We’ve challenged our Startup Train passengers to record a 30 second video stating their success metric for taking our train to Startup Festival. As Alistair wrote, this is all about dodging the boondoggles. Our goal is to post as many of these videos as we can to our Vimeo page before we get on the train July 10th.
Why? Well we all want to help. If you can clearly articulate what your metric of success is, I can help. I can also check in with you while we’re at the conference in Montreal…
“Mike, how’s it going? Do you have your five video projects signed up?”
“I have three.”
“Nice, so two more. Ok, come with me. I met someone who would would be perfect, I’ll introduce you.”
In partnership with VIA Rail, we’ve sweetened the pot as we know it takes time to record these videos. Everyone who submits a video will be entered into a draw for a chance to win a $1500 travel voucher on VIA Rail.
It seems easy but it’s not so I wanted to add some tips here. Actually recording the video is simple, coming up with your metric can by tricky. One tip is to imagine that first night home after the conference. A friend asks you if the trip was worth it. You respond “I actually got a ton of value out of it because……”, what comes after that??
Don’t think of this as a pitch video either. You’re just talking to me, a person. The point of this is to engage me in your challenge and enable me to help you. I want to help, tell me how! You have a unique opportunity to have all of us people on the train hustling on your behalf, don’t squander this!
- Keep it simple.
- Decide on your metric, ideally only one.
- Test your metric with someone else, talk to someone else to clarify your metric.
- Be specific & precise.
- Should be measurable.
- If appropriate, choose a geographical region: does it need to be local or not?
- Reach a bit, choose something you’ll need to stretch slightly to attain while still being achievable.
- Choose how you want to covert your metric. (For example, choose a specific price for your service.)
- And of course, keep it under 30 seconds.
Good luck and if you’re really stuck, let me know and I’d be happy to hop on a quick call to discuss?