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Ask YC: What's your Advice on Performing Market Analysis for a Startup?

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Ask YC: What's your Advice on Performing Market Analysis for a Startup?

#11

Post by OpenWebU »

also, i'd like to comment is that you are doing 'market analysis' third-hand -- the products that companies offer are a combination of their opinion of what the markets need, and their own response to customers.

IMHO, true market analysis is going to the real end-customer (the customers of the hosting vendor). If it is obvious what the very they need and what they are willing to pay for, then no need to do this. But let's say as an example, the true end-customers are large IT departments. I'd look around and find someone in that IT department to interview and find them across industries, and see what they are willing to buy. Often these customers are listed as references on their website.

Re: Ask YC: What's your Advice on Performing Market Analysis for a Startup?

#12

Post by jdavid »

you are a startup, the only market analysis you need are sales. overtime update your business plan with things you find on the web, and compare them to your sales figures.

the only customers you should trust are the ones willing to actually pay you for your product.

Re: Ask YC: What's your Advice on Performing Market Analysis for a Startup?

#13

Post by sillydude »

I think it is important to pay attention to the market in an effort to better understand who your core customers are and anticipate their future needs. In doing so, you create early opportunities to differentiate yourself which makes it easier to compete. It's not just about raw numbers and figures, often these figures don't exist yet in new markets.

RivalMap (previously Competitious) is an excellent tool that helps us organize and discuss market analysis in our startup. There is a free edition for 3 users and I think they are adding news soon too.

Re: Ask YC: What's your Advice on Performing Market Analysis for a Startup?

#14

Post by Flemlord »

Not to nitpick, but I wouldn't call that a marketing analysis. Marketing analysis is more like how big is the market segment? Who are the biggest players in the space, what are their products, and what are their weaknesses? These are questions you'll be asked by any VC (even though they usually know the answers). I managed to land my first round without knowing that data, but I looked bad because I didn't.

You get that kind of data from research companies like Forrester or Tower Group. They do reports on different market segments every so often and charge upwards of $10,000 just for a single copy of the report.

Startup Tip: If you have a friend at a big company or venture capital group, they may have access to their company's research subscription. If so, they could get you the report(s) for free.

Re: Ask YC: What's your Advice on Performing Market Analysis for a Startup?

#15

Post by iamdave »

Thanks for all the suggestions and feedback guys. A lot of people are concerned with me saying market analysis versus industry analysis. I use 'market' analysis because I'm not exactly reinventing the wheel any less than I'm redefining how it's used and open up a new sector of the market.

I've bookmarked the links and will be reading them.

Re: Ask YC: What's your Advice on Performing Market Analysis for a Startup?

#16

Post by Flemlord »

iamdave wrote: post #15

Thanks for all the suggestions and feedback guys. A lot of people are concerned with me saying market analysis versus industry analysis. I use 'market' analysis because I'm not exactly reinventing the wheel any less than I'm redefining how it's used and open up a new sector of the market. I've bookmarked the links and will be reading them.

"It's a completely new market," and "we have no current competitors" are usually looked upon with suspicion by sophisticated investors. It's rare to have a completely new market--Google, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook... they all had competitors and were going after a specific market.

Update: I'm not saying you haven't discovered a completely new market, just that it's very rare.

Re: Ask YC: What's your Advice on Performing Market Analysis for a Startup?

#17

Post by iamdave »

Flemlord wrote: post #16
iamdave wrote: post #15

Thanks for all the suggestions and feedback guys. A lot of people are concerned with me saying market analysis versus industry analysis. I use 'market' analysis because I'm not exactly reinventing the wheel any less than I'm redefining how it's used and open up a new sector of the market. I've bookmarked the links and will be reading them.

"It's a completely new market," and "we have no current competitors" are usually looked upon with suspicion by sophisticated investors. It's rare to have a completely new market--Google, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook... they all had competitors and were going after a specific market. Update: I'm not saying you haven't discovered a completely new market, just that it's very rare.

Perhaps new 'market sector' is more appropriate? I plan to have a writeup of my idea done sometime by the end of next week so hopefully it will make a little more sense why I use the rhetoric I have. But I certainly understand what you're saying.

Re: Ask YC: What's your Advice on Performing Market Analysis for a Startup?

#19

Post by craigh123 »

On the business side, there is lots available online from the sec for public companies that can help you do things like size a market, list the top competitors, etc. See http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml . You can also use the google for talks by top execs, esp to analysts (esp. wall st.). That's a great quick way to get a sense of how they think about their different markets. You're giving yourself a huge mountain to climb of research. Can you focus on a subset of issues? Note that customer info can be simplifying - if people are convinced something has poor performance, then that defines the market reality.
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