Tuesday, December 9, 2014
Workshops are for Platinum and Gold Passes only.
Platinum & Gold Registration9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Workshops10:00 AM - 5:30 PM
- Metrics: The Data That Will Make or Break Your BusinessMetricsAlistair Croll, Solve for Interesting, @AcrollRoom: Terrace
If you’re being methodical about growth, analytics matters. For startups, analytics is about measuring the right metric, in the right way, to produce the change the business needs most at that point in time. That’s harder than it sounds: you need a solid understanding of your business model; an awareness of what’s most at risk; and a clear idea of where to draw the line between success and failure. Metrics measure not only the health of your business, but also your journey to product/market fit; the value of your company; and the reliability of your underlying infrastructure. Join Lean Analytics co-author Alistair Croll for an all-day, in-depth look at analytics, measurement, and working with data. We’ll cover:
*The five stages of growth every company goes through, and how they guide your choice of metrics
*Six business-model archetypes and their unique measurement challenges
*What “good enough” looks like for fundamental metrics
*How to think about cohorts, segments, percentiles, and histograms
*Measuring and aggregating infrastructure KPIs such as latency and availability
*Using the Lean Analytics cycle to improve through experimentationThis workshop is relevant for people working in standalone startups and for corporate entrepreneurs. It will combine presentations, case studies, and interactive discussion of the audience’s specific measurement challenges. Attendees need not be technical but should come armed with a basic understanding of web analytics, business metrics, and their current business model, plus a willingness to share with one another.
- Lean Startup 101Customer DevelopmentExperimentsReducing RiskJanice Fraser, Pivotal Labs, @clevergirlRoom: Fountain
If you’re new to Lean Startup, this lively introduction will help you get comfortable with the key terms and concepts. You’ll leave with a rich understanding to get the most out of the conference and, more important, to implement Lean Startup methods in your own organization.
The full-day session, run by Janice Fraser, author of The Lean Product Book and expert entrepreneurship trainer, will cover:
*Why Lean Startup methods exist
*When to use them
*The mechanics of learning from customers and testing ideas
*Terms like MVP, pivots, customer development, validated learning, product/market fit, innovation accounting and cross-functional teamsThe day is packed hands-on activities to help you gain a deeper understanding of Lean Startup principles.
This session is relevant for people from all sectors and in all roles. It is equally useful for software engineers and non-technical businesspeople, as well as leaders from established companies and standalone startups.
- Introducing Lean Startup in Your CorporationCustomer DevelopmentEnterpriseExperimentsBrant Cooper, Moves the Needle, @brantcooperRoom: Pavilion
Lean Startup is a proven method for invigorating and sustaining innovation in established companies. But understanding and introducing the practice can be a challenge. This full-day workshop focuses on Lean Startup principles in the enterprise and case studies from corporate entrepreneurs, plus it includes a real-world, hands-on exercise to help you truly learn and connect the ideas with your everyday work. Led by Brant Cooper, author of The Lean Entrepreneur: How Visionaries Create Products, Innovate with New Ventures, and Disrupt Markets, and including guest speakers from enterprise corporations, the session covers:
*Lean Startup principles for the enterprise
*Strategies for implementing these principles within your established organization
*Rapid experimentation tactics that you can apply to projects immediately
*Reducing risk by identifying a “minimum viable product”
*Key organizational systems and capabilities required for success in innovationThis session is highly relevant for executive leadership teams; innovation groups and incubators; product managers and product teams; and functional teams such as HR, Finance, etc.
- Lean ImpactCustomer DevelopmentExperimentsGovernmentLean ImpactLeanne Pittsford, Lean Impact & Lesbians Who Tech, @lepittsRoom: Grand Ballroom Lounge
Join Lean Impact leader Leanne Pittsford for a full-day workshop to learn how to implement Lean Startup methods in your social-good organization. Tailored to the unique needs and goals of mission-driven organizations, this session features guest speakers who are using Lean Startup principles to achieve greater social impact and will share specific examples from their own organizations.
In addition to gaining an overall understanding of Lean Startup and how it can be applied within the social sector, you’ll learn how the ideas can be applied to funding structures to create greater sustainability for social good organizations and for the social good sector as a whole.
- Innovation AccountingEnterpriseMetricsDavid Binetti, dinadesa llc, @dbinettiRoom: Crystal
It’s common sense that established companies should judge internal innovation programs by different criteria than normal business operations. But new initiatives frequently default to existing measurements simply because product managers don’t have an alternative approach. The resulting mismatch between what the new program should be doing (learning) and what it’s judged by (execution) almost always ends in frustration and rarely generates profitable new products. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
This workshop is designed to give product managers at established companies the tools you need to create an effective Innovation Accounting framework that sets up your program for success.
This is a hands-on session, where we’ll cover:
*How to seek, set, and socialize success metrics
*Effective change-management techniques for innovation acceptance
*Avoiding common pitfalls (such as falling back to execution-based KPIs)
*Positioning within the organization for maximum impact (particularly against R&D labs)
*Estimating the enterprise value of Innovation projectsThis workshop is for any organization that has or is seeking to start an innovation program within a larger enterprise.
General Registration5:30 PM - 6:30 PM
Pick up your badge in the Garden Room, then join us for the Ignite Reception in the Gold Room ! It’s open to all passholders and will be fun. Drinks sponsored by Moo.com. Music sponsored by Eigenworks.
Ignite6:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Open to all attendees.
- Experiments in HumorRachman Blake, FunnyBizz, @rachmanblakeRoom: Gold
You know that people respond to humor in marketing and even in products. But you also know that you don’t want to be responsible for cringe-inducing messages that misses the humor mark. Good news: You can take the risk out of being funny. In this talk, Rachman Blake, Director of Growh at AppHeroes and Co-founder at FunnyBizz, teaches techniques for experimenting your way into funniness.
- Will They Buy It?Steli Efti, Close.io, @SteliRoom: Gold
After doing customer development, you’ve learned that your target market absolutely loves your new product idea. But will they buy it? Steli Efti, founder at Close.io, explains how to get an answer without turning off your interviewees
- Get Buy-In to Invest in ExperimentationNate Weisz , 3Pillar Global , @nateweiszRoom: Gold
One of the biggest challenges entrepreneurial employees face is getting support from your company leaders. Because when presented with proposals for user research or experimentation, corporate leaders will frequently question the value of those processes and shoot down the ideas. Nate Weisz, Director of Product Management at 3Pillar Global, shares techniques he’s developed that pave the way to organically gaining support from executives.
- Convert Gatekeepers into AdvocatesAmanda Krantz , DohJe , @amandakrantzRoom: Gold
When your customers are large, complex organizations, key influencers act as gatekeepers between your MVP and your end users. How do you turn gatekeepers into advocates? Amanda Krantz, founder of DohJe, shows how her team navigated this maze to launch a software pilot program at UCSF, a large teaching hospital.
- Blur the Line Between Customer and EngineerCharlie Scheinost , Adobe , @c_scheinostRoom: Gold
Live chat that’s built into a website or app for customer support is usually answered by customer service reps. But some teams use it as a direct communication line between engineers and their customers. Charlie Scheinost, engineering manager at Adobe, shares lessons from building live chat into his team’s workflow early on and using it to shape features and prioritize development.
- Lean Placemaking for CitiesExperimentsLean ImpactMariela Alfonzo, State of Place, @stateofplaceorgRoom: Gold
You may not know that cities, like startups, can run experiments to test new initiatives. Urban design expert, Mariela Alfonzo shows us how she has applied Lean Startup to urban planning to and created a tool that helps cities generate and test their hypotheses effectively.
- Make A Real Difference in 60 DaysLean ImpactTiffani Bell, Detroit Water Project, @tiffaniRoom: Gold
It started with a tweet wondering how people in Detroit were coping with water shut-offs. Two months later, Detroit Water Project co-founders Tiffani Bell and Kristy Tillman have matched Detroit residents with $150K in donations. Bell explains how they moved so quickly.
- Photography as a Research ToolCustomer DevelopmentMegan Kierstead, Social Ergonomics, @megkiersteadRoom: Gold
When you’re doing customer research, written notes are valuable, but they present only one perspective about the people you’re trying learn about. Megan Kierstead, Principal at Social Ergonomics, shares techniques for using photography as a user research tool.
- Lean Brand BuildingExperimentsLaura Busche, Lean Branding, @laurabuscheRoom: Gold
Defining a brand can be risky, especially in the early days of startup, when your market and product are still geling. In this talk, Laura Busche, author of Lean Branding, will share practical tips for useful, early-stage brand-building.
- Boost Collaboration, Improve ExperimentationCross-functional TeamsLeadershipJulie Lorch, DoSomething.org, @joolaayRoom: Gold
To succeed, experimentation requires more collaboration and communication across roles than most of us are used to. How can organizations make sure that teams share information in meaningful and action-oriented ways? Julie Lorch, head of user experience at DoSomething.org, gives us advice.
- Minimum Viable Belief: Experimentation in a Faith-Based OrganizationExperimentsKen Howard, St. Nicholas Episcopal Church, @paradoxy101Room: Gold
Startups and churches share more in common than you might realize–not least of which is a high failure rate. Ken Howard, founding pastor at St. Nicholas Episcopal Church in Germantown, Maryland, talks about experiments he’s made with his congregation to help it thrive during times of uncertainty.
- When the Scope Is Huge, One Way to Tell You're Making ProgressMetricsMark Ferlatte, Tetherpad, @ferlatteRoom: Gold
As the team saving the Healthcare.gov site grew, they used an unusual metric to gauge success. Mark Ferlatte, co-founder at Tetherpad and member of the Healthcare.gov rescue team, tells the story.
