Incubator for tech ideas

It is important for us when a person understands or at least has an idea about the specifics of doing business and, of course, understands how business processes proceed in the domain (*Domain – field of activity), for which a solution was proposed.

For example, there is a farmer. It may seem to an ordinary person that there is nothing difficult in farming, except, perhaps, direct work in the field, because it is physically difficult. But, in fact, there are many nuances in farming: you need to calculate the required amount of fertilizer, irrigation, predict the output volume, etc. Automation of these processes will definitely facilitate the work. And who, but the farmer, it is easier to understand?

The farmer is an extremely vivid example of the person we are waiting for. Why? Because farming is a business, and a farmer is a person who understands how everything works in this business.

An innovator may not be a businessman, but must understand the processes around the problem he wants to solve, and/or has connections and knows who to sell or with whom to test an idea.

For example, a person from the construction field comes to us and tells us how cool it would be to make a decision for technical supervision on taking into account comments. If this person himself works as a technical supervisor at a construction site, then the chances of success of such an idea increase significantly.

Another important factor: our innovator must invest in the project. You can invest in the development, or you can put your hand directly to the creation of the product. As an innovator, in any case, you will invest your time at least at the stage of thinking through the details of the future product.

«Why is it an important factor?» you will probably ask. The answer is that our innovator is an expert, and we may not understand the domain for which the product will be created. If the expert is not interested in implementing his own idea, the project will hang in the air, which we do not want, because even to determine the profitability of the product takes time, and time, as the saying goes, is money.

An innovator is our partner who has gone all the way from the idea to the implementation of the product with us. Your contribution will be rewarded with the profit of the product)

*It is important to note that we work according to the partner scheme, i.e. we offer to become co-owners of the future IT business so that the product gets a long-term development. If it is not suitable for you, then there are two scenarios:

1. «Welcome to the section "Product Development"»;
2. You can try to implement it yourself or sell it as an idea, then our article can help you to understand with what questions you can face.

The distinctive features of our products are uniqueness and innovation. Therefore, the ideas must be unique and innovative. If you really want to make, for example, an analog of Figma, then it is not for us. It, of course, can be profitable, but it is not interesting at all, and uninteresting projects turn work into a routine.

A digital product starts with a problem. If there is no real problem, then there is no worthwhile idea. Therefore, the innovator must come from his field of activity, then the product will solve the existing problem.

How to check the uniqueness of an idea?

1. First of all, you need to formulate the problem that your idea solves.
2. Then try to find a solution to the formulated problem. Search among similar software products and services, talk to people from this sphere.
3. Analyze the information:
   1. If you were able to find a solution to the problem using existing resources, then the idea is not unique.
   2. Even if there is some functionality that you did not have enough, it is easier to simply finish the existing product than to do everything from scratch.
   3. If there are similar resources, but they turned out to be completely useless for you, then there is a reason to contact us with your idea.
4. Refine the idea:
   1. Identify competitive advantages which are not available in alternative solutions.
   2. Understand the demand and ways of distribution among users.
   3. To feel the depth of the complexity of implementation.

We like to communicate with trained innovators with a well-developed idea. Studying the market, issues and solutions helps to make the project more successful, and for us it will be an indicator of a strong partner with expertise in the field or willingness to attract this expertise.

As we undertake interesting projects, so the team is also interested in implementing the product. What does that mean? It means that specialists live by the project. The whole team, as a product manager, during the development process thinks about how to improve the product to make it better for the consumer.

And who is on our team? All the power lies in geeks, who by definition are enthusiastic specialists in their field. These are people who think like a consumer in order to get the desired result – a product which people will want to use and that will perform the tasks productively. In general, you can read more about our geeks in the section «GEEKCHAIN – community of geeks and for geeks».

A certain advantage of cooperation with us is the tools that contribute to the continuous development of the product.

The tools mean:

1. Our geeks who create, maintain, upgrade the product:
   1. Analysts, projects, copywriters, designers, developers, information security specialists, testers who are responsible for the implementation of the project;
   2. Creators, marketers, PR managers responsible for product advertising;
   3. Distributors, agents and sales managers who are responsible for the distribution and sale of the product;
   4. Accountants, lawyers, patent attorneys and other administrative resources;
2. Server infrastructure that allows you to deploy quickly a project with the necessary technology stack;
3. Acquiring, which allows accepting non-cash payment for goods and services;
4. Networking, which allows to find quickly the necessary resources for the project.

GIKCHAIN is a community that is a toolkit for itself. The goal of our community is to form productive teams.

The final cost is determined by the project. Even some approximate cost is difficult to name, at least because we make non-streaming products.

For a start, you need to understand that you need funds to analyze the idea itself and form the project of the future MVP(*MVP is the minimum viable product). For the implementation of MVP, the amount is fixed, but it is formed only when you come to us with an idea and we will begin to estimate together what minimum functionality we need to test the implementation of the idea.

With the time of implementation, the same story also depends on the scale of the project.

Let's look at this situation from the other side: you come up with an innovative idea that no one has implemented before – it means that there are no statistics. Of course, when the project is formed, it will be clear what kind of difficulties we expect in development. After setting the time and financial framework, it will become easier for the innovator to realize the amount of work and investments.

The costs for further development of the project will be determined during the implementation of the minimum viable product. It can be happened that it is impractical to develop the product further. But with a favorable outcome, the MVP or the next version can already begin to generate income and cover part / all of the further expenses.

In any case, we will optimize the costs of the future product.

Surprisingly that after the implementation of the idea, a global thought process begins. There are 1000 and 1 ways to develop the product, because while implementing the product, we conduct interviews with potential customers (custdev) and at this moment we find insights.

For example, we are developing a product for the medical field. The first development option is family subscriptions and distribution through SMM and word of mouth; the second is implementation to the masses with the help of agents and medical clinics. You need to make personal accounts for family subscriptions and you need to implement the functionality of promo codes for agents. You can integrate with a medical institution to increase conversion. There are completely different paths and we with the innovators decide which way is better to develop.

We understand that you can have no money to invest in the entire product development, but you can always find an investor. We also have an article for them, you can read on link.

What is the best way to go to an investor is an important question. Of course, it's easier to sell your idea if you already have a prototype and you can provide an MVP to a potential investor. It is easier for an investor to invest in what he sees with his own eyes or can "feel with his hands". Therefore, it is very important that the innovator has investments to develop a minimally viable product, because the investor has a positive attitude to the fact that the innovator also risks investing in the product.

If there is no such possibility, but the idea is very «tasty», then we will sell it to investors in the form of presentations and beautiful speeches). It will be more difficult, but if we are hooked on the idea, then investors will be interested in us.

An important point that you should take into account is that there are few investors who are willing to finance projects at the MVP stage, besides, it is not profitable for an innovator! Why? Because the main profit from the project's income will go to the investor as the owner of a larger share, and the innovator will lose interest in the project.

The presence of initial investments from the innovator increases the probability of success of the future project, therefore, we are more inclined to this option of cooperation.

We are responsible for the quality of the products we develop. In addition, we are building partnerships with the innovator, and therefore, these are bugs in our product and we eliminate them ourselves.

There are different options for the distribution of products. For some types of products, several options can be suitable at once, for others only one. Therefore, we will choose the best option.

Let's talk about some options:

1. Internet marketing. A fairly common option in modern realities. Within the framework of Internet marketing, keywords are selected, potential competitors (if any) are analyzed. Then the text is written and suitable color schemes, from a psychological point of view, are selected. And based on the above-mentioned data, Landing Pages and advertisements are created. Investments for the promotion of advertisements are required, and the more, the better! With well-designed advertisements and good work of managers, Internet marketing pays off. If your idea is not tied to a specific place, then the option is very good. Among minuses, it can be noted that if the product is literally new on the market, it will be difficult to promote it this way.
2. Agents and bloggers. A good option for products that few people have heard of before. Agents have contacts with the target audience, so they will sell the product directly. Because the target audience has a certain trust in “our” distributors, the conversion rate for this method of distribution is good. A certain advantage is that agents are rewarded with a percentage of sales, therefore, a large advertising budget is not needed at the early stages of distribution.
3. Referral programs. This option is part of the previous one, but it exists as an independent distribution method. The distribution is realized due to the benefits as for the end user as well as for the recommended user. You have encountered such a system, for example, in Tinkoff Bank: you send a link to your friends, and the bank generates a bonus for both you and a new client.
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4. SMM. If you watch videos on YouTube or you are an Instagram user(*Meta activity is prohibited in Russia), then you have encountered SMM. SMM is:
   1. A page/channel about your product that can be promoted with the help of mechanisms built into social networks;
   2. Work with reviews and comments;
   3. Organization of webinars and events in social networks;
   4. Working with the community around the product.

In general, SMM is social media marketing. The main focus is on creating a message which people will distribute through social networks on their own. It is believed that messages transmitted via social networks arouse more confidence among potential consumers of a product or service. Promotion in social networks allows you to influence the target audience in a targeted way.

We wrote above that we do not recommend selling the idea. Why? Because it is extremely difficult to sell an idea. If the idea is worthwhile, an enterprising businessman can take advantage of your inexperience, and it turns out that the entrepreneur will earn on your idea.

There is another scenario: you will not be able to prove the value and /or operability of the idea, because for this you need to be a convincing speaker. In this case, failure can lead to demotivation.

In any case, if you intend to sell the idea at an early stage, then you need at least to issue a patent. But it is better, of course, to invest in the idea and go through at least the "MVP Implementation" stage. Thus, you will be able to sell the idea to potential owners or investors, then you yourself will remain the owner of the product. The business will develop under your strict guidance, later you will be able to sell it.

Selling a product, not an idea, is safe and profitable.

Let's say you're not going to sell an idea, but you want to test it. To do this, you need to evaluate the market and probably consult with someone. In this case, it is logical to turn to potential competitors, but it is dangerous, because it is an existing company which has finances and connections. They can promote a worthwhile idea, not framed in any way, very quickly and it turns out that this is their idea, not yours. Therefore, this should be done carefully enough to get the necessary insights and not transfer your know-how to competitors.

Therefore, for advice you need to contact neutral companies which your presence in the project is beneficial, for example, in GIKCHAIN. You are the information basis for us – your idea, your understanding of the processes within the sphere, your knowledge of the subtleties of the problem that you came to us to solve. Without you, we simply will not be able to develop the product to a high level, because we will have to delve into this area and devote a lot of time to it.