This document provides an agenda for a crash course workshop on venture design. The workshop will cover topics like personas, problem scenarios, value propositions, business model canvases, and customer discovery ideas. It will involve tutorials, examples, and exercises for participants to develop their first take on various venture design deliverables. The goal is to help participants learn techniques from design thinking and the lean startup method to hypothesize, learn from experiments, and iterate on their venture ideas.
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.
The 1-Minute VALUE PROPOSITION ACT: A Simpler and Scalable Toolkit for Design...Rod King, Ph.D.
Peter Drucker, the late Management Guru, once said: "Because the purpose of business is to create a customer, the business enterprise has two – and only two – basic functions: marketing and innovation." The 1-Minute Value Proposition Act focuses on radically improving the two basic functions of a business: Marketing and Innovation.
Also, the 1-Minute Value Proposition Act contains a simple but powerful visual marketing tool that helps enterprises, startups, and established businesses to develop Magnetic Value Propositions in 1 Minute. If you'd like to rapidly reDesign, test, and manage your business (and personal) value propositions, check out the 1-Minute Value Proposition Act. Benefits of obtaining a Magnetic Value Proposition (MVP) include systematic engagement, acquisition, and retention of more customers.
So, why not test-drive the 1-Minute Value Proposition Act?
You've created some really great software, but is it sufficient to form the basis of a viable business? What's your business model? How can you describe your business model and effectively communicate your vision to others? How can other people evaluate your business model and determine whether your vision and business strategies have merit? This talk provides a conceptual basis for defining, documenting and evaluating business models. It uses real-world examples to show how these concepts can be effectively applied to build actual businesses. Presented at RubyNation 2011.
In this webinar with WordStream's own Larry Kim and SiteTuners' Tim Ash, you'll learn the secrets of optimizing your conversion rates. They'll reveal:
>Why settling for small A/B testing victories actually hinders your success
>When to throw out your landing page altogether
>How to radically replace your CTA and 5x your conversion rate!
You’ll walk away with 6 counterintuitive but insanely powerful strategies to milk more conversions out of your landing pages. Check it out!
For more information on WordStream, visit www.wordstream.com
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.
The 1-Minute VALUE PROPOSITION ACT: A Simpler and Scalable Toolkit for Design...Rod King, Ph.D.
Peter Drucker, the late Management Guru, once said: "Because the purpose of business is to create a customer, the business enterprise has two – and only two – basic functions: marketing and innovation." The 1-Minute Value Proposition Act focuses on radically improving the two basic functions of a business: Marketing and Innovation.
Also, the 1-Minute Value Proposition Act contains a simple but powerful visual marketing tool that helps enterprises, startups, and established businesses to develop Magnetic Value Propositions in 1 Minute. If you'd like to rapidly reDesign, test, and manage your business (and personal) value propositions, check out the 1-Minute Value Proposition Act. Benefits of obtaining a Magnetic Value Proposition (MVP) include systematic engagement, acquisition, and retention of more customers.
So, why not test-drive the 1-Minute Value Proposition Act?
You've created some really great software, but is it sufficient to form the basis of a viable business? What's your business model? How can you describe your business model and effectively communicate your vision to others? How can other people evaluate your business model and determine whether your vision and business strategies have merit? This talk provides a conceptual basis for defining, documenting and evaluating business models. It uses real-world examples to show how these concepts can be effectively applied to build actual businesses. Presented at RubyNation 2011.
In this webinar with WordStream's own Larry Kim and SiteTuners' Tim Ash, you'll learn the secrets of optimizing your conversion rates. They'll reveal:
>Why settling for small A/B testing victories actually hinders your success
>When to throw out your landing page altogether
>How to radically replace your CTA and 5x your conversion rate!
You’ll walk away with 6 counterintuitive but insanely powerful strategies to milk more conversions out of your landing pages. Check it out!
For more information on WordStream, visit www.wordstream.com
Venture Design Workshop: Business Model CanvasAlex Cowan
These slides support the various workshops I do and my online curriculum in two principal places:
1. Business Model Canvas Tutorial
This is a more fully articulated instructional, complete with templates: bit.ly/nicebmc.
2. Startup Sprints
This is a structured self-service for Venture Design/new venture creation: bit.ly/startupsprints.
Design Thinking Talk for UCSC Econ 138 (Management of Innovation)Alex Cowan
This is a talk I did for Kai Pommerenke's class 'Econ 138: The Economics and Management of Technology and Innovation'. See www.alexandercowan.com/speaking for a full set of talks.
Slides from the Fresh Tilled Soil workshop Design Sprints at Scale held on 3.15.2018.
A Design Sprint is a flexible time-boxed problem solving framework that increases the chances of making something people want. With an emphasis on collaborative ideation, solution sketching, prototype building, and user testing, Design Sprints give product teams more confidence in their choices and priorities. But confusion still exists.
--How do I convince my organization it’s a good idea, and how do I get leadership buy-in?
--What kind of prep work is required, and how soon should I start?
--How do I make sure this doesn’t just become another innovation brainstorm that people dismiss when it’s over?
(Chatura Fernando + Sasha Williamson, IBM) Kafka Summit SF 2018
In this session we will be showing you how to apply design thinking to evaluate and use Kafka in a meaningful way within your organization. We’ll walk through five techniques we use within our own organization grounded in design thinking methodologies to help us tease out user problems and understand what to act on.
Use these best practices to work through question such as:
-How could event stream benefit my organization?
-Where does Kafka sit in my organization?
-What Kafka data is most useful to my consumers?
-How do I split responsibilities between your users and DevOps?
-How does Kafka tie into my existing tech stack?
Building on the Shoulders of Giants: the Story of Bitbucket PipelinesAtlassian
When the Atlassian Dev Tools team looked to innovate on continuous integration and delivery, we explored many ways to bring the build and deployment pipeline closer to developers and Bitbucket. This led us to think outside the existing product boundaries of Bamboo and build on top of the Bitbucket Connect platform.
James Bryant, a senior designer on the Software Team, will take you through how his team decided to build on top of a platform instead of building out new products. It involves defining a vision, guiding a team with an experience, and testing with customers early and often to build the new Bitbucket Pipelines feature.
You’ll come away from this session with a framework for adopting an experience-driven strategy, and tips to help give your agile teams a vision to build on top of a platform.
Products covered:
Bitbucket, Bamboo
The Early Stage Venture Series - part 1 - Paul Orlando This is part one of a talk series for early-stage startups. There are a lot of examples used in the talk that don't come out if you only view the slides, but here it is. Updates provided at: startupsunplugged.com
Using Visual Messaging to Drive Advocacy - CampaignTech East Panel 2014The Prosper Group
When was the last time you clicked on a meme, info-graphic, or gif on Facebook or Twitter? Probably a couple minutes ago, to be honest. Visual messages have made sharing issues and ideas pretty simple, and there’s gotta be a science to it. Are there specific themes that are more popular than others? Do small details like font style or size matter? Take the tips you learn from this panel to ensure your image pushes your issue forward.
Similar to Venture Design Crash Course: Prep for Startup Weekend Oakland (19)
Event Report - SAP Sapphire 2024 Orlando - lots of innovation and old challengesHolger Mueller
Holger Mueller of Constellation Research shares his key takeaways from SAP's Sapphire confernece, held in Orlando, June 3rd till 5th 2024, in the Orange Convention Center.
An introduction to the cryptocurrency investment platform Binance Savings.Any kyc Account
Learn how to use Binance Savings to expand your bitcoin holdings. Discover how to maximize your earnings on one of the most reliable cryptocurrency exchange platforms, as well as how to earn interest on your cryptocurrency holdings and the various savings choices available.
Understanding User Needs and Satisfying ThemAggregage
https://www.productmanagementtoday.com/frs/26903918/understanding-user-needs-and-satisfying-them
We know we want to create products which our customers find to be valuable. Whether we label it as customer-centric or product-led depends on how long we've been doing product management. There are three challenges we face when doing this. The obvious challenge is figuring out what our users need; the non-obvious challenges are in creating a shared understanding of those needs and in sensing if what we're doing is meeting those needs.
In this webinar, we won't focus on the research methods for discovering user-needs. We will focus on synthesis of the needs we discover, communication and alignment tools, and how we operationalize addressing those needs.
Industry expert Scott Sehlhorst will:
• Introduce a taxonomy for user goals with real world examples
• Present the Onion Diagram, a tool for contextualizing task-level goals
• Illustrate how customer journey maps capture activity-level and task-level goals
• Demonstrate the best approach to selection and prioritization of user-goals to address
• Highlight the crucial benchmarks, observable changes, in ensuring fulfillment of customer needs
Top mailing list providers in the USA.pptxJeremyPeirce1
Discover the top mailing list providers in the USA, offering targeted lists, segmentation, and analytics to optimize your marketing campaigns and drive engagement.
LA HUG - Video Testimonials with Chynna Morgan - June 2024Lital Barkan
Have you ever heard that user-generated content or video testimonials can take your brand to the next level? We will explore how you can effectively use video testimonials to leverage and boost your sales, content strategy, and increase your CRM data.🤯
We will dig deeper into:
1. How to capture video testimonials that convert from your audience 🎥
2. How to leverage your testimonials to boost your sales 💲
3. How you can capture more CRM data to understand your audience better through video testimonials. 📊
Digital Transformation and IT Strategy Toolkit and TemplatesAurelien Domont, MBA
This Digital Transformation and IT Strategy Toolkit was created by ex-McKinsey, Deloitte and BCG Management Consultants, after more than 5,000 hours of work. It is considered the world's best & most comprehensive Digital Transformation and IT Strategy Toolkit. It includes all the Frameworks, Best Practices & Templates required to successfully undertake the Digital Transformation of your organization and define a robust IT Strategy.
Editable Toolkit to help you reuse our content: 700 Powerpoint slides | 35 Excel sheets | 84 minutes of Video training
This PowerPoint presentation is only a small preview of our Toolkits. For more details, visit www.domontconsulting.com
B2B payments are rapidly changing. Find out the 5 key questions you need to be asking yourself to be sure you are mastering B2B payments today. Learn more at www.BlueSnap.com.
Discover the innovative and creative projects that highlight my journey throu...dylandmeas
Discover the innovative and creative projects that highlight my journey through Full Sail University. Below, you’ll find a collection of my work showcasing my skills and expertise in digital marketing, event planning, and media production.
Premium MEAN Stack Development Solutions for Modern BusinessesSynapseIndia
Stay ahead of the curve with our premium MEAN Stack Development Solutions. Our expert developers utilize MongoDB, Express.js, AngularJS, and Node.js to create modern and responsive web applications. Trust us for cutting-edge solutions that drive your business growth and success.
Know more: https://www.synapseindia.com/technology/mean-stack-development-company.html
Putting the SPARK into Virtual Training.pptxCynthia Clay
This 60-minute webinar, sponsored by Adobe, was delivered for the Training Mag Network. It explored the five elements of SPARK: Storytelling, Purpose, Action, Relationships, and Kudos. Knowing how to tell a well-structured story is key to building long-term memory. Stating a clear purpose that doesn't take away from the discovery learning process is critical. Ensuring that people move from theory to practical application is imperative. Creating strong social learning is the key to commitment and engagement. Validating and affirming participants' comments is the way to create a positive learning environment.
Recruiting in the Digital Age: A Social Media MasterclassLuanWise
In this masterclass, presented at the Global HR Summit on 5th June 2024, Luan Wise explored the essential features of social media platforms that support talent acquisition, including LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok.
6. IT’S A PROCESS
Some techniques are more effective than others.
Personas
But they all require substantial, consistent exertion.
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
10. VENTURE DESIGN
Hypothesize
Lean StartupStyle Assumptions
Business Model
Canvas
Learn
Experiment
User Stories &
Test Cases
Foundation in
Design Thinking
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
11. VENTURE DESIGN
Hypothesize
Lean StartupStyle Assumptions
Business Model
Canvas
Learn
Experiment
User Stories &
Test Cases
Product &
Promotion
Foundation in
Design Thinking
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
19. DESIGN THINKING- PERSONAS
•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
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
21. END USER PERSONAS
Rita
the Reseller
Rhonda
the Receptionist
Amy
the Assistant
Esteban
the Executive
Orson
the Office Mgr.
Susan the
Small Bus. Owner
Simone
the Standard User
Mikuko
the Mobile User
Ignatius
the IT Guy
Keith
the Key System User
Chuck
the Call Center Agent
Cindy
the Call Center Manager
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
22. ENTERPRISE PERSONAS
Bruce
the Business Owner
Sidney
the Sys. Admin.
Anthony
the Applications Eng.
Sam
the Support Eng.
Paola
the Provisioner
Percival the
Product Manager
Itzhak
the IT Developer
Saul
the Site Developer
Nietzsche
the Network Eng.
Sven
the Salesperson
Frank
the Field Eng.
Fritz
the Field Eng. Manager
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
24. DESIGN THINKING- PERSONAS
PROBLEM SCENARIO
X
What job(s) are you doing for the
customer?
What existing need or behavior
are you fulfilling?
ALEX COWAN!
AlexanderCowan.com!
@cowanSF
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
25. DESIGN THINKING- PERSONAS
PROBLEM SCENARIO
X
ALTERNATIVE(S)
?
ALEX COWAN!
AlexanderCowan.com!
@cowanSF
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
26. DESIGN THINKING- PERSONAS
PROBLEM SCENARIO
X
ALTERNATIVE(S)
?
If they currently use spreadsheets, watch
them use it and get a copy of it.
If they currently put notes on the family
fridge, ask about it, photograph it.
ALEX COWAN!
AlexanderCowan.com!
@cowanSF
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
27. DESIGN THINKING- PERSONAS
PROBLEM SCENARIO
X
ALTERNATIVE(S)
?
YOUR VALUE PROPOSITIONS
!
ALEX COWAN!
AlexanderCowan.com!
@cowanSF
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
28. YOUR PRODUCT HYPOTHESIS
A certain PERSONA exists…
… and they have a certain
PROBLEMS(S) …
X
… where they’re currently using
certain ALTERNATIVE(S) …
?
… and I have a VALUE
PROPOSITION that’s better
enough than the alternatives to
cause the persona to act
(purchase, use, etc.).
!
ALEX COWAN!
AlexanderCowan.com!
@cowanSF
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
29. ENABLE QUIZ: EXAMPLE PROBLEM SCENARIOS
PERSONA
Helen the HR Manager
Frank the Functional Manager
“It’s hard for me to screen on
technical skill sets and I end up
sending Frank unqualified
recruits.”
“I have limited time and I don’t
want to be a jerk. It’s hard to
screen for all the relevant
technical skill sets.”
ALTERNATIVE(S)
- Call references!
- Take their word for it
- A few probing questions!
- Take their word for it
VALUE
PROPOSITIONS
New ability for meaningful
screening of technical
candidates, increasing % of
successful hires and lowering
Frank’s workload on recruiting.
Less time doing interviews, and
better hires sooner.
X
PROBLEM
SCENARIO
?
!
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
30. STORYBOARDING A PROBLEM SCENARIO
BEFORE
Problem
Scenario
+!
Alternative
AFTER
Problem
Scenario
+!
Value
Proposition
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
31. EXERCISE- PERSONA CREATION
1. List at least 3 personas (4 min)
Mary the Working Mom
Susan the Stay-at-Home Mom
Douglas the Dad
Nathan the Nanny
…
ALEX COWAN!
AlexanderCowan.com!
@cowanSF
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
32. EXERCISE- PERSONA CREATION
1. Which are buyers? Users? Both? Note with a ‘B’ and/or ‘U’ on
the Post-It
2. Which have the most compelling need, desire? Sort top to
bottom
(4 min.)
ALEX COWAN!
AlexanderCowan.com!
@cowanSF
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
33. EXERCISE- VALUE PROPOSITIONS
X
1. Brainstorm Problem
Scenario-Alternative-Value
PROBLEM SCENARIO Proposition Trios.
(7 min.)
?
ALTERNATIVE(S)
!
YOUR VALUE
PROPOSITIONS
Problem: Mary would like to be more
structured and consistent in her use of
allowances to teach the link between work
and financial rewards.
Alternative: Track the completion of chores,
homework, etc. manually using paper, boards,
notes on her phone.
Value Proposition: Use our app to easily and
consistently implement best practices tailored
to your situation.
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
34. EXERCISE- VALUE PROPOSITIONS
1. Prioritize your value propositions- if you could only pitch one,
which? After that? Etc.
(2 min.)
ALEX COWAN!
AlexanderCowan.com!
@cowanSF
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
35. PEER PRESENTATIONS PREP!
For [target customer] who [statement of the need
or opportunity], the [product name] is a [product
category] that [statement of key benefit/key
reason to buy]. unlike [primary alternative], our
product [statement of primary differentiation].
Describe your venture
accordingly (5 min.)
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
36. EXERCISE: PEER PRESENTATION (2 MIN/EACH)
As
Presenter
1) Who is the persona? What kind of shoes
do they wear?!
2) What problem scenario(s) are you
looking at? What alternatives does the
persona use now?!
3) What’s your value proposition?!
As
Audience
- Focus on the process; avoid editorial!
- Ask a lot of questions!
- Think about it like an investor
ALEX COWAN!
AlexanderCowan.com!
@cowanSF
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
37. THE BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS
(Key
Partners)
(Key
Activities)
(Key
Resources)
(Cost Structure)
(Value
(Customer
Propositions) Relationships)
(Customer
Segments)
(Channels)
(Revenue Streams)
The templates here are made available on the same CC license terms as the original canvas.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.
ALEX COWAN!
AlexanderCowan.com!
@cowanSF
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
38. SEGMENT TO VALUE PROPOSITION MAPPING
Partner_1
Partner_2
Partner_3
Activity_1
Activity_2
Activity_3
Proposition_1
Proposition_2
Proposition_3
Relationship_1
Relationship_2
Relationship_3
Resource_1
Resource_2
Resource_3
Cost_1
Cost_2
Cost_3
The templates here are made available on the same CC license terms as the original canvas.
Segment_1
Segment_2
Segment_3
Channel_1
Channel_2
Channel_3
Revenue_1
Revenue_2
Revenue_3
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.
ALEX COWAN!
AlexanderCowan.com!
@cowanSF
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
39. EXERCISE- MAPPING PERSONAS, VALUE PROP’S
1. Print out the Canvas !
2. List your prioritized personas
(Customer Segments) and
Value Propositions!
3. Map your personas to your
Value Propositions !
(3 min)
Activity_1
Activity_2
Activity_3
Proposition_1
Proposition_2
Proposition_3
The templates here are made available on the same CC license terms as the original canvas.
Persona_1
Persona_2
Persona_3
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
40. DESIGN THINKING- USING PERSONAS
MAKING
STUFF
What does the
user (most) want?
What does the
user actually do?
SELLING
STUFF
Who are we
selling to?!
!
!
Where do we
reach them?!
With what
proposition?
Personas
Who’s buying?!
Problem Scenarios
Alternatives
Your Value Propositions
!
Where?!
!
Why?
Foundation in
Design Thinking
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
41. PERSONAS- DISCOVERY & VALIDATION
Interviews
AdWords, etc. + Landing
Page Tests
What language, propositions resonate? !
What is the customer prepared to do?
Real-Time Analytics
& Recording
MVP
Tell me about yourself.!
What do you do? How often?!
How does it make you feel?
What do users actually do?
Minimum Viable
Product
Do customers like it? Buy it? Use it?
Tell others about it?
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
43. PLANNING
Now
Then
Lean
Startup
Five Year
Plan
01 IDEA!
45,000,000%
40,000,000%
02 HYPOTHESIS
35,000,000%
30,000,000%
25,000,000%
Revenue%
Expense%
20,000,000%
EBITDA%
15,000,000%
6.a PIVOT
experiments
03 EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
disprove
hypothesis
04 EXPERIMENTATION
10,000,000%
5,000,000%
0%
!5,000,000%
2012%
2013%
2014%
2015%
2016%
2017%
2018%
2019%
2020%
05 PIVOT OR PERSEVERE?
6.b PERSEVERE
ALEX COWAN!
AlexanderCowan.com!
@cowanSF
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
44. PLANNING WITH LEAN STARTUP
Do I have real evidence from my buyer that
this is compelling?
What are the key assumptions required to
make this business work?
How do I definitely prove or disprove
the assumptions with a minimum of
time and effort?
Am I reacting or am I focused on
validating my pivotal assumptions?
01 IDEA!
02 HYPOTHESIS
03 EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
04 EXPERIMENTATION
‘Pivot or persevere?’
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
45. ASSUMPTIONS & LEAN STARTUP
Priority
Key Assumption
Needs Proving?
1
[A key assumption about
the business]
1
Parents want to organize
the distribution of
Yes
allowances with an app
* Post the proposition in ads
online!
* Measure sign-up’s on a landing
page
2
Parents want to link
allowances to chores
Yes
* Show prototypes with choices
* Test in beta
2
Parents have smart
phones
No
n/a
[Whether it needs
proving!
Experimentation
[Experiment to !
prove or disprove]
Focus on strategic,
pivotal assumptions
ALEX COWAN!
AlexanderCowan.com!
@cowanSF
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
46. PLANNING WITH THE LEAN STARTUP
Crossing t’s
Dotting i’s
Doesn’t matter unless it helps
prove (or disprove) your
pivotal assumptions
ALEX COWAN!
AlexanderCowan.com!
@cowanSF
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
47. PLANNING WITH THE LEAN STARTUP
Subject
all your
activities +
metrics to
that litmus
test.
ALEX COWAN!
AlexanderCowan.com!
@cowanSF
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
48. THE REVELATION OF CUSTOMER DEVELOPMENT
You know you’re here
and should be doing
this, but. . .
MVP
. . . most people
mimic mature
business patterns and
start here.
Product-Market
Fit
Scale
PIVOTAL
ASSUMPTIONS Nascent
Test, revise,
test...
Validated- now
tactical
Validated- now
tactical
PRODUCT
N/A
MVP
Focus: efficiency,
extension
What would a
startup do??
ORG.
Founders
PARTNERS,
CHANNELS
Customer dev.
team
Full functional
organization
Scalable
organization
Probably too
soon
Probably too
soon
Yeah, maybe?
Yeah, definitely!
ALEX COWAN!
AlexanderCowan.com!
@cowanSF
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
49. DESIGN THINKING- PERSONAS
PROBLEM SCENARIO
X
ALTERNATIVE(S)
?
YOUR VALUE PROPOSITIONS
!
ALEX COWAN!
AlexanderCowan.com!
@cowanSF
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
50. YOUR PRODUCT HYPOTHESIS
A certain PERSONA exists…
… and they have a certain
PROBLEMS(S) …
X
… where they’re currently using
certain ALTERNATIVE(S) …
?
… and I have a VALUE
PROPOSITION that’s better
enough than the alternatives to
cause the persona to act
(purchase, use, etc.).
!
ALEX COWAN!
AlexanderCowan.com!
@cowanSF
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
51. LEONID MVP #1: CONSULTING
It pays
CONSULTING
It’s easy to scale
Consultants naturally do customer discovery
ALEX COWAN!
AlexanderCowan.com!
@cowanSF
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
52. LEONID MVP #2: PRODUCTIZED CONSULTING
Customer empathymore scope, detail on
problem scenarios
It’s easier to sell
CONSULTING
‘PRODUCTIZED’
CONSULTING
It’s easier to staff
It’s easier to manage
ALEX COWAN!
AlexanderCowan.com!
@cowanSF
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
53. LEONID MVP #3: SOFTWARE PRODUCTS
Customer empathymore scope, detail on
problem scenarios
CONSULTING
Validated problem
scenarios with
substantial detail
‘PRODUCTIZED’
CONSULTING
PRODUCTS
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
54. LEONID MVP #3: SOFTWARE PRODUCTS
Validated problem scenarios
Existing customer relationships
PRODUCTS
Ability to pre-sell
ALEX COWAN!
AlexanderCowan.com!
@cowanSF
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
56. PHOTO-SOCIAL MVP
MVP
Create the target
output by hand. !
!
Does anyone care?
ASSUMPTION
User’s social network
will like and share the
app’s output
ALEX COWAN!
AlexanderCowan.com!
@cowanSF
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
57. ENABLE QUIZ: PROBLEM SCENARIO
BEFORE
AFTER
ALEX COWAN!
AlexanderCowan.com!
@cowanSF
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
58. CONCIERGE MVP: ENABLE QUIZ
Concierge MVP?
Sure: Hand craft quizzes on
paper on off-the-shelf tool.
ALEX COWAN!
AlexanderCowan.com!
@cowanSF
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
59. MVP: Zappos
Some shoe buyers are dissatisfied with
mall retail and would purchase online.
Photograph some shoes and create
a site to showcase them for sale.
source: CNN article ‘Zappos’ silent founder’
ALEX COWAN!
AlexanderCowan.com!
@cowanSF
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
60. MVP: Paul Howe & Associates
Some people would like to know how
much their stuff is worth.
Do it for them buy hand.
source: as told to Lean Startup Circle, SF (Jan 2013)
ALEX COWAN!
AlexanderCowan.com!
@cowanSF
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
61. MVP: Sprig
Urbanites would like Uber-style,
healthy, hot, meals delivered in 20
minutes.
Put it on Eventbrite, email people,
see what happens.
source: as told to Lean Startup Circle, SF (Jan 2014)
ALEX COWAN!
AlexanderCowan.com!
@cowanSF
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
62. MVP: Dropbox
Users would sign-up and pay for a file
exchange service that actually worked
well.
Create a ‘Wizard of Oz’ demo tailored
for early market (techies) and
measure sign-up’s.
ALEX COWAN!
AlexanderCowan.com!
@cowanSF
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
63. IN CONCLUSION…
You have to put the magic in the
software.
(Not the other way around)
Concierge and other nonsoftware MVP’s can be pretty
magical.
ALEX COWAN!
AlexanderCowan.com!
@cowanSF
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
64. LEAN AT LARGE
Hypothesize
Learn
Experiment
Lean StartupStyle Assumptions
Lean at Large
Foundation in
Design Thinking COWAN!
ALEX
AlexanderCowan.com!
@cowanSF
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
65. LEAN AT LARGE
Let’s not
argue
Let’s assume.
Then test.
ALEX COWAN!
AlexanderCowan.com!
@cowanSF
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
66. ASSUMPTIONS & LEAN STARTUP
Priority
Key Assumption
Needs Proving?
1
[A key assumption about
the business]
1
Parents want to organize
the distribution of
Yes
allowances with an app
* Post the proposition in ads
online!
* Measure sign-up’s on a landing
page
2
Parents want to link
allowances to chores
Yes
* Show prototypes with choices
* Test in beta
2
Parents have smart
phones
No
n/a
[Whether it needs
proving!
Experimentation
[Experiment to !
prove or disprove]
ALEX COWAN!
AlexanderCowan.com!
@cowanSF
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
68. EXERCISE: LEAN STYLE ASSUMPTIONS
List at least 3 assumptions (5 min.)!
“Parents want to better organize the distribution of allowances using
an app”
Priority: 1 [1 for existential; 2+ for others]
Needs Proving?: yes [yes or no]
...
One assumption
per index card
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
69. EXERCISE: LEAN STYLE ASSUMPTIONS
1. Rank order them. Which ones are truly pivotal?
Note with a ‘1’. (3 min.)
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
70. EXERCISE: GROUP PRESENTATIONS (3 MIN/EACH)
1) What’s your idea? (Read positioning statement)!
2) What’s your MVP/next step?!
3) What are your success criteria for validation?
ALEX COWAN!
AlexanderCowan.com!
@cowanSF
Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing