Stages of startup development
PRE - STARTUP stage
- Pre-seed stage (pre-seed stage)- Seed stage (seed stage)
-- Prototype
-- Working prototype (working prototype)
-- Alpha version of the project or product (alpha)
-- Closed beta version of the project or product (private beta)
-- Public beta version of the project or product (public beta)
PUTTING A PROJECT into operation or a product into production- Startup stage (startup stage)
-- Launch, or early startup stage (launch, or early startup stage)
-- Work with first clients, or late startup stage (first clients, or late startup stage)
POST STARTUP stage- Growth stage
- Expansion stage
- Exit stage
-- Pre-IPO stage (when exiting through an IPO - Initial Public Offering, or the company's initial placement of its shares on the stock exchange)
-- IPO (when entering the IPO)
A startup does not always go through all the stages, it happens that it "jumps over" some stages, but, in my opinion, such a detailed classification is much better than a simplified one, since it gives a clear idea of how a startup is developing. Now let's give a brief description of each stage:
Pre - startup stage: the name of the time period from the moment of the idea to the launch of the project into operation or the product into production;
Pre-seed stage: the stage when there is an idea of what the market and consumers need, but there is not yet a clear idea of how it should be implemented technically (terms of reference) and how it should be developed so that it makes a profit (business plan), or there is, but in the most general form;
Seed stage: the stage of market research, preparation and implementation of technical specifications, preparation of a business plan, testing of a created project or product, preparation for the launch of the project, negotiations with the first potential customers;
Prototype: creating a technical specification and designing interfaces. You can read more about this on the blog of Yuri Vetrov;
Working prototype: creating a project or product with the most general functionality;
Alpha version of the project or product: the project or product has been created, but has not yet been tested, in the process of testing and usability testing, some little things are added to the interface that were not thought out at the stage of drawing up the terms of reference and designing the interface, negotiations with the first potential customers begin;
Closed beta version of the project or product: the project or product is already in a form close to what the founders of the startup see it, the project has the first few users who are invited by the founders of the startup to try the service and report what they lack or about the bugs they encountered;
Public beta version of a project or product: begins attracting users who have realized the need for the services offered by your project, or the most curious, users who are constantly in search of something new, often occurs through invite systems (invitations), limiting the number of users to a certain number (for example, 500, or 5,000), signed full-fledged contracts with the first customers;
Launching a project into full operation or a product into production: the name speaks for itself;
Startup stage: the most critical stage for each startup is the project launch stage (early startup stage) and the very initial period of its operation (late startup stage);
Growth stage: the stage when the startup's position in the primary target market (i.e., in the market from which it intended to start work, and which it described in its business plan) is already stable, and the startup is confidently moving towards winning the share in this market that it has set for itself in the business plan;
Expansion stage: the stage when a startup has fulfilled or is very close to fulfilling a business plan in the primary target market, and is expanding its business through expansion into other markets. Business expansion can occur both independently and through the purchase of other players;
Exit stage: Exit primarily refers to the exit from the business (in whole or in part) of venture investors who invested in the startup at previous stages. The exit can occur through the sale of the company to strategic investors, through the withdrawal of the company to an IPO (that is, the initial sale of the company's shares on the stock exchange) and through a private placement (sale of the company's shares to private equity funds). Venture funds invest only in a fast-growing young business, and, as a rule, by the exit stage, the growth of the company's business slows down compared to previous stages, although the business itself becomes more stable. There is, however, another option for both investors and founders to "exit" from a startup - this is the bankruptcy of the company and the termination of the business, but I hope that none of you will have such an "exit".
Portal "Eternal youth" www.vechnayamolodost.ru18.11.2007