This is a talk I did for the UVA Innovation center. The center works with researchers at the university to help commercialize their innovations. No footage but for more on these topics please see www.alexandercowan.com/speaking
@ Charlottesville Business Innovation Council- Accelerating Your StartupAlex Cowan
This is a talk I did for entrepreneurs and investors at the Charlottesville Innovation Council (CBIC). For footage on the topics, please see www.alexandercowan.com/speaking.
This describes the cultural underpinnings of Rebel Foods, the makers of Faasos, Behrouz Biryani etc. Rebel Foods is world's largest Internet Restaurant company.
LAUNCH! Magazine celebrates the creativity,
dedication to responsible business practice and entrepreneurial spirit of students and alumni at Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business and Management, principles fundamental to its mission and
that the school and its faculty have embraced and actively advanced for more than 40 years.
Employee Value Proposition in Corporate Human ResourcesSarah Brennan
Employee Value Proposition (EVP) is beneficial in companies of all stages of maturity, but learning how to develop one can be a complex and confusing for even the most advanced organizations. This slideshare will walk you through the steps of developing an EVP that meets the needs of your corporate culture.
Content created and presented by Sarah White & Associates, LLC a Human Capital Market Strategy and Advisory firm. We provide best practices and market education to corporate Human Resource teams around talent and integration of technology technology into employee lifecycle. We also partners with vendors to improve their offerings to best meet the needs of practitioners.
Learn more or see full speaking schedule at www.SarahWhiteLLC.com
This event was sponsored by Achievers employee recognition software. Learn more about them at www.Achievers.com
@ Charlottesville Business Innovation Council- Accelerating Your StartupAlex Cowan
This is a talk I did for entrepreneurs and investors at the Charlottesville Innovation Council (CBIC). For footage on the topics, please see www.alexandercowan.com/speaking.
This describes the cultural underpinnings of Rebel Foods, the makers of Faasos, Behrouz Biryani etc. Rebel Foods is world's largest Internet Restaurant company.
LAUNCH! Magazine celebrates the creativity,
dedication to responsible business practice and entrepreneurial spirit of students and alumni at Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business and Management, principles fundamental to its mission and
that the school and its faculty have embraced and actively advanced for more than 40 years.
Employee Value Proposition in Corporate Human ResourcesSarah Brennan
Employee Value Proposition (EVP) is beneficial in companies of all stages of maturity, but learning how to develop one can be a complex and confusing for even the most advanced organizations. This slideshare will walk you through the steps of developing an EVP that meets the needs of your corporate culture.
Content created and presented by Sarah White & Associates, LLC a Human Capital Market Strategy and Advisory firm. We provide best practices and market education to corporate Human Resource teams around talent and integration of technology technology into employee lifecycle. We also partners with vendors to improve their offerings to best meet the needs of practitioners.
Learn more or see full speaking schedule at www.SarahWhiteLLC.com
This event was sponsored by Achievers employee recognition software. Learn more about them at www.Achievers.com
Crafting a Powerful Employee Value PropositionCielo
Creating, refreshing or overhauling your Employee Value Proposition (EVP) is no simple undertaking. It must become a living asset that informs your people agenda, policies and processes. Here is the 10-step framework for planning and implementing your own authentic EVP.
Having been a part of, easily, over 100 venture pitches, it’s hard not to put myself in the shoes of the venture capitalist; listening to entrepreneurs talk about their ventures as though I intend to invest more than I could possibly manage.
The marketer in me, having listened to far more startup pitches than I’ve given, can’t help but pattern match; taking data in in order to optimize the performance of that with which I’m working.
And thus, having socialized this idea countless times, it seemed clear that it was time to put pen to paper and share with you what comes of a marketer listening to pitches, and an investor giving them: how to give the perfect fund raising pitch.
More: http://seobrien.com/perfect-startup-pitch
10 reasons why it's time to re think the EVPTEDxMongKok
The conventional approach to developing an Employee Value Proposition (EVP) is ripe for disruption. Too often we see mediocre, bland and meaningless EVPs that don't create real change. We are taking a stand against bland. Here are 10 reasons why we need to re-think the EVP.
This session will provide a different approach to teaching the Entrepreneurship class by incorporating lessons in business planning, literacy, and project-based learning. This approach resulted in students at East Davidson High School Academy of Finance obtaining 100% proficiency on state tests.
4 Steps to a Compelling Employer Brand from ScratchAndy, Xinbin Hu
While 72% of recruiting leaders worldwide agree that employer brand has a significant impact on hiring, just 55% have a proactive employer brand strategy*.
If you belong to one of the 45% of companies who do not have a proactive employer brand strategy, getting started can feel daunting.
In this APAC webinar, LinkedIn Employer Brand specialists will show you how you can build a compelling employer brand in-house and from scratch. You will learn:
How to setup your employer brand project for success
How to develop your Employer Value Proposition
How to plan your employer brand communications
How to rollout your employer brand
Having a positive work environment can have a tremendous impact on the bottom line. Learn more in this online marketing class from cataloguniversity.com
Employee Value Proposition Template PowerPoint Presentation SlidesSlideTeam
Retain your employees by incorporating our employee value proposition PowerPoint slides. Our employee value proposition PPT slideshow has a set of various useful and customizable Presentation slides which can represent the offerings given to your employees in an eye pleasing manner. It is the people which leads an organization to the path of success using their skills, knowledge and capabilities. So, you should hire the best of talent offering them the best possible opportunities using our employee value proposition Presentation theme. This content-ready employee value proposition PowerPoint deck covers topics like employee value proposition components, employee benefits, work life balance, framework, benefits, and more. Increase your workforce and retain the talent by showcasing your viewers employee value proposition Presentation templates. You can add your own content as the graphics are completely modifiable. A strong employee value proposition PPT design will help in retaining top performers and attract the best talent. Download these PPT diagrams as required. Encourage folks to express friendship with our Employee Value Proposition Template PowerPoint Presentation Slides. Generate handshakes all around.
As consumers we have different priorities when making purchasing decisions. For example, when buying a new car we will all consider different elements important (safety, price, large boot, etc.) So when people "buy" a new job from a company their purchasing decisions are equally as unique and personal e.g. the company brand, the salary, the location, culture, etc. Some are more focused on the facilities and technology available.
Essentially, the Employment Value Proposition (EVP) is the compelling reason to join a company. EVP encompasses both Employer and Employee Value Proposition. The key thing is, that the EVP should be ongoing and not just something to be considered at the stage of attraction.
United Minds’ Forward to Work: Designing the Employee Experience of the FutureWeber Shandwick
In our sixth session, “Designing the Employee Experience of the Future,” TIAA's Chief Associate Experience & Employee Relations Officer Andy Habenicht and Chief Talent Management Officer Josh Greenwald discussed their journey to becoming an employee-centric organization, including:
- The importance of focusing on employee experience
- Changing expectations in today’s environment
- Considerations to inform planning
Please visit our website for more information: http://unitedmindsglobal.com.
In this latest edition of Insights Success - Best Companies to Work For, we are celebrating organizations that have excellent leaders at the top of their management getting their hands busy in keeping the work environment vibrant.
Crafting a Powerful Employee Value PropositionCielo
Creating, refreshing or overhauling your Employee Value Proposition (EVP) is no simple undertaking. It must become a living asset that informs your people agenda, policies and processes. Here is the 10-step framework for planning and implementing your own authentic EVP.
Having been a part of, easily, over 100 venture pitches, it’s hard not to put myself in the shoes of the venture capitalist; listening to entrepreneurs talk about their ventures as though I intend to invest more than I could possibly manage.
The marketer in me, having listened to far more startup pitches than I’ve given, can’t help but pattern match; taking data in in order to optimize the performance of that with which I’m working.
And thus, having socialized this idea countless times, it seemed clear that it was time to put pen to paper and share with you what comes of a marketer listening to pitches, and an investor giving them: how to give the perfect fund raising pitch.
More: http://seobrien.com/perfect-startup-pitch
10 reasons why it's time to re think the EVPTEDxMongKok
The conventional approach to developing an Employee Value Proposition (EVP) is ripe for disruption. Too often we see mediocre, bland and meaningless EVPs that don't create real change. We are taking a stand against bland. Here are 10 reasons why we need to re-think the EVP.
This session will provide a different approach to teaching the Entrepreneurship class by incorporating lessons in business planning, literacy, and project-based learning. This approach resulted in students at East Davidson High School Academy of Finance obtaining 100% proficiency on state tests.
4 Steps to a Compelling Employer Brand from ScratchAndy, Xinbin Hu
While 72% of recruiting leaders worldwide agree that employer brand has a significant impact on hiring, just 55% have a proactive employer brand strategy*.
If you belong to one of the 45% of companies who do not have a proactive employer brand strategy, getting started can feel daunting.
In this APAC webinar, LinkedIn Employer Brand specialists will show you how you can build a compelling employer brand in-house and from scratch. You will learn:
How to setup your employer brand project for success
How to develop your Employer Value Proposition
How to plan your employer brand communications
How to rollout your employer brand
Having a positive work environment can have a tremendous impact on the bottom line. Learn more in this online marketing class from cataloguniversity.com
Employee Value Proposition Template PowerPoint Presentation SlidesSlideTeam
Retain your employees by incorporating our employee value proposition PowerPoint slides. Our employee value proposition PPT slideshow has a set of various useful and customizable Presentation slides which can represent the offerings given to your employees in an eye pleasing manner. It is the people which leads an organization to the path of success using their skills, knowledge and capabilities. So, you should hire the best of talent offering them the best possible opportunities using our employee value proposition Presentation theme. This content-ready employee value proposition PowerPoint deck covers topics like employee value proposition components, employee benefits, work life balance, framework, benefits, and more. Increase your workforce and retain the talent by showcasing your viewers employee value proposition Presentation templates. You can add your own content as the graphics are completely modifiable. A strong employee value proposition PPT design will help in retaining top performers and attract the best talent. Download these PPT diagrams as required. Encourage folks to express friendship with our Employee Value Proposition Template PowerPoint Presentation Slides. Generate handshakes all around.
As consumers we have different priorities when making purchasing decisions. For example, when buying a new car we will all consider different elements important (safety, price, large boot, etc.) So when people "buy" a new job from a company their purchasing decisions are equally as unique and personal e.g. the company brand, the salary, the location, culture, etc. Some are more focused on the facilities and technology available.
Essentially, the Employment Value Proposition (EVP) is the compelling reason to join a company. EVP encompasses both Employer and Employee Value Proposition. The key thing is, that the EVP should be ongoing and not just something to be considered at the stage of attraction.
United Minds’ Forward to Work: Designing the Employee Experience of the FutureWeber Shandwick
In our sixth session, “Designing the Employee Experience of the Future,” TIAA's Chief Associate Experience & Employee Relations Officer Andy Habenicht and Chief Talent Management Officer Josh Greenwald discussed their journey to becoming an employee-centric organization, including:
- The importance of focusing on employee experience
- Changing expectations in today’s environment
- Considerations to inform planning
Please visit our website for more information: http://unitedmindsglobal.com.
In this latest edition of Insights Success - Best Companies to Work For, we are celebrating organizations that have excellent leaders at the top of their management getting their hands busy in keeping the work environment vibrant.
Augmented Reality and the Future of Local SearchLinkdex
What does the popularity of gamified AR like PokemonGO mean for the future of local search and the maps channel? Luke Regan of DAC Group looks at the short and long term opportunities as well as the strategic implications of this trend.
These are from a lecture I did at UVA's undergraduate school of business (commerce), McIntire. The class was 'Commerce 4681- Entrepreneurship'. It's part of an entrepreneurship track UVA offers. The objective of the talk was to present an applied view of design thinking, Lean Startup, customer development, and agile. No footage, but if you'd like a live or screencast version of the talk you can find them here: www.alexandercowan.com/speaking.
This is a talk I gave to students and community on best practices in customer development for startup's. It's particular emphasis is on the quick, simple, and effective application of design thinking and Lean Startup. Hack Cville is a private co-working and mentoring space in Charlottesville with close ties to UVA. For live and screencast versions of the material, check out: www.alexandercowan.com/speaking .
10 Steps to Manage Your Online Ratings #RDJ2016Surefire Local
Speakers Bill Owens, President of Owens Construction and Shashi Bellamkonda, CMO of Surefire Social share their presentation of a talk they gave at the 2016 Remodeling Show on how remodelers can manage their online reputation in terms of the importance of reviews, acquiring more reviews, and responding to reviews you receive (both 5-stars and 1-stars).
Creating New Products- Silicon Valley Product Management Association (SVPMA)Alex Cowan
This is an excerpt from www.alexandercowan.com/speaking . For tutorials and templates on how to do all this, you can try www.alexandercowan.com/resources.
The SVPMA provides a great set of services for one of the industry’s most demanding and least understood professions. I particularly enjoyed the informal time I had with the members before and after the event. The talk was titled ‘Creating New Products – Case Study on Application of Proven Principles’.
This is a slightly modified version (includes text of speaker notes) of the presentation that our CEO, Brennan, delivered at the CHRO Summit in Toronto. It focuses on why leaders need to focus on employee engagement more, why they don't currently and how to fix that.
@cowanSF:
This is an excerpt from www.alexandercowan.com/speaking . For tutorials and templates on how to do all this, you can try www.alexandercowan.com/resources.
The rest of this case study is here: www.alexandercowan.com/speaking.
10 Action Items to Become Successful in MarketingRandy Everett
Training deck presented to UCSD Undergraduate Marketing Association in 2013. The goal was to provide advice for students considering a marketing career. The format included an introduction, explanation of a marketing agency's role, examples from Anderson Direct Marketing at http://www.andersondm.com and my personal top 10 recommended action items to become successful in Marketing. The trivia questions were opportunities to win gift cards during the presentation and keep it interactive.
Growing your business, making money, and increasing your employee base are all great business goals. But how do you achieve them? Where do you start? Follow these 4 steps to create the map that will help you attain your goals.
The 10 Most Successful Businesswomen to Watch, 2022 September2022.pdfInsightsSuccess4
This edition features a handful of Businesswomen leaders across several sectors that are at the forefront of leading us.
Read More: https://insightssuccess.com/the-10-most-successful-businesswomen-to-watch-2022-september2022/
This is a class for businesspeople/MBA that I currently teach at UVA Darden. It's a continuation of Software Design (bit.ly/sw-class). For more on the Software Development class, see bit.ly/sw-dev.
GraphRAG is All You need? LLM & Knowledge GraphGuy Korland
Guy Korland, CEO and Co-founder of FalkorDB, will review two articles on the integration of language models with knowledge graphs.
1. Unifying Large Language Models and Knowledge Graphs: A Roadmap.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.08302
2. Microsoft Research's GraphRAG paper and a review paper on various uses of knowledge graphs:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/blog/graphrag-unlocking-llm-discovery-on-narrative-private-data/
Securing your Kubernetes cluster_ a step-by-step guide to success !KatiaHIMEUR1
Today, after several years of existence, an extremely active community and an ultra-dynamic ecosystem, Kubernetes has established itself as the de facto standard in container orchestration. Thanks to a wide range of managed services, it has never been so easy to set up a ready-to-use Kubernetes cluster.
However, this ease of use means that the subject of security in Kubernetes is often left for later, or even neglected. This exposes companies to significant risks.
In this talk, I'll show you step-by-step how to secure your Kubernetes cluster for greater peace of mind and reliability.
In his public lecture, Christian Timmerer provides insights into the fascinating history of video streaming, starting from its humble beginnings before YouTube to the groundbreaking technologies that now dominate platforms like Netflix and ORF ON. Timmerer also presents provocative contributions of his own that have significantly influenced the industry. He concludes by looking at future challenges and invites the audience to join in a discussion.
Transcript: Selling digital books in 2024: Insights from industry leaders - T...BookNet Canada
The publishing industry has been selling digital audiobooks and ebooks for over a decade and has found its groove. What’s changed? What has stayed the same? Where do we go from here? Join a group of leading sales peers from across the industry for a conversation about the lessons learned since the popularization of digital books, best practices, digital book supply chain management, and more.
Link to video recording: https://bnctechforum.ca/sessions/selling-digital-books-in-2024-insights-from-industry-leaders/
Presented by BookNet Canada on May 28, 2024, with support from the Department of Canadian Heritage.
SAP Sapphire 2024 - ASUG301 building better apps with SAP Fiori.pdfPeter Spielvogel
Building better applications for business users with SAP Fiori.
• What is SAP Fiori and why it matters to you
• How a better user experience drives measurable business benefits
• How to get started with SAP Fiori today
• How SAP Fiori elements accelerates application development
• How SAP Build Code includes SAP Fiori tools and other generative artificial intelligence capabilities
• How SAP Fiori paves the way for using AI in SAP apps
Climate Impact of Software Testing at Nordic Testing DaysKari Kakkonen
My slides at Nordic Testing Days 6.6.2024
Climate impact / sustainability of software testing discussed on the talk. ICT and testing must carry their part of global responsibility to help with the climat warming. We can minimize the carbon footprint but we can also have a carbon handprint, a positive impact on the climate. Quality characteristics can be added with sustainability, and then measured continuously. Test environments can be used less, and in smaller scale and on demand. Test techniques can be used in optimizing or minimizing number of tests. Test automation can be used to speed up testing.
Essentials of Automations: The Art of Triggers and Actions in FMESafe Software
In this second installment of our Essentials of Automations webinar series, we’ll explore the landscape of triggers and actions, guiding you through the nuances of authoring and adapting workspaces for seamless automations. Gain an understanding of the full spectrum of triggers and actions available in FME, empowering you to enhance your workspaces for efficient automation.
We’ll kick things off by showcasing the most commonly used event-based triggers, introducing you to various automation workflows like manual triggers, schedules, directory watchers, and more. Plus, see how these elements play out in real scenarios.
Whether you’re tweaking your current setup or building from the ground up, this session will arm you with the tools and insights needed to transform your FME usage into a powerhouse of productivity. Join us to discover effective strategies that simplify complex processes, enhancing your productivity and transforming your data management practices with FME. Let’s turn complexity into clarity and make your workspaces work wonders!
UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series, part 4DianaGray10
Welcome to UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series part 4. In this session, we will cover Test Manager overview along with SAP heatmap.
The UiPath Test Manager overview with SAP heatmap webinar offers a concise yet comprehensive exploration of the role of a Test Manager within SAP environments, coupled with the utilization of heatmaps for effective testing strategies.
Participants will gain insights into the responsibilities, challenges, and best practices associated with test management in SAP projects. Additionally, the webinar delves into the significance of heatmaps as a visual aid for identifying testing priorities, areas of risk, and resource allocation within SAP landscapes. Through this session, attendees can expect to enhance their understanding of test management principles while learning practical approaches to optimize testing processes in SAP environments using heatmap visualization techniques
What will you get from this session?
1. Insights into SAP testing best practices
2. Heatmap utilization for testing
3. Optimization of testing processes
4. Demo
Topics covered:
Execution from the test manager
Orchestrator execution result
Defect reporting
SAP heatmap example with demo
Speaker:
Deepak Rai, Automation Practice Lead, Boundaryless Group and UiPath MVP
Communications Mining Series - Zero to Hero - Session 1DianaGray10
This session provides introduction to UiPath Communication Mining, importance and platform overview. You will acquire a good understand of the phases in Communication Mining as we go over the platform with you. Topics covered:
• Communication Mining Overview
• Why is it important?
• How can it help today’s business and the benefits
• Phases in Communication Mining
• Demo on Platform overview
• Q/A
Generative AI Deep Dive: Advancing from Proof of Concept to ProductionAggregage
Join Maher Hanafi, VP of Engineering at Betterworks, in this new session where he'll share a practical framework to transform Gen AI prototypes into impactful products! He'll delve into the complexities of data collection and management, model selection and optimization, and ensuring security, scalability, and responsible use.
Epistemic Interaction - tuning interfaces to provide information for AI supportAlan Dix
Paper presented at SYNERGY workshop at AVI 2024, Genoa, Italy. 3rd June 2024
https://alandix.com/academic/papers/synergy2024-epistemic/
As machine learning integrates deeper into human-computer interactions, the concept of epistemic interaction emerges, aiming to refine these interactions to enhance system adaptability. This approach encourages minor, intentional adjustments in user behaviour to enrich the data available for system learning. This paper introduces epistemic interaction within the context of human-system communication, illustrating how deliberate interaction design can improve system understanding and adaptation. Through concrete examples, we demonstrate the potential of epistemic interaction to significantly advance human-computer interaction by leveraging intuitive human communication strategies to inform system design and functionality, offering a novel pathway for enriching user-system engagements.
PHP Frameworks: I want to break free (IPC Berlin 2024)Ralf Eggert
In this presentation, we examine the challenges and limitations of relying too heavily on PHP frameworks in web development. We discuss the history of PHP and its frameworks to understand how this dependence has evolved. The focus will be on providing concrete tips and strategies to reduce reliance on these frameworks, based on real-world examples and practical considerations. The goal is to equip developers with the skills and knowledge to create more flexible and future-proof web applications. We'll explore the importance of maintaining autonomy in a rapidly changing tech landscape and how to make informed decisions in PHP development.
This talk is aimed at encouraging a more independent approach to using PHP frameworks, moving towards a more flexible and future-proof approach to PHP development.
Pushing the limits of ePRTC: 100ns holdover for 100 daysAdtran
At WSTS 2024, Alon Stern explored the topic of parametric holdover and explained how recent research findings can be implemented in real-world PNT networks to achieve 100 nanoseconds of accuracy for up to 100 days.
5. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
2007 went out on my own
2008
profitable,
productized
consulting business
2010 software business
2011 scaling!
2013 keep learning,
keep innovating
6. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
A LEAN PROGRESSION
CONSULTING PRODUCTS
Validated problem
scenarios with
substantial detail
‘PRODUCTIZED’
CONSULTING
Customer empathy-
more scope, detail on
problem scenarios
7. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
UNDERSTANDING THE MARKET
50-70% of
Enterprise
Software
Implementations
Fail
8. How do we do this
more efficiently? Are
we implementing best
practices?
How do we improve
service quality? How
do we verify that?
Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
IDEATION
Help me integrate and
standardize the
infrastructure. And show
my people how to use it.
Creating accounts is
taking a lot of time/
money. And there are a
lot of mistakes.
9. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
IDEATION
SERVICE
STANDARDIZATION
& WORKFLOW
SERVICE
DESIGN
PROCESS
AUDIT,
DESIGN
NETWORK
PRINCIPALS
OF OPERATION
10. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
Design Thinking
Lean Startup
Customer Dev.
Agile
} BIG VOID
{ Actual Practice
11. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
DESIGN THINKING- WHAT IS
GOOGLE TRENDS:
DESIGN THINKING
12. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
IDEATION
Self-Love
And Then
Design
Thinking
And Now
Survival
Back Then
18. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
•Women
•Age 28-45
•Have kids
•Socialize with other mom’s
•Online with Facebook
•86% said they’d like to be
more organized
•70% said they’d use an
application that organizes them
IDEATION
20. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
Mary is a mom by choice. She had a successful
career in accounting, but welcomed the opportunity to
be a stay at home mom. She loves it. But it’s not like
having kids purged her creative, social instincts. She
wants to connect, she wants to learn, she wants to
interact. Being a mom is a job and she wants to do it
well. That means corresponding with other mom’s on
relevant topics and keeping the family calendar in
ship shape. She posts to Facebook at least twice a
week and responds to other moms’ items more often
than that.
For household stuff, Costco is the go-to place, but
she’ll pick up fresh items at the farmer’s market when
it’s up and splurge at Whole Foods when they’re
having company.
Mary the Mom
IDEATION
22. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
IDEATION
Personas
User
Stories
Problem
Scenarios
?
23. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
Drafting
Stories
PERSONAS
STORIES
Epic Stories
Stories
Test Cases
“As a [persona],
I want to [do something]
so that I can [derive a benefit]”
IDEATION
24. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
Borrowed
with
utmost
regard
from
Banksy
(banksy.co.uk)
IDEATION
25. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
PLANNING
!5,000,000%
0%
5,000,000%
10,000,000%
15,000,000%
20,000,000%
25,000,000%
30,000,000%
35,000,000%
40,000,000%
45,000,000%
2012% 2013% 2014% 2015% 2016% 2017% 2018% 2019% 2020%
Revenue%
Expense%
EBITDA%
Five Year
Plan
Then
Iterative
Management
Now
6.a PIVOT
experiments
disprove
hypothesis
01 IDEA!
02 HYPOTHESIS
03 EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
04 EXPERIMENTATION
05 PIVOT OR PERSEVERE?
6.b PERSEVERE
experiments prove
hypothesis
27. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
PLANNING
PLANNING
Do I have real evidence from my buyer that
this is compelling?
6.a YES
results
disprove
hypothesis
01 IDEA!
02 HYPOTHESIS
03 EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
04 EXPERIMENTATION
05 REVISE?
6.b NO
we appear to
have a valid
hypothesis
What are the key assumptions
required to make this business work?
6.a YES
results
disprove
hypothesis
01 IDEA!
02 HYPOTHESIS
03 EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
04 EXPERIMENTATION
05 REVISE?
6.b NO
we appear to
have a valid
hypothesis
How do I definitely prove or disprove
the assumptions with a minimum of
time and effort?
6.a YES
results
disprove
hypothesis
01 IDEA!
02 HYPOTHESIS
03 EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
04 EXPERIMENTATION
05 REVISE?
6.b NO
we appear to
have a valid
hypothesis
6.a YES
results
disprove
hypothesis
01 IDEA!
02 HYPOTHESIS
03 EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
04 EXPERIMENTATION
05 REVISE?
6.b NO
we appear to
have a valid
hypothesis
Am I reacting or am I focused on
validating my pivotal assumptions?
‘Pivot or persevere?’
28. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
Priority Key Assumption Needs Proving? Experimentation
1
[A key assumption about
the business]
[Whether it needs
proving
[Experiment to
prove or disprove]
1
Parents want to better
organize the distribution
of allowances
Yes
* Post the proposition in ads
online
* Measure sign-up’s on a landing
page
2
Parents have smart
phones
No n/a
PLANNING
29. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
PERSONA PROBLEM SCENARIO
‘This thing should increase
satisfaction & involvement;
and reduce support calls.’
Bruce
the
Business Owner
Percival
the
Product Mgr.
&
ONLINE SELF-CARE
IMPLEMENTATION
30. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
Priority Key Assumption Needs Proving? Experimentation
1
End users want to log in
and do self-care
Yes!
Instrument adequate reporting,
create awareness,
see if they nibble
1
Reducing the portals
clicks to destination
from 4-6 to 2-3 is good
enough
Yes
- Log and analyze navigation
- Do support calls go down?
ASSUMPTIONS ON SELF-CARE
31. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
Priority Key Assumption Needs Proving? Experimentation
1
End users want to log in
and do self-care
Yes!
Instrument adequate reporting,
create awareness,
see if they nibble
1
Reducing the portals
clicks to destination
from 4-6 to 2-3 is good
enough
Yes
- Log and analyze navigation
- Do support calls go down?
ASSUMPTIONS ON SELF-CARE
32. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
PERSONA PROBLEM SCENARIO
‘This thing should increase
satisfaction & involvement;
and reduce support calls.’
Bruce
the
Business Owner
Percival
the
Product Mgr.
&
ONLINE SELF-CARE
Focus on
customer admin
experience
IMPLEMENTATION
34. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
PERSONA PROBLEM SCENARIO
Orson the
Office Manager
‘I still don’t get it.’
‘This thing should increase
satisfaction & involvement;
and reduce support calls.’
Bruce
the
Business Owner
Percival
the
Product Mgr.
&
ONLINE SELF-CARE
One click access
via ‘Dashboard’
Focus on
customer admin
experience
IMPLEMENTATION
35. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
Priority Key Assumption Needs Proving? Experimentation
1
Customer admin’s will
do self-care with training
and awareness
Yes!
Focus on training customer
admin’s,
see if they nibble
1
Presenting all the users
of interest on the 1st
page will engage these
admin’s
Yes
- Log and analyze navigation
- Do support calls go down?
ASSUMPTIONS ON SELF-CARE
42. Big Company
Recipes Applied
Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
5 Year Plan ==
10x Returns!
X: < Odds at Lotto
VC-Encouraged
Menagerie
X: Too much
too soon
X: Lack of Experience
in Hands-on Discovery
X: Better Luck with
the Lottery
X: Fun and Profit-
Unlikely
ORGANIZATION
+
+
New Idea!
Expanded Team
Revisions to Plan
== Edgy Board
X: Want Lots of
Capital at Work
It Works! Working 5 Year Plan
New Hires
Founders Investors Board
43. Investors?
Advisors?
Focus on Validated
Learning
Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
Key Assumptions
ID’ed, Validated
Lower Risk &
Capital Requirement
Resources
As Needed
Clear Focus in
Hiring & Contracting
Roles and Success
Criteria Clear
Progress is Quick
and Measurable
Fun & Profit
ORGANIZATION
+
+
New Idea!
Full Tilt at a ‘Pivot or
Persevere’ Moment
Is approach
working or not?
Option for
Non-Traditional
Funding Strategies
Expanded Team
New Hires
Founders Investors Board
45. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
Individuals
Interactions
>
Processes
Tools
Working
software
Comprehensive
Documentation
>
Customer
collaboration
Contract
negotiation
>
Responding
to change
Following
a plan
>
DEVELOPMENT
46. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
DEVELOPMENT
validate feature
relevance with
customers
Past
collaborate with
development
team
Present
observe and
envision what’s
next
Future
47. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
DESIGN
THINKING
LEAN
STARTUP
CUSTOMER
DEV.
AGILE
personas
problem scenarios
user stories
hypothesis
(assumptions)
experimental design
roles & team
objectives
working product
48. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
Problem Scenarios for the Undergrad
PERSONA PROBLEM SCENARIO IMPLEMENTATION
Uma the
Undergrad
How do I participate in a lean
environment? Do I need to
learn how to code?
Uma the
Undergrad
How to manage in an
environment of scarcity and
uncertainty?
How to create & describe deep
customer understanding?
Uma
the
Undergrad
49. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
Problem Scenarios for the Undergrad
What would
Jefferson do?
50. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
Problem Scenarios for the Undergrad
PERSONA PROBLEM SCENARIO
Lean Startup
(Applied)
Design Thinking
(Applied)
IMPLEMENTATION
Uma the
Undergrad
How do I participate in a lean
environment? Do I need to
learn how to code?
Foundation
Concept
(Stack)
Uma the
Undergrad
How to manage in an
environment of scarcity and
uncertainty?
How to create & describe deep
customer understanding?
Uma
the
Undergrad
52. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
If not a traditional business plan, then what?
Who is the
buyer? User?
What problem(s)
Personas
Problem Scenarios
What’s the
business?
Positioning Statement,
Business Model
Canvas
What has to
happen?
Lean Startup-Style
Assumptions
What economics and
requirement for
cash?
Lean Financial
Model
What’s the operating
environment like? Five Forces Analysis
Pitch Deck
I need a compact
overview
I’m going to a
bank, traditional
investor Business Plan
I need to articulate
the business
internally
Assumptions
Business Model
Canvas
I need to create
empathy (internally)
for our users.
Personas & Problem
Scenarios
53. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
Making Progress
IDEA!
Positioning
Statement?
Field Work & Analytics
Ideation & Design
Product Development
General Management
Pivotal
Assumptions?
Customer
Definition
Personas?
Problem Scenarios?
Field
Discovery
Still Learning?
Field
Validation
Draft
Prototype
Quicky
Prototype?
Yes?
Confident?
No?
Create
User
Stories
Done?
New Learning?
Define
MVP
CUSTOMER
VALIDATION
54. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
BUY THE BOOK
A practical primer for anyone
wanting to actually implement
today’s best practices in product
development (available online or
at any major retailer)
VISIT THE SITE
Free talks, tutorials, and
resources for product
development and new ventures.
MORE?
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
56. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
MARY THE MOM
About: Mary the mom. . . [Describe like your friend or the beginning
of a short story. What kind of shoes does she wear?]. . .
Thinks: . . .
Sees: . . .
Feels: . . .
Does: . . .
1. List at least 3 personas
2. Describe as much as you can
57. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
“Parents want to better organize the distribution of allowances”
Priority: [1 for existential; 2+ for others]
Needs Proving?: [yes or no]
Experimentation: [how will most quickly, cheaply prove or disprove]
* Bonus Question: How do these relate to your personas?
1. List at least 3 assumptions
2. Note as much as you can on experiments