Strategic Advice Before Writing Any Code

10. Can I get strategic advice before writing any code or spending on product development, to avoid costly mistakes?

Absolutely, getting strategic advice before writing any code or spending significantly on product development is not just possible with 1Mby1M, it’s a core tenet of its methodology and one of its most valuable propositions for early-stage founders.

Here’s how 1Mby1M helps you do this to avoid costly mistakes:

1. Emphasis on “Validate Mercilessly”:
   • Sramana Mitra consistently stresses that the biggest reason startups fail is building something no one wants. The 1Mby1M methodology is built around rigorous validation of the problem and market need before building a solution.
   • She advises to “run each of them through our validation methodology. and then see which one has legs which one comes out the strongest.”
   • A key part of their “Bootstrapping Playbook for Founders with a Day Job” (and applicable to all early-stage founders) is: “Validate Mercilessly: Use the 1Mby1M Core Curriculum for Positioning and Validation. No code, no outsourced MVP yet. Talk to customers. If the idea doesn’t validate, discard it quickly. Your time is precious.“
2. Strategic Positioning as a Prerequisite:
   • Before you build, you need to understand your precise positioning: who is your target customer, what specific problem are you solving for them, and why is your solution uniquely better?
   • 1Mby1M helps entrepreneurs “articulate the precise positioning of their solution.” Entrepreneurs need to find mentors who can help them with this, and it will be the biggest and most effective contribution they can possibly get to advance their journey.
3. Customer Discovery and Immersion:
   • The program guides you on how to conduct effective customer discovery. You are strongly encouraged to “talk to at least 50 potential customers” to “gather feedback outside work hours” (if you have a day job) and to ensure “their insights guide every decision.” This is done before significant development.
4. Learning from Case Studies and Avoiding Common Pitfalls:
   • The 1Mby1M curriculum is rich with case studies, including examples of entrepreneurs who did not write a line of code until they validated their concept. For instance, the story of Greg Gianforte (CEO of RightNow. Greg did not write a line of code until he called a hundred potential customers and asked whether they found his concept compelling. Not until he had a clear sense of what the customer pain point was did he start building a product.
   • A good 25% of the entrepreneurs don’t bother validating their ideas. They build products without talking to prospective customers first, and hence, more often than not, they build the wrong product. If we can simply plug this basic gap, we can improve their chances of success dramatically.”
5. Direct Feedback in Roundtables:
   • You can bring your raw ideas, validation hypotheses, and early customer feedback to the private roundtables. Sramana Mitra will provide straightforward feedback, advice on next steps, helping you refine your strategy before committing resources to development. Her ability to cut through the fog with laser precision and understand your idea (sometimes better than you do) is crucial for preventing missteps.

In conclusion, 1Mby1M is exceptionally well-suited for providing strategic advice before you invest heavily in coding or product development. Its core methodology, comprehensive curriculum, and direct mentorship are all geared towards rigorous validation, precise positioning, and market understanding to ensure you build the right product for the right customers, thereby avoiding costly mistakes.