HOW WE LEARNT TO LAUNCH WITH THE LEARNING LAUNCH TOOL   – A REFLECTION 

 Introduction and Background 

 It was the spring of 2016 . The flowers were in bloom and the fourth digital epoch was at its peak .   Startups were the flavour of the season and every Big Idea seemed to carry with it , the promise of   raking in billions . Catchphrases were flying around with every college dropout to big ticket investor   scampering to get a hold of one of them . 

 Being a digital strategy house , we were n’t far behind on the spring madness nor were we starved of   the key ingredient that defined the season – a Big Idea that could be transformative or even   disruptive . The Rio Olympics 2016 was just a year away and sports was taking the shape of an   organized business more than ever . Social networking was into its second decade , having evolved   into a model that monetized even a regular Jane with something interesting to share . It was in this   context that we developed a unique model that would marry sports with social – a comprehensive   sports social network called GetSportiv . 

 Challenge and Selection 

 We were traditionally servicing businesses across the globe in B2B strategy , and so in all fairness the   B2C game was relatively new to us . It called for us to unbutton our suits and get into slacks ; to go   beyond conceptualizing and strategizing , and instead start with listening and understanding . It called   for adapting a new way of thinking , something that we recognize today as Design Thinking . 

 The idea had to be tested . We had reams of research material that we collected from secondary   sources , ranging from psychological behaviours that guided social media usage to the current trends   in social media usage for sports . But these pieces of research were n’t going to give us the answer to   a very fundamental question . Would this model turn out to be profitable business venture or would   it be just another one of those Big Ideas that would revolve around its own axis before falling under   its own weight ? What was the hypothesis that we needed to test ? What did we need to reject   before our confirmation biases got the better of us , lest we turn out to be the aspiring poets and   rock stars who would just feed on their creative juices and passion for the rest of their lives ( truth be   told , a part of all of us were secretly envious of that ) . 

 The hypothesis was that lovers of sports would be more comfortable in conglomerating around a   network that ’s niche targeted at sports . Which meant that every partaker of this ecosystem , ranging   from an enthusiast to a player to a professional would display some level of homogeneity in their   choice of an online hangout . Which would also mean that they would either be less motivated to   share on their current social networks like facebook or they spend more time on social by devoting   an additional amount of time to GetSportiv . 

 The next set of days were spent busily validating our self - fulfilling prophesies . This model was after   all a stroke of genius , the single greatest innovation that the sporting world was to encounter was   Air Jordans and Lycra . A closed door brainstorming session with multi - functional teams , comprising   the founders and their circle of friends would just lend the final seal of approval . What started off as   a meeting to discuss the features and functionalities for GetSportiv , turned out to be a cacophony of   dissent , which ultimately brought a lot of practical problems that would potentially turn this project   into a non starter . The confirmation biases were thrown out of the window as sceptics and devil ’s   advocates outnumbered the believers . This was new , something we had n’t really trained ourselves 

 to accept , with the huge amounts of competitive intelligence and market research we had done .   How could it all go wrong in a space of a few days ? 

 Application 

 We had to get back to the drawing board . And incorporate every aspect of the Learning Launch to   practice . By this time , we already had a few of the practices of the Learning Launch without quite   knowing the fancy term . Testing the hypothesis called for a true focus group and a lot of social   listening , beyond looking at the obvious results that tools threw up . It called for employing human   insight in consonance with analytical methods to predict a possible outcome and then decide on the   risk . The idea was precious and our passion was not to be cast away with a few analytical findings . So   we decided that the findings , would be used like a street lamp for a drunk , more for support than for   illumination . That was a breather because structures would no longer be shackles anymore ( in the   wise words of Commissioner Gordon in The Dark Knight Rises ) . 

 The focus group comprised 20 people who would use a bit of the mind map approach ( without   incorporating the elements of the yard sale and the board ) . These individuals were handpicked from   a selection of sports fans , university level players , coaches and even ground staff . They were   provided certain data which emerged from a mix of our studies and assumptions , which they needed   to corroborate or flatly reject . Further on , they needed add their thoughts about certain specific   possibilities that we listed out , which would range from the usability of features , the relevance to   the target group and the propensity for payment . It was a long yet fruitful session which yielded a lot   of feedback that validated our model with plenty of suggestions for improvement from its existing   form and shape . 

 Insights and Approach 

 It took us 6 more months to get out of the drawing board and swing into developmental action , and   another 6 months to get the first MVP out , by which time we have learnt , unlearnt , grown and   developed . We are currently in the early stages of customer acquisition and in negotiations for a first   round of seed investment , but the Learning Launch approach has streamlined our growth   philosophy , tempered our expectations in line with the market and offered an overall improved   strategic direction . 

 There are several learnings we have taken from this as well . While it can be debated at what stage ,   the hypothesis of an idea needs to be tested , it goes without saying that the Learning Launch tool   gives a clear roadmap for startups and early stagers to define their path forward . In retrospect , we   believe that we could have saved a good 6 months , if we had adopted the Learning Launch model in   the early stages of our entity . We have changed our direction and pivoted too at a vital stage   subsequently and I strongly believe that in this stage of consolidation in the market , it is a critical   tool for every startup that ’s gearing up for a successful run . 


EMAIL: 
ID_NUM: 
NAME_STUDENT: 
PHONE_NUM: 
STREET_ADDRESS: 
URL_PERSONAL: 
USERNAME: 

### Task: You are a PII (Personal Identity Information) Detection. Given a essays written by students, you have to identify ONLY the following:
NAME_STUDENT - The full or partial name of a student that is not necessarily the author of the essay. This excludes instructors, authors, and other person names.
EMAIL - A student’s email address.
USERNAME - A student's username on any platform.
ID_NUM - A number or sequence of characters that could be used to identify a student, such as a student ID or a social security number.
PHONE_NUM - A phone number associated with a student.
URL_PERSONAL - A URL that might be used to identify a student.
STREET_ADDRESS - A full or partial street address that is associated with the student, such as their home address.
### Input: HOW WE LEARNT TO LAUNCH WITH THE LEARNING LAUNCH TOOL   – A REFLECTION 

 Introduction and Background 

 It was the spring of 2016 . The flowers were in bloom and the fourth digital epoch was at its peak .   Startups were the flavour of the season and every Big Idea seemed to carry with it , the promise of   raking in billions . Catchphrases were flying around with every college dropout to big ticket investor   scampering to get a hold of one of them . 

 Being a digital strategy house , we were n’t far behind on the spring madness nor were we starved of   the key ingredient that defined the season – a Big Idea that could be transformative or even   disruptive . The Rio Olympics 2016 was just a year away and sports was taking the shape of an   organized business more than ever . Social networking was into its second decade , having evolved   into a model that monetized even a regular Jane with something interesting to share . It was in this   context that we developed a unique model that would marry sports with social – a comprehensive   sports social network called GetSportiv . 

 Challenge and Selection 

 We were traditionally servicing businesses across the globe in B2B strategy , and so in all fairness the   B2C game was relatively new to us . It called for us to unbutton our suits and get into slacks ; to go   beyond conceptualizing and strategizing , and instead start with listening and understanding . It called   for adapting a new way of thinking , something that we recognize today as Design Thinking . 

 The idea had to be tested . We had reams of research material that we collected from secondary   sources , ranging from psychological behaviours that guided social media usage to the current trends   in social media usage for sports . But these pieces of research were n’t going to give us the answer to   a very fundamental question . Would this model turn out to be profitable business venture or would   it be just another one of those Big Ideas that would revolve around its own axis before falling under   its own weight ? What was the hypothesis that we needed to test ? What did we need to reject   before our confirmation biases got the better of us , lest we turn out to be the aspiring poets and   rock stars who would just feed on their creative juices and passion for the rest of their lives ( truth be   told , a part of all of us were secretly envious of that ) . 

 The hypothesis was that lovers of sports would be more comfortable in conglomerating around a   network that ’s niche targeted at sports . Which meant that every partaker of this ecosystem , ranging   from an enthusiast to a player to a professional would display some level of homogeneity in their   choice of an online hangout . Which would also mean that they would either be less motivated to   share on their current social networks like facebook or they spend more time on social by devoting   an additional amount of time to GetSportiv . 

 The next set of days were spent busily validating our self - fulfilling prophesies . This model was after   all a stroke of genius , the single greatest innovation that the sporting world was to encounter was   Air Jordans and Lycra . A closed door brainstorming session with multi - functional teams , comprising   the founders and their circle of friends would just lend the final seal of approval . What started off as   a meeting to discuss the features and functionalities for GetSportiv , turned out to be a cacophony of   dissent , which ultimately brought a lot of practical problems that would potentially turn this project   into a non starter . The confirmation biases were thrown out of the window as sceptics and devil ’s   advocates outnumbered the believers . This was new , something we had n’t really trained ourselves 

 to accept , with the huge amounts of competitive intelligence and market research we had done .   How could it all go wrong in a space of a few days ? 

 Application 

 We had to get back to the drawing board . And incorporate every aspect of the Learning Launch to   practice . By this time , we already had a few of the practices of the Learning Launch without quite   knowing the fancy term . Testing the hypothesis called for a true focus group and a lot of social   listening , beyond looking at the obvious results that tools threw up . It called for employing human   insight in consonance with analytical methods to predict a possible outcome and then decide on the   risk . The idea was precious and our passion was not to be cast away with a few analytical findings . So   we decided that the findings , would be used like a street lamp for a drunk , more for support than for   illumination . That was a breather because structures would no longer be shackles anymore ( in the   wise words of Commissioner Gordon in The Dark Knight Rises ) . 

 The focus group comprised 20 people who would use a bit of the mind map approach ( without   incorporating the elements of the yard sale and the board ) . These individuals were handpicked from   a selection of sports fans , university level players , coaches and even ground staff . They were   provided certain data which emerged from a mix of our studies and assumptions , which they needed   to corroborate or flatly reject . Further on , they needed add their thoughts about certain specific   possibilities that we listed out , which would range from the usability of features , the relevance to   the target group and the propensity for payment . It was a long yet fruitful session which yielded a lot   of feedback that validated our model with plenty of suggestions for improvement from its existing   form and shape . 

 Insights and Approach 

 It took us 6 more months to get out of the drawing board and swing into developmental action , and   another 6 months to get the first MVP out , by which time we have learnt , unlearnt , grown and   developed . We are currently in the early stages of customer acquisition and in negotiations for a first   round of seed investment , but the Learning Launch approach has streamlined our growth   philosophy , tempered our expectations in line with the market and offered an overall improved   strategic direction . 

 There are several learnings we have taken from this as well . While it can be debated at what stage ,   the hypothesis of an idea needs to be tested , it goes without saying that the Learning Launch tool   gives a clear roadmap for startups and early stagers to define their path forward . In retrospect , we   believe that we could have saved a good 6 months , if we had adopted the Learning Launch model in   the early stages of our entity . We have changed our direction and pivoted too at a vital stage   subsequently and I strongly believe that in this stage of consolidation in the market , it is a critical   tool for every startup that ’s gearing up for a successful run .
### Output: 