Skip to content
Fishburners Logo
  • Memberships & Support
    • Fishburners Co Working Space Sydney CBD
    • Online Founders Hub
    • Fishburners Services Hub
    • Memberships & Pricing
    • Our Perks & Discounts
  • Opportunities
    • Partner with Fishburners
    • Promote Your Service
    • Our Perks & Discounts
    • Free Founders Bootcamp
    • What We Offer
  • Venue + Boardroom Hire
  • Subscribe to the Burner
  • What’s On
  • News & Updates
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Support

    Supporting you
    through every stage

    Support

    • What We Offer
    • Online Founders Hub
    • Fishburners Co Working Space Sydney CBD
    • Memberships & Pricing
    • Fishburners Services Hub
    • What We Offer
    • Online Founders Hub
    • Fishburners Co Working Space Sydney CBD
    • Memberships & Pricing
    • Fishburners Services Hub

    Resources

    • Startup Fast Pass
    • The Ascent Project Empowering – Women Founders
    • Free Founders Bootcamp
    • Events What’s On
    • Our Perks & Discounts
    • Fishburners Success Stories
    • Startup Fast Pass
    • The Ascent Project Empowering – Women Founders
    • Free Founders Bootcamp
    • Events What’s On
    • Our Perks & Discounts
    • Fishburners Success Stories
  • Events

    Get Connected

    • Subscribe to the Burner
    • Latest Events
    • News & Updates
    • Subscribe to the Burner
    • Latest Events
    • News & Updates

    Host Your Next Event

    • Corporate Venue Hire
    • The Board Rooms
    • The Workshop Space
    • The Large Event Space
    • Corporate Venue Hire
    • The Board Rooms
    • The Workshop Space
    • The Large Event Space

    What's Happening in Fishburners

  • Opportunities

    Opportunities to grow with Fishburners

    Get Involved

    • Partner with Fishburners
    • Promote Your Service
    • Apply to Pitch
    • Contact Us
    • Partner with Fishburners
    • Promote Your Service
    • Apply to Pitch
    • Contact Us

    Programs

    • Startup Fast Pass
    • The Ascent Project Empowering – Women Founders
    • Free Founders Bootcamp
    • Events What’s On
    • Our Perks & Discounts
    • Fishburners Success Stories
    • Startup Fast Pass
    • The Ascent Project Empowering – Women Founders
    • Free Founders Bootcamp
    • Events What’s On
    • Our Perks & Discounts
    • Fishburners Success Stories
  • About Us
  • Login

Overcoming Early-Stage Anxiety: How Two Founders Went From Idea to MVP Fast

  • January 10, 2025
  • Dosh Domanic
Yellow Modern Interview Guest Promotion Youtube Thumbnail

Tech startups don’t always begin with a team of developers and a big bank account. Sometimes, all it takes is a clear vision, a hunger to learn, and the right community to propel you forward. That’s exactly what happened for Barb Swanson (Done Life Management Platform) and Andres Lombana (CitiTrails) when they joined the Fishburners + Bigger Sprint Program. In this blog post, we’ll explore their journeys, biggest learnings, and what they recommend for anyone planning to follow in their footsteps.

 

Meet Barb: Navigating a Second Career in Tech

After 20 years in corporate and already having done a tech startup two decades ago, Barb found herself with a brilliant new idea: a single command center for busy families called Done Life. She quickly discovered: 

1. Financial Readiness Is Key:

Before diving into a full-time startup, Barb advises ensuring you have the financial runway to commit yourself 100%. “Figure out your budget,” she says, “because building technology takes time and resources.”

2. Use Your Corporate Superpowers:

Having years of corporate experience means you can assess ideas like a business case—where will revenue come from, is it workable, and do people truly want this?

Screenshot 2025 01 10 at 12.11.17 pm

Barb is pitcing Done Life Management Platform at the Startup Sprint Program Founders Showcase

3. Leverage No-Code Solutions for Quick Proof of Concept:

Barb discovered the world of no-code tools has completely changed the startup game. She could validate her idea rapidly without hiring an expensive dev team. The Bigger experts guided her on platforms and prototypes, allowing for small tests that lead to a bigger MVP.

4. Community Beats Isolation:

For Barb, working alone at home wasn’t an option. The energy of Fishburners—where other founders collaborate and share real-time feedback—delivered immediate benefits: introductions to grants, incubators, and mentors.

5. Trust Your Gut:

Barb’s biggest professional regret was ever doubting herself. If your instinct tells you something’s off—or that you should pivot—listen.

Next Steps for Barb

Within the next six months, Barb plans to have Done Life publicly in-market, leveraging her new network and knowledge to seek funding. She’s confident her MVP is shaping up faster and more affordably than she ever expected.

DSC03369

Andres is working at the Fishburners Sydney Coworking Space

Meet Andres: Sprints, Wireframes & Golden Paths

Andres Lombana, the founder of CitiTrails, also entered the Sprint to MVP program juggling a full-time job. Despite limited hours, he made big strides:

1. Put Your Ideas on a (Digital) Board:

Andres recommends starting with a rough roadmap—whether it’s a Miro board or Lucidchart—to visualize your user’s “golden path.” Even if it changes, having something concrete helps you prioritize.

2. Rapid Validation via Customer Interviews:

Forget endless speculation—Andres insists you need just 10–15 minutes per interview with potential users to gather real feedback. Five quick conversations in one day can save you months of misguided effort.

3. Time Management = Ruthless Prioritisation:

Balancing a startup with other responsibilities means focusing on your top three tasks per day. Everything else? Put it aside until tomorrow.

4. Leverage a Supportive Community:

At Fishburners, Andres could turn to someone sitting next to him and say, “Hey, can you give me quick feedback on this page design?” That instant input from peers and mentors can spark invaluable improvements.

5. Adopt an Agile Mindset with Frameworks:

Tools like the “MoSCoW” (Must, Should, Could, Won’t) prioritization method helped Andres decide which features absolutely had to be in his MVP and which could wait.

 

Next Steps for Andres

With new wireframes, a technical architecture outline, and clear prioritization in hand, Andres is ready to keep refining CitiTrails until it’s market-ready. Although a three-week sprint won’t land you instant funding, it provides tangible outputs to build upon.

Why Fishburners?

Both Barb and Andres credit the Fishburners + Bigger collaboration for making their journeys faster and less stressful. From no-code workshops to a high-energy community atmosphere, the combination of resources, expert mentorship, and peer feedback proved invaluable.

email

If you’re looking to transform your business idea into something real—no matter your age, background, or skill set—take a page from Barb and Andres’s playbook:

  1. Validate quickly with real customers.
  2. Stay organised with time-blocking or digital boards.
  3. Use no-code tools to build proof-of-concepts.
  4. Tap into a community that understands your journey.

 

Ready to supercharge your startup? Join Fishburners and surround yourself with founders, mentors, and resources that will help you launch your MVP faster than you ever thought possible.

Previous
Next

Related Posts

Majella Campbell Martin Karafilis Fishburners

Fishburners Announces CEO Transition as It Embarks on a New Era of Growth

Majella Campbell takes over the reins as CEO, succeeding Martin Karafilis Sydney, February 2025 – Fishburners, Australia’s largest startup community,

Read More

Meet the Service: Bridging Product Strategy and Execution for Growing Startups

Welcome to Meet the Service, a newsletter by Fishburners, where we meet the expert operators and strategists who are scaling

Read More

Join the Burner 🔥 to stay updated

Subscribe to the Burner
Facebook-f Linkedin Instagram
Quick Links
  • Startup Blog & News
  • Perks & Discounts
  • Add Additional Team Members
  • Success Stories
  • Contact Us
Join Us
  • Sydney Hub
  • Service Hub
  • Founders Hub
  • Promote Your Service
  • Venue Hire Sydney
  • Board Room Hire
  • Sydney Hub
  • Service Hub
  • Founders Hub
  • Promote Your Service
  • Venue Hire Sydney
  • Board Room Hire
Get In Touch

Level 2,  11-17 York Street, 
Wynyard NSW 2000

  • Email: [email protected]
  • Phone: 1800 959 351
  • Hours: Mon-Fri 8:30AM - 5:00PM
  • Terms
  • Founders Hub Terms
  • Privacy Policy
  • WHS Policy
  • Whistle Blower Policy
  • Fishburners Complaints Policy
  • Code of Conduct
  • © 2025 All Rights Reserved.