How to Build a Startup, Product, or Innovation
Most ideas fail, a fact even some of my close ones have experienced. Why does this happen? Simply because they choose the wrong approach to building these solutions. Let’s take a look at how to do it
Typically, I focus on writing lengthy articles because I don’t believe a short article or content can bring sufficient value, especially in the realms of business, innovation, startup building, or product development.
The principles might seem simple at first glance, but their true understanding and implementation are often much more complex.
Introduction
This time, I’ve decided to write a shorter article to illustrate what timelines and roadmaps look like during the initial phase of building full ventures, standalone digital products, or individual features. I’ll cover each one gradually – from the most complex to the simplest.
Later, I’ll add links under these timelines to various examples, templates, or resources to help, ease, or speed up your journey on this uncertain and challenging path of building something new.
To summarize this article in one sentence, I would say:
“Do you have an idea? Let’s look at the steps you need to take to validate and then realize it.”
Initially, I thought of this knowledge as my own secret, a kind of competitive advantage. However, two new realizations changed my mind:
In today’s world of artificial intelligence, creating such a timeline isn’t that hard.
I follow the saying, “Show the process, sell the implementation.”
Regarding the second point: I realized that people without sufficient resources will appreciate this information, as it can greatly help them. At the same time, they likely couldn’t afford to pay for my services or those of larger firms. Conversely, people with the resources but lacking expertise will prefer to hire such firms and invest in professionals, as they don’t want to risk mistakes or waste time.
With this understanding, I now share the insights and experiences I’ve gained over years of hard work through my articles.
Additions
These timelines or roadmaps focus only on the initial part of the entire process, often called “Discovery.” This is the phase where you have an idea and need to validate it sufficiently so that it’s ready for development and building.
This phase is one of the greatest uncertainties. Subsequent development or building is usually more straightforward, although it depends on what you’re building, as a universal template often cannot be applied here.
Keep in mind that these are just basic examples of what this could look like in an ideal scenario. Each project has a customized timeline based on its type and the situation it’s in. In reality, I have yet to create two identical timelines, although many are very similar.
The outcome depends on what you’re building, associated risks, team members’ experience, time and financial limitations, and many other factors.
Also, note that these timelines are from the perspective of an agency, consultant, or service provider, not an internal procedure. Of course, you can use most elements internally as well, but there are also aspects, particularly toward the end, that typically wouldn’t be done internally.
On the other hand, at the end of the day, even things you do internally need to be presented to someone – be it management, the board, or your colleagues. So thinking from an agency’s perspective is a worthwhile exercise.
Timelines
Venture Building Timeline
Below is a timeline we used for building entire companies, or ventures, which represent complex startups, not just individual parts. These are usually large projects.
The difference between this timeline and the next two is that here, we don’t yet have a clearly defined idea of what we’re building – we have to start from scratch.
We need to analyze the market, trends, have extensive conversations with the client, and identify potential customers.
I won’t break down each part because this process is lengthy, and most steps should become clear through reading alone.
Venture building is a complex process, often involving so many activities that building the product, which is the heart of the company, sometimes takes a back seat.
For this reason, I transitioned to product building, which we’ll discuss in the next section.
Product Building Timeline
The product-building timeline (usually for digital products) is even more tailored to the project than in venture building. So, again, take these examples as basic or optimal demonstrations of what it might look like.
Here, you can see that the roadmap or timeline is much simpler, shorter, and more to the point. This is mainly because when clients come to us, they already need a clear idea of what they want to build. They also handle everything else or at least bear responsibility for everything else.
While we might still conduct regulatory and legal analysis, it’s primarily to understand whether we can build certain aspects of the product. We no longer fully address these issues, leaving all legal matters to the client – we merely advise or consult.
Additionally, you’ll notice that there are two weeks at the beginning and end related to preparing materials, primarily for the client. This is so the client has a clear overview and can make an informed decision on whether they like what they plan to build, have the necessary resources, and even want to proceed with the project.
Normally, if you aren’t building projects as an agency, these two weeks could be used more efficiently. However, in the agency business, this is almost essential.
Timeline for Building a Feature/Proposition
Designing a timeline for building a new feature or proposition within an existing solution is challenging because it depends on many variables. However, I wanted to show at least a basic method to approach this, so please consider it with flexibility
.The timeline cannot be precisely determined; it might take only a week if you have established processes, or it could extend to a month or longer.
The distinction here is that these steps are usually taken gradually, not all at once, with a lot of iteration or even going back to previous steps. For instance, if in step 5 we find that people are responding negatively to our proposals, we quickly return to step 2 and repeat the process.
In terms of step 1, specifically the “Amazon Press Release,” this is associated with the technique of “working backward.”
Amazon’s “press release” is part of a product development strategy, also known as the “working backward” method. This process begins with the team drafting an internal press release describing the product as if it were already launched and successful in the market. The release details the customer benefits, product features, and the problem it solves. The goal is to focus on the customer experience, with the text written simply to ensure the entire development process is customer-oriented. This approach helps clarify the product vision and ensures that the final product meets customer expectations.
It’s an excellent way to validate your idea for yourself and then sell it to people in the company who will be responsible for bringing it to life.
Final Words for This Section
In this section, we reviewed several types or rather levels of methods to validate an idea or an entirely new proposition before diving into the building phase. Because once you start building and find out that something is off, fixing those errors costs a lot of money and requires a significant amount of time.
These are tasks most people don’t want to do, but they’re absolutely essential.
Now, let’s move on to a list of materials, templates, links, and resources that can help you build the best solution on the market and ensure you don’t fail, thereby increasing your chances of success.
Links, Templates and Links For Materials
Unfortunately, all these materials are in English; however, I believe that with most, you can use an automatic translation tool in your browser, apply AI, or they should be fairly easy to understand.
On this site, you’ll find an incredible number of templates. Many are available for free, but I recommend subscribing for a month and downloading everything you need.
https://www.hustlebadger.com/what-do-product-teams-do/product-management-resources/
General
Asana’s project brief template
Steve Morin’s 1-pager template
Adam Thomas’ initiative template
Strategy
!!! Ramp’s Product Strategy Template
Amazon working backwards PR template
How to define your product strategy
Vision
Geoffrey Moore's positioning framework
Go-to-Market (GTM)
Ostatné
Gokul's S.P.A.D.E. decision-making framework
How we make decisions at Coinbase
Eigenquestions: The Art of Framing Problems
If the way I approach things resonates — or if your product, idea, or strategy feels even slightly “off” — I might be able to help.
Let’s have a quick 20-minute call to find clarity together:
Conclusion
You’ve reached the end of this practical document. These insights are meant to serve as ammunition for your arsenal, not as a step-by-step guide on how to build that arsenal, unlike in other articles. I hope you’ve found plenty of valuable information here.
Looking forward to seeing you in the next article.
- Peter