YOUR QUEST FOR A SCALABLE AND REPEATABLE
BUSINESSMODEL
The Workbook for Startups
BERRIE COELMAN
Version: 0.12
Edition - December 2014
ISBN: 978-90-823-201-1-4
NUR: 800
www.startupwerkboek.nl
twitter.com/startupwerkboek
Contributions
| Elke Bies | Ben Hattink | Marion Hemsing | Kevin Ilardi | Ernst Jacobs | Ninon Kersbergen |
Viktor Krabbenborg | Wiro Kuipers | Marc Leeuw | Gilles Meijer | Thomas Mensink | Marjo Nieuwenhuijse | Inge Sanders | Hanneke Spoler | Amber vd Stelt | Teus Vanwalderveen |
YOUR QUEST FOR A SCALABLE AND
REPEATABLE BUSINESSMODEL
The workbook voor startups
Berrie Coelman
PREFACE
This second edition is still primarily an eBook, which is
This is the second edition of the Startup Workbook. This
odologies for startups go so fast), and direct links to other
workbook is different from the first version. The first ver-
website can be used easier when presented in an elec-
sion, which was made with a so-called touch-grant from
tronic way.
free to download. The advantage of the eBook is that adjustments can be made quickly (the knowledge and meth-
Saxion, was primarily a digital version. In addition, the
book was printed as a deluxe edition in a limited number
Have fun with this workbook and I hope you really find
of copies. The eBook has quickly been downloaded thou-
your optimal business model.
sands of times through the website
(www.startupwerkboek.nl). By using the Startup Workbook by Startups in the Startup Center Saxion (part of the
Center for Entrepreneurship) it was revealed that one has
a need to really use it as a workbook. That is, the questions that are in the book, must be filled in. Some Startups
printed out the downloaded version, to be able to use it
for writing answers.
The printed version has therefore become a real book.
That means that the questions can be answered directly
in the book. It is in a writable form. If you have access to
the Toolbox, you can also fill in the online questionnaire
after each step, which you then will get mailed back. If
required we can then remotely assist you with your customer development based on your reply.
Another change in this version is that the business development trajectory isn’t spread over 12 weeks, but spread
over 12 steps. A startup probably needs a week for a certain step, whereas another startup may sometimes need
more time.
Berrie Coelman, December 2014
CONTENTS
STEP 1 | The first step - 15
STEP 2 | Find your identity - 27
STEP 3 | What is your Business Model Canvas? - 40
STEP 4 | Which canvases are best? - 51
STEP 5 | Who are your competitors? - 57
STEP 6 | Where is my customer? - 63
STEP 7 | Preparing for interviews and MVP - 74
STEP 8 | Problem interviews - 92
STEP 9 | Solution interviews - 101
STEP 10 | Your first MVP - 107
STEP 11 | MVP 2.0 - 115
STEP 12 | Last MVP and pivot - 119
About Golden Circle,
Business Model
Generation Canvas,
Blue Ocean,
Pivots, Lean Startup, MVP,
Customer Development and
more…
Foreword
services, money and goods will be flowing through.
With a healthy dose of distrust you develop, and main-
Theodor van der Velde
tain that complex pattern. Making use of wisdom of
others is really helpful; lesson five.
Your business model. Unique in its kind, not competi-
This (e)Book is about how to become a promising
tive. You as an entrepreneur give color to terms such
startup. An incredible amount of wisdom of many ex-
as giving, sharing, exchange, and creation. In this way,
perts has been brought together in this (digital) work-
new business models are created. Models in which the
book.
4 (new) P’s recognizably are found: Passion, People,
Planet, Profit. You learn lessons in your search for the
scalable and repeatable business model.
You will be challenged in this book in various ways:
with exercises to fill in the blanks, by reading and evaluating, by writing assignments, and by testing your
As a startup you want to bring your own idea further,
improved idea with the help of friends, coaches and
make it promising - or - start your own business. What
clients. Slowly but surely the business model that suits
a kick! Fortunately, you do this never, ever alone;
you best, will appear. It’s all about one goal: a promis-
that's lesson one. Of course, you look for partners that
ing, scalable and repeatable business model. We chal-
you can trust, it's your idea after all; lesson two. Make
lenge you!
sure to be well prepared when you look for consultants and rely with confidence on your learning ability
and intuition; that’s lesson three. You become an en-
Drs. Theodor van der Velde
Saxion Director Center for Entrepreneurship
trepreneur by trial and error, and by acquiring experiences during your process of making choices; for sure
lesson four.
Business also means providing 'work'. Others will be
employed by you. Suppliers, customers and employees. Entering and maintaining all of these relationships
is a core activity of an entrepreneur. Your idea is transformed into a complex pattern of relationships, where
9
Startup
promising business. By the end you will know which
problem you can solve for your customers, where you
can find your customers, and discover that they are
willing to pay for your solution. Then, the next step is
to maintain the focus and eventually grow into a sus-
Do you want to develop your
idea into a promising business? Do you really like to
start your own business? Then
you're a 'Startup'. This workbook will be very useful.
tainable, successful business.
This workbook will help you:

Determining why you want to be an entrepreneur, and what kind of trader you are;

Determining different business models from
your basic idea;

Determining your optimal business model;

Defining your problem before you work out a
solution;
Why?

Finding your first customers;
You learn to clarify problems of your (future) clients

Discover the needs of your customers through
before you work out a solution. First learn and then
act. Make mistakes, you will learn from it. You learn
effective measurements;

who your customers are and what they really want.
Learn how to optimize the process (speed,
learning and focus);
Because, let's be honest: as entrepreneurs we often

think to know how things fit together. We think we
For whom?
know what other people need, and that we have de-
This workbook is for anyone who wants to set up their
veloped the best product or service. And that out po-
own business. In addition, this book is also useful for
tential customers are willing to pay. But is this really
entrepreneurs who are already working for some
the case?
years with their own business. Also, this book is a tool
With this book you put on a quest that leads to a
for (commercial) business-coaches and business-
Discover your optimal product-market-fit.
developers (starting) to support entrepreneurs.
10
With this book you
put on a quest that
leads to a promising
business.
In step 6, you'll see who your potential customers are
and where they are they located.
Step 7 is an important step. You're going to make
choices! Based on the knowledge and information
from the previous steps you design a temporary business model. You discover that you have made a lot of
assumptions during all previous steps. But where lies
the truth?
What this book is about?
Step 8 to 12, in the so called Customer Development
This book consists of 12 steps.
methodology, you convert your hypotheses into meas-
In step 1, you explore why you want to become an
urable facts. With a lot of interviews and with different
entrepreneur, what kind of entrepreneur are you? In
simple designs of your product / service you’ll find out
this step you'll find out why you actually want to start
how your customers assess your solutions.
your own business.
In step 2, we zoom in on your future business. What
What this book is not about
kind of problem do you solve with your product / ser-
This book is not about the phase after the startup-
vice? What is your identity? What's your business?
phase, the phase that you're not a startup anymore,
What does your business? Why does your business
but a real entrepeneur. In the last step, of course, you
exists?
get tips and tricks for this future stage.
In step 3, with the help of the Business Generation
Canvas, you determine different business models, in a
In this
kind of brainstorming session.

Links to ebooks, movies, and presentations;
In step 4, you analyse the different models and you

Deepening documents;
look at the possibilities. Several promising models are

Checklists;

Large versions of visual aids such as Canvas
the result: you discover with which model you want to
go on.
In step 5 you look outside: Who are your competitors?
Do you see a Blue Ocean: a product / service with little
to no competition?
you will find:
Model, Blue Ocean Canvas etc.;

Tools such as various spreadsheets, etc.;

Presentations for use in workshops.
11
Step-by-step online questions
The step-by-step questionnaires can be found in the
toolbox. These questions are also in the StartupWorkbook. The answers you've entered can be looked by
coaches and fellow starters. This has the advantage
More information? Read the user rights at the end of
that they can give feedback.
this book.
Portfolio
In addition to the answers in the questionnaires, also
set up your own portfolio with your results. In the
coming steps you make a lot of physical products
(Business Model Canvases, analysis of business models, mood board, so called MVP, etc.). All of these
products can also be placed in your portfolio for your
own statement or for coaches again. Make a picture
of those results and put it in a tool like Evernote or
Dropbox.
Creative Commons-license
This workbook was created under the auspices of Saxion and falls under the Creative Commons license. This
means that the user can copy, distribute and transfer,
remix, create derivative works and make use for commercial purposes.
12
A startup is a temporary
organization designed to
search for a scalable and
repeatable businessmodel
Steve Blank
Purpose,
Passion,
People and
Profit
STEP 1
The first step
| STARTUP | ENTREPENEUR TESTS | CUSTOMER DEVELOPMENT |
Startup
Business Model: A business model answers the basic
questions: Who are your customers? Which problems do your customers want to be solved
A Startup is a temporary organization, which searches for
an optimal, repeatable and
scalable business model.
(product market-fit)? How do you get customers?
How do you keep customers? And how do you
grow? What is your income strategy and your pricing concept? Who are your partners? What are
the resources and activities that you need to operate a business? And how high are your costs?
Many questions, summed up in one neat model.
This means:
A temporary organization: The purpose of a startup is
not to remain a startup. The ultimate aim is to get
customers and earn money, and grow.
Search: Although you might think of your idea as the
most brilliant innovation that has ever been devised, it is likely that this is not true. You make
assumptions that you should further investigate.
And this research can save you a lot of money and
time.
Repeatable: Startups can think of something, with
which they to earn some money, but finally not
succeed in making money. And then what? You
should not be seeking for one-off revenues, but a
repeatable pattern that lasts. And loyal customers.
Scalable: The goal is not to have one client, but lots of
customers to generate more sales and more
profits with any new customers.
16
People don’t buy what
you do, they buy why
you do it.’
Simon Sinek
Pivot
A sudden change in the development of your company
takes place if an element of your company does not
work. A pivoting company will keep its core insight but
9 Terms to know
Golden Circle
The basics of your future company. What are your values? The purpose, cause, or belief that inspires you to
do what you do. It’s the very reason your organization
exists. This concept is introduced by Simon Sinek.
Lean Startup
use it in a different way.
Canvas
An easy way to develop your business model (this is
not a business plan!). On one A4 sheet you describe all
elements of your company. (What problem will be
solved for which client or customer? How do you reach
your customer?). This concept is introduced by Alex
Osterwalder.
The essential concept in this book. How to develop a
business company with minimal cost in the least
amount of time. This concept is introduced by Eric
Ries.
Validated Learning
This is what you learn in de the startup phase of your
company. What do your customers need or wish and
how can you deliver just that? During this process mistakes and changes will occur. That is part of the
(learning)process. (At the end 66% of the startup companies have little to do with the original startup idea).
MVP: (Minimum Viable Product)
A strategy and process directed toward a minimal version of your product or service, that can be offered to
customers. It may have only one feature, it can be a
landing page or a paper based prototype.
UVP: (Unique Value Proposition)
The value an entrepreneur offers to clients or customers through the company. The value proposition should
be unique.
17
AARRR (Acquisition, Activation,
Retention, Revenue, Referral)
These are the steps a customer should follow. All these
steps are essential in ‘Customer Development’ and
none of them can be skipped. It will be very difficult to
start up a successful company if you should skip one of
these steps.
Customer Development
A process of searching for your customers, determining
whether they want to buy your products/services and
whether they would recommend your products/
services after buying. This concept is introduced by Steve Blank.
Customer
Development
The most important part of the
following twelve steps is Customer
Development. The majority of
startup companies don’t follow a
structured process in testing their
business model-hypotheses, their
markets, their value propositions,
clients and customers, channels
and pricing.
There are four phases which detail
the approach to the Customer Development process. In this book
By doing Customer Development there will be a 50-80%
chance, that your company still exists after two years. If
you don’t invest in customer development, there will
be a 50-80% chance that your company don’t exist anymore.
18
we will focus on the first two phases.
Customer Discovery Based on your idea, actions
and research you can identify your hypotheses. Do you
have a promising value proposition? Do you know
where your customers are? Are they willing to pay?
After defining these hypotheses you can develop a plan
to verify the responses of your (potential) customers, so
you can validate your hypotheses. Are your hypotheses
correct (and can these hypotheses be turned into
facts)?
Customer Validation Are your results repeatable
and scalable? If this is not the case please go back to
step 1, the Customer Discovery
Customer Creation Now you are starting to operate
your company. You will focus on the (sales)channels of
Cooperate
your company and create and drive end user demand
You can identify the way you are cooperating with
to scale sales
others and in what role by using the Belbin test
Company building In this stage the startup moves
(online version can be found in the
from one designed for learning and discovery to a well-
Cooperation is a fundament of your business success.
oiled ‘machine’ engineered for execution
What are you good at and what are you not that good
at? How do you compensate the aspect you are not
The Four Steps of Customer Development are designed
good at? E.g. what if your role is the shaper and your
to help entrepreneurs leverage the chaos and turn
are always ahead of the events?
it into actionable data. Continuous change and adjustments (validated learning) are part of the process. This
process assumes that you repeat your research and
activities several times to find an optimal and successful business model in the end.
19
Entrepreneurs-tests
Some examples of tests are:
There are several entrepreneur-tests available

Bizmove: (www.bizmove.com/other/quiz.htm )

Mentality-test: (www.motivaction.nl/en/
(toolbox). A comprehensive one is the so called E-scan,
not for free, but it gives you a lot of information about
mentality)
the development of your entrepreneurial skills. As
stated before: please think about how to handle with
the skills you are not that good at.

E-Scan (www.entrepreneurscan.com/what-is-escan)


Self assess-skills (/www.mvp.cfee.org/en/
selfassessskills.html)
If your own profile does not fit with that of your
(future) customers, please be aware that you have to
Belbin-test (/www.123test.com/team-roles-
think about how to communicate. Because it is differ-
test )
ent from your way of thinking!
If you don’t have people around you who
help you, your business remains a dream.
Scrum
Scrum is an agile framework for completing complex
projects. Scrum originally was formalized for software
development projects, but it works well for any complex, innovative scope of work. All well known companies use it. It does fit with the Lean-Startup and Customer Development methods. It provides a foundation
and path to delivering business goals in a collaborative
Target groups
and enjoyable manner. You can plan your activities for
Before anticipating the customer segmentation in step
the coming period very easily. For more information
6, it is good to know where you stand and to know
please go to the
what customers think is important. This information is
essential for starting up a company and to know what
your core values are to identify what kind of target
group/audience you belong to yourself. There are several tests available (in the toolbox) on the Internet.
20
.
In addition, a PowerPoint presentation about Scrum is
have determined. After each session, the scrum master
in the
deducts the points/hours of each participant that is
. It is preferable to have sever-
al scrum sessions with a group of people. A scrum ses-
used to complete a task, on the chart.
sion is held on a daily basis during approx. 15 minutes,
at the start of the day. One of the participants is called
TIP
‘scrum master’, the leader of the session and asks eve-
Do you want to scrum online? Visit
ry participant three questions:
www.kerika.com or www.scrumwise.com

What he or she has accomplished since the last
daily Scrum (what did you do?)

Sometimes we focus too much on one part of life and
What he or she plans to accomplish between
neglect other parts of our lives. As a starting point for
now and the next daily Scrum (what are you
creating balance, happiness and success in your life,
going to do?)

Wheel of Life
the Wheel of Life (see
) is a simple
What is impeding progress (what kind of prob-
and powerful tool to begin your journey. Using this
lems do you encounter?)
tool, you will be able to reflect and gain some insight
into the balance of your life and how satisfied you are
In the
is a scums canvas available.
in life's different areas. Following on from this self-
You can print or draw it on a flipchart. Preferable to use
reflection, you can utilize this exercise to further delve
it in groups of four startups. The
into why your Wheel of Life looks the way it does,
also
contains a list of tasks (it also provides an overview of
what you would like your Wheel of Life to look like, and
tasks you have to accomplish the coming period. (You
further into how to make this happen.
can estimate the amount of scrum points or working
hours dedicated to each task.)
It is recommended to put each task on a Post-it, and
complete the Post-its with your own task for the coming period.
The scrum board also provides a ‘Burndownchart’. On
the left axis you indicate the total of points/hours you
21
Startups are
not just smaller versions of
large companies
Steve Blank
Social media
Create a Facebook company account. Try to collect as
many ‘Likes’ as possible. You need over 100 ‘likes’ to
get access to certain (promotional) activities.
In step 6 you will start with customer segmentation, in
which you can use Facebook very well. So start as
soon as possible in building up a Facebook community. The use of Facebook is also recommended in the
Customer Development activities.
Another advice: start a company-Twitter account and
create followers. You can also think about Instagram,
Pinterest and LinkedIn.
22
Critical friends
Create a Whatsapp group with some ‘critical friends’.
This could be potential customers, colleagues or
friends. During the startup process you can use this
group as helpdesk or ask them about their opinion,
ideas, solutions, etc.
TIPS
Do not stick to your original idea too much.
Do not fall in love with your own solution.
The startup process should be undertaken
by you, not by others! Do not write a Businessplan. Figures are not important, yet.
Questions step 1
Basic data
Name
Name of your company
Basic idea for your business
23
Entrepreneurs Profile
What is the importance of the above mentioned weaknesses for you as an entrepreneur and your company?
(Please fill out the test: www. entrepreneurscan.com )
Entrepreneurs Profile
Score
Performance orientation
Autonomy
Power
Social orientation
Effectivity
Endurance
Risk taking
Market awareness
Thinking style
Thinking style
%
Pioneer
Sales person
Manager
Specialist
Creativity
What is the importance of the above mentioned
Flexibility
strengths for you as an entrepreneur and your company?
What is the importance of the above mentioned
strengths for you as an entrepreneur and your company?
What is the importance of the above mentioned weaknesses for you as an entrepreneur and your company?
24
The big five inventory
(This test is in the
TIPS
or
make the test on: www.outofservice.com/bigfive/)
Great five
Score
In the
ses:
are different canvas-
 Scrum canvas
 Entrepeneur canvas
Headstrong
Conscientiousness
How are we doing?
Enterprising
(Every step we will ask some questions about
things you have done or have found out)
Explorative
Neuroticism
What about your company Facebook and Twitter ac-
Cooperation
count? (How many likes? How many followers? What
are you going to do with it?).
(Make the test on www.123test.com/team-roles-test )
Belbinroles
Score
Plant
Shaper
Do you have customers/revenues/profit ?
Specialist
Coordinator
Resource investigator
Implementer
Finisher
Teamworker
Monitor
25
What lessons have you learned in this step?
Do you want feedback on your answers? Apply for an
account ([email protected]). You can digitally
complete the questions and receive the answers in
your mailbox.
Do something
you love and
you’ll never
have to work a
day in your life
John Lasseter, Pixar
26
STEP 2
Find your identity
| Golden Sentence | Moodboard | Company name |Corporate image
| Corporate identity |
Values
If you choose a company name and use it as an indication of your business, then it is officially called a
"trade." There are some rules that you need to meet. In
Examples of values of your
own business could be
the
is a document for more infor-
mation on the first steps to set up your company, such
as choosing a company name, registering at the Chamber of Commerce. Is your business name maybe a

Put people at place one
brand name? Your company name should not cause

Give all of us
confusion with the same or similar brand names in the

Take pride in your work
register of the Benelux Office for Intellectual ownership

Have fun

Keep it simple

Never stop learning

Talk like you talk with friends

Be honest

Be good, not stressed

Do everything with a little modesty
(BOIP). Should you call your snack bar McRonald's for
example, then you can expect problems with the owner
of the brand McDonald's. So find out if your business
name as a brand name occurs in the BOIP.
In Holland: If you want to use your company name as a
domain name, your name should first be checked with
the Foundation for Internet Domain Name Registration
(SIDN.nl) whether it is still available.
Persona
This type of values that you determine for your own
Personas are called archetypes, which help you to get
business, is the DNA of your business. Other values,
an impression of your future customers. Thus the im-
create a different kind of company.
plementation of your company gets simpler and easier
Choose company name
to follow. This customer is given a name, a face, person-
You want a suitable name for your business. Because a
good company can contribute to the success of your
company. That makes choosing your business name one
of the most important decisions you make.
28
al characteristics, social environment, hobbies. Additionally you can define a daily schedule of the persona
(goal is that you estimate what times you might approach your prospective client). A persona will be the
basis for customer segmentation later (step 6).
long to the story (pitch) they heard.
Example: Steve Jones
Steve has its own web marketing agency. Steve is 38
years and knows everything in the field of the Internet.
Steve has studied Computer Science at the university.
After the three minutes, each participant will demonstrate to the respective startup and explain what he/
she has torn out and why. This will be repeated for
every startup in the same manner.
He lives in a new neighborhood, in a detached house.
Steve is interested in art, culture and politics. He reads
the NYT and drives an Audi A6. His girlfriend is called
Kate and works in fashion. She reads the Vogue and
Then each participant glues his/her torn images, he/
she got on the A3 sheet. Take a picture of your own
collective mood board and place it in your portfolio.
she drives a VW Beetle. Every now and then he visits
The idea is that you discover that even if you tell your
the theater with Kate. Steve loves gadgets. He obvious-
story about your company/product, direct to your fel-
ly own the latest smartphone. Both privately and professionally, he is daily seen on the internet. He orders
articles and online travel whenever possible.
low-startups, you will receive four different signals; in
other words, how will (potential) customers, who have
no connection with you, see your business?
Domain-name registration
Collective moodboard
This is an exercise with several people (your fellow
Startups, preferably 4-5 people), to examine how your
message gets across.
Needed: A large stack of magazines, a timer (app) and
for each Startup an A3 sheet, scissors and glue.
Session: Every Startup tells all about his/hers startup
Always register your domain name first in the SIDN
and only after that at the Chamber of Commerce. By
registering at the Chamber of Commerce your name
will be public. Another person is able to register this
domain 'fast'. Unfortunately, this happens quite often.
TIP
idea/product/service, and which problem he/she
Use an online tool for creating a Persona in
the App store, or use:
thinks to solve for his/her future customers.
www.personapp.spookstudio.com
Then within three minutes everyone needs to tear out
as many images (and text), which they consider to be-
29
Corporate image and corporate
identity
Every company has an image. This is the actual way
In the
you will find a document that
you can print. It allows you to create cards for :

Core competencies (choose from 3)
(impressions, expectations, emotions, experiences).

Business goals (choose from 5)
The success of a company depends on the image

Operating characteristics (choose from 5)
among its target groups, corporate image.

Colors at your corporate identity
how the company is being perceived by others
The corporate identity is how you want to be perceived
by your target groups as a company. The actual - and
desired image ideally match to high extent, so that the
Golden Sentence
audience can identify with you.
Simon Sinek is the creator of the Golden Circle ('It
starts with the why). Sinek discovered that behind all
To work on your corporate image, you first must be
successful brands in the same way of thinking, lies ac-
certain about your identity. These are your core com-
tions and communication, who are totally different
petencies (where we are as a company good at?), Busi-
from how most companies think, act and communi-
ness goals (what do we want to achieve?) And - charac-
cate.
teristics (how we want to achieve our goals?) Very important.
The Golden Circle consists of three circles.
The better you design the corporate identity, the sim-
The core is the Why, then follows the How and the out-
pler your (future) target audience can identify with it,
er circle is the What. Most companies start with the
and the better you can position (distinguishing in a
outer ring (What) and then work inward. Most influen-
positive way from your competitors) your business.
tial companies start with the core: Why
The visualization of your identity (house style) should
correspond with your corporate identity (how you as a
company are perceived by the outside world), but also
for example by color - and shape used in the design of
your workplace or (later) office and posting photos on
your web site.
30
De Golden Circle exists out of three circles:
Example of a Golden Sentence:
"We believe in maximum development of talent and
entrepreneurial behavior of students, (student) entrepreneurs and trainees by stimulating and activating
them in an innovative, passionate way, to gain maximum potential to develop, and grow both their company as well as their entrepreneurial behavior. "
What:: these are the products or services you’re selling;
How: explanation of your business what you (will) do.
Assignment
Create in a session with multiple startups (4), a choice
of the above variables and explain your choices to the
For example, how is your unique selling method or
group. Now take a picture of your identity-moodboard
a distinctive value. How is often used to explain
and put it in your portfolio.
why something is better or different;
Why: is not about making a profit, but what you believe, what drives you. Inspired businesses, regardless of size, think, act and communicate from
the inside out (‘inside out’)
TIP
In the
is a presentation, documents associated with the Workshop Golden
Circle and links to videos of Simon Sinek.
Create one sentence with your Why, How and What:
The Golden Sentence. The Golden Sentence is the
foundation of your business. In next steps you can
change your golden sentence by changing insights or
changes in your business model!
31
Steve Blank
TIP
Follow from now on at every step the onlinelectures of Steve Blank at:
www.udacity.com/course/ep245 .
People
don't
buy what
you do;
people
buy why
you do it
Simon Sinek
32
Questions
What do you solve for your prospective clients (Pain
and Gain)?
STEP 2
What is your Golden Sentence?
What do you want to change in the world?
To what extent does your What support your Why?
Why do you want this?
What is your value proposition (not your product or
Who are your role models?
service, but what do you solve for your prospective
client)? use no more than 10 words.
33
What is success for you?
Tell in a tweet (140 characters) to your mother what
your company will do.
What can you do best?
How do you want people looking at your business?
Which four or five values of your business are important?
What is your BSR-color? (go to www.smartagent.nl for
the test)
If your company didn’t exists, what should we miss?
What BSR-color is your business (what color customers
are you going to serve)?
Tell in a tweet (140 characters) something about yourself.
To what target group do you belong - within the Mentality model? (Make the test at www.motivaction.nl/)
□ New conservatives
□ Modern society
□ Convenience oriented
34
□ Social climbers
□ Cosmopolitans
□ Post-materialists
□ Post-modern hedonists
□ Traditionals
What are the core competencies of your company?
(choose 3 max)
□ Making
□ Inventing
□ Moving/ distributing
□ Attend
□ Fill needs
□ Organize
□ Otherwise…
TIP
In the
board.
is a canvas for a mood
35
What are the business goals of your company (choose from up to 5): What purpose or what state do you want to
achieve ?
36
□ Crafts
□ Cooperation
□ Stylish
□ Explanation
□ Enterprising
□ Optimistic
□ Helpfulness
□ Involvement
□ Accessibility
□ Reliability
□ Creativity
□ Traditional
□ Energetic
□ Efficiency
□ Distinctive
□ Be capable
□ Defend own opinion
□ Obedience
□ Honesty
□ Independency
□ Integrity
□ Exclusivity
□ Be friendly
□ Quality
□ Innovative
□ Be rational
□ Female
□ Customer friendly
□ Flexibility
□ Male
□ Loving behavior
□ Adventurous
□ Other:
What are the business goals of your company (choose from up to 5): What purpose or what state you want to achieve?
□ Relaxation
□ Harmony
□ Excitement
□ Carelessness
□ Pleasure
□ Self deploying
□ Organizing
□ Entertainment
□ Comfort
□ Health
□ Attractiveness
□ Safety
□ Better environment
□ Better quality life
□ Satisfaction
□ Atmosphere
□ Happiness
□ Ease
□ Freedom
□ Personality
□ Competence
□ Love/romance
□ Security
□ youthfulness
□ Respect
□ Respect
□ Sociability
□ General development
□ Recognition
□ Other:
37
What is the color of your business identity?
(Check the
for documents on the
meaning of colors)
□ Red (vigor, active, speed, passionate, bold)
□ Pink (cheerful, lively, positive, female)
□ Orange (collaborative, positive, social)
□ Warm yellow (innovative, progressive, innovative)
□ Light yellow (warm, sunny )
□ Lime (optimistic, stimulating, young, fresh)
□ Green (harmony, trust, tolerant, growth, rest)
□ Blue (space, communications, thinking, listening)
□ Purple (spirituality, floor)
What colors are in your (future) logo?
□ Red
□ Pink
□ Orange
□ Warm yellow
□ Light yellow
□ Lime
38
□ Green
□ Blue
□ Black/white
Why?
What are you learning moments of the collective mood
board session?
How are we doing?
(Every step we will ask some questions about
things you have done or have found out)
What about your company Facebook and Twitter account? (How many likes? How many followers? What
are you going to do with it?)
Do you have customers/revenues/profit?
What are the lessons learned in this step?
Do you want feedback on your answers? Apply for an
account ([email protected]). You can digitally
complete the questions and receive the answers in
your mailbox.
GOLDEN
SENTENCE
I want to
contribute
to a world
where <WHY>
by <HOW>
through
<WHAT>.
39
STEP 3
What is your
Business Model
Canvas?
| Business Modells | Canvas session | Scamper |
Business Canvas
Generation
In the
you will find a
presentation that explains
different business models.
Alexander Osterwalder’s book
forms the basis for this step.
Draw all nine areas of the canvas on a flip chart::
Part 1 of the session
The startup explains to the group what different parts
of the canvas are his own idea, product or service. Start
with the value proposition or the customer segment.
The moderator asks questions and writes everything on
post-its and fixes those on the canvas.
Part 2 of the session
Diversify the range of all nine areas to generate new
variants of your business model. "Yes, but ..." is not
appreciated and all contributions can lead to new insights, so do not reject all ideas spontaneously. It does
Canvas-session
Most ideas business startups are often not the best
ideas for setting up a promising business. 66% of all
entrepreneurs, who have worked with this trajectory of
12 weeks have a totally different business case in the
end. In order to determine all possible variants, a Canvas Session is the optimal basis.
A Canvas Session takes about 2-3 hours and is kind of
brainstorm session for evaluating different variants. It is
advisable to work through those sessions with a group
of people (4-5 max) under the supervision of a facilitator who understands the model and is capable of 'Inthe-box' thinking. That is, that he can brainstorm
(diverging) within the original idea or product.
not necessarily need to lead to promising business ideas. Analyzing your concepts and calculating your options will happen in the next step. Determining your
variation range will be done with the tool of SCAMPER.
You develop new ideas in the section Customers, invented as the original customer segment that will be
removed or changed.
Colors: Use different colors of Post-Its. That gives overview and insight. For example, use for any new customer segment a different color.
Visual: Using images and words. That increases overview, as the canvas is filled. Your brains usually understand images faster than words.
Level of detail: Try to limit the use of Post-It notes. By
using too many Post-It’s the overall picture disappears.
Add details later (with respect to customer development).
41
SCAMPER
Scamper gives a foothold to make up different variants
during a Canvas Session. Use this during the session on
Common mistakes
each of the 9 blocks of the Canvas:
Orphan-Post-Its

These are solitary post-its in a colour that is not being






Substitute: Replace components, materials,
people.
Combine: What can be combined with other
products or services? Where to find? Synergy
Adapt: Add features of other products or services is increasing.
Modify: Is increasing, decreasing, or change?
Put to another purpose: In which market is
more use?
Eliminate: Remove parts, back to the basic
function.
Reverse: Is it to turn around, turn inside out or
put in a different order.
used in the other areas.
Make sure that in the Canvas Model no 'orphan' PostIt notes can be found. If, for example, you name a new
customer segment (with a different colour!), all other
eight blocks should also have the same colour Post-its.
Mixing present and future models can be disturbing or
limit the insight. Always distinguish between current
and future Canvas models. Mixing them can have a
disturbing effect.
Too many models: Also describe too many different
models in a Canvas can be confusing or limit your un-
TIP
In the
you will find a document with so-called trigger questions, that
you might want to use for all areas of the
Canvas model.
derstanding. Always try to separate them. You always
have the chance to merge them later in the process.
Merging or splitting of Business
Models
In a Canvas Session you have, based on your own business idea, product or service, determined different
business models.
42
Then you can use this step to do two
things
Which ideas do not belong to you (be careful in determining, it may be that you just throw away a promising
business model. You can always saying later on, after
the analysis, that these models do not fit in your plans).
You can merge some models or even disassemble
them. Determine the overlapping of the models or if
they have many identical sides and decide whether
they should be integrated or even handled separately.
For further explanation, see the book by Osterwalder
(pp. 232 ff.).
Start by viewing the presentation (do a group exercise
at the end of the presentation about the case "Bob").
DON’T
FALL IN
LOVE WITH
YOUR OWN
SOLUTION
43
Questions
STEP 3
Value Proposition (Enter the
answers below which belong to
your original business idea)
What value do you deliver to the customer?
What problems do you solve for the customer?
Customers Channels
How do you reach them?
□ Physical
□ Digital
Product/channel?
How do you reach them?
What are the customers needs?
Which channels are integrated?
Which will work best?
44
Relationship
What relationship does your customer expect and how
do you maintain it?
Unpaid?
□ Publications in newspapers / magazines
□ Conferences / speeches
□ Blogs / guest writers
□ Social Media
□ Other:
Which Relationships are possible?
How are they integrated into the whole of your business model? ?
Paid?
□ Direct relationship
□ Ads
□ Exhibitions etc.
□ Webinars
□ Email/direct mail
□ Search Engine Marketing
□ Other:
How much do they cost?
How do you maintain customer relationships?
□ Product-updates
□ Management & Maintenance
□ Loyalty program
□ Newsletter/Blogs
□ Events
□ Social Media
□ Other
45
Income
Type of income?
□ Recurring revenues
□ Single purchase
What are they paying for?
□ Product / service fee
□ Hourly rate
What do customers pay for your product now/service
to the competition?
Type of Sales?
□ Sales
□ User fee
□ Subscription
□ Rent, lease, license
Intermediate income (consulting,
coaching, consulting)
□ Advertising
□ Other:
When does the customer REALLY pay for it?
46
How do they currently pay your competitor?
Key Resources
What are your physical resources?
What are your intellectual resources?
□ Contracts
□ Copyrights
□ Secret business knowledge
□ Patents
What are your human resources?
Key Activities
What do you produce?
What are your financial resources?
What problems do you have to solve?
What key resources does your Value Proposition need?
Platform/Netwerk?
What key resources does your channels need?
What key activities does your value proposition need?
What key resources does your customer relationship
need?
What key activities do you need in distribution?
What key resources does your income need?
What key activities does your customer relationship
need?
47
What key activities does your income need?
Key Partners
Who are your KEY-partners?
Who were / are your suppliers?
Strategic alliances?
Did / do you have preferred suppliers?
Cooperative: competition as partners?
□ Outsourcing activities
□ Delivery components / raw materials
What resources come from your partners?
Why do you want partners?
□ Economic reasons (faster access to the market)
□ Scale of the business
□ Reducing risks
□ Acquisition of knowledge
□ Resources or activities
□ Joint ventures
Why do partners want to work with you?
48
What resources come from your partners?
What are your risks with your partners?
□ Not clear who owns the customer
□ Different vision of product / service
□ Partner (decision maker) may disappear
□ IP-issues
□ Agreements / contracts
□ Otherwise
Which parts of your business models are the most distinctive?
Costs
Driven?
□ Cost Driven (minimizing costs)
□ Value Driven
Describe the variations from the
Canvas session
(Use the version numbers for further analysis!)
What is the main cost associated with your business
model?
Please describe below all variations: which do you
want to continue?
Which key resources are the most expensive?
Which key activities are the most expensive?
□ Variant-1 (your original idea)
□ Variant-2
□ Variant-3
□ Variant-4
□ Variant-5
Calculate below the Customer Acquisition Cost
(Customer Acquisition Costs: CAC)? See Lesson 5 Steve
Blank lectures at www.udacity.com).
49
How are we doing?
(Every step we will ask some questions about
things you have done or have found out)
What about your company Facebook and Twitter account? (How many likes? How many followers? What
are you going to do with it?)
Do you have customers/revenues/profit?
What are the lessons learned in this step?
Do you want feedback on your answers? Apply for an
account ([email protected]). You can digitally
complete the questions and receive the answers in
your mailbox.
50
STEP 4
Which canvases
are best?
| Analysis | SWOT | Gurley |
Analysing
Business models
In the
is a presentation
about the analysis and computation of
your models. This phase is important to
get an overall understanding of the opportunities of these models and you
can skip or merge models. It is also
about learning to estimate. In the
presentation there are also exercises
about estimating.
Canvas of costs and revenues
In the previous step you have defined a number of
models in the Canvas session and thereafter merged,
split or even discarded (because it does not fits you).
The
has a spreadsheet, in which you
can capture each model. Each model next to each fixed
Canvas has a second tab spreadsheet for further elaboration of the Cost and Revenue.
The explanation of this tool is on the first tab.
Spreadsheet for the SWOT–
analysis
The spreadsheet for the SWOT analysis in the
provides the ability to perform a
SWOT analysis of each model that you have defined.
The explanation of the tool is on the first tab of the
To analyze the different models we have three tools in
spreadsheet. When you have filled out the first two
the
tabs, you can view the total score and your score per
1.
:
Spreadsheet for each model to determine
(Canvas Cost-income) the (estimated) costs
and revenues
2.
Spreadsheet to execute (Canvas SWOT) a
Swot Analysis
3.
Gurley's test
Canvas topic. If there are values that are negative (red),
those are your focal points. Look at them and analyze
separately.
Gurley’s test
The Gurley test is a test that allows you to look at your
Canvas model through the eyes of a potential investor.
Would an investor invest in a company with this business model? The Gurley's test is a business model that
describes a number of distinguishing traits that warrant high price/revenue and higher values.
52
By using this test you actually look through the eyes of
insignificant.
an investor.
The maximum score for this test is 50 points. Please
note that every investor has its own criteria and can
add its own criteria to the list.
Choices
If you have analyzed all of your Canvases with these
three tools, you can make choices: which models are
you going to continue working with? (or what parts of
the canvas need further analysis?) Remember that you
can discuss these issues of attention in your model in
the latter part of this route. This happens in the interviews with your potential customers or partners.
This way you can try to figure out if an investor would
invest in a company with this business model. Before
you can answer the question written above, you first
need to know what's important for an investor. When
will one say; yes! this is a company worth investing in?
To answer this question we use 10 distinguishing traits
of a company. In this test we explain these traits. A
score has to be given per trait according to your personal opinion in order to get an overall view of the
company.
Example: Company X is not pleased with its profitability. The goals are not yet reached and the company
expects a low profit. In this case the score for the mar-
The aim of this whole process is that you eventually
have one optimal, repeatable and scalable business
model.
ginal profitability calculation will be placed under; very
53
Questions
STEP 4
Variation -analysis
(Use the SWOT analysis-tool from the
StartupWorkbook
)
Swot-score Variation 4
Swot-score Variation 5
Which variations did you drop and why?
What problems did you encounter when analyzing the
variations?
Swot-score Variation 1 (own business idea)
Swot-score Variation 2
Are there scores in the 9 Canvas subjects that need
attention and why?
Swot-score Variation 3
Also indicate in which variations this occurs?
54
Costs and revenues
Enter below for each variation: costs and income
(bottom two boxes Canvas Model). Use the tool to
calculate your options, see the StartupWorkbook.
Are there things you want to adjust through your analCosts and revenues variation 1 (your original idea)
ysis of this step? (Think about your Golden Sentence)
Costs and revenues variation 2
Gurley’s Test
Costs and revenues variation 3
Costs and revenues variation 4
Costs and revenues variation 5
Test-score Variation 1 (your original idea)
Test-score Variation 2
Test-score Variation 3
Which variations do you show and why? With which
variation(s) can you can go from here, based on the
analysis above and why?
55
Test-score Variation 4
What are the lessons learned in this step?
Test-score Variation 5
How are we doing?
(Every step we will ask some questions about
things you have done or have found out)
What about your company Facebook and Twitter account? (How many likes? How many followers? What
are you going to do with it?
Do you have customers/revenues/profit?
56
Do you want feedback on your answers? Apply for an
account ([email protected]). You can digitally
complete the questions and receive the answers in
your mailbox.
STEP 5
Who are your
competitors?
| Blue ocean | Positioning matrix |
Blue Ocean
Blue Ocean Strategy is a metaphor for the
exploration of untapped markets where no
competition occurs. Do not fight with competitors to make a few percentage points in
the (blood) red oceans (where the sharks
swim and eat each other) of existing markets.
Example
AH to Go-shops, small ‘one-stop-shopping's' in stations
are an example of a Blue Ocean. Unlike the large Albert Heijn 'AH to GO' stores are many times smaller
and the range includes less than 10% of what the big
Albert Heijn offers. But these 'convenience stores' supply indeed added value to what the consumer 'on the
move' may need. It's created a new market, that is
between hospitality and existing supermarkets. Many
non-AH customers buy it at AH to Go, and the new
stores have a very high turnover per square meter.
In previous steps in the Canvas-session we
have been looking for 'niche'-markets: the
Blue Ocean.
Blue Ocean-Canvas
Decide for yourself, what are the key customer values
for your business. These are values that are important
to you towards your client, such as "Quality, Fast delivery, Cheap." Put those values on an x-axis (template
is in the
) of a Blue Ocean-Canvas.
Put the most important value at the beginning, to the
left. On the y-axis are scores of 1-10. Now go look for
competitors (look further, this step on Google Code).
Try to understand how your competitors are performing on your customer values. Put all scores in the
graph.
58
Since your most important customer values are left,
The
you want to score better than your competitors. If that
Ocean Canvas online. Important: because you may
is not the case, then you should start thinking about
adjust your client's values, it may be that you have to
how you can do better. In many cases it means that
adjust your specific (step 2) core competencies as well
you are going to compromise on other customer val-
as your business objectives and characteristics and
ues (in the above example: will you compromise on
identity. It may even be that you have to go all the way
your fast delivery, to deliver better quality than your
back to the beginning and you have to adjust your
competitor?).
Golden Sentence!
Positioning matrix
To investigate whether you are a Blue Ocean, you've
really found yourself the Positioning Matrix is a useful
tool (see the
, for a template). Put in
contains links to fill in the Blue
TIP
In the
value-canvas.
is a customer-
a matrix (you could make different matrices), your
most important customer values are put in two extremes. (Eg active-passive or cheap-expensive). Put
your competitors in the matrix and find out if one of
the quadrants are not competitors, so a Blue Ocean.
Google Code
To find your research to your optimal business model,
you should aim to look at your competitors, customer
segments, financial figures. To do this, Google is a good
entry. Using the methods described in the book
'Google Code' by Henk van Ess (for information on the
book see:
).It also includes a presen-
tation of examples of search methods and databases,
which you can use on your quest.
59
Customer Value Chart
With a customer value-diagram, a diagram of two main dimensions: customer values versus customer experience.
This allows you to assess what stages form the biggest obstacles and where best opportunities are to be found. The
obstacles must be solved with existing customers, but also with potential customers.
Purchase
Availability
Simplicity
Ease
Fun & image
Environmentally
friendly
Health
Customer value graph
Risk
60
Delivery
Use
Extra’s
Maintenance
Removal
Questions
What are your key customer values? Place the most
important values at the top and least important values
at the bottom.
STEP 5
Blue Ocean
Customer values
Who are your competitors?
What are your customer values?
□ Quality
□ Low-priced
□ Fast (in stock)
□ Personal attention
□ Authentic
□ Sustainable / Corporate Social Responsibility
□ Flexible
□ Clear / transparent
□ Otherwise:
Is there a Blue Ocean? You can display with a Positioning Matrix (see the
).
Are there competitors, which you will find important,
who score better in your Strategy-Canvas graphics?
61
Indicate your competitors and your customer values
(In the
is a Canvas for the Blue
Ocean- graphs or make these online at strategycanvas.org/)
What does it mean, if you want to score better on
your customer value than your competitors? What are
How are we doing?
(Every step we will ask some questions about
things you have done or have found out)
What about your company Facebook and Twitter ac-
the consequences for your other customer values?
count? (How many likes? How many followers? What
What are the changes?
are you going to do with it?)
Do you have customers/revenues/profit?
What are the lessons learned in this step?
Are
there issues that you want to adjust after this step
after your analysis? (for example, the Golden Sentence or your Canvas variants?)
62
Do you want feedback on your answers? Apply for an
account ([email protected]). You can digitally
complete the questions and receive the answers in
your mailbox.
STEP 6
Where is my
customer?
| Customer Segmentation | Jobs-to-be-done | Value proposition
Canvas | Storytelling |
Customer
There are several possible ways of segmentation:
Segmentation
Demographic: These characteristics are tied to a person or household. For example: age, sex, marital
status, religion, family size, living environment .
Customer Segmentation is dividing your audience into specific
segments. Segmentation is applied when a particular group is
too large and different or heterogeneous. A market can be segmented in different ways. Not
every form of segmentation is
meaningful and effective. The seg-
Geographically : segmentation based on region, for
example: country, region, town or postal area.
Socio-economic: characteristics of an individual or
household such as income, occupation, education
and social class.
Psychological: segmentation based on behavior, interests and opinion of a person. For example: lifestyle, political beliefs, environment, faith (three
activities, interests, opinions).
Use / consumption: difference between regular customers and initial customer (buying and usage
behavior).
Lifecycle: segmentation based on life cycle, ie single
ments need to be of a certain size
households, married or cohabiting couples with-
before they are interesting as a
married couples with older children, married cou-
target group.
out children, married couples with young children,
ples, children out of the house, male / female retired, widow / widower.
Examples
There are different segmentation models. All models
quoted are based on a particular lifestyle rather than
socio-demographic characteristics (age, gender, education). A lifestyle consists of personal values and often
64
gives a better explanation of consumer behavior. In
the
you can find (links to) various
online tests. Do one or more on your (potential) customers. In the
you can also find a
The functional 'Job' (task) describes how the consumer
looks at your product / service on functional
grounds
The emotional 'Job' (task) describes how the customer
presentation on Customer Segmentation, with exam-
feels or wants to feel when buying and using your
ples:
product

The BSR model from Smart Agent:
(www.hoedenktu.nl/ennis/surveys/BSREngels/)
The social 'Job' (task) describes how the customer
wants to be perceived by others.
Example: A couple that wants to buy a car baby seat:

Mentality-model:
(www.motivaction.nl/en/mentality)
Jobs-to-be-done
‘Jobs-to-be-done’ examines the needs that a customer
has, instead of looking only at what people buy.
What tasks (jobs-to-be-done) can we do for the
Their functional 'Job' (task): "Help us that our baby is
safe when we drive."
Their emotional 'Job' (task): "We want to know if our
baby is safe. We want to feel that we are good,
protective parents. "
Their social 'Job' (task): "We want to show to other
audience? The customer has a need (or task) that
couples that we have the best and safest baby
must be fulfilled: a 'job-to-be-done'. For each com-
gear."
pany the same question applied is: why are you
Customer Journey
really existing for your customers and in what
A technique that helps to review your client, user ex-
need do you provide? And will this be the same
perience and satisfaction for your product or ser-
within one or two years, or even tomorrow? And
vice. A Customer Journey can also be called a User
what does that mean for the ‘Jobs-to-be-done’
Journey.
that you carry out? What have you done for your
customer? Because: There is no value creation
without a need to fulfill. People are not onedimensional in their purchasing decisions. These
decisions often go beyond the functional criteria
of a product or service. There are also emotional and social components:
Customer touch-points are an important element of a
Customer Journey;
A touch-point is a place where the consumer comes
into contact with the product / service, the people, processes and physical evidence;
This can be a good, neutral or poor experience;
65
The goal is to create the touch-points as a good experience.
Gains
In the
you can find a template for the
Customer Journey.
What savings will make your customers happy? (eg in
terms of time, money and effort ...)
What expectations does your client have? (such as
Value Proposition Canvas
The
provides a template and an ex-
planatory document for your Value Proposition Canvas
to fill in. The VPC is a tool that zooms in on two sub-
quality, more of something, less of something ...)
How can your solutions make your customers happy?
(eg specific features, performance, quality. ...)
How can life / work be made easier for your client? (for
jects of the Business Model Canvas: Value Proposition
example a smoother learning curve, more ser-
and Customers.
vices, lower costs ...)
What positive social impact does your solution have on
In the new book of Alexander Osterwalder - Value
Proposition Design (2104) you can find a lot of information about the VPC.
your customer? (for example, they look good,
more power, status, ...)
To what are your customers looking for? (eg, a good
design, guarantees, specific -, more functions ...)
What does your client dream of? (eg better performance, great reliefs ...)
How does your client define whether something is
good or not? (eg cost ...)
When would your client accept your solution faster?
(eg, lower cost, less investment, less risk, better
quality, performance, better design ...)
Value Proposition Canvas
66
Pains
What do your customers think of the current solutions? (for example, it takes a lot of time, money,
requires great efforts ...)
What makes your client feel bad? (eg, frustration, annoyance, headaches ...)
What do your customers think of the current solutions
of current products and services? (eg, lack of features, performance, many failures, poor service ...)
What are the main problems and challenges that your
customer runs into? (for example, to understand
how things work, difficulties getting things done,
resistance ...)
What negative social impact does your customer have,
what is he afraid of? (eg loss of sight, power, trust,
or status ...)
What risks is your client scared of? (eg financial, social,
technical risks or that something can go terribly
wrong ...)
Storytelling
More than ever, the public wants to see the authenticity of the brand. And more than ever brands want to
anticipate in their customer’s experience. More than
ever, a company must be an organization that wants to
move something. That is where the difference is and
that is where the good or beautiful stories come from.
What keeps your client awake at night? (eg, major
issues, concerns ...)
With what common mistakes is your customer confronted with? (eg use, errors ...)
What barriers does your customer see when it comes
to existing solutions? (eg investment costs, learn-
TIPS
In the
are different canvases for this step:

Empathy canvas

Persona canvas
ing curve, resistance to change ...)
67
In the
is a spreadsheet, which you
can use to capture the different customer segments
and which is at the same time a suitable tool in the
problem interviews later on.
TIP
If you have more than 100 Likes on your
Facebook business page, promotional
activities can be done. By (if needed fictional) promoting a message you can
type all sorts of keywords and locations.
This shows you how big your target
group is.
Look for more information and films in the
.
TIP
Go and collect names and data
(addresses, phone numbers, websites,
Facebook Likes) from this moment on.
Varying from channel partners, key partners, customers, influencers and competitors. You'll need them in the upcoming weeks.
68
Questions
Demographic segmentation (description + estimated
size) (dividing a market by age, life, sex, religion, etc.
Example: Male / Female or starter / 65 + older)
step 6
Customer Segmentation
Persona (use www.personapp.spookstudio.com)
Why would customers from this segment want to buy
your product / service?
Geographic segmentation (description + estimated size)
(Splitting a market to country, region, city or district,
etc. for example: United Stated, California and San
Francisco)
Socio-economic segmentation (description + estimated
size) (Dividing a market by income, occupation or education etc. Example: (High school, college).
Why would customers from this segment want to buy
your product / service?
Why would customers from this segment want to buy
your product / service?
69
Psychographic segmentation (description + estimated
Provide a list of Jobs-to-be-done. Order by importance
size) (Behavior that can not be predicted on the basis
(trivial or important) or frequency.
of the previous segmentation criteria. Personality
traits and lifestyles)
Why would customers from this segment want to buy
Value Proposition - Canvas
your product / service?
In the
StartupWorkbook a template
can be found for Customer - Value - Canvas.
Customer Segment: What are the 'Jobs-to-be-done'?
Behavioral Segmentation (description + size estimated)
(Dividing the market based on knowledge of a product
such as loyalty, usage frequency, willingness to buy,
purpose of use, level of use and the time of use).
Customer Segment:- What are the pains?
Why would customers from this segment want to buy
your product / service?
Customer Segment: - What are the gains?
Jobs-to-be-done?
□ Functional
□ Social
□ Emotional
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Value Proposition: What are the gain-creators?
Describe a "Day-in-a-life" of your customer.
Value Proposition: What are the pain-relievers?
Value Proposition: Describe your service / product.
At what point of the day can you reach your customer?
Is your Customer - Value - Canvas different for the re-
Does your product / service provide a Gain? (what does
maining variants?
it provide?)
Give the differences.
□ Convenience
□ Time
□ Quality
□ Less risk
□ More service
□ Faster learning curve
□ Fun
□ Other:
71
Who is the user of your product / service?
Does your product/ service solve a ‘Pain’? What does
it solve?
□ Unwanted charges
□ Undesirable situations
□ Risks
□ Negative emotions
□ Time
□ Costs
Who is the influencer of your product / service?
Who recommends your product / service to others?
Who decides to purchase your product / service?
What does it solve? (from existing products / services)
□ Lack of additional functionality
□ Malfunctioning
□ Poor / inadequate performance
□ Frustration
□ High costs
□ Long learning curve
Describe 3 -5 archetypes.
72
Who actually buys your product / service (buyer)?
Is there a saboteur in the decision making process? If
so, who?
Type of market:
□ Existing market
□ New market
□ Resegmented market
□ Clone-market
Do you have customers/revenues/profit?
What are the lessons learned in this step?
Who could be your first customer (launching customer) and why?
What parts have been changed over the last few
steps? (think of your Golden Sentence, Business Case,
etc.)
Do you want feedback on your answers? Apply for an
account ([email protected]). You can digitally
complete the questions and receive the answers in
your mailbox.
How are we doing?
(Every step we will ask some questions about
things you have done or have found out)
What about your company Facebook and Twitter account? (How many likes? How many followers? What
are you going to do with it?)
73
STEP 7
Preparing for
interviews and
mvp
| Google Code | Hypotheses | Manifesto Steve Blank | AARRR |
Customer
Development
manifesto Steve Blank
Rule No. 1: There are no facts inside your building, so get outside!
engineers are locked into an implementation cycle,
unable to change the product features without intolerable delay. By contrast, a startup engineering organization using an agile methodology is designed to continually take customer input and deliver a product that
iterates readily around a “minimum viable product” (MVP) or its minimum feature set.
Rule No. 3: Failure is an integral part of
the search.
One of the big differences between a startup and an
A startup is a faith-based enterprise built on its found-
existing company is the one that’s never explicitly stat-
ers vision and a notable absence of facts. The founders
ed: “startups go from failure to failure.” In a startup,
job is to translate this vision and these hypotheses into
you’re searching, NOT executing, and the only way to
facts. Facts live outside the building, where prospective
find the right path is to try lots of experiments and take
customers live and work, so that’s where you need to
a lot of wrong turns. Failure is a part of the process.
go. Nothing is more fundamental to Customer Devel-
Failures are not truly failures, per se, but an integral
opment, and nothing is harder to do. It’s much easier
part of the startup learning process. You’ll be running
to write code, have meetings and build hardware than
dozens, if not hundreds, of pass/fail tests – on your
it is to find and listen to potential customers. But that’s
pitch, your features, your pricing, and on and on – so
what separates the winners from the losers.
get ready to accept failure and move on. When some-
Rule No. 2: Pair customer development with agile development.
thing isn’t working, successful founders orient themselves to the new facts, decide what needs fixing, and
act decisively. This process demands frequent, agile
Customer Development is useless unless the product
iteration, followed by testing of the iteration, which
development organization can iterate the product with
often leads to another iteration or pivot, which leads to
speed and agility. If Engineering builds the product
more testing and…….. If you’re afraid to fail in a
using waterfall development, it will be deaf, dumb and
startup, you’re destined to do so.
blind to customer input except during a short period
when it’s specifying the product. The rest of the time,
75
Rule No. 4: Make continuous iterations and pivots.
The difference between a static business plan and dy-
Embracing failure in Customer Development demands
between a flameout and success. Startups should
frequent, agile iteration and pivots. A pivot is a sub-
dump the business plan and adopt the flexible busi-
stantive change in one or more of the nine boxes of
ness model (refer to the Business Model Canvas work-
the Business Model Canvas (for example, a pricing
sheet for its components).
namic business model could well be the difference
change from freemium to subscription, or a customer
segment shift from boys to women). Iterations are minor changes to business model components (e.g.,
changing pricing from $99 to $79). When a company is
limping along, only a dramatic change to one or more
of its business model components can get it back on
the road to success. Groupon’s legendary $12 billion
pivot (their IPO valuation) is a perfect example.
Rule No. 6: Design experiments
and test to validate your hypotheses
Initially, hypothesis is just a fancy word for “guess.” To
turn hypotheses into facts, founders need to get out of
the building and test them in front of customers. How
do you test? And what do you want to learn? Testing
Rule No. 5: No business plan survives first contact with customers
so use a business model canvas.
and learning require you to be thoughtful on con-
There’s only one reason for a business plan: some in-
strong signal in the signal/noise ratio, something like
vestor who went to business school doesn’t know any
five of the first 12 customers you call on saying, “I need
better and wants to see one. But once it has delivered
this right now, even if it’s still buggy.” Early tests aren’t
financing, the business plan is fundamentally useless.
always precise, but should give you a “good enough”
Entrepreneurs often mistake their business plan as a
cookbook for execution, failing to recognize that it is
only a collection of unproven assumptions. A revenue
structing and designing your tests. We call this
“designing the experiments.” Experiments are short,
simple, objective pass/fail tests. You’re looking for a
signal to proceed. Start by asking yourself, “What insight do I need to move forward?” Then ask, “what’s
the simplest test I can run to gain it?” Finally, think
about, “how do I design an experiment to run this sim-
plan blessed by an investor, and composed over-
ple test?” One of the things that trips up engineering
whelmingly of guesses, suddenly becomes an opera-
founders is thinking that these tests have to be actual
tion plan driving hiring, firing and spending. Insanity.
code, hardware, or the real product. Most of the time,
76
you can mock-up a web page or create a demo or phys-
the customer creation stage. While market type is ulti-
ical prototype to elicit valuable learning.
mately a “late-binding decision,” a working hypothesis
Rule No. 7: Agree on market type.
It changes everything.
helps frame early customer discovery issues.
Not all startups are alike. One of the key ways in which
Rule No. 8: Startup metrics differ
from those in existing companies
they are different is in the relationship between a
Existing business have established tools for measuring
startup’s new product and its market. These product/
performance – P&Ls, balance sheets, cash flow , fore-
market relationships generally fit one of these descrip-
casts, etc. Here’s hoping your startup becomes big
tions:
enough to need them someday. We now know that
startup metrics should focus on tracking the startups

Bringing a new product into an existing market

Bringing a new product into a new market
progress converting hypotheses into incontrovertible
facts rather than measuring the execution of a static
plan. These hypotheses should be continuously tested

Bringing a new product into an existing market
Customer Development Manifesto by management
and trying to re-segment that market as a low-
and the board until the entire business model is worth
cost entrant, or re-segmenting that market as a
scaling into a company. Management and investors
niche entrant, or cloning a business model
must agree on a set of metrics that truly matter. These
that’s successful in another country.
should track the results of pass/fail tests and the re-
Market type influences everything a company does.
Strategy and tactics that work for one market type sel-
sulting iterations:

dom work for another. Market type determines the
startup’s customer feedback and acquisition activities
and spending. It changes customer needs, adoption
tures been validated?

panies generally enter one of these market types and
ultimately must commit to one. The consequences of a
wrong market-type choice will prove to be severe in
Does the minimum feature set resonate with
customers?
rates, product features and position as well as its
launch strategies, channels and activities. Startup com-
Has the customer problems and product fea-

Who, in fact, is the customer and have hypotheses on the value proposition, customer segments, and channels been validated through
face-to-face customer interaction? The relative-
77
ly few financial metrics to be tracked are cash-
Rule No. 10: It’s all about passion.
burn rate, number of months’ worth of cash left,
A startup without driven, passionate people is dead by
short-term hiring plans, and amount of time
the day it opens. “Startup people” are different. They
until the company reaches cash-flow break even.
think different. In contrast, most people are great at
Rule No. 9: Fast decision-making,
cycle time, speed and tempo.
execution. They work to live, do their jobs well, and
Speed matters at startups where the only absolute cer-
ry are just different. They’re a very tiny percentage of
tainty is that the bank balance declines every day. Piv-
the world population, and their brains are wired for
ots and iterations should happen the faster the better.
chaos, uncertainty, and blinding speed. They’re irration-
The faster these cycles happen, the greater the odds of
ally focused on customer needs and delivering great
finding a scalable business model with the cash on
products. Their job is their life. It’s not 9-to-5, it’s 24/7.
hand. If cycles happen too slowly, the startup runs out
These are the people who found high-growth, highly-
of cash and dies. The biggest impediment to cycle time
successful scalable startups.
enjoy their family, their lives, and their hobbies. The
people leading almost every successful startup in histo-
is psychological: it requires the admission of being
wrong or even of suffering a short-term tactical defeat.
any problem and founders shouldn’t agonize over try-
Rule No. 11: Startup job titles are
very different from a large companies.
ing to find one. This doesn’t mean gambling with the
In an existing company, job titles reflect the way tasks
company’s fortunes on a whim. It means adopting plans
are organized to execute a known business model. For
with an acceptable degree of risk and doing so quickly.
example, “sales” means there’s a sales team repeatedly
Make sure these decisions are fact-based, not faith-
selling a known product to well understood customers,
based. Agile startups have mastered another trick: tem-
using a standard corporate presentation with standard
po – the ability to make quick decisions consistently
price terms, etc. startups demand executives who are
and at all levels in the company. Speed and tempo are
comfortable with uncertainty, chaos and change. They
integral parts of startup DNA, and a great startup’s tem-
need executives who are:
Most startup decisions are made in the face of uncertainty. There’s seldom a clear-cut, perfect solution to
po is often 10 times that of a large company.

Open to learning and discovery: highly curious,
inquisitive and creative
78

Eager to search for a repeatable and scalable
graph is worth deconstructing:
business model
Preserve cash: when a startup has unlimited cash, it


Agile and confident enough to deal with daily
can iterate on its mistakes by burning more dollars.
change, and operating “without a map”
When money is tight, without dollars to redo mis-
Readily able to wear multiple hats, often on the
same day



takes, it’s crucial to minimize waste. The Customer
Development process preserves cash by not hiring any
sales and marketing staff until the founders turn hy-
Comfortable celebrating failure when it leads
potheses into facts and discover a viable product/
to learning and iteration
market fit.
Able to listen to customer objections and de-
While searching: Customer Development observes
termine whether they are issues about the
that at the start, the company and its business model
product, the presentation, the pricing, or
are based solely on hypotheses, not facts, and that
something else (or if there are the wrong type
the founders need to get out of the building to turn
of customer)
these hypothesis into customer data.
Experienced in talking to and moving between
Repeatable: Startups may get orders that stem from
customers and engineers
board members’ customer relationships, engineering
one-offs, or heroic single-shot efforts by the CEO. Al-

Able to walk in their customers’ shoes, under-
though great, they aren’t repeatable by a sales organi-
standing how they work and the problems they
zation. Search not for the one-off revenue hits, but
face.
rather for a pattern that can be replicated by a sales
Rule No. 12: Preserve all cash until needed. Then spend.
organization or by customers regularly visiting the
website.
Scalable: The goal is not to get one customer, but
The goal of Customer Development is not to avoid
many – and for each additional customer to add incre-
spending money, but to preserve cash while searching
mental revenue and profit. The test is: Does the addi-
for the repeatable and scalable business model. Once
tion of one more salesperson or more marketing dol-
found, then spend like there’s no tomorrow. This para-
lars bring in more gross profit (or users or clicks) than
79
you invested? Who influences a sale? Who recom-
allowing outsiders to see the company’s progress and
mends a sale? Who is the decision-maker? Who is the
offer suggestions and course corrections.
buyer? Where’s the budget for purchasing this type of
product? What’s the customer acquisition cost? Affirming the repeatable, scalable sales model is the custom-
Rule No. 14: Customer development success begins with buy-in.
er validation step and most important phase of this
process.
For Customer Development to succeed, everyone on
the team - founders, investors, engineers, marketers,
Business model: How the company makes money. Is
accountants – needs to realize that this process is vast-
this a revenue play, or is it a freemium model seeking
ly different from executing a plan, all the way to its
users? Something else? Who’s the customer?
core. If the engineering VP is talking waterfall develop-
Spend like there’s no tomorrow: The goal of an investor
-backed startup is not to build a lifestyle business. The
goal is to reach 10 times the return on investment, or
more. When management and board agree that
they’ve found a repeatable and scalable sales model,
then invest to create end-user demand and drive those
customers into the sales channel.
ment of the board demands a rigid timetable, then it is
destined for disaster. Everyone must accept the process, recognizing that this is a fluid, nonlinear search
for a business model that sometimes can last for years.
Customer Development reinvents the business model
on the fly, iterating often and pivoting whenever indicated. Founders need to have the commitment of the
team and board before embarking on this process.
Rule No. 13: Communicate and
share learning.
Comments like “we can’t change the features since
Share everything that’s learned outside the building
the company must commit to this process, stressing
with employees, co-founders and investors. The best
learning, search for a successful business model.
way to do this is via a blog or a Customer Relationship
Management tool. Record your starting hypotheses,
who the team has talked to, the questions asked, the
tests conducted, what’s been learned, and questions
for advisors or investors. It takes a lot less time than
weekly meetings. The result is a communications tool
80
development is underway” or “we need to launch to
make the plan numbers” are all red flags. To succeed,
Types of markets
for opportunities, which existing companies do not see
or think they are interesting.
Existing Markets
Low-cost Re-segmentation
The marketing for existing markets is relatively simple,
Are there customers at the 'low end' of an existing mar-
because the users, the market and the features are
ket, who are buying products at a much lower price,
known. Product / service introduction is usually faster,
they are just "good enough" to buy? In Holland for in-
better or cheaper. Whether it is an improvement of a
stance Lidl and Aldi are companies where they are tak-
customer-defined attribute. Users, the market and com-
ing the customers away from the existing companies.
petitors are known. Competition consists of comparing
(For example Albert Heijn)
the product and its features with others.
Niche Re-segmentation
New Market
Look for an existing market and ask yourself whether a
Customers can do something they could not do before.
new segment of the market or a new product for spe-
You have a product or service that not previously exist-
cific needs can be developed. For example, in addition
ed, you are able to reduce the cost of a product or ser-
to a general dating site, a specific segment: for women,
vice, or you can create a new sort of users. You do not
homosexuals or a Christian dating site. These segments
have any customers, so there is no one who knows how
require more specific needs.
the product works or why they should buy it. Therefore,
the Customer Development process can be very in-
Pivots
tense. The key is not to compete, but the searching for
In the coming weeks we will deal with testing the hy-
if there is a large customer base and whether custom-
potheses that you have conceived. That testing comes
ers can be persuaded to buy your product. The Classic
in three steps. The first step is to do some so-called
Startup mistake is' fast-burn spending on sales and mar-
Problem Interviews. If you did enough interviews you
keting, a practice that works in existing markets, with
need to think about solutions for the identified prob-
existing customers, but which makes no sense in the
lems and then you are going to do some so-called Solu-
new markets. Re-segmenting an existing market if you
tion Interviews. After the Solution Interviews you are
see opportunities in an existing product or service. A re-
going to make your first MVP (Minimum Viable Pro-
segmentation strategy is based on getting market- and
duct), which is going to be tested in a number of pivots
customer knowledge (Market-Customer-Fit), searching
(steps).
81
Key Metrics
Unfair Advantage
To be able to learn from your customers, it is necessary
An unfair advantage, gives an unfair advantage over
to measure in every stage of the Customer Development how many (potential) customers you have.
your competitors: something they do not have or
know. This benefit could help you starting up your
business. Passion or the already chosen things aren’t
AARRR = Acquisition, Activation,
Retention, Revenue, Referral
Acquisition: describes the moment when an unconscious visitor is interested in your product/service
When you let someone else do something more then
just going to your website, is acquisition
To make sure the visitors are going to an login page
(landings page), is acquisition
Activation: when the customers who are interested in
the product are having their first (positive) user experience
When a potential customer signs up, you should make
sure that you could deliver what you promise on the
unfair advantages. A real unfair advantage is not for
sale.

Inside knowledge

Expert notes

Dream team

Authority in a particular field

Large network effects

Community

Existing customers

SEO rank
landing page
Retention: measuring the reuse and the involvement
in the product / service
Preparing for interviews
Revenue: measuring the product / service what you
Prepare well for your customer appointments:
get paid
Referral: the number of customers who are coming
back
Start by gathering a list of 50 potential customers, with
whom you want to test your hypotheses / ideas.
Use your connections on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn,
Quora, Littlebird en Google to find customers to
interview.
82
You are interested in finding people, who wants to
help you solve your problems, even if they aren’t
fitting in your customer segment.
One person per interview: focus groups aren’t work-
and know what is a possible price. You need to do
this, but in a separate session.
Discourage courtesies: people won’t say you have an
ugly baby. You need to let your partner feel so
ing, so don’t do that and talk with only 1 person at
convenient that he’s going to do so. Ask to be
a time. Eventually can you take someone who is
honest and hard and say that it’s the best way to
taking notes. Make sure the conversation is per-
help you. If they are unsure about this, tell them
sonally and focus on the conversation and the
you don’t want to make something nobody is
body language of the interviewee.
waiting for.
Know your targets, questions and time: make sure you
Ask open questions: don’t do yes/no answers, like “Do
know your hypotheses and determine where you
you love Groupon?”, but for example: “Why are
want to talk about. Decide with whom you want
you looking for offers?” Sometimes it is still neces-
to talk (age, gender, location, social characteris-
sary to ask a yes-no question, but then ask “why”
tics, etc.). Prepare for the interview and make sure
the gave you that answer? (Why!? Tell something
you have an overview of questions.
more about it).
Separate behavior and feedback: decide where you
Focus on the behavior you see, not on abstract feel-
want to talk about: what do you want to learn
ings. People aren’t easy to predict in what they do
about the behavior of your user? Or do you want
and why. Your job isn’t to hear the solution of
feedback on your product / service (or mockup)?
your partner. Your job is to determine the best
Don’t confuse these two conversations. Start with
solution and validate this if it’s the best solution
the behavior. Don’t let the interviewee elaborate
for the problem. People like to talk about features
on suggestions for features of your product / ser-
and solutions. If you’re still in the phase to learn
vice, focus on his problem and how he solved it in
and get the problem clearly, don’t leave it as the
the past, then ask feedback on your product (on
basis for the conversation. Try to stay with the
paper or digital).
facts about the problem and how they have
Focus on things you don’t want to hear: if you don’t do
this, try to convince yourself of your good product / service. Your main target is to know about
your partner. You want to get your market clearly
solved the problems earlier (or not) and what
happened).
Listen, don’t talk: try to keep your mouth as much as
possible. Ask short questions and don’t ask about
83
answers you want to hear. Don’t fill in the silences.
Develop a Story
Apparently they think about it if they don’t say
Try to emphasize that you are trying to solve the prob-
anything. Make sure you learn and don’t sell!
lems and why it is important to resolve them.
Follow your nose: each time you are triggered during
the conversation you ask and call (the why behind
the what-questions). Try as deep as possible until
the moment you notice your partner doesn’t want
to continue.
Parrot: repeat, on important issues, the interviewee. It
may deliver two things: you may have misunderstood him or he will sharpen his answer if he listens to his own thoughts. Another way is to repeat
his words wrong and see if you corrected (don’t
use this too much).
Ask for instructions: at the end of the interview, try to
get 1 to 3 new names of people you could inter-
"Hi, I'm Dave Lennon of (mention name of your product / service) and a student of the Saxion University. I
was referred to you by (name here is a useful reference
name), who said that you are an expert in (mention the
name of the market in which you operate). I do not
want to sell you anything. I'm working on setting up a
new company (during my studies) and I may have a
solution for (your problem). I just want 20 minutes of
your time to learn from you and to see if we really understand the problem and current solutions. "
Make appointments

view. Its is clear to DON’T interview your friends
and family.
someone in a company (use Linkedin).



Explain that the goal is to understand the pro-
cant make an interviewee open enough). Look for
blem, so you are as an interviewer with
patterns, customer development interviews may
pert.
not give you statistic data, but are giving you some

ex-
Invite them for a cup of coffee, a Skype session
or a phone call.
statistic data, but tell something about patterns.
You should be able to read between the lines, the

A good base is usually 10-15 interviews per step.
body language, understand the context and

For the 50 planned interviews you need to ask
(hidden) agenda’s and read between the lines.
84
Email is possible, but less efficient. It is easier
for people to say 'No’ in a mail
you haven’t entered the conversation you have to
write this down as quickly as possible (a recorder
The best way is calling people to schedule interviews or to interview immediately.
Write everything down as soon as possible: details
after a conversation are vague very quickly, so if
The best introduction is a recommendation from
at least 200 people.

You need 10 people speak every day.
ning of the conversation. It will give you feed-

Keep calling until you have a schedule of at
back on the question if you really understood
least three interviews a day for the next few
the problem.
weeks.

If they are too busy, ask who else you could
call.

Expect around 5 to 10 visits for every 50 calls
you’ll make.


Good techniques for 'Stories':
"Tell me about the last time ..."
"Yes, and ..."
Plan several topics with your (potential) cus-
"5 why's"
tomers, not every customer will have inter-
"Why, tell me more? "
esting insights for all of your questions.
"What do you mean by x?"
Test your understanding of the issues and rate
"How did you deal with your problem?"
the importance of the reactions you get.
Create a problem presentation
Bad questions:
‘"Would you use a shampoo that makes your dog

Create a problem presentation, this is meant to
get information from your customers.

currently solve these issues.
Put the assumptions of your business model
canvas in the presentation.



"Would you pay $5 per month for the ability to stream
Your presentation contains hypotheses on the
issues of your (future) customers and how they

smell better?
First, sum up the observed issues and then your
films on your computer?'
"How often do you think you'd go cycling if you could
rent a cheap bike?'
"How many times have you gone to the movies in the
past month?"
proposed solution(s).

0 times
Do not forget that your clients should speak,

1-3 times
not you.

4-8 times
You are not there to convince someone that

9 or more
you’re right, you are there to listen.

You should show this presentation at the begin-
85
Good questions:

"Have you ever washed your dog? Tell me
TIPS

about the last time? "

"Do you use a bike for commuting? When was
the last time? When was the last time you considered to go cycling? Why not? How many
days per week do you work? What kind of bike
do you have? Why did you buy that bike? "

"What are the last three movies you've seen?
Why those movies? With whom? "
Interviews
During the interview, take small blank cards with you.
Write every problem on a separate ticket and take a
voice recorder along.
In the book Value Proposition Design - Alexander Osterwalder is on page 212 an example of testcard.
86



No prejudices, no "ice-cream' questions. An Ice-cream question is a question that no one will say no to. "I want
to start an ice cream shop, do you love
ice cream?"
Pull, don’t push.
Past behavior is the best predictor of
future behavior.
Stories are better than opinions.
Get out of
the
building
Questions
STEP 7
Quantitative Market Research
(desk research)
Is the market growing? By what percentage?
What are the three most important trends and developments in your market?
What are the current trends related to your product /
service?
Make use of the desk research techniques described in
the book ‘The Google Code- Henk van Ess'
Who are your competitors?
What makes your product or service stand out from
your competitors?
How big is the market? (measured in sales)
Which players are in this market?
Try everything to say about your Aarrr (= Acquisition,
Activation, Retention, Revenue, Referral-figures?
Qualitative research
What problem do you solve for the customer
(according to customer)?
88
How do you become customer of existing solutions to
The problem they are experiencing, is it for just a small
the problem? (solution of your competitor)
group or a larger group?
What are the most important and unresolved client
Will they use the product for themselves or will they
needs to your product/service?
use it in a relationship with others like family, friends or
colleagues?
Who would you need to know for your product/
service? (ask your potential customers)
How important is your solution / product / service? Is it
nice to have, or is it required to solve the problem?
What are the main value propositions of your competitors?
If I would use such a product or service I would…
(describe in global terms how long you would use it)
On which values are your competitors better?
(Customer values)
Your goal is to understand your (future) customers,
how they work/deal with it and how they spend their
day. How do you make sure you become one of them?
What are you better at?
89
How can this hypothesis be tested?
What are their main customer reviews and their news?
(ask your potential customers, search for it on their
websites)
Describe the experiment as 'threshold' .
Value Hypothesis: What will people see as valuable to
your product / service?
What are your competitors going to do in the near future?
Growth Hypothesis: How do you want your company to
grow to get more customers?
What part of your value proposition is most important
to your (future) customer?
What are the critical success factors to sell your product / service to your (potential) customers?
Where is your market?
□ New market with new product
□ New market with existing product
□ Existing market with new product
□ Existing market with existing product
How will you do quantitative research?
Which assumption in your Business Model Canvas
brings the most risk?
90
□ Google
□ Databases
□ Social Media
□ Alert monitors (Google Alerts - Trapit)
□ Exhibitions / Conferences
□ Slideshare
□ Other
Do you have customers/revenues/profit?
What are your Unfair Advantages?
□ Inside knowledge
□ Expert notes
□ Dream-team
□ Authority in a particular field
□ Large network effects
□ Community
□ Existing customers
□ SEO-ranking
□ Other
What are the lessons learned in this step?
Do you want feedback on your answers? Apply for an
account ([email protected]). You can digitally
complete the questions and receive the answers in
your mailbox.
How are we doing?
(Every step we will ask some questions about
things you have done or have found out)
What about your company Facebook and Twitter account? (How many likes? How many followers? What
are you going to do with it?)
91
STEP 8
Problem interviews
| Problem | MVP0.0 |
Method
(minimum viable product). You will improve these
MVP’s during a few pivots until you know your optimal
product or service and know where your clients are.
The past few weeks you have carefully
considered whether you are, or want
to be, an entrepreneur or not; thought
about the values and identity of your
future business and about your business models. You have analyzed different versions of your business models
and made some choices: which are the
most promising? You've looked at your
competitors, perhaps looking for a Blue
Ocean and you went looking for your
customers. You have done a lot of desk
research and eventually you have determined your business-case.
MVP0.0
The
contains a presentation, along
with a large number of cards which you could use,
All those weeks you’ve spoken in terms of ‘I believe…’
after you’ve printed them, to create your first MVP0.0.
and ‘I think...’. Those are all hypotheses which you will,
The presentation contains all the elements that could
in the coming steps, convert to facts with the Custom-
need to make a visual concept of your business. The
er Development method. For this you will need to go
MVP0.0 should not be used during your interviews.
out to your (future) customers (Get out of the Building)
The purpose is to get a clear view on all subjects and
and interview them. These interviews will give you the
relations so you could focus on that during the Prob-
insight if your product or service will provide the solu-
lem interviews.
tion they need for their problem. And if they are prepared to pay for it. You will do this by means of Problem interviews (minimum of 50), creating a Solution
presentation, a MVP 0.0, Solution interviews
(minimum of 20), and creating various MVP’s
93
Validation Board
Ask open questions: no yes/no questions, just W-
You could use the Validation Board to convert your hypotheses. This canvas will make your hypotheses easier
questions (Why, Where, What, how?)
Listen, don’t talk: Try to talk as little as possible and try
to test. The first step is to determine your ‘customer’.
to ask your questions as short and neutral (so don’t
Next you will sort out your most important hypotheses
enclose your wanted answer intro the question) as
and test them during the interviews (Get out of the
possible. Do not sell – that’s for another time!
building).
Don’t try to fill the ‘void’ when the customer stops
talking.
Interviews
Within the
Encourage your interviewee, but try not to influence
there’s a presentation on
interviews along with a template to guide you through
the interview process. Tips: For ‘Customer Development’ interviews.
Make appointments with your potential customers according to their schedule: be flexible.
Focus on the things you do not want to hear: if not, you
will only be concerned with what you already know
and what you want to hear. Remember that, in this
stage, you want to learn and validate, not sell!
Remember that people often respond politely. You
need to make people feel safe and ensure it’s safe
to help you. Try to explain that you’re looking for
honest answers to create a product/service that is
actually wanted.
Start out with behavior, not with feedback: start with
questions about the behavior of the person in front
of you, in relation to the ‘problem or opportunity’.
As soon as that’s clear for you, you can ask for
feedback.
94
them: you can stimulate them by nodding or by
saying, ‘I see…’, ’interesting’.
(Do not be afraid to ask about the 'why' behind the
'what' clarification.
Confirm key issues and try to repeat what the interviewee says. This can produce two meaningful results. Firstly, they will correct you if you misunderstood them. Secondly, by hearing their own
thoughts, they will actually realize what their real
opinion is and they will have a second, giving you a
more refined answer.
Thank them at the end of the call and ask for introductions to others that you could interview.
Write your notes as soon as possible: the details of a
conversation fading fast, so if you have not recorded the session, write your notes and color commentary as fast as you can.
Template validation board
A template of the Validation Board can be found in the
Problem-interview-script
95
TIP
Free tool : Leanlaunchlab
(www.leanlaunchlab.com), is a great tool
for this process (description of your canvas, your hypotheses and your interviews)
to capture and manage. In addition, it
gives you the possibility to let others
watch with your Customer Development
process.
Customers
care
about
their problems, not
your
solution.
96
Questions
STEP 8
MVP (Minimum Viable Product)
How 'Painful' are these?
How do they solve them now?
How good are these solutions for their problem?
You've made your MVP-0.0. Which problems did you
discover that you’ll have to ask in the ProblemInterviews?
Give a brief feature list that people want according to
the interviews?
Interviews (at least 50)
How many people did you talk to?
Prioritize this list (you can not solve every problem
Which problems, according to them, do they have?
with a feature. If that's the case, then you do not need
one for your MVP)
97
What is the percentage of people that is interested in
Are you sure this product / service is going to solve the
the solution of the problem? (at least 10%, preferably
problem of the customers?
25% or 50%)
Enter the 5 (no more!) Key features and the problems
What is the percentage of interviewees that would tell
to be solved.
the solution offered to the problem, to their friends or
colleagues?
What is the percentage of interviewees that is very
Once the customers have heard your solution do they
enthusiastic about the solution to the problem ("Pain")
think their problem is solved then? How, why?
or the "Gain" (the early adapters / evangelists)?
What will they find a real price for the product / serIs it clear for yourself that your potential customers
vice?
have a problem that you can solve? And are there
enough people who think it’s as important as you think
it is? (if not, go back to your value propositions).
How would your customers buy or use your product /
service?
Product ‘Solution’ Presentation: Which assumptions /
hypotheses are you going to present?
98
Do they first ask other people for advice before they
use / buy the product?
Which model of collaboration would your partners
like?
Why wouldn’t the interviewees buy your product or
service , although they are excited?
How does your partner work? Per project/hour, reselling?
Are you going to conferences, seminars, etc.? If so,
which?
How many of the interviewees would tell a friend?
Which magazines, blogs, (Youtube / Vimeo) movies did
you use?
How many of the interviewees would like your product / service without adjustment?
Although it is too early to find partners, you should
approach them yourself. What do they think of your
product / service?
How many of the interviewees would like an extra feature?
What partners have learned from previous customers
about your problem / product / solution?
99
How many of the interviewees understand the product
Do you have customers/revenues/profit?
after a (long) explanation and are excited enough to
buy / use?
What are the lessons learned in this step?
How many of the interviewees don’t see anything in
your product?
Who are your advisers? (technical problems, domainspecific knowledge, design - product development)
How are we doing?
(Every step we will ask some questions about
things you have done or have found out)
What about your company Facebook and Twitter account? (How many likes? How many followers? What
are you going to do with it?)
100
Do you want feedback on your answers? Apply for an
account ([email protected]). You can digitally
complete the questions and receive the answers in
your mailbox .
STEP 9
Solution Interviews
| Customer risk | Product risk | Market risk| AIDA |
Solutioninterviews
What will you learn during
your interviews? With a prioritized list of problems and an
understanding of the existing
alternatives, you're ready to
determine a solution and test.
blem.

Build enough of the solution (prototype,
screenshoots) to determine their reaction.

The demo should be quickly adjusted with feedback for the Solution Interviews thereafter.

The demo should use data that seem real.

Solution Put your presentation in your portfolio
when you use AIDA Solution-Interview.
AIDA is an acronym for Attention, Interest,
Desire, and Action.
Attention

Try to get attention by telling a problem from
earlier interviews.
Customer risk: Who has a pain (Early Adopters)?

How do you determine whether you will find the Early
The most effective is identifying and getting the
problem of the interviewee clearly.
Adopters?
Product risk: What is the minimum of functions to your
Interest
product or service to launch? (Solution)

Market risk: What is your pricing model? (Revenue
Use the demo to show what your UVP will be.
Streams)
Desire


Do your customers want to pay for your solution?
Create desire scarcity and price.

What price are they willing to pay?
Action

Test your solution.


Use a demo to help you to visualize your solution and confirm whether that solves their pro-
102
Get an oral, written promise or payment for
your product.
SOLUTION INTERVIEWS
Welcome (same problem as with your interview).
Determine the customer segment,
where the interviewee belongs (you can skip if you
interviewed the person before).
Tell a Story '(which determines the ProblemContext)

Tell the top three issues in a 'story'.

Question: do you recognize this?

If you do not have a strong recognition, then it
is again a problem interview. If yes, continue
with your solution interview.
Demo (Test Solution)

Treat every problem and show a demo of how
you're going to fix that.

Pause after every problem and ask if they have
questions.

If you've followed all the problems then imagine that you are going to prioritize any problems / solutions and ask some questions:

Which part of the demo you recognize the
best?

Which part (solution) is not needed?

Are there things / features that you miss?

Ask why.

Many listen, ask for feedback.
Solution-interview-script
103

Test your pricing (Revenue Streams).

The right price is the price that the customer
When to stop interviewing?
accepts (though with little weather mode).
You are ready when you:
Test price is the 'starting price' that you previ-

can identify (segmentation) early adopters .
ously specified for this customer segment.

have found a 'must-have' problem.
They do not ask for an overall price. Tell them

Can define the minimum set of functions / fea-


you pricing and check whether they accept this.

tures, to solve this problem.
Determine who is protesting, who accepts and

have a price that customers are willing to pay.
who doubts.

can build this business (using the an 'on the
back of a beer mat’ calculation)?
FollowUp

Ask if they want to test if it's ready. Your product or service.

Ask for referrals to others.
Results

Did you really solve the problem?

Review the results daily.

Add features or remove functions.

Try to determine whether features of your
product or service can be taken away from the
interviewee.

Confirm previous hypotheses.

Adjust your price model.

If there is no resistance, test a higher price,
there are too many 'no's', lower your price.

Look for patterns.

Who are your early adopters? What price are
they willing to pay?

104
Can you set up a viable business for this price?
Questions
STEP 9
Do customers think that their problem will be solved,
after they have seen your presentation?
Is it for them the creation of something new or just a
better version of something else / that already exists?
Solution-Interviews
How many people have you spoken to? (Minimum 20)
Are they excited? (state their responses here)
Do you (and potential investors) jointly agree that you
have a problem, that enough people worry about to
set up a prosperous business?
If not, time to reconsider your value proposition and
search for a more serious problem.
How many people said "I want it now," or "when
can I have this?"
□ Yes
□ No
Create a Product "Solution”- Presentation. What does
this look like? Describe it and put it in your portfolio?
How many people said they consider the problem
important enough to find that they will advise their
friends and family?
Which revised assumptions about the product itself
are mentioned in there?
105
How many people said "I want it now," or "when
can I have this?"
How are we doing?
(Every step we will ask some questions about
things you have done or have found out).
What issue do you have to solve first?
What about your company Facebook and Twitter account? (How many likes? How many followers? What
are you going to do with it?)
How many people grade the problem between 8, 9 or
10 (serious problem as such)??
Do you have customers/revenues/profit?
How many people said they would pay for that difference?
Are there enough customers to make for a comprehensive Business Opportunity??
106
What are the lessons learned in this step?
STEP 10
Your first MVP
| Minimum Viable Product | Customers |
Use a Minimum Viable Product
(MVP), during the search for
product-market fit. It helps
startups avoid building stuff that
customers don’t want.
Alexander Osterwalder
108
MVP
Eric Ries, described the concept of the
Minimum Viable Product in his book in
‘The Lean Startup’. Ries is referring to
the quest for the fastest way to test
your idea. Don’t spend many months
and dollars to build a perfect product if
your customers, which apparently still
need an adjustment of your product or
Types MVP’s
service, have questions. So consider the

Explanation Groundbreaking Video - possibly on
Youtube or Vimeo;
fastest and cheapest way to test your

value proposition;
product. In practice (by users) the Minimum Viable Product will save you a lot

Wizard of Oz MVP - resembling a working product or application, but functions are performed
of unnecessary investments, gives you
fast insight into the real needs of users,
A Landing Page registration page explaining your
manually;

Concierge MVP manual steps;

Piecemeal MVP - intermediate version between
meanwhile, creates a valuable group of
the Wizard of Oz and Concierge, MVP based on
early adopters.
existing tools;

Crowdfunding-MVP;

MVP with one function.
107
"Are you still interested in trying this product /
Conducting MVP Interviews
An MVP interview is NOT a pitch, you want to learn as
much as possible from your (future) customers.
Essential for MPV interviews is that you carry it out
the face-to-face, possibly via Skype.
service?" And "You can register by clicking the link
above.'
Ask questions at the conclusion of the call, such as:
“What did you think of the process?”, “Can we
improve something?”, “What is the most annoying?”, “What is most striking?”, “Now do you
In the
is a presentation on MVP’s.
MVP-Interview-Script: an example of a Landing-page
know what you should do?”
TIPS

Tell at the beginning that you will show that you want
the product feedback and if he/she is interested
in, that you will give more features and infor-

mation. Ask a few questions. Here it is really
worthwhile to you, but also the interviewee, think
out loud.
Show your Landing Page


"Feel free to look around, but please don’t click on
anything yet."
Is the purpose of the product or service clear?
Ask questions such as "What would you do?" And
"Why?"
Show the prices page. "Feel free to navigate around
the site." By the time he goes to the pricing page:
"This is the pricing model, which we think of,
what do you think?" Let the interviewee register
110

Always ask what is wrong with the
MVP, what could be better. Always
ask: "Why, why and why?"
Determine to what the interviewee
is one customer segment
(geographic, demographic, values
and norms).
Make the interview a real conversation.
Make sure you get insight into all
three MVP problems (functional,
social and emotional) during the
interview.
Do not limit yourself to interviews
with people who you think belong
to your client segment.
tions: Is it important or essential for a client? Did se-
TIP
There are different websites, where you
could set up a Landing page for free:

www.weebly.com

www.moonfruit.com
Tool for MVP interviews
veral clients have been appointed, that they are willing
to pay more money?
MVP- Flyer or Presentation

Start with your UVP, problem and solution;

Make a big promise about your UVP;

Write a short headline that sums up what your
product does for the customer (ADVANTAGE);

Clear head: tell what the end result is what the
customer wants, put the relationship between
(This Tool is in the
)
the problems and tell when;

Do something unexpected, attract attention;
In step 6, we have explained 'Jobs-to-be-done' With

Connecting with the customer (problem);
your MVP interviews template above, is good use. A

Write a short paragraph, in which the problem
job (task) is to solve a fundamental problem that you
have with your potential customers MVP. There are
of the client is outlined;

three types of 'Jobs' (tasks):
F = Functional: says something about the operation of
the product or service.
information or insights from your interviews;

Show that you understand the client;

Generating interest / desire (solution);

Tell what your product does in a short paragraph (how to solve the problem);
S = Social: says something about how the potential
customer with your product / service wants to be perceived by others.
Customize this text so that it is in line with new

Provide a list of the top three features and describe them as benefits.
E = Emotional: says something about how customer
feels or thinks about your product / service.
The priority you decide by asking yourself these ques-
111
Landing page

Purpose of the landing page is to test your UVP
and obtain a list of potential customers that you
can interview.

Do not give away too much information about
your product, focus on the problem, not the
solution;

Start simple. Later you can expand it to a full
marketing-site;

Select a product name;

Ensure that Twitter and Facebook pages are
available by that name;

Keep it simple for the time being, it is your UVP;

It's you to attract attention by indicating a problem that you understand visitors (no product
pitching);

Follow your page with SEO and other statistical
features (standard in Facebook);

Put your UVP in the title tag and place the right
search terms, NO product name.

Do not even worry about a logo, if you don’t
have already.

Collecting email addresses is the most important
activity.

112
Use if necessary a 'call to action' button.
A minimum viable
product (MVP) is the
version of a new
product which
allows a Startup to
collect the maximum
amount of validated
learning about
customers with the
least effort.
Eric Ries
Questions
Describe your MVP-1.0
STEP 10
How's your first MVP (1.0) look like?
Product-market-fit
Have you found a product market fit?
□ Yes
□ No
□ I don’t know yet
Is the problem, in the eyes of customers, well solved by
your solution?
Who are your customers and how can you reach them?
Can you earn money, and let your company grow?
□ Yes
□ No
□ I don’t know yet
□ Testproduct - paper
□ Testproduct - prototype
□ Mockup- Screenshots
□ Presentation
□ Youtube movie
□ Storyboard
□ Website
□ Landing page
□ Leaflet /flyer
□ Wizard of Oz
□ Crowdfunding
□ Other
113
How many interviews did you carry out with your first
MVP?
What are the lessons learned in this step?
What were the key comments? What features should
be eliminated?
How are we doing?
Do you want feedback on your answers? Apply for an
account ([email protected]). You can digitally
complete the questions and receive the answers in
(Every step we will ask some questions about
things you have done or have found out)
What about your company Facebook and Twitter account? (How many likes? How many followers? What
are you going to do with it?)
Do you have customers/revenues/profit?
114
your mailbox.
STEP 11
MVP 2.0
| Product - Market-fit | MVP |
Product-Marketfit
You have a product market fit, if...



customers want to buy your product as soon as
would be “very disappointed” without your product, there
is a great chance you can build sustainable, scalable customer acquisition growth on this “must have” product and
you have found a PRODUCT-MARKET-FIT.
you produce it.
This 40% benchmark was determined by comparing results
you have to hire ASAP sales- staff and customers
across hundreds Startups. Those that were above 40% are
employees.
generally able to sustainably scale the businesses; those
reporters call you, because they have heard about
significantly below 40% always seem to struggle.
you and they want to talk about your product / service.
This is a simple test: The Sean Ellis
test.
The key question is: How would you feel if you could
no longer use [product]?
1. Very disappointed
2. Somewhat disappointed
3. Not disappointed (it isn’t really that useful)
4. N/A – I no longer use [product]
116
If you find that over 40% of your users are saying that they
Questions
STEP 11
Product-market-fit
Do you have found a product market-fit?
□ Yes
□ No
□ I don’t know yet
Is the problem, in the eyes of customers, well solved by
your solution?
Who are your customers and how can you reach them?
Can you earn money, and let your company grow?
□ Yes
□ No
□ I don’t know yet
Describe your MVP-2.0
How's your second MVP (2.0) look like?
□ Testproduct - paper
□ Testproduct - prototype
□ Mockup- Screenshots
□ Presentation
□ Youtube movie
□ Storyboard
□ Website
□ Landing page
□ Leaflet/flyer
□ Wizard of Oz
□ Crowdfunding
□ Other
117
How many interviews have you had with your second
Do you have customers/revenues/profit?
MVP?
What are the lessons learned in this step?
What were the key comments? What features should be
eliminated?
What percentage of your clients say they would be very
disappointed if they could not use your product? (Sean
Ellis-test)
Do you want feedback on your answers? Apply for an account ([email protected]). You can digitally complete the questions and receive the answers in your mailbox.
.
How are we doing?
(Every step we will ask some questions about
things you have done or have found out)
What about your company Facebook and Twitter account? (How many likes? How many followers? What are
you going to do with it?)
118
STEP 12
Last MVP and
Pivot
| Product Market-fit | MVP | Pivot | TAM | SAM |
Last week
L.T.V. (LifeTime Value) of a customer.
C.A.C. can be calculated by determining (including salaries
and other personnel expenses) the total cost of sales
and marketing of the company for a certain period
It's good, now that you have done
all the Customer Development-
and dividing it by the number of customers that the
company acquired in that period.
L.T.V. can be calculated by looking at the average revenue
steps, to critically review the whole
per user (Average Revenue Per User / Customer
program and make the right adjust-
(ARPU) throughout the life of the relationship with a
ments.
customer.
Steve Blank argues that a Startup has found an initial indication of the appropriate business model, when the cost
That means you adjust the following (place the adjustments also in your portfolio):
of acquiring customers are less than the income from the
customer.

Your Golden sentence
TAM and SAM

Your Customer values
How big is your pie? TAM - Total Available Market

Your business Model Canvas

MVP-0.0

Value Proposition Canvas

TAM/SAM
Business Model viability
In order for a company to be profitable, a startup has to
find a balance between two variables:
C.A.C (Customer Acquisition Costs) - The cost of acquiring
customers;
120

How many people would be interested in your
product?

How big is the market (%), if they would all buy it?

How many units is that?

How big is your piece of the pie?
SAM - Served Available Market

How many people use similar products?

How big is the market (in money), if they would all
buy it?

How many units are that?

How much can I buy (to) eat? Target Market

To whom am I selling during the first year?

How big is the market (money), if they would all buy
it?

How many units are that?
Get: make sure that customers know that you are there,
acquisition and guarantee that the C.A.C. as low as
Startup next step
Now you have looked at the last 12 steps for your scalable
and repeat-able business model (and found!), you have to
take the next step: knowledge and information for optimal
possible;
Keep: retaining customers through loyalty programs, product updates and service of high quality;
Grow: raising the L.T.V.
management of your company. This involves matters such
as setting up budgets, tax returns, pitching and networking, finding investors, offers writing and more.
A lot of information on these topics are in the
.
Get-keep-grow
Now that you've found the right product-market fit and
therefore your repeatable and scalable business model, you can start your business. Steve Blank has this on
the Funnel:
121
Questions
STEP 12
Product-market-fit
Do you have found a product market-fit?
□ Yes
□ No
□ I don’t know yet
Is the problem, in the eyes of customers, well solved by
your solution?
Who are your customers and how can you reach them?
Can you earn money, and let your company grow?
□ Yes
□ No
122
□ Don’t know yet
Describe your MVP-3.0
How's your third MVP (3.0) look like?
□ Test product - paper
□ Test product - prototype
□ Mockup- Screenshots
□ Presentation
□ Youtube movie
□ Storyboard
□ Website
□ Landing page
□ Leaflet/flyer
□ Wizard of Oz
□ Crowdfunding
□ Other
How many interviews have you had with your third MVP?
Did you expect the size of the market as you had checked
by customer feedback and data (Google)?
What were the key comments? What features should be
eliminated?
What is your TAM? (Total Available Market)
Is this market growing significantly?
Are you sure now whether the customer will often buy /
your product / service and that he will recommend other
people to do the same?
What is your SAM? (Served/Serviceable Available Market)
Did you find, in your investigation, unexpected costs and /
or revenues?
Did you validate your TAM (Total Available Market) and
SAM (Served/Serviceable Available Market)?
Did you find, in your research, unexpected threats
(unknown competitors, etc.)?
What is your SOM (Serviceable Obtainable Market)?
How many customers are now saying that they want to buy
your product / service ? Number of early-adopters?
123
What is the number of passionate evangelists?
Notify your customers that your solution is a great improvement in their day / problem?
Now do you know who your customers are and how to
reach them?
Did you find new segments or did you discover that you
expected segment is not relevant?
You can now create a client-archetype for each of your
customer segments? Do you know now where to find
them?
Do you know what your potential customers read, which
trade shows they visits, gurus they follow and where they
go for information on new products?
Can you draw a day in the life of your client? If so, how
does it look like?
Can you draw a diagram, showing step-by-step development of the product from the beginning to the client,
along with the cost and marketing / sales? (put this drawing in your portfolio)
Give a review of the actual costs (staff time, overhead,
etc.) of sales to 50 customers.
Respond some segments better, faster or deliver larger
orders than other segments?
124
If you add up all the costs, are you confident that you can
Combine these data to make an accurate net revenue fore-
get more customers for the same price per customer?
cast for at least the coming year and the following year
(estimated).
Do some research: If you could increase your marketing
campaign five times over, would your results also be five
Determine the best estimate of the total turnover of the
times as high?
company which are received from customers, quarterly
directly.
How high are the costs for 50 customers?
Revue channels costs (margin, fees, promotional expenses,
etc.) and deduct the income channel?
What is the cost if you have 10 times as many customers?
Add the channel net revenues to the total direct revenue
per quarter and to the total enterprise to determine total
What are the potential sales revenue expectations over
sales.
time?
Pull off the quarterly operating costs from the revenues.
What are your Customer Acquisition Costs (C.A.C.)?
125
What are the lessons learned in this step?
Give three different forecasts for (near) future.
□ Good
□ Very goodl
□ Booming
How are we doing?
(Every step we will ask some questions about
things you have done or have found out)
What about your company Facebook and Twitter account?
(How many likes? How many followers? What are you
going to do with it?)
Do you have customers/revenues/profit?
126
Do you want feedback on your answers? Apply for an account ([email protected]). You can digitally complete the questions and receive the answers in your mailbox.
It’s not the
beginning of the end,
but it is perhaps the
end of the beginning
127
Literatuur
In the
are several additional books.
Simon Sinek - Start with why - (oktober 2011) ISBN:
0241958229
Eric Ries - The Lean Startup – (oktober 2011) ISBN:
90670921602
Alexander Osterwalder - Business Model Generation (august 2010) ISBN: 0470876417
W. Chan Kim - The blue ocean - (february 2015) ISBN:
91625274491
Tim Clark - Business model you - (mei 2012) ISBN:
9013103723
Martijn Driessen - De ondernemende ondernemer (november 2010) ISBN: 9081101951
Ruud Hendriks - I’m hungry - (april 2013) ISBN:
9461561091
Steve Blank - The Startup Owner’s Manual - (maart 2012)
ISBN: 0984999396
M. Lubberding - My Moodboard Huisstijl oriëntatie werkboek (2013) ISBN: 9461900198
Ash Maurya - Running Lean ( (2012) ISBN 9781449305178
Pieter Jongerius Et Al. - Get Agile (2014) - ISBN
9063693028
Cindy Alvarez - Lean Customer Development (2014) ISBN
1449356354
128
Alexander Osterwalder & Yves Pigneur—Value Proposition Design (2014) ISBN 1118968050
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
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129
Justification
3.
Eric Ries with Lean Startup and MVPs
4.
Steve Blank with Customer Development
5.
Ash Maurya with the interpretation of Customer
Development, through the Problem - and Solution
interviews.
This Startup Workbook is a product of Saxion Valorisation
Enterprise BV (SAVaE) and published under the auspices
of the Center for Entrepreneurship Saxion. The first version of the workbook has been realized in 2014 within the
RAAK SME funding project "Virtual expectation, physical
experience" (an initiative of the Research Design and
Technology Saxion), and is being used in business development trajectory for students who graduate within their
own business in the Saxion Startup Center.
This workbook largely follows a number of methods of
people, who have in recent years been dealing with
Startup theories. Many texts, tools, and quotes also come
from them:
1.
Simon Sinek with the Golden Circle, why do you do
what you want to do?
2.
Alexander Osterwalder with its Business Model
Canvas and Value Proposition Design
130
YOUR QUEST FOR A SCALABLE
AND REPEATABLE BUSINESS
MODEL
Do you want to develop your idea into a promising business? Do you want to run your own business? Then you're
a 'startup'. You really can use this workbook. This workbook will help you in just twelve steps, to find your optimal
business model. You will learn what problem you want to
solve for your customers, you will discover where your customers are and you will learn that they want to pay for
your product or service. In this workbook you will read
about different startup methodologies and theories. You
practice with a handy toolbox and discover the latest developments you need to know. As Startup ‘Doing and learning’ are central: investigate what is working, learn from
your own mistakes and make adjustments where necessary.
A must-read for any novice entrepreneur!
Berrie Coelman is project leader of the Startup Center, part
of the Center for Entrepreneurship at Saxion Enschede.
Berrie annually guides 60 students who graduate within
their own company.
Experimenting, learning and DIY are the main starting
points - according to Berrie - for a successful startup.
See for more information about Berrie Coelman:
http://nl.linkedin.com/in/berriecoelman