viable product (MVP) is broken. The first is Andrew Goldner, an entrepreneur, venture capitalist and founder of GrowthX, an investment firm that helps organizations commercialize innovation through capital, talent and know-how. Joining him is Sashank Purighalla, CEO of BOS Framework, which provides a pre-built suite of APIs, plugins and UI components for startups that are building software applications.

According to Andrew and Sashank, the MVP process shouldn’t just be about building software—it should be about evaluating the market and creating a product that solves a real need. By leveraging in-depth research and tools that jump-start technical development, startup teams can discover what their market needs and spend their valuable resources building that solution. That means reaching product-market fit, revenue and profitability sooner, which could make the difference between startup growth and startup death.

In this episode with Andrew Goldner and Sashank Purighalla, you’ll learn:

• Why a successful product has to do more than sound interesting.
• Reasons why venture funding might be the wrong choice for a startup.
• How GrowthX is fueling venture capital growth outside Silicon Valley.
• The big problem with the traditional MVP process.
• The benefit of market acceleration programs for discovering market truth.
• How a pre-built tech framework can help companies get to product-market fit.
• Andrew’s and Sashank’s greatest hopes for entrepreneurship in middle America.

Please enjoy this conversation with Andrew Goldner and Sashank Purighalla!

• Listen to it on iTunes.
• Stream by clicking here.
• Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”

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Andrew Goldner and Sashank Purighalla quotes from this episode of Igniting Startups:

“We know now, statistically, that the leading cause of death among startups is founders who build interesting products that don’t solve market needs.” — @agoldner on @PowderkegCo

“We believe that as much as MVPs are required, the way they’re being approached is incorrect. As a result, the MVP is becoming more of a reason why startups fail.” — @Sashanksp on @PowderkegCo

“The only way to get real feedback is to take a real product and put it in front of real customers, period.” — @agoldner on @PowderkegCo

“It’s one thing to say, ‘I have a product.’ But how do I say ‘this is my product’ in a manner that truly becomes understandable to the people that are receiving it?” — @Sashanksp on @PowderkegCo

Links and resources mentioned in this episode:

Companies and organizations:

• 5Y Solutions
• BOS Framework
• CB Insights
• Endeavor
• GitHub
• Heroku
• Launch Tennessee
• Match Group
• Twitter

Venture capital firms:

• Drive Capital
• GrowthX

Business development schools:

• GrowthX Academy

Fellowship programs:

• Kauffman Fellows
• Venture for America

Events:

• 36|86 Entrepreneurship Festival

Books and publications:

• The Lean Startup
• Reuters
• The Tennessee Tech Census Report

Podcasts:

• Igniting Startups #63: The Tennessee Tech Census Reveal

Software:

• Ruby on Rails

People:

• Andrew Goldner (@agoldner)
• Carol Dweck (Wikipedia)
• Clayton Christensen (@claychristensen)
• Eric Ries (@ericries)
• Evan Williams (@ev)
• Geoffrey Moore (@geoffreyamoore)
• Max Menke (@Max_G_Menke)
• Sashank Purighalla (@Sashanksp)
• Sean Sheppard (@seanasheppard)
• Will Bunker (@wbunker)

Did you enjoy this conversation? Thank Andrew Goldner and Sashank Purighalla on Twitter!

If you enjoyed this session and have 3 seconds to spare, let Andrew and Sashank know via Twitter by clicking on the link below:

Click here to say hi and thank Andrew on Twitter!

Click here to say hi and thank Sashank on Twitter!

COMMENTS?

What stood out most to you about what Andrew and Sashank share in this podcast?

For me, it’s the benefit of market acceleration programs for discovering market truth.

You? Leave a comment below.

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