繼網路創業後，近年來可以看到以行動應用創業的案例越來越多，尤其是許多熱血青年，從學生時代開始就已經著手在開發各式創意、有趣的行動應用軟體，並將其應用在各個領域。

筆者在2012年初開始關注行動應用相關資訊，並在同年九月正式踏入行動應用創業圈，第一項參與開發的產品WhatsTheNumber在當時已經推出市場近10個月，並累積32萬用戶，直到2014年累積用戶達100萬。近兩年的觀察發現，行動應用的確造就了許多的微型創業家。然而，之後得面臨的真正考驗，無疑是獲利模式之驗證、產品服務是否能被大眾市場採納，以及新創組織在成長過程會面臨到資源不足、管理經驗不足、人力無法有效發揮等情況而造成無數次的創業陣痛期，甚至也曾面臨無法存活的危機。此研究的寶貴價值在於筆者將實際參與創業過程所面臨的商業價值驗證過程，所獲得的艱辛與喜悅。並透過歷程記錄、實際市場開發來歸納出創業歷程中困難處。研究的目的在於了解產品生命週期前期，商業價值及資源如何被創造，核心能耐應如何培養。而商業模式建構歷程又會遇到那些重要變化以及決策是否適當。

研究發現創業團隊在提升產品價值發展獲利模式的過程，是環環相扣的因果關係。價值主張的不明確，將影響到核心資源的建立。而核心資源是獲利模式發展的一切基礎，更是企業合作槓桿資源的籌碼。因此，產品設計必須是以滿足需求 (Needs) 為出發點，而非流於產品功能 (Feature) 的設計。對於市場需求必須挖深，抽絲剝繭，找到最深處的需求源頭，然後根據此研究結果發展產品，貫徹執行，才能避免產品定位不明確造成的一連串問題。

所幸個案公司已於 2014 年中注意到這個問題，並開始對市場做設計思考的發想，追蹤到使用者俱有分享及探索的需求，並根據需求對現有產品做重整與進一步轉型的機會，後續發展值得持續追蹤。

In recent years, there are more and more startups engage in developing mobile applications as their commercialized products. This trend also proves that there are more passionate young entrepreneurs create their business through creative, diverse and interesting applications since they are students in college.

In early 2012, I became an observer in mobile application industry. At the same year in September, I was invited to join a startup as a marketing specialist and business development assistant to develop WhatsTheNumber- a mobile application that can help people search SMB’s contact information in seconds. After nearly two years study in my startup, I found that although mobile applications indeed create a lot of entrepreneurs, the challenges are still plenty, such as unstable revenue model, low market adoption, lack of resource and experience… etc. Those challenges will cause the company go into financial shortage, human resource problems, or even worse, the surviving crisis.

I started this research as one of the team members in this company. I recorded all the processes including business model development, market development strategy to summarize the difficulties of the entrepreneurial process. The purposes are to understand how business value and resource were created and how core capabilities were cultivated in the early stage. What were the most important changes that affected founders’ decision making and whether those decisions were good enough?

The study shows that if value proposition is not clear enough, it will affect the establishment of core resources. The core resources are the basis of all revenue model developments, also the bargaining power to leverage more opportunities of cooperation. This is a chain of causation. Therefore, the product design must be based on the “Needs” in the beginning, rather than “Feature” design. For market demand, developers and product designers should clarify the user needs and behaviors to avoid unclear value positioning issue, which can cause a series of problems.

Luckily, the founders in this case were aware of this issue in the mid 2014 and started to redesign the product through user study. We are looking forward to see what will be the pivot of the company in the future.

中文部分
1. 林之晨 (2012)，Jamie 流行銷，台北市: 電子工業
2. 林建廷、李元生 (2012)，行動商務概論、實務與應用，台北市: 碁峯
3. 陳雲海 (2012)，移動互聯網 SoLoMo 應用模式分析，電信科學
4. 張春永 (2011)，一種基於LBS的移動個性化推薦系統，科學技術與工程
5. 經濟部中小企業處 (2012)，轉指尖掌握app商機，創業創新育成雙月刊60期
6. 羅偉哲 (2013)，新創團隊之商業模式發展研究-以C公司為例，清華大學科技管理研究所學位論文
7. 蔡佩君 (2003)，新創事業的智慧資本建構與管理─以某醫工公司參與BOO過程為例，政治大學科技管理研究所學位論文

英文部分
1. Afuah, A., & Tucci, C. L. (2000). Internet business models and strategies: Text and cases. McGraw-Hill Higher Education
2. Kazanjian, R. K., & Drazin, R. (1989). An empirical test of a stage of growth progression model. Management Science, 35(12), 1489-1503.
3. McClureDave. (2007). Startup Metrics for Pirates.
4. Osterwalder, A., & Pigneur, Y. (2013). Business Model Generation: Inovação em Modelos de Negócios. Alta Books Editora.
5. Ries, E. (2011). The lean startup: How today's entrepreneurs use continuous innovation to create radically successful businesses. Random House LLC.

 
網頁部分
1. 行動應用程式: http://goo.gl/D8QRQ8
2. 2013 行動應用商店年下載量突破1000億次: http://goo.gl/QULMNy
3. All About Apps Revisited: http://goo.gl/SBKQEU
4. SoLoMo美國手機與互聯網趨勢研究: http://wiki.mbalib.com/zh-tw/SoLoMo
5. 行動商務: http://goo.gl/Rrl2QA
6. Mobile Marketing: http://goo.gl/R04Oo
7. 數位行銷專有名詞字典大彙整: http://dcplus.com.tw/?p=4115
8. 何謂CPC、CPM、CTR、CPS、CPA: http://www.act.com.tw/marketing/e_learning
9. 創業: http://goo.gl/6YYHld
10. 淺析創業團隊的組建: http://goo.gl/K4a5E1
11. 揭開應用程式推廣/行銷/運營背後的秘密: http://goo.gl/ii9be
12. 移動遊戲運營必備的數據分析指標: http://goo.gl/Yfz5ZT