Please see www.alexandercowan.com/speaking for full presentations. This is a talk I did for the Startup Leadership Program fellows.

1. Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing
Venture
Design &
Lean Startup

2. Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

3. Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing

4. Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing
Design Thinking
Lean Startup
Customer Dev.
Agile
} BIG VOID
{ Actual Practice

5. Business Model
Canvas
Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing
VENTURE DESIGN
Product & Promotion
User Stories
Test Cases
ExperimentLearn
Hypothesize
Lean Startup-
Style Assumptions
Foundation in
Design Thinking

6. Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing
VENTURE DESIGN
Personas
ExperimentLearn
Hypothesize
Lean Startup-
Style Assumptions
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF

7. Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing
PLANNING
!5,000,000%
0%
5,000,000%
10,000,000%
15,000,000%
20,000,000%
25,000,000%
30,000,000%
35,000,000%
40,000,000%
45,000,000%
2012% 2013% 2014% 2015% 2016% 2017% 2018% 2019% 2020%
Revenue%
Expense%
EBITDA%
Five Year
Plan
Then
Lean
Management
Now
6.a PIVOT
experiments
disprove
hypothesis
01 IDEA!
02 HYPOTHESIS
03 EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
04 EXPERIMENTATION
05 PIVOT OR PERSEVERE?
6.b PERSEVERE
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF

8. Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing
PLANNINGPLANNING WITH LEAN STARTUP
Do I have real evidence from my buyer that
this is compelling?
01 IDEA!
What are the key assumptions
required to make this business work?
02 HYPOTHESIS
How do I definitely prove or disprove
the assumptions with a minimum of
time and effort?
03 EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
04 EXPERIMENTATIONAm I reacting or am I focused on
validating my pivotal assumptions?
‘Pivot or persevere?’

9. Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing
Priority Key Assumption Needs Proving? Experimentation
[1-10] [A key assumption about
the business]
[Whether it needs
proving
[Experiment to
prove or disprove]
1
Parents want to organize
the distribution of
allowances with an app
Yes
* Post the proposition in ads
online
* Measure sign-up’s on a landing
page
2
Parents want to link
allowances to chores
Yes
* Show prototypes with choices
* Test in beta
PLANNING WITH LEAN STARTUP
Focus on strategic,
pivotal assumptions

10. Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing
PLANNING WITH LEAN STARTUP
Crossing t’s
Dotting i’s
Doesn’t matter unless it
helps prove (or disprove)
your pivotal assumptions

11. Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing
PLANNING WITH LEAN STARTUP
Subject
all your
activities +
metrics to
that litmus
test.

12. Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing
Priority Key Assumption Needs Proving? Experimentation
1
[A key assumption about
the business]
[Whether it needs
proving
[Experiment to
prove or disprove]
1
Parents want to organize
the distribution of
allowances with an app
Yes
* Post the proposition in ads
online
* Measure sign-up’s on a landing
page
2
Parents want to link
allowances to chores
Yes
* Show prototypes with choices
* Test in beta
2
Parents have smart
phones
No n/a
PLANNING WITH LEAN AT LARGE
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF

13. Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing
VENTURE/PROJECT DESIGN
Lean at Large
ExperimentLearn
Hypothesize
Lean Startup-
Style Assumptions
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF

14. Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing
PLANNING WITH LEAN AT LARGE
Let’s not
argue.
Let’s assume.
Then test.
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF

15. Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing
PLANNING WITH LEAN AT LARGE

16. Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing
“Parents want to better organize the distribution of allowances”
Priority: [1 for existential; 2+ for others]
Needs Proving?: [yes or no]
Experimentation: [how will most quickly, cheaply prove or disprove]
* Bonus Question: How do these relate to your personas?
1. List at least 3 assumptions
2. Note as much as you can on experiments
(3 min)

17. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
CUSTOMERS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF

18. Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing
CONCIERGE MVP AND LEAN STARTUP
Get paid for
customer
discovery. ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF

19. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
A LEAN PROGRESSION
It pays
It’s easy to scale
Consultants naturally do customer discovery
CONSULTING
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF

20. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
A LEAN PROGRESSION
It’s easier to sell
It’s easier to staff
It’s easier to manage
CONSULTING
‘PRODUCTIZED’
CONSULTING
Customer empathy-
more scope, detail on
problem scenarios
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF

21. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
A LEAN PROGRESSION
‘PRODUCTIZED’
CONSULTING
CONSULTING
Customer empathy-
more scope, detail on
problem scenarios
PRODUCTS
Validated problem
scenarios with
substantial detail

22. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
UNDERSTANDING THE MARKET
50-70% of
Enterprise
Software
Implementations
Fail ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF

23. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
A SERIES OF CONCIERGE MVP’S
Help me integrate and
standardize the
infrastructure. And show
my people how to use it.
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF

24. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
NETWORK
PRINCIPALS
OF OPERATION
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
A SERIES OF CONCIERGE MVP’S

25. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
Creating accounts is
taking a lot of time/
money. And there are a
lot of mistakes.
NETWORK
PRINCIPALS
OF OPERATION
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
A SERIES OF CONCIERGE MVP’S

26. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
SERVICE
STANDARDIZATION
& WORKFLOW
NETWORK
PRINCIPALS
OF OPERATION
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
A SERIES OF CONCIERGE MVP’S

27. How do we improve
service quality? How
do we verify that?
Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
SERVICE
STANDARDIZATION
& WORKFLOW
NETWORK
PRINCIPALS
OF OPERATION
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
A SERIES OF CONCIERGE MVP’S

28. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
SERVICE
STANDARDIZATION
& WORKFLOW
SERVICE
DESIGN
NETWORK
PRINCIPALS
OF OPERATION
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
A SERIES OF CONCIERGE MVP’S

29. How do we do this
more efficiently? Are
we implementing best
practices?
Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
SERVICE
STANDARDIZATION
& WORKFLOW
NETWORK
PRINCIPALS
OF OPERATION
SERVICE
DESIGN
A SERIES OF CONCIERGE MVP’S

30. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
PROCESS
AUDIT,
DESIGN
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
SERVICE
STANDARDIZATION
& WORKFLOW
NETWORK
PRINCIPALS
OF OPERATION
SERVICE
DESIGN
A SERIES OF CONCIERGE MVP’S

31. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
SERVICE
DESIGN
A SERIES OF CONCIERGE MVP’S

32. Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing
Foundation in
Design Thinking
VENTURE DESIGN - PERSONAS

33. Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing
Design
Thinking
And Now
Survival
Back Then
DESIGN THINKING

34. Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing
Empathy
DESIGN THINKING
Creativity ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF

35. Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing
DESIGN THINKING- APPLICATIONS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF

36. Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing
Entry1
Urinate as they go2
Edges preferred3
Speedy4
PB > cheese5
Empathy
DESIGN THINKING- APPLICATIONS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF

37. Copyright 2013 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

38. Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing
VENTURE DESIGN - PERSONAS
Personas Foundation in
Design Thinking
Personas Problem Scenarios
Alternatives
Your Value Propositions

39. Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing
DESIGN THINKING - PERSONAS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF

40. Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing
DESIGN THINKING - PERSONAS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF

41. Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing
•Women
•Age 28-45
•Have kids
•Socialize with other mom’s
•Online with Facebook
•86% said they’d like to be
more organized
•70% said they’d use an
application that organizes them
DESIGN THINKING - PERSONAS

42. Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing
DESIGN THINKING - PERSONAS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF

43. Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing
Mary is a mom by choice. She had a successful
career in accounting, but welcomed the opportunity to
be a stay at home mom. She loves it. But it’s not like
having kids purged her creative, social instincts. She
wants to connect, she wants to learn, she wants to
interact. Being a mom is a job and she wants to do it
well. That means corresponding with other mom’s on
relevant topics and keeping the family calendar in
ship shape. She posts to Facebook at least twice a
week and responds to other moms’ items more often
than that.
For household stuff, Costco is the go-to place, but
she’ll pick up fresh items at the farmer’s market when
it’s up and splurge at Whole Foods when they’re
having company.
Mary the Mom
DESIGN THINKING - PERSONAS

44. Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing
END USER PERSONAS
Rita
the Reseller
Orson
the Office Mgr.
Ignatius
the IT Guy
Rhonda
the Receptionist
Susan the
Small Bus. Owner
Keith
the Key System User
Amy
the Assistant
Simone
the Standard User
Chuck
the Call Center Agent
Esteban
the Executive
Mikuko
the Mobile User
Cindy
the Call Center Manager

45. Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing
ENTERPRISE PERSONAS
Nietzsche
the Network Eng.
Paola
the Provisioner
Sidney
the Sys. Admin.
Percival the
Product Manager
Sven
the Salesperson
Anthony
the Applications Eng.
Itzhak
the IT Developer
Frank
the Field Eng.
Sam
the Support Eng.
Saul
the Site Developer
Fritz
the Field Eng. Manager
Bruce
the Business Owner

46. Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing
YOUR VALUE
PROPOSITIONS
!
ALTERNATIVE(S)
?
PROBLEM SCENARIO
X
DESIGN THINKING - PERSONAS

47. Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing
MARY THE MOM
About: Mary the mom. . . [Describe like your friend or the beginning
of a short story. What kind of shoes does she wear?]. . .
Thinks: . . .
Sees: . . .
Feels: . . .
Does: . . .
1. List at least 3 personas
2. More time? Describe as much as you can the
items below. (3 min)

48. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
SERVICE
DESIGN
A SERIES OF CONCIERGE MVP’S

49. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
ONLINE SELF-CARE
PERSONA PROBLEM SCENARIO
‘We our own scope, look and
feel. And we need an easy way
to do that. And SSO’
Template Driven
HTML-CSS-JS Layer
SAML SSO
Percival
the
Product Mgr.
Saul
the
Site Developer
&
‘This thing should increase
satisfaction & involvement;
and reduce support calls.’
Bruce
the
Business Owner
Percival
the
Product Mgr.
&
IMPLEMENTATION
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF

50. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
Priority Key Assumption Needs Proving? Experimentation
1
End users want to log in
and do self-care
Yes!
Instrument adequate reporting,
create awareness,
see if they nibble
1
Reducing the portals
clicks to destination
from 4-6 to 2-3 is good
enough
Yes
- Log and analyze navigation
- Do support calls go down?
ASSUMPTIONS ON SELF-CARE
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF

51. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
Priority Key Assumption Needs Proving? Experimentation
1
End users want to log in
and do self-care
Yes!
Instrument adequate reporting,
create awareness,
see if they nibble
1
Reducing the portals
clicks to destination
from 4-6 to 2-3 is good
enough
Yes
- Log and analyze navigation
- Do support calls go down?
ASSUMPTIONS ON SELF-CARE
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF

52. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
PERSONA PROBLEM SCENARIO
‘We our own scope, look and
feel. And we need an easy way
to do that. And SSO’
Percival
the
Product Mgr.
Saul
the
Site Developer
&
‘This thing should increase
satisfaction & involvement;
and reduce support calls.’
Focus on
customer admin
experience
Bruce
the
Business Owner
Percival
the
Product Mgr.
&
ONLINE SELF-CARE
Template Driven
HTML-CSS-JS Layer
SAML SSO
IMPLEMENTATION
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF

53. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
Take II- DASHBOARDS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF

54. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
PERSONA PROBLEM SCENARIO
‘We our own scope, look and
feel. And we need an easy way
to do that. And SSO’
Percival
the
Product Mgr.
Saul
the
Site Developer
&
Orson the
Office Manager
‘I still don’t get it.’
‘This thing should increase
satisfaction & involvement;
and reduce support calls.’
Bruce
the
Business Owner
Percival
the
Product Mgr.
&
ONLINE SELF-CARE
Focus on
customer admin
experience
Template Driven
HTML-CSS-JS Layer
SAML SSO
IMPLEMENTATION
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF

55. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
Priority Key Assumption Needs Proving? Experimentation
1
Customer admin’s will
do self-care with training
and awareness
Yes!
Focus on training customer
admin’s,
see if they nibble
1
Presenting all the users
of interest on the 1st
page will engage these
admin’s
Yes
- Log and analyze navigation
- Do support calls go down?
ASSUMPTIONS ON SELF-CARE
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF

56. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
DASHBOARD
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF

57. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
PERSONA PROBLEM SCENARIO
Percival
the
Product Mgr.
‘We our own scope, look and
feel. And we need an easy way
to do that. And SSO’
Orson the
Office Manager
Saul
the
Site Developer
&
‘I still don’t get it.’
‘This thing should increase
satisfaction & involvement;
and reduce support calls.’
Bruce
the
Business Owner
Percival
the
Product Mgr.
&
ONLINE SELF-CARE
One click access
via ‘Dashboard’
Focus on
customer admin
experience
Template Driven
HTML-CSS-JS Layer
SAML SSO
IMPLEMENTATION

58. Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing
DESIGN THINKING - USING PERSONAS
Personas Problem Scenarios
Alternatives
Your Value Propositions
MAKING
STUFF
SELLING
STUFF
Who’s buying?
Where?
Why?
What does the user
actually do?
Who are we
selling to?
Where do we
reach them?
With what
proposition?
What does the user
(most) want?
Personas Foundation in
Design Thinking
Personas Problem Scenarios
Alternatives
Your Value Propositions

59. Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing
CUSTOMER DEVELOPMENT
MVP
Nascent
Product-Market
Fit(?) Scale
PIVOTAL
ASSUMPTIONS
PRODUCT
ORG.
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!

60. Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing
FULL CIRCLE
!
THINK SEE
FEEL DO
PERSONAS
Who?
X
PROBLEM
SCENARIOS
What?
USER
STORIES
How?
VALUE
PROPOSITIONS
& ASSUMPTIONS
What if?
!
PRODUCT &
PROMOTION
Pivot?
/
WIREFRAMES/
PROTOTYPES
How?
..
Scale?
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF

61. Copyright 2012 Cowan Publishing
MAX OUT
CONCIERGE MVP
Grind it out. You have to put
all the magic in the software
(or product).
GRIND
WHAT’S PIVOTAL?
More isn’t more on
assumptions- focus is key.
PRIORITIZE
WRITE IT DOWN
If you don’t write down your
assumptions, it’s hard to start
doing Lean Startup.
TAKE NOTE
CREATE A
FOUNDATION
Make sure your understanding
of what works/doesn’t is
grounded in personas/design
thinking.
ANCHOR
APPLYING LEAN STARTUP: 6 TIPS
STEADY AS SHE
GOES
Plan the work; work the plan.
That’s the beauty of devoting
yourself to a ‘pivot or
persevere’ moment.
MAINTAIN
SENTENCES NOT
BULLET POINTS
Be a good storyteller- customers
don’t experience your product in
bullet points.
TELL STORIES

62. Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing
Who is the
buyer? User?
What problem(s)
are you solving?
Personas
Problem Scenarios
What’s the
business?
Positioning Statement,
Business Model
Canvas
What has to
happen?
Lean Startup-Style
Assumptions
What economics
and requirement
for cash?
Lean Financial
Model
What’s the
operating
environment like?
Five Forces Analysis
Pitch Deck
(coming soon)
I need a compact
overview
I’m going to a
bank, traditional
investor
Business Plan
I need to present
financial (tax,
financiers).
Income Statement,
Statement of Cash
Flows, Balance
Sheet
Operational Stack Presentation Stack
VENTURE DESIGN STACK
Corp. WebsiteI need to
communicate
[various items in
Ops Stack]
What are we
building?
Why?
User Stories
Wireframes/
Prototypes

63. Copyright 2013 Cowan Publishing
acowan@alexandercowan.com
@cowanSF
www.alexandercowan.com/resources
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www.alexandercowan.com/speaking
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