These slides support the various workshops I do and my online curriculum in two principal places: 1. Business Model Canvas Tutorial This is a more fully articulated instructional, complete with templates: bit.ly/nicebmc. 2. Startup Sprints This is a structured self-service for Venture Design/new venture creation: bit.ly/startupsprints.

1. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.The templates here are made available on the same CC license terms as the original canvas.
(Cost Structure)
(Key
Partners)
(Key
Activities)
(Key
Resources)
(Revenue Streams)
(Customer
Relationships)
(Channels)
(Value
Propositions)
(Customer
Segments)
Venture
Design
Workshop IV
Engineering Your
Business Model

2. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
ABOUT ME
Entrepreneur (5x)
Intrapreneur (1x)

3. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
ABOUT ME

4. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
ABOUT ME
www.alexandercowan.com

5. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
AGENDA
Period! Deliverables!
Venture Design I: Achieving
Customer Relevance
Personas
Problem Scenarios-Alternatives-Value Propositions
Start Business Model Canvas
Storyboards
Customer Discovery
Venture Design II: Iterating to
Success
Venture Planning- focal hypotheses, experiments, and minimum
viable ‘product’
Venture Design III: Focusing &
Validating Venture Progress
Review of field work, refinements of approach, planning next
steps.
Venture Design IV: Engineering
Your Business Model!
Detailing your business model and remaining focal
assumptions.
Venture Design V: Designing the
Right Product!
Pairing your learnings on personas & hypotheses with high
quality, actionable inputs (stories & wireframes) for product
development and product validation.

6. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
THE BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.The templates here are made available on the same CC license terms as the original canvas.
(Cost Structure)
(Key
Partners)
(Key
Activities)
(Key
Resources)
(Revenue Streams)
(Customer
Relationships)
(Channels)
(Value
Propositions)
(Customer
Segments)
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF

7. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
CUSTOMER DEVELOPMENT
MVP
Nascent
Product-Market
Fit(?) Scale
PIVOTAL
ASSUMPTIONS
PRODUCT
ORGANIZATION
PARTNERS,
CHANNELS
Founders
N/A
Probably too
soon
Test, revise,
test...
MVP
Customer dev.
team
Probably too
soon
Validated- now
tactical
Focus: efficiency,
extension
Full functional
organization
Yeah, maybe?
Validated- now
tactical
What would a
startup do??
Scalable
organization
Yeah, definitely!

8. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
CUSTOMER DEVELOPMENT & THE CANVAS
MVP
Product-Market
Fit(?) Scale
Thinking through what you want the business to be for a
better idea of what you don’t know.
Then use that to focus your discovery.

9. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
CUSTOMER DEVELOPMENT & THE CANVAS
Focal point for managing your assumptions- which are
open? closed? what are their inter-relationships?
MVP
Product-Market
Fit(?) Scale

10. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
CUSTOMER DEVELOPMENT & THE CANVAS
Focal point for organizing incremental
‘growth hacking’ experiments.
MVP
Product-Market
Fit(?) Scale

11. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
CUSTOMER DEVELOPMENT & THE CANVAS
Strategy management tool and jumping off point for new
‘intrapreneurial’ ventures and business model innovation.
MVP
Product-Market
Fit(?) Scale

12. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
The Canvas is a housekeeping tool.
It won’t hand you the gold but it will
help you monitor how things are
panning out.
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF

13. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
Personas
IT’S A PROCESS
Some techniques are more effective than others.
But they all require substantial, consistent exertion.

14. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
Foundation in
Design Thinking
VENTURE DESIGN

15. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
Foundation in
Design Thinking
ExperimentLearn
Hypothesize
Lean Startup-
Style Assumptions
VENTURE DESIGN

16. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
Foundation in
Design Thinking
Business Model
Canvas
ExperimentLearn
Hypothesize
Lean Startup-
Style Assumptions
VENTURE DESIGN

17. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
Foundation in
Design Thinking
User Stories &
Test Cases
Business Model
Canvas
ExperimentLearn
Hypothesize
Lean Startup-
Style Assumptions
VENTURE DESIGN

18. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
Foundation in
Design Thinking
Product &
Promotion
User Stories &
Test Cases
Business Model
Canvas
ExperimentLearn
Hypothesize
Lean Startup-
Style Assumptions
VENTURE DESIGN

19. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
Business Model
Canvas
VENTURE DESIGN

20. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
THE CANVAS: 3 PARTS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.The templates here are made available on the same CC license terms as the original canvas.
Offering
Customers
Infrastructure
Cost_1
Cost_2
Cost_3
Partner_1
Partner_2
Partner_3
Activity_1
Activity_2
Activity_3
Resource_1
Resource_2
Resource_3
Revenue_1
Revenue_2
Revenue_3
Relationship_1
Relationship_2
Relationship_3
Channel_1
Channel_2
Channel_3
Proposition_1
Proposition_2
Proposition_3
Persona_1
Persona_2
Persona_3

21. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
SEGMENT TO VALUE PROPOSITION MAPPING
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.The templates here are made available on the same CC license terms as the original canvas.
Cost_1
Cost_2
Cost_3
Partner_1
Partner_2
Partner_3
Activity_1
Activity_2
Activity_3
Resource_1
Resource_2
Resource_3
Revenue_1
Revenue_2
Revenue_3
Relationship_1
Relationship_2
Relationship_3
Channel_1
Channel_2
Channel_3
Proposition_1
Proposition_2
Proposition_3
Segment_1
Segment_2
Segment_3
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF

22. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
THE INDEPENDENT VARIABLE
Value
Propositions
Customer
Segments
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.The templates here are made available on the same CC license terms as the original canvas.
(Cost Structure)
(Key
Partners)
(Key
Activities)
(Key
Resources)
(Revenue Streams)
(Customer
Relationships)
(Channels)
(Value
Propositions)
(Customer
Segments)
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF

23. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
CUSTOMER SEGMENTS VS. PERSONAS
≈
g
Customer
Segments
Personas
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF

24. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
REALLY GETTING CUSTOMER SEGMENTS
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.The templates here are made available on the same CC license terms as the original canvas.
(Cost Structure)
(Key
Partners)
(Key
Activities)
(Key
Resources)
(Revenue Streams)
(Customer
Relationships)
(Channels)
(Value
Propositions)
(Customer
Segments)

25. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
Empathy Creativity
DESIGN THINKING

26. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
DESIGN THINKING- APPLICATIONS

27. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
Entry1
Urinate as they go2
Edges preferred3
Speedy4
PB > cheese5
Empathy
DESIGN THINKING- APPLICATIONS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF

28. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
Check & Repair
UV Validation
Relevant Placement
A Better Mouse Trap
Powered by Better Bait
Creativity
1
2
3
4
5
DESIGN THINKING- APPLICATIONS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF

29. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
Foundation in
Design Thinking
DESIGN THINKING- PERSONAS
Personas Problem Scenarios
Alternatives
Your Value Propositions

30. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
DESIGN THINKING- PERSONAS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF

31. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
DESIGN THINKING- PERSONAS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF

32. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
DISCOVERY & LEARNING: THINK-SEE-FEEL-DO
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF

33. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
XPROBLEM SCENARIO
DISCOVERY & LEARNING: PROBLEM SCENARIOS

34. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
XWhat job(s) are you doing for
the customer?
What existing need or
behavior are you fulfilling?
PROBLEM SCENARIO
DISCOVERY & LEARNING: PROBLEM SCENARIOS

35. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
?
X
ALTERNATIVE(S)
PROBLEM SCENARIO
DISCOVERY & LEARNING: PROBLEM SCENARIOS

36. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
?
X
If they currently use
spreadsheets, watch them
use it and get a copy of it.
If they currently put notes on the
family fridge, ask about it,
photograph it.
ALTERNATIVE(S)
PROBLEM SCENARIO
DISCOVERY & LEARNING: PROBLEM SCENARIOS

37. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
YOUR VALUE PROPOSITIONS
!
ALTERNATIVE(S)
?
PROBLEM SCENARIO
X
DISCOVERY & LEARNING: PROBLEM SCENARIOS

38. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
X
Are they better enough than the
alternative(s)?
!
?
YOUR VALUE PROPOSITIONS
ALTERNATIVE(S)
PROBLEM SCENARIO
DISCOVERY & LEARNING: PROBLEM SCENARIOS

39. Copyright 2014 Cowan PublishingCopyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
ENABLE QUIZ: EXAMPLE PROBLEM SCENARIOS
X
Helen the HR Manager
“It’s hard for me to screen on
technical skill sets and I end up
sending Frank unqualified
recruits.”
Frank the Functional Manager
“I have limited time and I don’t
want to be a jerk. It’s hard to
screen for all the relevant
technical skill sets.”
PERSONA
PROBLEM
SCENARIO
- Call references
- Take their word for it
- A few probing questions
- Take their word for it?ALTERNATIVE(S)
!VALUE
PROPOSITIONS
New ability for meaningful
screening of technical
candidates, increasing % of
successful hires and lowering
Frank’s workload on recruiting.
Less time doing interviews, and
better hires sooner.

40. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
STORYBOARDING A PROBLEM SCENARIO
AFTER
BEFORE
BEFORE
(using the
Alternative)
AFTER
(with the Value
Proposition)

41. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
EXERCISE- PERSONA CREATION
Mary the Working Mom
Susan the Stay-at-Home Mom
Douglas the Dad
Nathan the Nanny
Ivan the Infant
…
List at least 3 personas
(4 min)
use 1 index card/
persona

42. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
EXERCISE- PERSONA CREATION
Mary the Working Mom (B, U)
Susan the Stay-at-Home Mom (B, U)
Douglas the Dad (U)
Nathan the Nanny (U)
Ivan the Infant (U)
…
Which are buyers? Users? Both?
Note with a ‘B’ and/or a ‘U’ on the Index Card
(1 min)

43. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
EXERCISE- PERSONA CREATION
(2 min)
Can you think of 5 real examples for each?
Use the back of your index cards

44. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
EXERCISE- PERSONA CREATION
Which have the most compelling need, desire?
If you could only pitch 1 persona type, which? Sort top to bottom
(1 min)

45. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
EXERCISE- VALUE PROPOSITIONS
Brainstorm Problem Scenario-
Alternative-Value Proposition
Trios.
YOUR VALUE
PROPOSITIONS!
ALTERNATIVE(S)
?
PROBLEM SCENARIO
X
Problem: Mary would like to be more
structured and consistent in her use of
allowances to teach the link between work
and financial rewards.
Alternative: Track the completion of chores,
homework, etc. manually using paper, boards,
notes on her phone.
Value Proposition: Use our app to easily and
consistently implement best practices tailored
to your situation.
(7 min.)

46. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
EXERCISE- VALUE PROPOSITIONS
Prioritize your value propositions-
if you could only pitch one, which?
After that? Etc.
(2 min.)

47. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
EXERCISE- MAPPING PERSONAS, VALUE PROP’S
1. List your prioritized personas
(Customer Segments block)
and Value Propositions
2. Map your personas to your
Value Propositions
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.The templates here are made available on the same CC license terms as the original canvas.
Activity_1
Activity_2
Activity_3
Proposition_1
Proposition_2
Proposition_3
Persona_1
Persona_2
Persona_3
(3 min)

48. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
PEER PRESENTATIONS PREP!
(4 min.)
For [target customer] who [statement of the need or opportunity], the
[product name] is a [product category] that [statement of key benefit/
key reason to buy]. unlike [primary alternative], our product [statement
of primary differentiation].
For [hiring managers] who [need to evaluate technical talent], [Enable
Quiz] is a [talent assessment system] that [allows for quick and easy
assessment of topical understanding in key engineering topics]. Unlike
[formal certifications or ad hoc questions], our product [allows for
lightweight but consistent assessments of technical talent].
EXAMPLE

49. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
As
Presenter
As
Audience
PERSONAS & VALUE PROPOSITIONS
1) Intro. with your positioning statement.
2) Who is/are the top persona(s)?
3) What’s cool about the value prop.?
4) If applicable, how do they differ between
the personas?
- Focus on the process; avoid editorial
- Ask a lot of questions
- Think about it like an investor
EXERCISE: PEER PRESENTATIONS (4 MIN/EACH)

50. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
REALLY GETTING RELATIONSHIPS & CHANNELS
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.The templates here are made available on the same CC license terms as the original canvas.
(Cost Structure)
(Key
Partners)
(Key
Activities)
(Key
Resources)
(Revenue Streams)
(Customer
Relationships)
(Channels)
(Value
Propositions)
(Customer
Segments)

51. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
A
I
D
A
O
R
ttention
nterest
esire
ction
nboarding
etention
How do they first
find out that you,
your proposition
exist?
How do you break
through the noise
floor?

52. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
A
I
D
A
O
R
ttention
nterest
esire
ction
nboarding
etention
What is it that
engages them with
your proposition?
How will you
connect?

53. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
A
I
D
A
O
R
ttention
nterest
esire
ction
nboarding
etention
Are you connecting
with an important
problem scenario?
Is your VP better
enough than the
alternative?

54. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
A
I
D
A
O
R
ttention
nterest
esire
ction
nboarding
etention
What is absolute
minimum set of
actions required by
the customer to
have you deliver on
their problem?

55. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
A
I
D
A
O
R
ttention
nterest
esire
ction
nboarding
etention
How do they
become a regular,
habitual user? How
will you know if
that’s happening?

56. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
A
I
D
A
O
R
ttention
nterest
esire
ction
nboarding
etention
How do you
deepen their
involvement?
Investment? How
do you get them
talking about it?

57. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
STORYBOARDING AIDA(OR)

58. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
STORYBOARDING AIDA(OR)

59. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
Using the
squares, create
a 6-panel
AIDA(OR)
storyboard
(10 min)
EXERCISE: AIDA STORYBOARD (10 MIN)

60. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
EXERCISE- CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS
GETTING STARTED
1. Bounce off your take on AIDA(OR)
2. Decouple any concierge/hand-holding actions you use for discovery
from your target steady state
3. Variation by segment?
4. How will you know if it’s working?
EXAMPLES
‘dedicated personal service’ (onsite? offsite?)
‘personal service’
‘phone support’
‘web/email based tickets’
‘web self-help and forums’
(3 min)
Customer
Relationships

61. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
EXERCISE- CHANNELS
GETTING STARTED
1. Bounce off your take on AIDA(OR)
2. Variation by segment?
3. How will you know if it’s working?
EXAMPLES
SALES
hand sales (direct or indirect?)
retail
web
phone
delivery
(3 min)
PROMOTION
personal (direct vs. indirect?)
specialty media
television
radio
AdWords + SEO
Channels

62. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
As
Presenter
As
Audience
RELATIONSHIPS & CHANNELS
1) What’s the AIDAOR journey?
2) How do the Relationships & Channels
work for that?
- Focus on the process; avoid editorial
- Ask a lot of questions
- Think about it like an investor
EXERCISE: PEER PRESENTATIONS (2 MIN/EACH)

63. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
REVENUE STREAMS
Don’t overcomplicate it.
When a plumber does
something, you pay them.
If a sink garbage disposal lasts
twice as long, you’d pay more,
right?
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF

64. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
EXERCISE- REVENUE
GETTING STARTED
1. Where are you providing value? When?
2. How does the customer’s perception of value change over the course
of their experience with the product?
3. How will you collect revenue, administratively?
EXAMPLES
price/unit
access/subscription fees
utilization fees
support & maintenance contracts
hourly billing
fixed price services billing
royalties/revenue share
(3 min)
Revenue
Streams

65. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
EXERCISE: SEGMENT TO VALPROP TO REVENUE
(2 min)This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.The templates here are made available on the same CC license terms as the original canvas.
Cost_1
Cost_2
Cost_3
Partner_1
Partner_2
Partner_3
Activity_1
Activity_2
Activity_3
Resource_1
Resource_2
Resource_3
Revenue_1
Revenue_2
Revenue_3
Relationship_1
Relationship_2
Relationship_3
Channel_1
Channel_2
Channel_3
Proposition_1
Proposition_2
Proposition_3
Persona_1
Persona_2
Persona_3

66. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
THE CANVAS: 3 PARTS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.The templates here are made available on the same CC license terms as the original canvas.
Offering
Customers
Infrastructure
Cost_1
Cost_2
Cost_3
Partner_1
Partner_2
Partner_3
Activity_1
Activity_2
Activity_3
Resource_1
Resource_2
Resource_3
Revenue_1
Revenue_2
Revenue_3
Relationship_1
Relationship_2
Relationship_3
Channel_1
Channel_2
Channel_3
Proposition_1
Proposition_2
Proposition_3
Persona_1
Persona_2
Persona_3

67. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
THE CANVAS: 3 PARTS
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.The templates here are made available on the same CC license terms as the original canvas.
Offering
Customers
Infrastructure
Cost_1
Cost_2
Cost_3
Partner_1
Partner_2
Partner_3
Activity_1
Activity_2
Activity_3
Resource_1
Resource_2
Resource_3
Revenue_1
Revenue_2
Revenue_3
Relationship_1
Relationship_2
Relationship_3
Channel_1
Channel_2
Channel_3
Proposition_1
Proposition_2
Proposition_3
Persona_1
Persona_2
Persona_3

68. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.The templates here are made available on the same CC license terms as the original canvas.
(Cost Structure)
(Key
Partners)
(Key
Activities)
(Key
Resources)
(Revenue Streams)
(Customer
Relationships)
(Channels)
(Value
Propositions)
(Customer
Segments)
3 BUSINESS MODEL TYPES
1. INFRASTRUCTURE-DRIVEN
2. CUSTOMER SCOPE-DRIVEN
3. PRODUCT-DRIVEN

69. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
3 BUSINESS MODEL TYPES
Infrastructure-Driven
UTILITIES TELECOM COMMODITIES
Scope-Driven
RETAIL BANKING CORP. LAW
Product-Driven
PACKAGED GOODS APP. SOFTWARE MEDIA

70. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
3 BUSINESS MODEL TYPES
INFRASTRUCTURE
Kimberly-Clark: paper pulp
DuPont: plastics and polymers
SCOPE
Procter & Gamble: cradle to grave products
Baby Store: everything for babies in one place
PRODUCT
EarthBaby, TinyTots, Honest Company:
compostable diapers and service

71. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
EXERCISE- KEY ACTIVITIES
GETTING STARTED
1. Bounce off your business type
2. What is particular, strategic to your business model?
3. How will you do these things?
4. Will partners be involved? Should they be?
(3 min)
EXAMPLES
INFRASTRUCTURE: a) industry participation b) supply chain
management c) process design and iteration
SCOPE: a) industry participation b) growth marketing online’ [SEO, web
analytics..] c) supplier management
PRODUCT: a) software product development b) growth marketing
online’ [SEO, web analytics..]
Key
Activities

72. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
EXERCISE- KEY RESOURCES
GETTING STARTED
1. Bounce off your business type
2. What is particular, strategic to your business model?
3. How will you get it?
EXAMPLES
(3 min)
INFRASTRUCTURE: a) ‘track record in [relevant topic]’ b) investment in
infrastructure’ c)’supplier relationships/integration’
SCOPE: a) ‘track record with [customer segment]’ b) channel or partner
relationships
PRODUCT: a) proprietary technology b) rapid prototyping and validation
methodologies c) expertise in [exotic technology]
Key
Resources

73. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
EXERCISE- KEY PARTNERSHIPS
GETTING STARTED
1. Bounce off your business type
2. What is particular, strategic to your business model?
3. Are you comparatively good at it?
4. Where will partners make the business bigger and more effective?
EXAMPLES
‘direct sales partners’
‘content creators’
‘retail or distribution’
‘creative agency’
‘subcontractors’
‘referral network’
(3 min)
Key
Partnerships

74. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
COST STRUCTURE
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Minimize: Obviously.
Defer: MVP’s; don’t over invest
for the sake of creating ‘output’
Link: To revenue as much as
possible (variable vs. fixed).

75. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
PROFIT DRIVERS: EXAMPLE
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Profit
Drivers
Revenue
Drivers
Tighter Proposition (website, pres., etc.)
Finite Cost
Finite Deliverables
Increased Use of Channels
Ease of Entry
Easy to See What's on MenuUpsell
Intellectual Property Multipliers
Tighter Talent Definition
Simpler Training, Eval., Promotion
Cost of Delivery
Cost
Drivers
Less Consultative Selling
Simplified Contracting
Cost of Sales
Standard Project Management
Comparable Post Mortems
Engagement
Management
(example: product-driven consulting)

76. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
COST STRUCTURE
GETTING STARTED
1. How do you minimize? Use of partners? Off the shelf tech/
components?
2. How do you defer against customer development milestones?
3. How do you link to revenues?
4. Which are fixed vs. variable? How do they related to revenues?
EXAMPLES
‘fixed cost product development’
‘fixed cost infrastructure investment’
‘variable cost marketing or commissions’
‘variable cost customer onboarding and support’
‘variable cost inputs’
(3 min)
Cost
Structure

77. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
EXERCISE: COST STRUCTURE & LINKAGES
(3 min)This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.The templates here are made available on the same CC license terms as the original canvas.
Cost_1
Cost_2
Cost_3
Partner_1
Partner_2
Partner_3
Activity_1
Activity_2
Activity_3
Resource_1
Resource_2
Resource_3
Revenue_1
Revenue_2
Revenue_3
Relationship_1
Relationship_2
Relationship_3
Channel_1
Channel_2
Channel_3
Proposition_1
Proposition_2
Proposition_3
Persona_1
Persona_2
Persona_3

78. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
As
Presenter
As
Audience
INFRASTRUCTURE
1) What’s your business type
(infrastructure, scope, product)?
2) What are the major cost drivers and
linkages? How do they tie to revenue?
3) How do the key activities, resources,
and partnerships help that?
- Focus on the process; avoid editorial
- Ask a lot of questions
- Think about it like an investor
EXERCISE: PEER PRESENTATIONS (2 MIN/EACH)

79. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
AGENDA
Period! Deliverables!
Venture Design I: Achieving
Customer Relevance
Personas
Problem Scenarios-Alternatives-Value Propositions
Start Business Model Canvas
Storyboards
Customer Discovery
Venture Design II: Iterating to
Success
Venture Planning- focal hypotheses, experiments, and minimum
viable ‘product’
Venture Design III: Focusing &
Validating Venture Progress
Review of field work, refinements of approach, planning next
steps.
Venture Design IV: Engineering
Your Business Model!
Detailing your business model and remaining focal
assumptions.
Venture Design V: Designing the
Right Product!
Pairing your learnings on personas & hypotheses with high
quality, actionable inputs (stories & wireframes) for product
development and product validation.

80. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
RECOMMENDED NEXT STEPS
Follow-On Workshops
1. For Creating Strong Personas
Day in the Life Workshop: http://bit.ly/daynthelife
2. For Structuring Your Product Value Propositions into Testable Assumptions
Venture Design II: Iterating to Success: http://bit.ly/vdesignII
3. For Designing a Profitable Business Model
Venture Design IV: Engineering Your Business Model: http://bit.ly/vdesignIV
4. For Linking the Above to an Effective Product Development Program
Venture Design V: Designing the Right Product: http://bit.ly/vdesignV

81. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
acowan@alexandercowan.com
@cowanSF
www.alexandercowan.com/venture-design
bit.ly/vdesignIII
www.alexandercowan.com/startup-sprints