I thought that this company reviewed by Duncan Riley on TechCrunch was a joke but evidently not...
From the Digital Telepathy website:
"The Design Products take you from concept to fully-functional online business in only 90 days."
"You bring the great idea and give us a few weeks of your time. We'll bring our veteran team and our proven process. We'll then head into the kitchen and mix up a "Biz In A Box" that'll be ripe for the market."
The most bizarre thing is that Duncan (who should know better) makes the following statement:
Prices range from $15,000 through to $250,000, although each project is calculated on a per startup basis. It may sound like a lot of money, but it’s a lot of service for your buck, and it is competitive.
It seems a little ludicrous to me that some company is going to go figure out your business model for you if only you have a great idea. If it only was so easy to have a "Biz in a Box"!
Why is it a joke? There have been "startup coaches" in the Valley for years, offering this exact service, but to find them it was a matter of referrals, who you know that sort of thing. All these guys are doing is mainstreaming a service and making it accessible to the average guy, and I think that's a good thing.
As I noted in the post, we paid a 6 figure sum to our startup coach in my last startup. No, he didn't do all the work for us but he certainly helped us refine what we had so it became attractive to VCs. The company took $2m in its first round and subsequently took a second round.
Find my someone who knows how to do everything involved in a startup perfectly and I'll show you a saint of someone already worth millions. Are you suggesting that you could produce a first class business plan, market research (properly, not just ask a few people you know) etc etc.. I can't, and very few people can do it all. It's not about a business model alone, it's about every aspect, and lets face it: a revenue model is something a lot of startups sorely need as well ;-)
Posted by: Duncan | November 09, 2007 at 12:00 AM
Hi Duncan,
I would differentiate what Digital Telepathy is talking about from what a traditional startup coach might offer.
Their claim that they can get you from a concept to a fully functional business in 90 days is ridiculous. Biz in a Box?! Are they doing the equivalent of helping you set up a McDonald's franchise or creating a new business? It sounds a lot like a get rich quick infomercial to me.
I do agree that every startup needs to have smart folks around it who can help and give a good outside perspective. The professionals that I have seen who do that kind of work wouldn't ever talk about their business in the way that Digital Telepathy does.
Posted by: claw | November 09, 2007 at 12:48 AM
This is a pay per post from Techcrunch. This is exactly how Techcrunch makes money. These are paid posts how can they get a glowing review from Techcrunch? Well the answer is that it's a paid post. Mike Arrington should just tell us it's paid - I'm ok with it as long as he says it's paid
Posted by: Mr Murphy | November 09, 2007 at 04:34 AM
The Biz in a Box is based on a very simple philosophy: If you have a great idea, you should act on it. So much time is wasted due over-bloated feature sets, cloned ideas and poor execution. We help entrepreneurs keep their idea simple, build a business around it and get to market as soon as possible. This enables them to listen to their early adopter users and learn how to shape and grow the website.
We're selective of who we work with and this product is not for everyone. We have limited capacity and only work with unique concepts that we feel will be successful with our help. The outcome is not meant to be a finished product. Instead, it provides a launching point for businesses to put themselves on the map. We will have more details on each of the products posted on the site in the next few weeks. This should give you a better idea of how the process works.
Posted by: Chuck Longanecker | November 10, 2007 at 12:16 PM