The Unicorn Labs Recipe
Step 1: Get the right idea
The idea is the starting point of everything. The good ideas are the ones that solve a problem. For as many people as possible. Of course, we also enjoy happy coding, but solving a real-world challenge is 100% more motivating.
Step 2: Rephrase it into a hypothesis
This part is crucial and a tough.. Before jumping into the process of building a minimum viable product (MVP, yes baby, that’s our beloved buzz word #1) you need to know what you want to achieve with it. The MVP is the means and not the purpose. The MVP helps you get an answer to your hypothesis. Is this the right way to go?
Step 3: Get the right Breeders
Depending on the field of the challenge, different expertise is needed. A breeder (that’s part of our Unicorn Labs internal code names) is usually a student or someone with a high passion for solving challenges and building prototypes. The goal is to have some subject matter experts (SMEs, yes it’s one of those words that make you feel special) paired with just smart people but having no clue about the topic. Our experience says that you cannot just only think outside the box (yes, also here one those buzz words) but sometimes you need to understand how the box currently works and what it is made of.
Step 4: Breeding - Build the MVP
This is the fun part. Starting with a design thinking workshop (‘DTW’ , we just made this acronym up. Because we can :D) everyone, including the customer (startup/corporate), works together on defining the scope and goal of the breeding. The breeding itself is basically a hackathon. Some guys and girls sitting in a room coding, soldering, 3D-printing and enjoying nice food.
Step 5: Enjoy your beer while staring at the cool thing those breeders just built in that short amount of time o.0
Step 6: Use the MVP and test your hypothesis
This part of the journey proceeds without Unicorn Labs. With this MVP, you can now progress on the path to become a Unicorn. Use it to present your idea, to gain support from the people you present it to! This is now also the key to validating your business and to put your idea to the challenge of reality! We wish you all the best of luck and hope to see your startup succeed in this tough world.
Step 7: Iterate, come back to us
Now you have gained many insights about your market. Did you become a Unicorn?! If yes, go enjoy the rainbows. If not, let’s iterate your hypothesis. What did we get right? What was wrong? What is the new or complementing hypothesis? Let’s go to Step 2 again.
P.S: Know someone with a great idea? Share this with them for their success!