B2B Hacks - Getting from Consulting to Scalable Products with Alex Cowan

(Student or just can't afford the ticket price? Join the volunteer mailing list (http://eepurl.com/vdff9) to get in one dollar.)

Many consultancies dream of creating a scalable product out of their consulting practice, but few succeed. Some try to switch over and are unable to focus enough resources on the product to be successful. Some try to stop consulting altogether and roll the dice by raising funds.

http://photos1.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/8/2/2/a/event_220713322.jpegLeonid Systems bootstrapped not one, but four successful products out of a consulting business. Leonid's products are now deployed to many of the world's largest cloud communications operators which together had over $350 billion in revenue last year.

This talk will walk through Alex Cowan's recipe for moving from pure consulting to productized consulting to a scalable product. In this recipe, consulting work provides your business an immediate 'concierge' style MVP to test out and fund new product ideas.

Alex will go over how to quickly initiate a rapid improvement loop using design thinking, Lean Startup, customer development, and agile. There will be a few hands on exercises.

But first...lightning talk! "The Do's and Don'ts of Crowdfunding: A Tale in 20 Campaigns" by John-Michael Scott and a talk by Darius Dunlap.

We'll also have the traditional lean repast of beer and savory pies.

(If you'd like to present a lightning talk or MVP, please email Tristan@LeanStartupCircle.com )

http://photos1.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/7/f/a/0/event_220712672.jpeg

About Alex Cowan:

http://photos3.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/7/2/3/0/event_220709232.jpegAlex is the CTO of Leonid Systems, an enterprise software startup with offices in the Bay Area, Washington, Toronto and various points abroad. Leonid works with communications and SaaS providers on innovative solutions to leverage and growth their franchise. He's also the Author of 'Starting a Tech Business (http://www.alexandercowan.com/)' (Wiley, 2012), a primer for non-engineers who want to up their game with the latest techniques and foundations concepts in product development.

About John-Michael Scott:

http://photos1.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/5/9/1/c/event_225562812.jpegJohn-Michael, Founder of IndieFund.It has been focused on the business side of crowdfunding and crowdsourcing since 2004 helping individuals, small businesses, medium businesses and large corporations untangle successful engagement with the "crowd".

http://photos1.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/a/b/c/4/event_226063972.jpegAbout Darius Dunlap:

Darius is a mentor to startup teams and an advisor to startup incubators, universities, growing companies and large enterprises around the world. He is co-Founder and Board President of Square Peg Foundation (http://www.squarepegfoundation.org/we-turn-i-wish-into-i-can/), a non-profit education and animal welfare organization with a mission to turn "I Wish" into "I Can." Darius is an amateur chef, hacker, tinkerer and musician.

SCHEDULE

6:30 Beer, food, and networking

7:00 Speakers commence

8:00 MVP / Lean presentations / Fishbowl / Surprise

LOCATION:

Meetups are held at RUNWAY, a brand-new 30,000 square foot incubator and co-working space at 1355 Market Street (the new Market Square development). Tenants in the building include Twitter, Yammer, and One Kings Lane. The building is the centerpiece of a new startup hub in the mid-market section of San Francisco.

DIRECTIONS:

The venue is conveniently located one block away from the Civic Center/UN Plaza Station. The building has two lobbies; however, you must enter through the lobby closer to the corner of 9th & Market.