This document provides guidance on starting a food-related startup business. It discusses validating business ideas, translating ideas into business and sales models, and targeting needs rather than wants. It emphasizes solving problems in large, established markets and finding scalable models, especially those leveraging technology. Customer interviews, team culture, and making timely decisions are also addressed. The overall message is to focus on feasibility and growth potential over competition.

1. #RamenCamp
 Validating Ideas
 Translating That into a Business Model
 Translating that into a Sales Model
Seth Lieberman
e: seth@lieberman.net
t: @sethWlieberman

2. #SteakCamp
*Vegetarians

3. StartUp
Food
NO!
Pyramid
(Paleo)
YE$!

4. You will not be Facebook or Instagram

5. Rule #1: “Maslow Says”
SOLVE AND SELL NEEDS NOT WANTS
NO!
YE$!

6. Rule #2 Go Where the Money Is
• Big Markets
• Clearly defined markets
• Established buying paradigms
• High growth markets
• Markets where you can be
disruptive
• Markets you think you can win
• Markets you care personally
about

7. Better Mouse Traps Are Easier To Sell

8. Define the Addressable Market
Define your Sub-Set of the market
Identify your Target Customers
Identify the Decision Makers
Know their Purchasing Authorization Level
Determine how to Reach Them

9. Rule #3
Solve
The
Penny
Gap…
Free is not
a business
model

10. Avoiding False Positives / Negatives
What your customers want
may not be what YOU want

11. Rule #4 Find the Scalable Model
• Revenue • Technology
• Sales Leads • Databases
• Sales People • Servers
• Land & Expand • Code
• Marketing • Team
• Viral • Business Process
• Self Serve • Communication
• Paid • Management
• Earned • Capital
• Costs
• Fulfillment Costs
• Hosting
• Infrastructure Costs
• Staffing Costs

12. Hunters Kill Deer…

13. Farmers Feed Civilizations

14. Move Up Market

15. Scaling Margin

16. Scaling: Marketing + Leads
Paid Organic
Traffic Source 16% 84%
Paid Costs $6,000 $3,250
Visits 5,280 27,720
Raw Leads 320 1,183
Qualified Leads 12 105
Visit to Raw Lead Conversion 6.1% 4.3%
Qualified Lead Conversion 3.8% 8.9%
CPV (Visits) $1.14 $0.12
CPRL (Raw Lead) $18.75 $2.75
CPQL (Qualified Lead) $500.00 $30.95
Required Visitors Needed 440 264
Raw Leads Generated 27 11
To get 1 Qualified Lead 1 1

17. Measuring Funnel Movement

18. Scaling Team & Culture
Communication
Transparency
Accountability
Honesty
Respect
No Assholes Rule

19. Heavier than Air Machines

20. Rule #6 Making a decision TODAY is
superior to making a decision tomorrow.
• You will never have enough data
• You will always have enough data
• You can only make the best decisions you can
with the data you have today.

21. Rule #5 Customer Interviews
• How do you personally refer to your category of business? (ie industry)
• What are your major business goals & challenges?
• How are you measured? What’s your definition of success?
• What other tools/software/services do you use (or would like to use) to help address these
challenges?
• How did you first hear about SnapApp?
• What did you think SnapApp would be able to help you solve for?
• What were your first impressions about the website, the product? Where these the same?
• What was your first “ah-ha” moment or what convinced you that SnapApp might be able to help?
• What was the key feature/functionality that made you buy?
• Did you evaluate other solutions that could help with (problems mentioned)? If so, who & what
differences did you see between those solutions and SnapApp?
• Does SnapApp integrate with other tools/systems at your organization? How does it fit in your
ecosystem?
• How would you describe SnapApp to someone else?
• Who else in your organization will use or be aware of SnapApp? If the person is the decision
maker, but NOT the user, ask them who the user is and if we can contact them?
• How would you rate (on a scale of 1 to 10 – 10 being best) your buying experience with
SnapApp? Where could we improve?
• Can you explain one campaign or effort you’ve executed or plan to execute using SnapApp?
Where do you go for new ideas, information?

22. “Competition has trumped value-creation. In this and other
ways, the competitive arena undermines innovation.”
“You know somebody has been sucked into the competitive
myopia when they start using sports or war metaphors. Sports
and war are competitive enterprises. If somebody hits three
home runs against you in the top of the inning, your job is to go
hit four home runs in the bottom of the inning.
But business, politics, intellectual life and most other realms
are not like that. In most realms, if somebody hits three home
runs against you in one inning, you have the option of picking
up your equipment and inventing a different game. You don’t
have to compete; you can invent.”
- David Brooks NY Times 4/23/12

23. You Gotta Have Faith…

24. Rule #6
Make time to think
for yourself
by yourself.

25. Rule #7
Enjoy
Your
Life

26. App.SnapApp.com/ramen2
e: seth@lieberman.net
t: @sethwlieberman