business model, business model canvas, columbia, customer development, lean launchpad, lean startup, steve blank

1. Smart at Personal Finance
Cohort 1 Group 2: Patrick Pan, Tian Zhang
Interviewed Yesterday: 25
Total Interviews: 65

2. Chinese International students have little
knowledge on personal finance and are
most vulnerable to be taken advantage
of (including myself when I was 19)

3. Day 5 - Summary
1. 65Interviews by the most LEAN team
2. Discovered the NEWcustomer segment
3. MVPDone!
4. Tremendous GrowthPotential

4. Day 1 - Business Model

5. Day 2 ~ 4 - Hypothesis Testing
Hypothesis Test Pass/Fail Test Result
1
Chinese International
students are willing to pay
for attending seminars in
financial literacy
● Interview Chinese international students with all
backgrounds to gauge their interest
● Explicitly ask whether they are willing to pay for $20 -
$25 for seminars
Pass: If >50% of students
interviewed agree to pay
Fail: If otherwise
Over 90% students interviewed
are willing to pay
$20 - $25 is reasonable price,
$30 is upper limit for WTP
light refreshments are expected
2
Chinese International
students are willing to pay
for module
● Interview students to understand their willingness to pay
for each module
● Investigate the price of equivalent course offered by
higher education institutes
Pass: If >50% of target customers
are willing to pay
Fail: If otherwise
Over 90% students interviewed
are willing to pay
Price per module ranges from
$20 - $180 based on students’
background,
3
Chinese international
students are willing to pay
for online subscription
● Interview students to assess their interest of paying
subscription for online access
Pass: If 50% of target customers
are willing to pay
Fail: If otherwise
70% of students interviewed are
willing to pay
$10.99/month seems reasonable,
but the video should be short &
interesting, the length for each is
within 5 mins
4
Schools are interested in
offering “Financial
Literacy” courses to its
students
● Interview school representatives (especially with
international student department)
Pass: 50% of school are
interested in the concept and is
willing to pay for it
Fail: If not
Hard to collaborate with school
but great possibilities to
collaborate with Chinese Student
Clubs in universities and colleges

6. Day 2~4 - Customer Segments
Chinese International Students
from non-business background
Parents of high-
school/middle school
Chinese Students in US
Overseas Education Agency
in China/US
Private International school
in North America
Chinese Student
Unions/Clubs in Universities
and College
03
01 02business background
We also discover strong interest from local
parents/students

7. Day 5 - Business Model

8. Day 5 - Channels
Product
（B2C）
Individuals
Institutions
Product
（B2B）
Direct Sales
Direct Sales

9. Day 5 - Get/Keep/Grow
Get
● Open Class/Seminars
● Content distributor
巫师财经，created on
Sep, 2019 and get over 3 Million
views on 11 video
● School Partnership
1
Keep
● Personal Finance knowledge
through 8 Modules
(online/offline)
● Weekly personal finance tips
2
Grow
● Create communities
● Launch APPs that 1) help
manage personal budget 2)
share good practices on
personal finances 3)share
good service providers
3
Platform / Community

10. Customer Lifetime Value
College
862 US colleges accepting
Chinese international students
Graduate and get jobs
Teenages
Grade 10-12
Local Private Schools
International Schools in China

11. Day 5 - Revenue Model
Seminars ($20 - $25) 8 Modules
1 - Day Bootcamp Advisory service
Online Subscription
TBD
US Colleges/Private School International schools in China
TBD

12. Day 5 - MVP
Website: https://smart-next.github.io/

13. Day 6 ~ N: What’s Next?
Traffic Leads
● Quiz Lead
● Influencers
● Social Media
● Student Clubs
$20 ~ $25 per ticket
Social + Learn
Seminar
● Customer Acquiring
● Course Developing
● Feedback collecting
● Product Pricing
Split Testing
Analytics
● Discover the price by best
conversion rate
● Assess customer
preferences
● Develop solid content
B2B
● Build partnership with
schools
● Include the course pack
into their curriculum
US/Canada Colleges
International schools
in China

14. Day 6~N - Growth Plan

15. Smart at Personal Finance
Thank You
Q&A