Shaping product advantage: How early-stage B2B SaaS startups can increase their product launch success by taking a customer- and competitive centred approach

Eleven out of twelve startups still fail (Startup Genome, 2019). Even though startups are a growing breed of companies. From 2016 to 2018, startups created $2.8 trillion in value, which is more than the annual GDP of the United Kingdom. In the same period, growth was at 20,6% increase from the preceding periods. Even though startups are growing in popularity, and on macro-economic scale a force to be reconed with, on the individual level they are still major gains to be made. As co-founder of Lynk, the startup used as a case in this thesis, I understand the hype around becoming a startup founder and the struggle and uncertainty coming with it. At Lynk, we are developing a B2B SaaS Document-Project Management (bingo lingo) solution for the construction industry. The product is struggling with gaining traction with customers as sales conversations are long and pilots postponed or delayed. As with the other eleven out of twelve failed startups, Lynk is having difficulty with becoming successful. Or, in other words, to launch their product.The aim of this thesis is twofold;Develop and evaluate an improved product launch plan for Lynk. Create new learnings on how startups might effectively launch a B2B SaaS products by connecting theory to practice.To accomplish these goals, an action research approach is taken. With two purposes, to bring theory into practice and help bridge the gap between marketing literature and practice. At the same time, an autoethnographic reflective perspective is taken to create rich data from which new learnings are created.To develop and evaluate an improved product launch plan, the project is divided into two phases, the research and design phase. Field texts are written throughout the project and transformed into autoethnographic texts by connecting the events to literature. The texts create rich data for the development of the launch plan for Lynk, as forming anecdotal learnings for other entrepreneurs. In the research phase, a literature review is carried out and synthesised into product launch criteria concerning launch strategy and B2B selling practices. Second, Lynk’s launch practices are critically assessed through empirical research. Interviews and observations are analysed to evaluate strategic launch opportunities in each segment. Furthermore, through observations and autoethnographic reflection, Lynks sales practices are assessed. Based on the critical assessment of Lynk’s launch practices, two improvement plans are proposed to improve Lynk’s product launch. First, by developing a niche launch strategy, second by improving Lynk’s discovery and learning practices to inform future strategic planning. The design phase explores both improvement plans. A niche positioning is developed for the two most opportune segments, translating deep customer insights regarding jobs, pains and competitive alternatives into a differentiative value proposition. While a founders sales approach is proposed that embeds customer-centred discovery practices in Lynk’s customer conversations to improve reliable data gathering. The niche positionings are evaluated through a second empirical study; both new customers interviews and ongoing sales conversations are used to evaluate the new positionings. The evaluation shows the customers are interested in the value proposition, but some insights regarding product improvements are gathered. For the next iteration, it is proposed that Lynk should reduce implementation complexity and invest in both early adopters and resellers.Finally, the product launch plan is delivered to Lynk in the form of a Strategic Roadmap. The niche positioning, evaluations and customer-first discovery approach are evaluated through internal sessions with the team. From which input for further launch plan development are created. The launch plan for Lynk is summarised in a Although the road of a startup is unclear, it can be said that both the strategic planning practices underlying the positioning and customer-focused discovery help Lynk to improve its product launch plan. The positioning and discovery approach proposed in this thesis might help other B2B startups analyse their launch practices and improve their launch plan by taking a customer- and competitive first approach.This thesis aimed to improve Lynk’s launch plan. The proposed launch plan and underlying practices might help Lynk launch more effectively and improve further product development and launch in less time. On a personal note, my understanding of products and startups has changed significantly because of this thesis. By bringing theory into practice and reflecting on it in relation to daily practice, I feel I now better understand what makes a launch a success and how I can guide the development towards that. That will help in this startup, but even more so in the next. By understanding product launches better, I feel it has also improved my ability to assess and evaluate startup opportunities by considering competitive and adoption criteria.For any startup founder reading this, my giveaway would be that any product competes with other solutions. Deeply understanding the customers view on that solution, their job and the concept of product advantage will help to shape product strategy and launch products effectively.Strategic Product Desig