Recap: Move Product to Market Camp

The next chapter of Yu's Ascend Your Start-Up talks about adaptation. We continue with the questions as it relates to SBH Labs.

Decision #8: What Product Category Are You REALLY In?

Although SBH Labs has a few product categories, the company's best-seller, nuCaffeine has climbed to the top of Amazon's list. The industry is in the energy drink sector and it has become Amazon's Choice for "nucaffeine" search.

Yu urges the reader to answer this question: "what is the minimal viable category you are entering?"

For SBH Labs, the greater category is health and wellness. For nuCaffeine, it is more specifically a healthy energy drink replacement.

Decision #9: Who Will Be By Your Side, and Who Will Leave?

The first step in answering this question is to clearly define your vision and goal (Yu, 2021). The mission at SBH Labs is "to enhance people's lives naturally through the merging of science with wellness" (SBH Labs).

The next step is to find the four types of leaders to formulate a minimum viable team to scale. The leaders are

• Thought Leader. The one who envisions something that does not exist yet.
• Challenger. The one who challenges whether the idea holds value for stakeholders.
• Collaborator. The one who brings people together across the organization.
• Operator. The one who carries out the execution with "predictable and sustainable results."

At SBH Labs, David is the Thought Leader. The rest of the team is family. As Yu points out, it is adventageous to bring in people who have specialized knowledge to help the organization scale up. This step is harder for the founders of SBH Labs at the stage they are now. The company has enjoyed some success, yes, but not enough to afford help yet.