The document is a participant workbook for a startup thinking workshop focused on guiding attendees through key business model concepts and customer validation strategies. It includes worksheets for exploring customer challenges, analogs and antilogs, and developing a business model canvas, along with customer empathy mapping and validation planning. The document serves as a practical guide to help participants refine their startup ideas and strategies.

1. Startup Thinking 101
Pre-Conference Workshop
Participant Workbook
Helen Kula & M.J. D’Elia
Internet Librarian 2014
Sunday, October 26 1:30 – 4:30
Monterey Conference Center
Monterey, California

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Worksheet: Explore the Challenge
Who do you expect will buy/use your product or service?
What problem(s) are you solving for your potential customers/users?
What do your potential customers/users do right now to solve those same
problems?
Why would they choose your solution over their current solutions?
What are the key factors to making your idea successful?

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Who do you need to partner with to make this idea a reality?
What are the immediate challenges or barriers to the success of this idea?
What do you need to do to solve some of these challenges listed above?
Who would know a lot about this opportunity? Who has expertise?
What do you still need to know?

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Worksheet: Analogs & Antilogs
Analogs
List two to three successful predecessor examples (projects, organizations, etc.) that you plan to borrow
from. Describe the parts of their approach that are worth emulating.
Antilogs
List two to three predecessor examples (projects, organizations, etc.) that you plan to explicitly do things
differently from. Describe how your approach will diverge from what they do.

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Worksheet: Business Model Canvas
Customer Segments
For whom does the company create value? Who are their most important customers?
Value Proposition
What value does the company deliver? Which customer problem does the company help solve? Which
customer need do they satisfy? What bundles of products/services do they offer each customer
segment?
Channels
How do the customers want to be reached? How does the company reach them now? How is the
company integrating with customer routines?
Customer Relationships
What type of relationship does each customer segment expect? Which relationships have been
established? How are they integrated with the rest of the biz model?
Revenue Streams / Return
For what value are customers really willing to pay? For what do they currently pay? How are they
currently paying? How much does each revenue stream contribute to overall revenue?

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Key Resources
What key resources do your value propositions require? Distribution channels? Customer relationships?
Revenue streams?
Key Activities
What key activities do your value proposi tions require? Distribution channels? Customer relationships?
Revenue streams?
Key Partners
Who are your company’s key partners? Who are your company’s key suppliers? Which key resources do
they get from someone else? Which key activities do partners perform?
Cost
What are the most important costs inherent in our business model? Which key resources are most
expensive? Which key activities are most expensive?

7. Biz Model Canvas
Key Partners
Key Activities
Value Propositions
Customer Relationships
Customer Segments
Key Resources
Channels
Cost Structure
Revenue Streams / Returns

8. Worksheet: Customer Validation Interviews
Planning
Who are you planning to interact with? Why?
Where will you intercept/interact with these people?
When will you do it?
How many people do you plan to talk to?
Questions
List four or five questions that you plan to ask your participants when you’re talking to them.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

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Bonus Worksheet: Customer Empathy Map
Customer Segment: _______________________________________________________________
What does your customer THINK and FEEL?
What is really important to her? What are her dreams? What keeps her up at night?
What does your customer HEAR?
How does her environment influence her? Who
influences her? Which media channels are
influential?
What does your customer SEE?
Who are her friends? What problems does she
have? What offers is she exposed to daily?
What does your customer SAY and DO?
What is she like in public? What is her attitude? What is she saying to others?
PAIN (fears, frustrations, obstacles)
Where are her frustrations? What obstacles is she
facing? Which risks is she afraid of taking?
GAIN (wants/needs, measures of success)
What does she hope to achieve? How does she
measure success? What strategies does she use to
achieve her goals?

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Worksheet: 3-2-1 Report
Three features of your model
1.
2.
3.
Two things you learned today
1.
2.
One thing you are going to do when you get back
1.

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Startup Thinking 101: Reference List
Blank, S. (2014). Steve Blank [blog]. Retrieved from http://steveblank.com
Blank, S. & Dorf, B. (2012). The Startup Owner’s Manual. Pescadero, CA: K&S Ranch
Cooper, B. & Vlaskovits, P. (2010). The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer
Development. Newport Beach, CA: Cooper-Vlaskovits
Komisar, J. & Mullins, R. (2009). Getting to Plan B. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business.
MaRS. Entrepreneur’s Toolkit. Retrieved from http://www.marsdd.com/entrepreneurs-toolkit/
Mathews, B. (2012, April). Think like a Startup [white paper]. Retrieved from
http://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/handle/10919/18649
Osterwalder, A. & Pigneur, Y. (2010). Business Model Generation. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley
Ries, E. (2011). The Lean Startup. New York: Crown.
Contact Info
Helen Kula
Librarian, Institute for Management and Innovation
University of Toronto Mississauga
helen.kula@utoronto.ca
Twitter: @helenkula
M.J. D’Elia
Head, Learning & Curriculum Support
University of Guelph
mdelia@uoguelph.ca
Twitter: @mjdelia

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Notes
Questions