Building for Minimal Viable Segment: Facebook, Airbnb, Uber examples.

Read time: 5 minutes

It was 10 PM on a Friday. I was preparing to pitch my company's services to an Englishman based in London.

To avoid dozing off and zoning out, I sat on my chair with a cup of cappuccino.

The pitch went on for a couple of hours and while discussing each other’s business and our journey, the conversation gradually drifted towards my favourite subject- Education.

He asked me- Where do you think online education is heading now? There was a tailwind in online education because of Covid but what’s the future of learning?

I have a very strong opinion on this.

And this opinion developed because of the challenges I faced in my 10 years of marketing journey.

I told him about the idea I have been working on to gauge his perspective.

With a lot of excitement (and some nervousness), I said-

I believe learning is a continuous process, It took me 10 years to learn and execute what I presented you today, expecting anyone would learn this in a month is the incorrect portrayal of education.

COVID or not, online or offline, I believe the above fundamental does not change.

When I started learning digital, I also faced the same challenge, at times, just attending a month or even 6 months course may not be sufficient.

Especially because the digital marketing space also changes very fast.

Therefore, when my Instagram profile started getting attention and I got a few requests to launch a detailed course on Performance marketing- I was principally clear, that while I launch this course, in parallel, I would also launch a community.

The idea of this community is to constantly provide value to people who really want to learn different digital concepts in depth.

Attending the Dream Performance marketing masterclass is great but make sure you join the community and get access to the latest resources, book recommendations, more courses and most importantly- regular community catchups to keep the process of learning rolling.

The businessman from England with a little spark in his eyes asked- Sounds like a plan but Who is your audience for this community?

This is a question around which I was not able to wrap my head around for a long time.

Who is this community truly for? Who will see value in it?

However, after days of thinking and bouncing the idea off to a few colleagues, I was successfully able to circle down-

People who have a basic understanding of digital but are at a crossroads and are not sure how to grow, living in tier 1 cities. There are opportunities around them, but they are not able to find them timely or just miss them. This audience also lacks trust in trainers as there are just too many of them.

This is my Minimum Viable Segment for the Top Decoders community.

MVS (Minimum Viable Segment)

• A segment that has consistent needs, that you can take your small product to, solve a problem that’s important enough for them & do it over and over again.

Here is how I craft the solution to my MVS:

People with up to 5 years of experience always face the challenge of getting stuck in one place or role, they are not sure about the right course or trainer. They do not mind investing in a premium, high-quality education. They do not realise that a one-time course will not solve their problem and continuous mentoring and learning will.

I want to take my Top Decoders community product and win with this audience.

What is a win?

Here are the KPIs I have decided for myself:

• 100 members in this community

• 70%+ renewal rate

• Period to test- 2-3 months

I need to check all the boxes above to continue my dream of building a community.

There are 21 people in the community now, I have not started promoting it actively yet because I am at the stage of taking my MVP (minimum viable product) to my MVS (minimum viable segment).

If, with your support, I am able to hit the above numbers, I will keep building this community and create more communities too.

The idea thereafter is to expand horizontally- a community for founders, a community for CMOs, a community for students and so on with highly personalised and relevant content.

This is my first-hand experience of defining an MVS.

Your minimum viable segment should be small enough to dominate.

If you are able to dominate, your MVP is viable.

One needs to drill down into 5 segments of data to identify the Minimum Viable Segment:

• Pain points

• Budget

• Product use case

• Channel

• Customer profile

And the core of all 5 is your MVS cluster of demand.

There are examples of many businesses that are successful today, however started with a well-defined MVS.

Here are some examples of it:

1. Facebook: Initially, Facebook targeted a very specific audience: Harvard students. Only after gaining traction and validation within this minimal viable segment did they expand to other Ivy League schools and eventually to the general public.

2. Airbnb: Airbnb started by targeting attendees of large design conferences who couldn't find hotel accommodations. This specific group was their MVS, and after proving their concept with them, Airbnb expanded to a wider market.

3. Dropbox: Dropbox initially targeted tech-savvy users who understood cloud storage and were looking for a simple solution. By focusing on this segment, they were able to refine their product and then reach a broader audience.

4. Uber: Uber's first segment was tech entrepreneurs in San Francisco who needed a reliable, high-end cab service. Once they established their brand and service with this group, they expanded to a wider audience and introduced more service tiers.

5. Spotify: Spotify first targeted music enthusiasts in Sweden who were keen on a new way of accessing music. After succeeding in this niche market, they expanded to other countries and audiences.

6. Tesla: Tesla initially targeted a premium segment with its high-end Roadster. This helped them build brand prestige and fund development for more accessible models, catering to a broader market.

7. Pinterest: Initially, Pinterest targeted women interested in crafts, fashion, and decor. This demographic helped them fine-tune their platform before expanding to a wider audience.

The idea of catering to an MVS is not always to generate revenue, mostly it is to gain proof of concept that your idea clicks with your audience which builds your confidence (& your investor's trust).

While TAM (Total addressable market) is critical when you are ideating and accessing your business model, however when you step into execution, execute for MVS first and then expand to TAM.

That’s it for today, folks!

Cheers,

Apurv