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Asen Gyczew

Why did we decide to create this course?

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Why did we decide to create this course?

We work with startups on a daily basis within our accelerator (StartupAkademia) and we have noticed that despite the tonnes of very good books on lean methods (i.e. Lean Analytics, Running Lean, etc.) startups have problems with applying this knowledge in practice. We have noticed also some consistent problems that we felt needed more pragmatic solutions. The first problem that we spotted was the fact that startups do not know how to do market research, spy on the competition, and analyze data. The second thing we have noticed is that especially first-time startups, do not really understand their business model (which is totally understandable). That's why it is very difficult for them to know what they should concentrate on. The third problem, which probably was the biggest source of failure, was not sufficient creativity when it came to acquiring customers. Startups have no problems with naming (not always applying efficiently) how to acquire customers through ads (Facebook, AdWords, display ads) but they would have problems with finding the right set of non-standard, yet very efficient moves that would work on their market (you can call them growth hacks, tricks or simply tactics)

The interesting thing was that those problems were pretty universal regardless of the industry, business model, or even whether they were run independently or supported by big corporations.

So one day, to make our life easier (repeating the same staff on and on is not that fun ;)), we have decided it is time to create a tool that will help our startups and any others to get going faster and more efficiently. We started with the do-it-yourself StartupAkademia (half of the info is available also in English so go and check that). We have seen that this is still not enough so we proceeded to make online courses supplemented with simple yet very powerful tools.

This course is based on my 15 years of experience as a consultant in top consulting firms and as a Board Member responsible for strategy, performance improvement, and turn-arounds in the biggest firms from Retail I have carried out or supervised over 90 different performance improvement projects in different industries that generated a total of 2 billion in additional EBITDA. On the basis of what you will find in this course, I have trained in person over 100 consultants, business analysts, and managers who now are Partners in PE and VC funds, Investment Directors and Business Analysts in PE and VC, Operational Directors On top of that my courses on Udemy were already taken by more than 224 000 students including people working in EY, Walmart, Booz Allen Hamilton, Adidas, Naspers, Alvarez & Marsal, PwC, Dell, Walgreens, Orange, and many others.

What will this course give you?

The course is a practical, step-by-step guide loaded with tons of simple tools that will help you significantly speed up your startup. There is little theory – mainly examples, a lot of tips from our own experience as well as other notable examples worth mentioning. Our intention is that thanks to the course you will know:

  1. What your business model is about, what to concentrate on and what are the key KPIs for you?

  2. How to research your market, competition, and your customers, draw conclusions from the data, and apply it in your business?

  3. What Minimal Viable Product (MVP) to choose to test your business, and what it will give you, how much it may cost?

  4. How to model your business in Excel

  5. What growth hacks will help you grow your business

How the course is organized?

The course is divided currently into the following sections:

  • Market research - effective and cheap - advanced version. In this section, you will learn what kind of methods you can use to get to know better your customers and competitors

  • Startup Business Models. At the end of the section, you will have a good understanding of different business models, you will know what KPIs are important depending on the business and what you should concentrate on. You should also be able to guess which business model your startup has the biggest resemblance

  • What should be the MVP of your business? In this section, you will see some examples of MVP. We start with a reminder of what MVP is and then we move to examples of MVP for restaurants, online stores, offline stores, SaaS, books, and others

  • Financial modeling of startups. In this section, we show you how to model different online businesses in Excel. You will also get templates that will help you model your own startups

  • Growth Hacks. In the last few sections, we discuss different methods that will help you grow your business.

We will be adding also a section on growth hacks and tricks used by others, increasing the LTV of customers, and a section presenting business models in Excels so check our course regularly for upgrades.

You will be able also to download many additional resources

  1. Links to free presentations and movies showing examples of research

  2. Links to books worth reading

  3. Excels with calculations showing you how you can do the market research

  4. Excels with useful analysis showing you how you can draw conclusions

  5. Presentations of different business models and MVPs

Enroll now

What's inside

Learning objectives

  • Built your startup fast and cheap
  • Conduct market research for your startup with little money
  • Analyze the data and to make educated guess what is your competition doing
  • Understand your business model and pick the right kpis to concentrate on
  • Pick the right mvp for your startup
  • Pick the right growth model and hacks that you should apply in your business
  • You will get additional resources (examples of analyses, growth hacks, business models in excel)

Syllabus

I will talk about the purpose of the course and a little about me

This will be a short introduction into the course in which I will show you what you will get out of this

Read more

Here I will show you what to do if a blurry image appears

Here I will show you how to find additional resources attached to the coruse like Excel files, presentations, links etc.

I will briefly show you what I market research methods there are and also we will go through consulting methods

We start with a short introduction to the 3 groups of methods we will cover in this section: consulting, on-line and off-line

In this lecture you will get to know our favorite method for first rough estimation – the bottom-up method. We give you also 2 examples with Excel calculation how to use it.

Top-down is the little brother of bottom-up approach – not used that often but still very useful for resegmenting the market (niche an low cost strategy)

You will learn what kind of methods you can use to get to know better your customers and competitors

Reality still bites. Here you will be given short overview of the off-line research methods with suggestion what to be used when

In this lecture we show you how to conduct the off-line interviews, how to draw conclusions out of it and where to find respondents

In this lecture we show you how to map and read the daily life of your customer and how it can help your marketing efforts

Store Check come in handy whenever you are talking about B2C physical products, services and retail. This methods gives you solid facts on which you can build your business

Service level is time and again your opportunity to disrupt markets. Therefore, check on your own the customer experience with mystery shopping

On-line research is cheap and insightful. We will go through all nice methods how to get to know the market, customer and competitors

Facebook Audience Insight is the perfect tool to check different segments without the necessity to do any interviews. For first estimation it is the perfect tool

Facebook allows you to have a look at social profiles of your potential customers. If you want to understand them better have a look at this as well

You want to know what do your competitors do? Where they get the traffic from? Check this lecture on SimilarWeb.

Google is so nice to tell you through search results where is the market. Use the Keyword Planner to see whether you are able to make money on your ideas and how much you have to spend to get the trafffic

Google is nice but Youtube and Slideshare are the places to go if you look for more advance info faster. Check this lecture to know what to use when.

Mobile is the new black ;). Even if you are not into mobile applications check the markets for applications to see what are the worries of people and what they like

Overview of segmentation methods
At the end of the section you will have a good understanding of different business models, you will know what KPIs are important depending on the business and what you should concentrate on

In this section we will discuss in detail modeling of businesses in Excel

In this lecture we will explain you how e-commerce business model works and what you should concentrate on

In this lecture we will explain SaaS business model works and what you should concentrate on. We will show you many examples of this business.

In this lecture we will explain how 2-sided market business model works and what you should concentrate on. We will show you many examples of this business.

In this lecture we will explain how media site business model works and what you should concentrate on. We will show you many examples of this business.

In this section you will see some examples of MVP. We start with reminder what MVP is and then we move to examples for MVP for: restaurant, on-line store, off-line store, SaaS, book and others

In this lecture we remind you what is MVP and are the characteristics of perfect (for us) MVP

We start with showing you how you can test the restaurant concept. We provide you 6 different MVPs, show you how much it would cost to build and how much time it would take you. We show you also what hypotheses / features you can test with them and when to choose which MVP

We present you what kind of MVP you can use to test webpages earning from ads

We go to on-line shop and show you how you can test whether you will be a successful on-line retailer. The MVPs we present can be done with very small budget

Having discuss the on-line shops we check what can be done to test the off-line shops

If you are into SaaS you will learn he what MVPs are at your disposals and what do they give you

We give you some tips how to prepare to write a good book and earn money at the same time

In this section I will teach you to translate your business model in Excel.

In this lecture I will show you how you can build the model in Excel and what conclusions can you draw from it.

In this lecture I will show you how you can build the model in Excel and what conclusions can you draw from it.

Here I will show you some nice growth hacks that you can use

Here I will explain you the basics about Pirate Metrics (AARRR approach) that we will use in the course to show what the metric influences

I will show you how you can motivate others to do what you want them to do. By building proper referral program, loyalty scheme or customer on-boarding you can change totally your business

In this lecture I will show you how Dropbox is using behavior contract in referral programs as well as customer on-boarding. Dropbox was also offering additional space if you performed actions that increase his reach and help Word of Mouth. It had its referral program – you could get up to 1  for referring your friend. They have also defined tasks that made you more likely to stay with them and that they were showing you how to use the product

Bobby Burger is a chain of slow burgers that has used behavioral contract to grow their chain rapidly. Bobby Burger was giving discounts and rewards for actions: Contest on facebook, Discount for check-ins, Discount for events organized at their site, Free products for first customers in new place

Growth Hacks - non-standard advertising space

Next section will show you how, in innovative way, you can promote your business without spending much on advertising

I show how Spotify was creating non-standard advertising space. In 2011 Spotify has struck I deal with Facebook that enabled them to grow via referrals and Word of Mouth

We will show how Piktochart is using non-standard advertising space

Kekemeke is a SaaS software for managing brand loyalty programs (based on collecting stamps) for restaurants. Kekemeke  has bee using its partners to promote its programs. I will explain you how they achieved this

PowToon is a freemium SaaS for creating animation movie that was very creative in putting their logo in front of the potential customers

Udemy is using every opportunity to cross-sell courses: course langing pages, emails, purchasing process. I will show you how it works in practice

In this section we show examples of growth hacks

In fifth section you will learn how to leverage 3-rd party platforms to get fast and cheap access to crucial resources (i.e. market)

Airbnb has written a script that was uploading automatically to Craigslist profiles of the available rent I will show you want was the impact of this on the business.

Brand24 is a software for social listening (you can check who and what was talking about you in social media). Brand24 has been leveraging small communities

Here you will see examples how other remove barriers

 You can grow your customer base or increase retention of current ones by removing barriers between you and the customer. I will show you on examples how you can remove those barriers

Uber has been consistently removing barriers on the supply and demand side. I will show you details of how they did it

Fitness clubs and dance schools use nice tricks to convince people to join them. I will show you in this lecture what they were doing this

Dropbox has used the freemium method. They are offering 2 GB of free space on the cloud

Here I will talk about how Audioteka has tried to make it easier for consumer to use its product


Here we talk about way in which they companies protect their business

One of the most important things is to create barriers between your customer and potential competitors. I will show you with examples how to do that

I will show you in this lecture how Facebook is protecting it s territory from competitors

Apple has created many barriers to protect its products from any competition

Here we will talk about ways in whcih you can be creative when it comes to revenues

In this section we will talk about how you can change your business by changing the model in which you claim the money from the customer. The choice of revenue streams also defines the selling model

In this lecture on the example of milk based business I will show you how your business model may differ depending what revenue streams you will choose

Here I show when you should use the specific revenue streams. Different revenue streams are perfect for different businesses . By introducing  new revenue streams  you can totally disrupt your industry

Here I show when you should use the specific revenue streams. Different revenue streams are perfect for different businesses . By introducing  new revenue streams  you can totally disrupt your industry

Raynair has been also very creative on the revenue side. Here I will show you what revenue streams they have

Here we show what made Sandwich Video so successful as a producer of ads for startup

Legimi is a e-book reader bit similar to Kindle. They have been very innovative in the way they generate revenue streams

Dollar Shave Club was one of the first companies to use subscription model in FMCG

Canva - innovative revenue streams
Growth Hacks - start from a niche

Most businesses that are successful start in a small niche where they can in peace work on product-market fit and on their business models. I will show you examples of very successful companies that have applied this hack in practice 

Tesla had a well thought and quite well executed master plan where the end-game is self-sustainable system of electric self-driving cars fueled by clean electric energy from renewable sources

Uber has started as limousine rides provider in San Francisco. The end game is the whole  short run transportation market

Square started as a credit card processing software. Square wanted to take a piece of the payment and cash till market. It started from small independent restaurants and now has moved into being integrated POS system

Yelp has started as a service only concentrated on restaurant in San Francisco. It has grown is business to include other cities and businesses

Twitch started very broad but then tried to pick the most promising niche and concentrate on it  - gaming. Once they mastered the niche they went deep and global with it

Postmates has intentionally neglected some of its customers (restaurants) to deliver the right customer experience to other group

By getting a strategic partner you may change your odds of success. I will discuss here what are the pros and cons of strategic partners’ deals. We will show some known examples and their implication

Zappos has decided to join Amazon not to be crushed but also to get access to strategic resources


Here I show How Dropbox has leverage strategic partners to grow their business

Showroom is a marketplace for independent fashion brands. They are present in Poland and Germany and were acquired by Burda

10x the standard can help you build a drastically growing business

10x the standard can help you build a drastically growing business

I will show you here how Udemy created much higher standards for both teachers and students and how this worked for them

Tinder has changed totally the customer experience in dating: mobile first & local; easy intuitive to use product; introduced gamification; used Freemium model. User experience was also drastically improved: All important information visible at first glance. The have also used true identity fed from Facebook and Instagram

Airbnb
We have a separate section on community and its role for business. In many business models (esp. on-line business) customer come for the product but they stay for the community.

We have a separate section on community and its role for business. In many business models (esp. on-line business) customer come for the product but they stay for the community. 

In this lecture I will show you how Yelp created a community supporting their business by introducing: Real identity of reviewer, Elite Squad, Growing city by city, Spam and false reviews management

Reddit is a community based comment and link sharing platform. Reddit has created subgroups (sub-reddits), they take care of super users, they apply clear policies and rules and use gamification elements

Good to know

Know what's good
, what to watch for
, and possible dealbreakers
Introduces a suite of quantitative and qualitative research methods commonly used in business today
Offers expert insights from Asen Gyczew, who has 15 years of experience as a consultant in top consulting firms
Provides practical, step-by-step guidance on how to build a successful startup with limited resources
Covers essential topics such as market research, customer analysis, business modeling, and growth hacking
Includes a variety of downloadable resources, including templates, spreadsheets, and presentations, to support learning
May require some prior knowledge of business concepts and practices

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Activities

Be better prepared before your course. Deepen your understanding during and after it. Supplement your coursework and achieve mastery of the topics covered in How to build fast and efficiently your startup? with these activities:
Review core concepts
Refresh foundational knowledge to prepare for the course material.
Browse courses on Entrepreneurship
Show steps
  • Review notes and textbooks from previous courses
  • Take practice quizzes or tests
  • Attend refresher workshops or tutorials
  • Discuss key concepts with a mentor or tutor
Read 'The Lean Startup'
Gain insights into the principles of lean methodology and its application in startups.
Show steps
  • Purchase or borrow a copy of the book
  • Set aside dedicated time for reading
  • Take notes and highlight key concepts
  • Discuss the book with peers or a mentor
Form study groups
Collaborate with peers to reinforce concepts and improve problem-solving skills.
Show steps
  • Identify a group of classmates with complementary skills and interests
  • Establish regular meeting times and locations
  • Create a study schedule and assign tasks to each member
  • Meet regularly to discuss the material, solve problems, and quiz each other
Four other activities
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Attend online workshops or webinars
Enhance understanding of specific concepts and gain insights from experts.
Show steps
  • Research and identify relevant workshops or webinars
  • Register and attend the sessions
  • Take notes and ask questions during the sessions
  • Review the materials and apply the knowledge gained
Solve offline exercises
Review material and solidify core concepts through problem solving.
Show steps
  • Gather all necessary resources (e.g., textbook, notes, assignments)
  • Review the relevant materials and identify important concepts
  • Attempt to solve the exercises on your own
  • Check your solutions against the provided answer key
  • Identify any errors and review the material again
Develop a business plan
Apply knowledge of business models and financial planning to create a comprehensive startup plan.
Browse courses on Business Plan
Show steps
  • Research different business models and select the most appropriate one
  • Conduct market research to identify target customers and competition
  • Develop a detailed financial plan, including revenue projections and cost estimates
  • Create a marketing and sales strategy to reach the target market
  • Write a clear and concise business plan outlining all of the above elements
Build a resource repository
Create a centralized hub for relevant materials and tools to support learning.
Show steps
  • Identify and gather resources such as articles, videos, tutorials, and tools
  • Organize the resources into a structured and accessible format
  • Create a system for sharing and updating the repository with others
  • Regularly review and add new resources to keep the repository up-to-date

Career center

Learners who complete How to build fast and efficiently your startup? will develop knowledge and skills that may be useful to these careers:
Data Analyst
Data Analysts collect, clean, and analyze data to help businesses make informed decisions. They use statistical software and techniques to identify trends, patterns, and insights in data. This course can help you build a foundation in data analysis, from data collection to data visualization. These skills are essential for Data Analysts, as they need to be able to accurately collect and interpret data in order to provide valuable insights to businesses.
Market Research Analyst
Market Research Analysts work closely with businesses to collect and analyze data through surveys, interviews, and polls in order to make informed decisions about new or existing products or services. This course can help you build a foundation in market research methods, from conducting surveys to analyzing data. These skills are essential for Market Research Analysts, as they need to be able to accurately collect and interpret data in order to provide valuable insights to businesses.
Marketing Manager
Marketing Managers are responsible for developing and executing marketing campaigns. They work with cross-functional teams to identify target markets, develop marketing strategies, and track results. This course can help you develop the skills needed to be a successful Marketing Manager, such as market research, campaign planning, and digital marketing.
Growth Hacker
Growth Hackers are responsible for finding innovative ways to grow a business. They use data and experimentation to identify and execute growth strategies. This course can help you develop the skills needed to be a successful Growth Hacker, such as growth hacking, digital marketing, and data analysis.
E-commerce Manager
E-commerce Managers are responsible for developing and managing e-commerce websites. They work with cross-functional teams to ensure a seamless online shopping experience for customers. This course can help you develop the skills needed to be a successful E-commerce Manager, such as e-commerce management, digital marketing, and customer service.
Digital Marketing Manager
Digital Marketing Managers are responsible for developing and executing digital marketing campaigns. They use digital channels such as social media, search engines, and email to reach target audiences. This course can help you develop the skills needed to be a successful Digital Marketing Manager, such as digital marketing, social media marketing, and search engine optimization (SEO).
Product Manager
Product Managers are responsible for the development and launch of new products or features. They work with cross-functional teams to define product requirements, prioritize features, and track progress. This course can help you develop the skills needed to be a successful Product Manager, such as market research, product planning, and stakeholder management.
Management Consultant
Management Consultants help businesses solve problems and improve performance. They work with clients to identify opportunities, develop strategies, and implement solutions. This course can help you develop the skills needed to be a successful Management Consultant, such as problem-solving, analytical thinking, and communication.
Entrepreneur
Entrepreneurs are individuals who start their own businesses. They are responsible for all aspects of their business, from developing the product or service to marketing and sales. This course can help you develop the skills needed to be a successful Entrepreneur, such as market research, financial modeling, and growth hacking.
Business Development Manager
Business Development Managers are responsible for generating new business leads and developing new partnerships. They work with clients to identify needs and develop solutions. This course can help you develop the skills needed to be a successful Business Development Manager, such as sales, marketing, and networking.
Sales Manager
Sales Managers are responsible for leading and motivating sales teams. They develop sales strategies, set targets, and track performance. This course can help you develop the skills needed to be a successful Sales Manager, such as sales management, negotiation, and customer relationship management.
Business Analyst
Business Analysts are responsible for analyzing and improving business processes. They work with stakeholders to identify needs, gather requirements, and develop solutions. This course can help you develop the skills needed to be a successful Business Analyst, such as data analysis, process mapping, and problem-solving.
Financial Analyst
Financial Analysts help businesses make informed decisions about investments and financial planning. They use financial data and modeling to assess risk, identify opportunities, and develop recommendations. This course can help you develop the skills needed to be a successful Financial Analyst, such as financial modeling, valuation, and investment analysis.
Project Manager
Project Managers are responsible for planning, executing, and closing projects. They work with stakeholders to define project scope, develop timelines, and manage resources. This course can help you develop the skills needed to be a successful Project Manager, such as project planning, risk management, and stakeholder management.
Operations Manager
Operations Managers are responsible for the day-to-day operations of a business. They oversee production, inventory, and customer service. This course can help you develop the skills needed to be a successful Operations Manager, such as process improvement, supply chain management, and quality control.

Reading list

We've selected ten books that we think will supplement your learning. Use these to develop background knowledge, enrich your coursework, and gain a deeper understanding of the topics covered in How to build fast and efficiently your startup?.
Provides a lightweight methodology for building a successful startup, commonly used as a business school textbook for graduate-level entrepreneurship or product development courses.
Describes why established companies often fail to innovate and provides a framework for overcoming these challenges.

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