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Everyone wants that million-dollar idea, but turning inspiration into capital takes more than imagination — you also need a proven method. Like most kids, I learned the scientific method in school, so when I first wanted to start a business, I went with the approach I knew: testing a business hypothesis, analyzing the results, and iterating until I arrived at a solution. Along the way, I learned the joy of solving business challenges through product innovation, which led me to launch Influence Mobile, develop our flagship product, and turn a simple idea into millions of dollars in revenue.
As a leader, I still use the same scientific approach to innovative product development. To stay competitive, we must constantly be innovative, which means we must be on the lookout for new problems to solve. Such innovative solutions often call for improvements that we have never tried before and invite questions that we don’t know how to answer. Even when we tackle the unknown, we always have a tool to draw conclusions that allow us to make more informed decisions: the scientific method.
Related: The Scientific Method for Entrepreneurs: 6 Steps to Long-Term Success
Observe, question, and hypothesize
To fully realize your million dollar idea, start with a clear goal in mind. The initial spark often comes from a unique scientific process: observing a problem to solve and asking questions about the best way to solve it. We recently noticed that push messages were becoming a big revenue driver, and asked ourselves, “How can we attract long-term app users and increase their acceptance and retention of push messages?” Our traditional strategy was focused on early engagement and day-1 ROAS, so this was our first big investment in extending the engagement period.
To navigate this new territory, we let the scientific method guide us. We observed end-user behavior and preferences, compared it to past experiences, and looked for ways to drive engagement based on that data. Using our market knowledge and user knowledge, we hypothesized that people would respond positively to a game that offered a chance to collect and win every month, along with attractive prizes. We came up with several other hypotheses, but after comparing them with existing data, we went with the one that we felt would most effectively guide us to a solution.
Related: How do you bring your innovation to market?
Experimentation and Improvement
To turn a product hypothesis into a revenue stream, you need to test it and refine it into the most effective form. After developing the game and outlining the aspects that we predicted users would enjoy, we built a small prototype and shared it with a few hundred players. Again, we observed players’ behavior and asked them further questions: How did they engage with the game? How many push notifications did they accept?
An astonishing 90% of players enabled push notifications, and 6 in 10 opted in to receive the daily limit of 10 notifications. Approximately 40% of players who exchanged game pieces chose to negotiate a discount rather than let the trade happen automatically. This widespread acceptance of push messaging and community engagement has created new challenges to address, but initial feedback has been promising.
Still, no product is perfect from the start, which is why the scientific method calls for continuous experimentation. In product development, this means testing quickly and frequently to confirm a theory, or gathering immediate feedback to refine your approach. After initial testing, we gradually rolled out the game to larger groups and surveyed players to identify areas for improvement. From user feedback and our own experience, we determined that more gameplay options would cater to different types of players, and we refined the product to meet the needs of more users.
Related: The Ten Commandments of Business Innovation
Analyze data and make improvements
Each test gives you more data to refine, and each iteration brings your initial idea closer to being a product worth investing in. Observe and identify the key metrics that indicate your product’s success. Then ask questions like: How do we drive those metrics? Who are the right partners? What is the minimum version available for testing? Start as broad as possible and refine with each iteration.
For us, push message acceptance has a direct impact on user engagement, so we observed and asked: Did players engage with the game as expected? Did they accept push notifications more? What did the data tell us about their preferences? We invited an experienced game developer to conduct a survey and analyze player behavior, engagement, and push message acceptance before and after starting the game. Our hypothesis was correct, but analyzing the data and focusing on this metric revealed what was working and targeted areas for improvement.
Draw conclusions, start and learn
After multiple rounds of testing and refinement, we can draw conclusions about the best product to launch that has the most potential to become a multi-million dollar success. For our game, we concluded that competitive gameplay and personalized options would drive long-term engagement and acceptance of push notifications. So we released a minimum viable product (MVP) to a wider audience to evaluate new data and discover more issues. Again, we relied on the scientific method to observe, question, hypothesize, test, and refine for the biggest opportunities for improvement.
While the early feedback gave us confidence, we didn’t stop there. To truly measure retention and engagement, you need a long funnel of events. During the MVP phase, we learned the impact of scale in real time, but even after releasing to tens of thousands of players, the product is still in its very early stages. Just like any flagship app that took years of testing and optimization to reach over $100 million in revenue, we will continue to collect data and refine it with further improvements to ensure the game remains engaging and relevant.
The principles of the scientific method serve as a timeless guide for solving problems and innovating ideas. This iterative process leads to discovery and improvement of ideas, leading to sustained growth and success. Whether you’re developing a new app, launching a product, or improving an existing service, the scientific method provides a structured process that anyone can apply to innovate with confidence.
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