A New Way to Teach Entrepreneurship – The Lean LaunchPad at Stanford: Class 1
Posted on March 8, 2011 by steveblank
We were positing that 20 years of teaching “how to write a business plan” might be obsolete. Startups, are not about executing a plan where the product, customers, channel are known. Startups are in fact only temporary organizations, organized to search–not execute–for a scalable and repeatable business model.
Get Out of the Building and test the Business Model
While we were going to teach theory and frameworks, these students were going to get a hands-on experience in how to start a new company. Over the quarter, teams of students would put the theory to work, using these tools to get out of the building and talk to customer/partners, etc. to get hard-earned information. (The purpose of getting out of the building is not to verify a financial model but to hypothesize and verify the entire business model. It’s a subtle shift but a big idea with tremendous changes in the end result.)
The first class was an introduction to the concepts of business model design and customer development. (In one night, I learned that I need a business model, not a business plan and that I need to test my model by talking to potential customers and partners!)
So this is my business model:
I am a yoga teacher who partners with other businesses to bring health and beauty to you. I have talked to many people and all of them have one problem in common. They don't have time to take good care of themselves. So they rely on health insurance, doctors, pills, etc. Some of them have unhealthy habits and lifestyles due to stress. Stress is the leading cause of illness and the reason for two thirds of the total visits to the Physician. Most of us are overworked and need a healthy way to reduce stress. I will make it easy and convenient for them to be healthier inside out by going to their homes, offices or schools. My customers are mostly female in their 30s and 40s, so women in that age range will be my target market and my goal is to help them take better care of themselves. I
offer a Corporate Wellness Program with Fit-Twist Yoga that helps reduce
stress. Your employees or staff will feel more energized and relaxed at the
same time in just one class. I guarantee that your staff
will feel better and healthier after taking my classes regularly for 3 to 4
weeks. Contact me now for a free
consultation if you are a company that wants a wellness program. Find out how cost effective it is to
hire me. Exercise + Nutrition = Health.
Yoga Benefits - Improved flexibility, more strength, better concentration, health and
well-being. Among women with breast cancer, those who did yoga had a steeper daily drop in
cortisol levels than women who just stretched. Some studies suggest that if
levels of the stress hormone stay high throughout the day, a woman’s cancer is
more likely to worsen. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month - find out how yoga can help breast cancer patients.
www.webmd.com/balance/the-health-benefits-of-yoga, www.breastcancer.org/treatment/comp_med/types/yoga.jsp
Special Discount for Brentwood and Santa Monica area - If a group of 5 or more sign up for a yoga class, you just pay $10 per person.
Pay |
One more point - all things being equal, show and observation with customers beats talking to customers, because customers don't need to imagine the product if you just show it.
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