62. Customer DevelopmentThe Search For the Business Model Company Building CustomerDiscovery CustomerValidation Customer Creation Pivot
63. Customer Discovery CustomerDiscovery CustomerValidation Company Building CustomerCreation Stop selling, start listening Test your hypotheses Continuous Discovery Done by founders
86. Found weeding in organic crops is HUGE problem; 50 - 75% of costs Crews of 100s-1000 Back-breaking task (Ilegal) labor harder to get 1-5 weedings per year/field $250-3,500 per acre and increasing Food contamination risk
88. Autonomous vehiclesWEEDING Dealers sell, installs and supports customer Co. trains dealers, supports dealers - Innovation - Customer Education - Dealer training - Low density vegetable growers - High density vegetable growers - Thinning operations - Conventional vegetables We reduce operating cost - Labor reduction (100 to 1) - Reduced risk of contamination - Mitigate labor availability concerns - Ag Dealers - Ag Service providers - Research labs - Ag Dealers - Ag Service providers Engineers on Machine Vision Two problems: - Identification - Elimination Asset sale Our revenue stream derives from selling the equipment Dealer discount COGS seek a 50-60% Gross Margin Heavy R&D investment
117. Visit Highlights Above: Organic Carrots, 7wks. Top right: Conventional carrots Bottom Right: Very weedy. Will require multiple passes of hand weeding
118. Visit Highlights Carrot vs. Weeds Due to small root systems, carrots have no chance against weeds
163. World Ag Expo interviews:the need is real and wide spread 10+ interviews at show Everyone confirmed the need Robocrop, UK based, crude competitor sells for $171 K Revenue Stream Mid to small growers prefer a service Large growers prefer to buy, but OK with service until technology is proven Charging for labor cost saved is OK, as we provide other benefits (food safety, labor availability) Confidential
196. We Act Like It’s the 19th Century Why do we need to get together in one room? Why do we need to wait a month to see progress? Why don’t we have standards for what you want? Why haven’t we adopted the tools we build/sell?
197. How to Run a Board Meeting Logistics Send out board materials 2 days before, have board dinner Approve minutes, stock grants Business Highlights/Lowlights summary of key events since last meeting Financials versus Budget waterfall charts Management asks the board to help strategy, markets, key hires, introductions. Executive session Meet without management to discuss performance
198. How to Run a Board Meeting Logistics Approve minutes, stock grants Business Highlights/Lowlights summary of key events since last meeting Financials versus Budget waterfall charts Management asks the board to help strategy, markets, key hires, introductions. Executive session Meet without management to discuss performance Misc Send out board materials 2 days before, have board dinner Why?
199. What’s Wrong With a Board Meeting? Time between meetings (every 4-6 weeks) Strategy-to-tactic-to implementation lag Often no follow-up on the outcomes Diffuse board member attention (sits on 6-12 boards) Punctuated Exec Staff Performance “The Get Ready for the Board Meeting” drill It’s often a performance rather than a snapshot No standards for what each side does What is the entrepreneur supposed to be doing? What are the board members supposed to be contributing?
200. What’s Wrong With a Board Meeting? Time between meetings (every 4-6 weeks) Strategy-to-tactic-to implementation lag Diffuse board member attention (sits on 6-12 boards Punctuated Exec Staff Performance “The Get Ready for the Board Meeting” drill It’s often a performance rather than a snapshot No standards for what each side does What is the entrepreneur supposed to be doing? What are the board members supposed to be contributing? Why?
204. Focus on What’s Important It’s about the search for the business model Not income statement, cash flow, balance sheet Advice/Guidance about metrics around the search What are the Business model hypotheses? What are the most important hypotheses to test now? Progress of validating each hypotheses What are the iterations and Pivots – and why?
206. How? Customer Development The Process Narrative Interviews Surveys Videos Prototypes Business Model Canvas Scorekeeping Real-time Feedback Physical Reality Checks Skype Face-to-face
230. CANVAS diagram is interactive and “stateful” Enter your hypotheses here
231. CANVAS diagram is interactive and “stateful” Test your hypotheses and record learnings in blog format
232. CANVAS diagram is interactive and “stateful” Test your hypotheses and record learnings in blog format Interviews Surveys Videos Photos etc
233. CANVAS diagram is interactive and “stateful” Test your hypotheses and record learnings in blog format Invite your advisors and investors to your project
234. CANVAS diagram is interactive and “stateful” Test your hypotheses and record learnings in blog format Invite your advisors and investors to your project They can view progress by flipping thru your CANVAS diagrams
235. CANVAS diagram is interactive and “stateful” Test your hypotheses and record learnings in blog format Invite your advisors and investors to your project They can view progress by flipping thru your CANVAS diagrams They can post feedback and leave comments inline
236. CANVAS diagram is interactive and “stateful” Test your hypotheses and record learnings in blog format Invite your advisors and investors to your project They can view progress by flipping thru your CANAVAS diagrams They can post feedback and leave comments inline Get email alert when new feedback comes in
237. CANVAS diagram is interactive and “stateful” Test your hypotheses and record learnings in blog format Invite your advisors and investors to your project They can view progress by flipping thru your CANAVAS diagrams They can post feedback and leave comments inline Get email alert when new feedback comes in The Lean Board Meeting
238. Sign up for private beta (FREE) http://www.leanlaunchlab.com @leanlaunchlab Ben Mappen benmappen@gmail.com
239. What Does this Change?For Angel-Funded Startups Angel funded startups can now get experienced advice No longer requires board commitment for involvement Encourages investors who need visibility Ends repetition at each investor coffee Turns adhoc startups into strategy-driven startups Invites investor participation in the process Professionalize the “throw it against the wall and see if it sticks” Highly time-efficient for investor and founders Eliminates Geography as a barrier to investment!
240. What Does this Change?For VC’s and Angels For the first time a structure for “search” Real-time monitoring of startup progress Zero-lag for coaching and course-correction Immediate follow-up on board meeting outcomes Allows a single VC to multiply their reach and/or depth Eliminates Geography as a barrier to investment!
