About

Our company is founded upon helping our clients turn their idea into a “proof of concept”. In this case, the term, “idea” is generalized, since we have worked with clients who have various types of ideas. We have had clients that have had ideas to improve an existing product, ideas to automate, ideas to create an app, or ideas to create a brand-new product. Our clients’ creativity forms the basis of many great products, however, the step of making their idea into a reality lies in the developmental stage. Our company has the experience and the knowledge to help our clients navigate through this all-important developmental stage of their products. Relying upon our experts for this critical knowledge, provides our clients with the assistance that they need when growing their idea into a product, a process, or an application.

What is a "PoC"?

Proof of concept (PoC) is a basic demonstration that showcases an idea in order to illustrate its viability and profit potential. Startup founders often mistakenly think that if their design or idea for the final product will work, then there is no need for a proof of concept. Or they may fail to understand exactly what their PoC is intended to prove. Having a clear and a comprehensive proof of concept is vital to the success of an idea and could very well be a crucial element in providing the gateway through which their product is able to obtain its first round of funding.

When is a PoC valuable for a Startup?

The PoC stage is one of the most valuable milestones for a startup, provided that it is done correctly. Unfortunately, many times a startup will, inadvertently, miss out on some key turning points in the PoC process. This inexperience will then cause their PoC to become lengthy, pricey, and frustratingly, time-consuming.

Whether the PoC process involves developing a prototype, building an algorithm, or assessing market demand; the PoC stage provides the startup founders and potential investors with some necessary proof as to whether or not there is a market for their product in the first place.

The PoC should aim to answer the following questions:

* Does the product really work? Can the product work in a complex environment?

* Does the product have the ability to adapt, with time, to meet evolving needs?

* Is the product scalable? If so, to what potential?

It is only when a startup enters the PoC stage, that the founders can begin to understand its possible potential, the risks involved, and how much of a game-changer their product could potentially be. The PoC also provides the opportunity for understanding if it is feasible to replicate results for a large-scale solution – a key aspect of being a scalable idea that could work on an enterprise level.

In proving a concept, could a PoC be wrong?

The PoC stage is not just a matter of taking an idea and in bringing it to life, the purpose of the PoC stage is important in order to show the potential of the idea. This is particularly important to investors who may be considering to finance a project. The best way, therefore, to demonstrate the potential of a product is to showcase users that are actually interested, using, and enjoying the particular product.

Unfortunately, many startups will spend most of their resources on their prototype, and windup with few resources left over for marketing and acquiring a user database. They wrongfully assume that the Venture Capital Fund, Angels, and other investors will provide them with the seed money needed to gain the client base. The phrase, “if you build it, they will come”, unfortunately, does not apply to new technologies and ideas.

Young entrepreneurs and founders can become so focused on building the product, developing the code, modeling the prototype, etc., that they make the fatal mistake of neglecting the needs of the end user. They focus on the stuff that doesn’t matter and ignore functionality and the things that do matter. A founder may build a great product or have a wonderful idea; but, if it is not properly launched, it may never get off the ground. Or, if it does, it may have taken so long that it missed the impact that it could have made, if only it had been launched in a timely manner. It is precisely this reason, that many founders who could have been successful, become disenchanted and sadly never see their dreams become reality.

While startups generally have many things going for them; the ability to adjust to change, to think creatively, to bootstrap ideas, etc., one thing that startups also generally lack, is time.

Startups have a relatively short timeline to prove success. By not saving enough resources to secure a user base, startups can become defeated because they are negligent by never truly proving that their prototype is desired and/or needed by their target audience.

Can the PoC process be simplified?

Currently, the PoC process is complex and one that founders and entrepreneurs embark on with much, well-founded trepidation. The first problem which they encounter, is that the PoC process is often done in a testing environment and therefore, needs to be completely redone in order to transition to a live environment. This transition alone has caused many founders to give up, since it can be costly and many integrators tend to make this stage difficult.

When working on a demo, many enterprises are hesitant to enable full integration and often there is a sense of hesitancy on the part of the enterprise since demo PoC’s are seen as inferior and are not necessarily an indicator of true functionality. The risk being that when the PoC is removed from the secure ecosystem and is subject to outside and complex factors, it may not work as seamlessly, or worse, it may not work at all. In addition, this stage often does not involve the senior management, CTO’s, CEO’s, and other decision makers, therefore, even if it is successful, a PoC can get stuck in a bureaucratic pipeline.

Our company simplifies the PoC process for our clients and helps determine exactly what the enterprises require from the startups. We also provide them with access to external testing environments which are needed in order to prove their ideas. We help in making the entire PoC process seamless for all parties involved.

The inability to reach the right people, whether through lack of connections, funds, or the amount of time needed to do so, often blocks startups and hinders their ability to integrate their solution into enterprise. By simplifying the integration and connection process, our company enables startups to apply more of their time utilizing their creativity in finding solutions for the needs of their enterprises. And, at the critical point in their research and development stage, our company will put the startup founders and the enterprises together so that they will be able to experience the mutual benefits of such collaboration in all subsequent funding rounds.

Info

San Jose, CA
+1-408-675-5650

Boston, MA
+1-617-830-3133

info@ideaPOC.com