2. This is how people believe
entrepreneurship happens
IPO, retire
• Preceded by
Raise huge hockey stick
VC $$$ growth
Wunderkind • With detailed
has divine business plan
inspiration
• Or MBA has
genius insight
2
3. But this is not how
entrepreneurship usually happens
• First time • < 2% of • < 1% of
founders ventures ever ventures IPO
average 40 raise VC $$$
years old • < 27% of Inc.
• Ventures 500 ever had
rapidly evolve a biz plan IPO, retire
from original • Preceded by
vision Raise huge hockey stick
VC $$$ growth
Wunderkind • With detailed
has divine business plan
inspiration
• Or MBA has
genius insight
3
4. I am a global cleantech entrepreneur /
professor of entrepreneurship at Rice
• Founded/led four startups
– Plug-and-play office energy savings
– Web environmental compliance
– Digital social business card
– Mobile/wireless disaster response
• Educated at Rice (computer science) and IMD
(business)
4
16. Entrepreneurship is…
• A mindset
– Seeking solutions to problems
– Aligning resources to sustain solutions
– Creating value
16
17. There are 5 canonical venture
types
• Small business (feed the family)
• Large business sustaining innovation
• Large business disruptive innovation
• Social enterprise
• Scalable startup Our Focus
17
Source: Four Steps to the Epiphany
19. A startup is…
―a temporary organization used to search for a
repeatable and scalable business model” – Steve
Blank
Large Companies Ventures Search for
Execute Known Unknown Business
Business Models Models
19
20. Startups are not small versions of
large businesses
Large Companies Ventures Search for
Execute Known Unknown Business
Business Models Models
20
21. What does this entrepreneurial
search process look like?
22. A business model starts with
hypotheses
Guess
Guess Guess
Guess
Guess
Guess Guess
Guess Guess
23. Hypotheses become facts through rapid
iterations of customer development
Customer Customer Customer Company
Discovery Validation Creation Building
Pivot
23
Source: Four Steps to the Epiphany
24. Get out of the building and test
hypotheses with real clients
Customer Customer Customer Company
Discovery Validation Creation Building
• Stop selling, start listening
• Test your hypotheses
• Continuous Discovery
• Done by founders
24
Source: Four Steps to the Epiphany
25. When hypotheses are not verified
by customers, pivot
• The heart of Customer Development
• Iteration without crisis
• Fast, agile and opportunistic
25
Source: Four Steps to the Epiphany
26. Goal to exit Customer Validation:
the MVP
•MVP: The Minimum Viable Product
•Smallest feature set that gets you the most …
orders, learning, feedback, failure…
26
Source: Four Steps to the Epiphany
27. Sounds easy – yet so many
entrepreneurs still fail
New research on consistently successful entrepreneurs
29. Expert entrepreneurs start with
means and create opportunities
New
End
Means 1
2
Means Means
1 3
Starting
Means
Fixed
End New
End
New
End
2 3
29
Source: Effectual Entrepreneurship
30. Expert entrepreneurs expand their
means with partnerships
New
End
3
Original Original
End End
1 4
My Your
Means Means
Original Original Original Original
End End End End
2 3 5 6
30
Source: Effectual Entrepreneurship
32. Expert entrepreneurs set
affordable loss and control returns
Entrepreneurs Bankers Step 1
Pick a target return
Risk Risk
Step 2
High Push creatively High
to increase return
Step 1 Step 2
Pick a comfortable Try to reduce risk
level of risk through insurance, etc.
Low Low
Return Return
Low High Low High
For a given level of risk, entrepreneurs feel For a given level of return, bankers feel
they they can
can expand the problem space and reduce the problem space and decrease
increase returns risk.
32
Source: Effectual Entrepreneurship
33. Expert entrepreneurs control the
unpredictable future
Biz Plan
Entrepreneurship
33
Source: Effectual Entrepreneurship
34. Effectual principles can be
illustrated with jars of marbles
You win the game by selecting a red marble
?
1: Predictable 2: Risky 3: Unknowable
Entrepreneurship is like Jar 3
35. Expert entrepreneurs add as
many red marbles as they can
You win the game by selecting a red marble
3: Unknowable
And they make friends who have more red marbles to add
36. Or else they create a new game
where blue marbles win
You win the game by selecting a blue marble
3: Unknowable
If they and their friends only have blue marbles
37. Innovation happens throughout
the business system
1. Business model 5. Product performance
how the enterprise makes money basic features, performance and functionality
2. Networking 6. Product system
enterprise’s structure/ extended system that surrounds an offering
value chain
7. Service
how you service your customers
Finance Process. Offering Delivery
Business Networking Enabling Core Product Product Service Channel Brand Customer
model process process performance system experience
8. Channel
how you connect your offerings
3. Enabling process to your customers
Enabling new connections,
interactions, and transactions
9. Brand
how you express your offering’s
4. Core process benefit to customers
proprietary processes that add value
10. Customer experience
The overall experience for
customers
Source: Doblin Group 37
38. Startups tend to focus on product
opportunities
Finance Process. Offering Delivery
Business Networking Enabling Core Product Product Service Channel Brand Customer
model process process performance system experience
Volume of innovation efforts
Hi Last 10 years
Lo
Source: Doblin Group 38
39. But the best opportunities are
often elsewhere
Finance Process. Offering Delivery
Business Networking Enabling Core Product Product Service Channel Brand Customer
model process process performance system experience
Cumulative value creation—
Hi Last 10 years
Lo
Source: Doblin Group 39
40. The innovation ―piano:‖ the best
opportunities are ―chords‖
1. Business model 5. Product performance
how the enterprise makes money basic features, performance and functionality
2. Networking 6. Product system
enterprise’s structure/ extended system that surrounds an offering
value chain
7. Service
how you service your customers
Finance Process. Offering Delivery
Business Networking Enabling Core Product Product Service Channel Brand Customer
model process process performance system experience
8. Channel
how you connect your offerings
3. Enabling process to your customers
Enabling new connections,
interactions, and transactions
9. Brand
how you express your offering’s
4. Core process benefit to customers
proprietary processes that add value
10. Customer experience
The overall experience for
customers
Source: Doblin Group 40
41. Example: Apple’s iPod/iTunes ―chords‖
have captured huge opportunity
Finance Process. Offering Delivery
Business Networking Enabling Core Product Product Service Channel Brand Customer
model process process performance system experience
41