Ask HN: How can I convince my CTO to build an MVP?

[bjuly]

Hi. I am the cofounder of topAgree and need your help. We are validating the problem if companies with 30 to 200 employees need to achieve strategic decisions faster. We have built a mock-up to see if the problem is real. We have sold almost 100 licenses within a week. However, I need 500 by next Tuesday to convince my CTO to build an MVP. Can you help me convince my CTO? Thanks so much for your support and ideas! Kind regards, Bastian

[Jugurtha]

>We have sold almost 100 licenses within a week.

Who sold them? Were you together? How much does a license cost?

>I need 500 by next Tuesday to convince my CTO to build an MVP.

Why 500? Why not 10, 235, 499, or 357?

Why Tuesday? Why not Monday or Thursday?

What are your constraints?

This seems like a strategic decision and your product/mock-up should solve that... Have you used your own product to solve it?

[bjuly]

Hi Jugurtha, Thank you for your very valuable feedback.

We sold the 100 licenses together. A license costs $1/month per user now instead of $6.99/month per user.

The 500 licenses and Tuesday are my CTO's requests. He will build the tool when I can deliver the licenses by Tuesday.

And yes, our product should solve the decision making part of this problem but, it may not help me getting 500 licenses :-)

[kingkongjaffa]

So nothing on here actually exists with any code? https://topagree.com/

Saying it integrates with those other services is a lie?

I think this is a silly.

It sounds like 'an ideas guy' built a landing page quickly, and collected some email address from that fake try-now page. And is now trying to convince a developer somewhere ("the CTO") that is a good idea and worth building for them.

They are not your cofounder/CTO if they need convincing like this.

[bjuly]

Hi kingkongjaffa, Thanks for your honest feedback. The CTO exists. His name is Linus and he is one of the best coders I ever met. But he is also very business savvy. You are totally correct that we are validating what customers really need right now. In the past, we built products without first finding out if customers really want to them. I am very sorry if you feel that I am lying. I just want to build something with Linus that helps people. But thanks again for the honest feedback! Kind regards, Bastian

[dalehopkinson]

Agree with @leros.There are 2 keys things that must be done to increase your chances.

1. Convince the executive team of why this is a worthy problem to solve. The only business impact any product can have is acquiring new users (new revenue), increase deal sizes with existing customers (expansion revenue with monetization), minimizing customers churning (retention revenue).

2. Clearly answer why you need to focus here now. Associate your proposal to a compelling trend that is relevant for your business.

ROI is key here. Sounds like you have traction you just need to tie it to an existing important business outcome your company already cares about. I have also done and currently doing intrapeneuriship and this is how I have been successful in getting ideas funded and brought to market. The best ideas usually are increasing revenue through monetization, it's usually less risky than pitching to acquire new customers.

[bjuly]

Thank you dalehopkinson! Your insight re monetization is very helpful!

[leros]

I've done intrapeneuriship a few times. You don't need to just convince your CTO, but your whole executive team.

Your company has existing goals, revenue projections, hiring plans, budget allocation, headcount allocation, etc that all of your company leaders have agreed on.

Asking to build an MVP requires not only the cost (budget, headcount, etc) to build and launch the MVP, but also an opportunity cost as less resources are being used towards the existing plans.

When I've worked on new businesses, we first get buy in from the top execs, but the next step is to work with finance on budget and revenue projections, and with departmental VPs on finding headcount to join the new team.

This might be a lighter weight process in a smaller company, but my point is that it's not just your CTOs approval you need, though your CTO could be your champion to help persuade everyone else this is worth doing.

[bjuly]

Hi Leros, Thank you for your input - much appreciated! We are small team and I need to demonstrate to my CTO that customers will buy the tool. But it is super interesting that the tool we are developing is about decision making and convincing others - just what you emphasised! Kind regards, Bastian

[gabelschlager]

Btw, not having any sort of contact information (address and name of the business/person running the site) is illegal in the EU. And generally just highly unprofessional.

[bjuly]

Thank you gabelschlager for letting me know. We will fix this! Kind regards, Bastian

[bjuly]

Here is the mock-up: https://topagree.com/

[faangiq]

Usually people reserve HN-as-tech-support for Google. If that’s a NL indicator you’re bound for success.

[sharemywin]

if you haven't collected money you don't know if you have real customers.

I wouldn't put a deadline on the 500, though.

[bjuly]

Good point sharemywin! We kind of like deadlines (also in our tool) because it creates a sense of urgency.