1. I-­Corps
245:
The
Lean
Launch
Pad
Course
Title:
The
Lean
Launch
Pad
Instructors:
Steve
Blank,
Jon
Feiber
John
Burke,
Co-­Instructors:
Alexander
Osterwalder,
Oren
Jacob,
Tina
Seelig
TA’s:
Thomas
Haymore,
Stephanie
Rose
Glass
Days
and
Times:
Oct
10-­‐12th
at
Stanford
University
(Classes
1,
2
and
3)
Oct
18
–
Nov
15th
Five
video
lectures
at
your
school
(Classes
4
–
9)
broadcast
Tuesdays
9am
–noon
PST
Dec
13
-­‐14 th
at
Stanford
University
–
“Lessons
Learned”
pitches
Workshops:
Getting
out
of
the
building,
Customer
Discovery,
Presentations
Takeaway:
“Commercialization
Potential”
scorecard
Webpage:
http://i245.stanford.edu
Texts:
Business
Model
Generation
-­‐
Alexander
Osterwalder
Four
Steps
to
the
Epiphany
-­‐
Steve
Blank
This
curriculum
requires
in
depth
preparation
and
significant
effort
outside
of
the
lab.
Read
http://steveblank.com/category/lean-­‐launchpad/
from
the
bottom
up
to
get
an
idea.
See
http://www.slideshare.net/sblank/tag/stanford
for
final
team
presentations.
Prerequisites:
1)
Attend
as
a
team
consisting
of
Entrepreneurial
Lead,
Commercialization
Mentor
and
Principal
Investigator.
2)
Each
team
member
must
commit
to
class
time
plus
15
additional
hours
a
week
for
Customer
Discovery.
Goals:
1)
Give
the
I-­‐Corps
team
an
experiential
learning
opportunity
to
help
determine
the
commercial
readiness
of
their
technology.
2)
Enable
the
team
to
develop
a
clear
go/no
go
decision
regarding
commercial
viability
of
the
effort,
3)
Should
the
decision
be
to
move
the
technology
forward
to
market,
develop
a
transition
plan
to
do
so.
Curriculum
Description:
This
curriculum
provides
real
world,
hands-­‐on
learning
on
what
it’s
like
to
successfully
transfer
knowledge
into
products
and
processes
that
benefit
society
.
It’s
not
about
how
to
write
a
research
paper,
business
plan
or
NSF
grant.
It’s
not
an
exercise
on
how
smart
you
are
in
a
lab
or
a
classroom,
or
how
well
you
use
the
research
library.
The
end
result
is
not
a
paper
to
be
published
or
PowerPoint
slide
deck. Instead
the
entire
team
will
be
engaged
with
industry;
talking
to
customers,
partners
and
competitors,
as
the
team
encounters
the
chaos
and
uncertainty
of
transferring
knowledge
into
products
and
processes
that
benefit
society.
I-­‐Corps
E245
Syllabus
Revision
18
page
1
of
1

2. Amount
of
Work
Getting
out
of
the
lab/building
is
what
the
effort
is
about.
It’s
not
about
the
lectures.
You
will
be
spending
a
significant
amount
of
time
in
between
each
of
the
lectures
outside
your
lab
talking
to
customers.
If
you
can’t
commit
the
time
to
talk
to
customers,
the
I-­‐Corps
effort
is
not
for
you.
Class
Culture
Startups
communicate
much
differently
than
inside
a
university
and
lab.
It
is
dramatically
different
from
the
university
culture
most
of
you
are
familiar
with.
Given
your
stature
inside
your
institution,
at
times
it
can
feel
brusque
and
impersonal,
but
in
reality
is
focused
and
oriented
to
create
immediate
action
in
time-­‐
and
cash-­‐constrained
environments.
We
have
limited
time
and
we
push,
challenge,
and
question
you
in
the
hope
you
will
quickly
learn.
We
will
be
direct,
open,
and
tough
–
just
like
the
real
world.
We
hope
you
can
recognize
that
these
comments
aren’t
personal,
but
part
of
the
process.
We
also
expect
you
to
question
us,
challenge
our
point
of
view
if
you
disagree,
and
engage
in
a
real
dialog
with
the
teaching
team.
This
approach
may
seem
harsh
or
abrupt,
but
it
is
all
part
of
our
wanting
you
to
learn
to
challenge
yourselves
quickly
and
objectively,
and
to
appreciate
that
as
entrepreneurs
you
need
to
learn
and
evolve
faster
than
you
ever
imagined
possible.
Teams
You’ll
work
in
teams
learning
how
to
turn
your
research
and
technology
idea
into
a
product,
service
or
process
that
benefits
society.
You’ll
learn
how
to
use
a
business
model
to
brainstorm
each
part
of
an
enterprise
and
customer
development
to
get
out
of
the
lab/building
to
see
whether
anyone
other
than
you
would
want/use
your
product.
Finally,
you’ll
see
how
agile
development
can
help
you
rapidly
iterate
your
product
to
build
something
potential
customers
will
use
and
buy.
Each
week
will
be
new
adventure
as
you
test
each
part
of
your
business
model
and
then
share
the
hard
earned
knowledge
with
the
rest
of
the
class.
Working
with
your
team
you
will
encounter
issues
on
how
to
build
and
work
with
a
team
and
we
will
help
you
understand
how
to
build
and
manage
the
startup
team.
See
http://steveblank.com/category/lean-­‐launchpad/
for
a
narrative
of
the
class.
Class
Organization:
I-­Corps
Workshop:
The
class
starts
with
entire
I-­‐Corps
team
(Entrepreneurial
Lead,
I-­‐Corps
Mentor
&
PI)
at
Stanford,
Oct
10-­‐12
for
the
first
lectures.
Post
Workshop,
Out
of
the
Building
Effort
When
I-­‐Corps
teams
return
to
their
institutions,
they
will
be
required
to
get
out
of
the
lab
to
test
I-­‐Corps
E245
Syllabus
Revision
18
page
2
of
2

3. their
business
model
assumptions.
This
is
a
team
effort.
It
is
the
heart
of
the
class.
Post
Workshop,
Online
Curriculum:
The
instructors
will
run
five
weekly
on-­‐line
lectures,
Oct
18
–
Nov
15th
that
will
guide
the
teams
search
and
testing
their
business
model
canvas
hypotheses.
Weekly
Presentations
and
Progress
Tracking
Each
team
will
present
a
10-­‐minute
weekly
progress
report.
This
is
how
we
monitor
your
progress
and
give
you
guidance.
Weekly
Blog
Tracking
Teams
will
record
their
progress
basis
using
a
Wiki.
This
is
also
how
we
monitor
your
progress.
I-­Corps
“Lessons
Learned”
Presentations
The
entire
I-­‐Corps
team
(Entrepreneurial
Lead,
I-­‐Corps
Mentor
and
Principal
Investigator)
will
return
to
Stanford,
Dec
12
–
13th.
There
the
teams
will
present
to
the
teaching
team
and
Venture
Capitalists
the
Lessons
Learned
in
their
exploration
of
commercial
feasibility.
Team
Organization:
This
class
is
team-­based.
Working
and
studying
will
be
done
in
teams.
The
teams
will
self-­‐organize
and
establish
individual
roles
on
their
own.
There
are
no
formal
CEO/VP’s.
All
three
members
of
the
team;
Entrepreneurial
Lead,
Commercialization
Mentor
and
Principal
Investigator
must
participate
in
all
out
of
the
building
customer
discovery
activities.
Deliverables:
1)
if
you’re
a
physical
product
you
must
show
us
a
costed
bill
of
materials
and
a
prototype
or
proof
demonstration.
If
you’re
a
web
product
you
need
to
build
it
and
have
customers
using
it.
2)
Your
weekly
blog
is
an
integral
part
of
your
deliverables.
It’s
how
the
team’s
progress
is
measured
(along
with
the
“Lessons
Learned”
presentations.)
Takeaways:
A
“commercialization
potential”
scorecard
At
the
end
of
the
course,
each
team
will
be
provided
feedback
in
the
form
of
a
scorecard
on
the
potential
for
commercializing
their
research
and
innovation.
This
scorecard
will
provide
feedback
to
the
team
about:
gaps
in
the
business
model,
team,
product
that
remain,
and
provide
specific
suggestions
for
how
to
improve
and
fix
them.
I-­‐Corps
E245
Syllabus
Revision
18
page
3
of
3

4. Class
Roadmap
Each
week’s
class
is
organized
around:
• A
lecture
on
one
of
the
9
building
blocks
of
a
business
model
(see
diagram
below,
taken
from
Business
Model
Generation).
• Team
presentations
on
their
“lessons
learned”
from
getting
out
of
the
building
and
iterating
or
pivoting
their
business
model.
• Each
team
will
capture
their
progression
in
Customer
Discovery
by
keeping
an
on-­‐line
journals/blogs/wiki.
Test
Hypotheses:
Test
Agile • Demand Hypotheses:
Development Test Hypotheses: Creation
• Problem
• Product
Test • Customer
Hypotheses: • Market Type
• User
• Channel
• Competitive
• Payer
• (Customer)
• (Problem)
Customer
Development Test Hypotheses:
Team • Channel
Test Hypotheses: Test Hypotheses:
• Size of Opportunity/Market
• Pricing Model / Pricing
• Validate Business Model
“Genius
is
the
ability
to
make
the
most
mistakes
in
the
shortest
amount
of
time.”
Aspiring
entrepreneurs
need
to
become
fast
iterators.
I-­‐Corps
E245
Syllabus
Revision
18
page
4
of
4

5.
Pre-­reading
For
1st
Class:
Read
pages
1-­51
of
Business
Model
Generation.
Sunday
Oct
9th
7pm
–
9pm
Mixer
K&S
Ranch
Monday
Oct
10th
8
-­‐
9am
Breakfast
Location:
Mackenzie
Room,
Huang
Engineering
Center
Monday
Oct
10th
9
-­9:30
am
Class
Introduction:
Teaching
Team
Location:
Mackenzie
Room,
Huang
Engineering
Center
• Team
Introduction
• Class
Goals
• Teaching
Philosophy
• Expectations
of
You
Monday
Oct
10th
9:30
–
10:30
am
Panel:
Scientist
and
Engineers
as
Founders
and
Entrepreneurs
Panelists:
Kevin
Dewalt
Founder
ClaimAway, Jason
Lohn
co-­‐Founder,
CEO
of
X5
Systems,
Dave
Merrill
Founder,
CTO
of
Sifteo,
Kumar
Goswami
Location:
Mackenzie
Room,
Huang
Engineering
Center
• Why
did
we
do
a
startup?
• What
did
we
think
it
was
going
to
be
like?
• What
was
it
really
like?
• What
do
we
wish
we
knew?
• What
you
should
get
out
of
this
class?
Monday
Oct
10th
10:30am
-­‐1:00pm
Class
1:
Business
Model/Customer
Development
Steve
Blank/Jon
Feiber/Alexander
Osterwalder/John
Burke/Teaching
Team
Location:
Mackenzie
Room,
Huang
Engineering
Center
Class
Lecture:
The
Business
Model
What’s
a
business
model?
What
are
the
9
parts
of
a
business
model?
What
are
hypotheses?
What
is
the
Minimum
Feature
Set?
What
experiments
are
needed
to
run
to
test
business
model
hypotheses?
What’s
“getting
out
of
the
building?”
What
is
market
size?
How
to
determine
whether
a
business
model
is
worth
doing?
Read:
• Business
Model
Generation,
pp.
118-­‐119,
135-­‐145,
skim
examples
pp.
56-­‐117
• Four
Steps
to
the
Epiphany
Chapters
1-­‐2
I-­‐Corps
E245
Syllabus
Revision
18
page
5
of
5

6. • Steve
Blank,
“What’s
a
Startup?
First
Principles,”
http://steveblank.com/2010/01/25/whats-­‐a-­‐startup-­‐first-­‐principles/
• Steve
Blank,
“Make
No
Little
Plans
–
Defining
the
Scalable
Startup,”
http://steveblank.com/2010/01/04/make-­‐no-­‐little-­‐plans-­‐–-­‐defining-­‐the-­‐scalable-­‐
startup/
• Steve
Blank,
“A
Startup
is
Not
a
Smaller
Version
of
a
Large
Company”,
http://steveblank.com/2010/01/14/a-­‐startup-­‐is-­‐not-­‐a-­‐smaller-­‐version-­‐of-­‐a-­‐large-­‐
company/
Team
Deliverable
for
tomorrow
Oct
11th
• All
teams
to
present
their
first
business
model
canvas
hypotheses
for
each
of
the
9
parts
of
the
business
model.
• Come
up
with
ways
to
test
each
of
the
hypotheses:
o is
the
business
worth
pursuing
(market
size)
• Come
up
with
what
constitutes
a
pass/fail
signal
for
the
test
(e.g.
at
what
point
would
you
say
that
your
hypotheses
wasn’t
even
close
to
correct)?
• Find
a
name
for
your
team.
• Start
your
blog/wiki/journal
Monday
Oct
10th
1
-­‐
2pm
Lunch
Location:
Tressider
Cafeteria
Monday
Oct
10th
2
-­‐
3pm
–
4pm
Workshop:
LaunchLab
Tutorial
Ben
Mappen
Location:
Mackenzie
Room,
Huang
Engineering
Center
• How
to
use
the
Lean
LaunchLab
to
blog
your
progress.
Monday
Oct
10th
4
–
5pm
Workshop:
Mentor
Tutorial
Teaching
Team
Location:
Mackenzie
Room,
Huang
Engineering
Center
• The
role
of
Mentors
in
the
Lean
Launchpad
Process
Monday
Oct
10th
5:30
-­‐6:30pm
Workshop:
Unleashing
Creativity
Tina
Seelig
-­‐
Professor
Location:
Mackenzie
Room,
Huang
Engineering
Center
• brainstorming
the
business
model.
Monday
Oct
10th
6:30
pm
Dinner
Location:
Mackenzie
Room,
Huang
Engineering
Center
I-­‐Corps
E245
Syllabus
Revision
18
page
6
of
6

7. Tuesday
Oct
11th
Tuesday
Oct
11th
8
-­‐
9am
Breakfast
Location:
Mackenzie
Room,
Huang
Engineering
Center
Tuesday
Oct
11th
9am
-­‐
1pm
Class
2:
Value
Proposition
Steve
Blank/Jon
Feiber/Teaching
Team
Location:
Mackenzie
Room,
Huang
Engineering
Center
Team
Presentation
for
Today:
10
minutes
each
(all
teams)
• What
are
your
9
Business
Model
Canvas
hypotheses?
• How
will
you
test
them?
Class
Lecture:
Value
Proposition
What
is
your
product
or
service?
How
does
it
differ
from
an
idea?
Why
will
people
want
it?
Who’s
the
competition
and
how
does
your
customer
view
these
competitive
offerings?
Where’s
the
market?
What’s
the
minimum
feature
set?
What’s
the
Market
Type?
What
was
your
inspiration
or
impetus?
What
assumptions
drove
you
to
this?
What
unique
insight
do
you
have
into
the
market
dynamics
or
into
a
technological
shift
that
makes
this
a
fresh
opportunity?
Deliverable
for
Oct
12th
and
Oct
18th
Value
Proposition:
• Market
Size
estimates
(TAM,
SAM,
addressable.)
How
big
is
the
opportunity?
• What
were
your
value
proposition
hypotheses?
• What
did
potential
customers
think
about
your
value
proposition
hypotheses?
o Get
out
of
the
building
and
begin
to
talk
to
customers
for
Oct
12th
o Talk
to
10-­‐15
customers
more
by
Oct
18th
o Follow-­‐up
with
Survey
Monkey
(or
similar
service)
to
get
more
data
• Submit
interview
notes,
present
results
in
class.
• Update
your
blog/wiki/journal
with
progress
customers
and
value
prop
Read:
• Business
Model
Generation,
pp.
161-­‐168
and
226-­‐231
• Four
Steps
to
the
Epiphany,
pp.
30-­‐42,
65-­‐72
and
219-­‐223
Tuesday
Oct
11th
1-­‐2pm
Lunch
Location:
Tressider
Cafeteria
I-­‐Corps
E245
Syllabus
Revision
18
page
7
of
7

8.
Tuesday
Oct
11th
6
-­‐
7pm
Dinner
Location:
Mackenzie
Room,
Huang
Engineering
Center
Tuesday
Oct
11th
7
-­‐
8pm
Workshop:
How
to
Get
out
of
the
Building
while
Protecting
My
IP
Location:
Mackenzie
Room,
Huang
Engineering
Center
• Team
coaching
on
how
to
“get
out
of
the
building”
for
Customer
Discovery.
• Expectations,
speed,
tempo,
logistics,
commitments.
• How
do
I
protect
my
IP
when
I
speak
to
partners
• Does
Lean
work
for
non-­‐software
efforts
• How
do
I
interview”
• How
is
an
interview
different
than
a
sales
call
I-­‐Corps
E245
Syllabus
Revision
18
page
8
of
8

9.
Wednesday
Oct
12th
Wednesday
Oct
12th
8am
–
9am
Breakfast
Location:
Li
Ka
Shing
Building
Wednesday
Oct
12th
9am
-­‐
1pm
Class
3:
Customers/Users/Payers
Steve
Blank/Jon
Feiber/Teaching
Team
Location:
Li
Ka
Shing
Building
Team
Presentation
for
Today:
10
minutes
each
(all
teams)
• What
did
you
learn
about
your
value
proposition
from
talking
to
your
first
customers?
• Update
Business
Model
Canvas
(show
original,
then
show
what
you
changed
in
new
slide
with
changes
in
Red.)
focus
on
customer
segment
and
value
proposition
• Here’s
What
we
Thought
• So
Here’s
What
we
Did
• So
Here’s
What
we
Found
• So
Here’s
What
we
Are
Going
to
Do
Class
Lecture:
Customers/Users/Payers
Who’s
the
customer?
User?
Payer?
How
are
they
different?
Why
do
they
buy?
How
can
you
reach
them?
How
is
a
business
customer
different
from
a
consumer?
What’s
a
multi-­‐sided
market?
What’s
segmentation?
What’s
an
archetype?
Read:
• Business
Model
Generation,
pp.
127-­‐133
• Four
Steps
to
the
Epiphany,
pp.
43-­‐49,
78-­‐87
224-­‐225,
and
242-­‐248
• Giff
Constable,
“12
Tips
for
Early
Customer
Development
Interviews,”
http://giffconstable.com/2010/07/12-­‐tips-­‐for-­‐early-­‐customer-­‐development-­‐interviews/
Deliverable
for
Oct
18th
• Get
out
of
the
building
and
talk
to
10-­‐15
customers
face-­‐to-­‐face
I-­‐Corps
E245
Syllabus
Revision
18
page
9
of
9

10. • What
were
your
hypotheses
about
who
your
users
and
customers
were?
Did
you
learn
anything
different?
• Did
anything
change
about
Value
Proposition?
• What
do
customers
say
their
problems
are?
How
do
they
solve
this
problem(s)
today?
Does
your
value
proposition
solve
it?
How?
• What
was
it
about
your
product
that
made
customers
interested?
excited?
• If
your
customer
is
part
of
a
company,
who
is
the
decision
maker,
how
large
is
their
budget,
what
are
they
spending
it
on
today,
and
how
are
they
individually
evaluated
within
that
organization,
and
how
will
this
buying
decision
be
made?
• Update
your
blog/wiki/journal
Wednesday
Oct
12th
1
–
1:30
pm
Panel:
Scientist
and
Engineers
as
Founders
and
Entrepreneurs
Panelists:
Ari
Tuchman
CEO
at
Quantifind
and
Mohit
Lad
Story
of
Ari
Tuchman,
a
physicist
turned
entrepreneur/CEO
at
Quantifind.
Wednesday
Oct
12th
2
-­‐
3pm
Workshop:
Video
Setup
Preflight
and
checkout
of
your
computer
for
use
in
remote
lectures.
Configuration
of
hardware
and
software.
How
to
present
your
slides
and
set
up
video,
etc.
I-­‐Corps
E245
Syllabus
Revision
18
page
10
of
10

11.
October
18th
Tuesday
Oct
18th
9am
-­‐
1pm
PST
Class
4:
Distribution
Channels
Steve
Blank/Jon
Feiber/Teaching
Team
Location:
Video
lecture
at
your
University
Team
Presentation
for
Today:
10
minutes
each
(all
teams)
• Update
Business
Model
Canvas
(show
original,
then
show
what
you
changed
in
new
slide
with
changes
in
Red.)
• Here’s
What
we
Thought
• So
Here’s
What
we
Did
• So
Here’s
What
we
Found
• So
Here’s
What
we
Are
Going
to
Do
Class
Lecture:
Distribution
Channels
What’s
a
channel?
Physical
versus
virtual
channels.
Direct
channels,
indirect
channels,
OEM.
Multi-­‐sided
markets.
B-­‐to-­‐B
versus
B-­‐to-­‐C
channels
and
sales
(business
to
business
versus
business
to
consumer)
Read:
Four
Steps
to
the
Epiphany,
pp.
50-­‐51,
91-­‐94,
226-­‐227,
256,
267
Deliverable
for
Oct
25th
• Get
out
of
the
building
and
talk
to
10-­‐15
potential
channel
partners
face-­‐to-­‐face
(Salesmen,
OEM’s
distributors,
etc.)
• What
were
your
hypotheses
about
who/what
your
channel
would
be?
Did
you
learn
anything
different?
• Did
anything
change
about
Value
Proposition?
• Update
your
blog/wiki/journal
I-­‐Corps
E245
Syllabus
Revision
18
page
11
of
11

12.
October
25th
Tuesday
Oct
25th
9am
-­‐
1pm
PST
Class
5:
Customer
Relationships
Steve
Blank/Jon
Feiber/Teaching
Team
Location:
Video
lecture
at
your
University
Team
Presentation
for
Today:
• Update
Business
Model
Canvas
(show
original,
then
show
what
you
changed
in
new
slide
with
changes
in
Red.)
• Here’s
What
we
Thought
• So
Here’s
What
we
Did
• So
Here’s
What
we
Found
• So
Here’s
What
we
Are
Going
to
Do
Class
Lecture:
Customer
Relationships/
Demand
Creation
How
do
you
create
end
user
demand?
How
does
it
differ
on
the
web
versus
other
channels?
Evangelism
vs.
existing
need
or
category?
General
Marketing,
Sales
Funnel,
etc.
How
does
demand
creation
differ
in
a
multi-­‐sided
market?
Read:
• Four
Steps
to
the
Epiphany,
pp.
52-­‐53,
120-­‐125
and
228-­‐229
• Dave
McClure,
“Startup
Metrics
for
Pirates”,
http://www.slideshare.net/dmc500hats/startup-­‐metrics-­‐for-­‐pirates-­‐seedcamp-­‐2008-­‐
presentation
• Watch:
Mark
Pincus,
“Quick
and
Frequent
Product
Testing
and
Assessment”,
http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=2313
Team
Deliverable
for
Nov
1st
• For
everyone:
o Present
and
explain
your
marketing
campaign.
What
worked
best
and
why?
• For
web
teams:
o Get
a
working
web
site
and
analytics
up
and
running.
Track
where
your
visitors
are
coming
from
(marketing
campaign,
search
engine,
etc)
and
how
their
behavior
differs.
What
were
your
hypotheses
about
your
web
site
results?
• Actually
engage
in
“search
engine
marketing”
(SEM)
spend
$20
as
a
team
to
test
customer
acquisition
cost
o Ask
your
users
to
take
action,
such
as
signing
up
for
a
newsletter
o use
Google
Analytics
to
measure
the
success
of
your
campaign
o change
messaging
on
site
during
the
block
to
get
costs
lower,
team
that
gets
lowest
delta
costs
wins.
I-­‐Corps
E245
Syllabus
Revision
18
page
12
of
12

13. • If
you’re
assuming
virality
of
your
product,
you
will
need
to
show
viral
propagation
of
your
product
and
the
improvement
of
your
viral
coefficient
over
several
experiments.
o Submit
web
data
or
customer
interview
notes,
present
results
in
class.
o Did
anything
change
about
Value
Proposition
or
Customers/Users?
o What
is
your
assumed
customer
lifetime
value?
Are
there
any
proxy
companies
that
would
suggest
that
this
is
a
reasonable
number?
• For
non-­web
teams:
o Get
prototype
demo
working
o build
demand
creation
budget
and
forecast.
o What
is
your
customer
acquisition
cost?
o Did
anything
change
about
Value
Proposition
or
Customers/Users?
o What
is
your
customer
lifetime
value?
Channel
incentives
–
does
your
product
or
proposition
extend
or
replace
existing
revenue
for
the
channel?
o What
is
the
“cost”
of
your
channel,
and
it’s
efficiency
vs.
your
selling
price.
• Everyone:
Update
your
blog/wiki/journal.
o What
kind
of
initial
feedback
did
you
receive
from
your
users?
o What
are
the
entry
barriers?
• Submit
interview
notes,
present
results
in
class.
I-­‐Corps
E245
Syllabus
Revision
18
page
13
of
13

14. November
1st
Tuesday
November
1st
9am
-­‐
1pm
PST
Class
6:
Revenue
Models
Steve
Blank/Jon
Feiber/Teaching
Team
Location:
Video
lecture
at
your
University
Team
Presentation
for
Today:
• Update
Business
Model
Canvas
(show
original,
then
show
what
you
changed
in
new
slide
with
changes
in
Red.)
• Here’s
What
we
Thought
• So
Here’s
What
we
Did
• So
Here’s
What
we
Found
• So
Here’s
What
we
Are
Going
to
Do
Class
Lecture:
Revenue
Model
What’s
a
revenue
model?
What
types
of
revenue
streams
are
there?
How
does
it
differ
on
the
web
versus
other
channels?
How
does
this
differ
in
a
multi-­‐sided
market?
Deliverable
for
Nov
8th
What’s
your
revenue
model?
• How
will
you
package
your
product
into
various
offerings
if
you
have
more
than
one?
• How
will
you
price
the
offerings?
• Draw
the
diagram
of
payment
flows
• What
are
the
key
financials
metrics
for
your
business
model?
• Test
pricing
in
front
of
100
customers
on
the
web,
10-­‐15
customers
non-­‐web.
• What
are
the
risks
involved?
• What
are
your
competitors
doing?
• Assemble
a
rough
income
statement
for
the
your
business
model.
• Do
the
“Lifetime
value”
calculation
for
customers.
• Submit
interview
notes,
present
results
in
class.
• Did
anything
change
about
Value
Proposition
or
Customers/Users,
Channel,
Demand
Creation,
Revenue
Model?
• Update
your
blog/wiki/journal
I-­‐Corps
E245
Syllabus
Revision
18
page
14
of
14

15.
November
8th
Tuesday
November
8th
9am
-­‐
1pm
PST
Class
7:
Partners
Steve
Blank/Jon
Feiber/Teaching
Team
Location:
Video
lecture
at
your
University
Team
Presentation
for
Today:
• Update
Business
Model
Canvas
(show
original,
then
show
what
you
changed
in
new
slide
with
changes
in
Red.)
• Here’s
What
we
Thought
• So
Here’s
What
we
Did
• So
Here’s
What
we
Found
• So
Here’s
What
we
Are
Going
to
Do
Class
Lecture:
Partners
Who
are
partners?
Strategic
alliances,
competition,
joint
ventures,
buyer
supplier,
licensees.
Deliverable
for
Nov
15th
Action:
What
partners
will
you
need?
• Why
do
you
need
them
and
what
are
risks?
• Why
will
they
partner
with
you?
• What’s
the
cost
of
the
partnership?
• Talk
to
actual
partners.
• What
are
the
benefits
for
an
exclusive
partnership?
• Assemble
an
income
statement
for
the
your
business
model.
• Submit
interview
notes,
present
results
in
class.
• Did
anything
change
about
Value
Proposition
or
Customers/Users,
Channel,
Demand
Creation?
• What
are
the
incentives
and
impediments
for
the
partners?
• Update
your
blog/wiki/journal
I-­‐Corps
E245
Syllabus
Revision
18
page
15
of
15

16.
November
15th
Tuesday
November
8th
9am
-­‐
1pm
PST
Class
8:
Key
Resources
&
Costs
Steve
Blank/Jon
Feiber/Teaching
Team
Location:
Video
lecture
at
your
University
Team
Presentation
for
Today:
• Update
Business
Model
Canvas
(show
original,
then
show
what
you
changed
in
new
slide
with
changes
in
Red.)
• Here’s
What
we
Thought
• So
Here’s
What
we
Did
• So
Here’s
What
we
Found
• So
Here’s
What
we
Are
Going
to
Do
Class
Lecture:
Resources
and
Cost
Structure
What
resources
do
you
need
to
build
this
business?
How
many
people?
What
kind?
Any
hardware
or
software
you
need
to
buy?
Any
IP
you
need
to
license?
How
much
money
do
you
need
to
raise?
When?
Why?
Importance
of
cash
flows?
When
do
you
get
paid
vs.
when
do
you
pay
others?
Final
Deliverable
for
December
14th
What’s
your
expense
model?
• Assemble
a
resources
assumptions
spreadsheet.
Include
people,
hardware,
software,
prototypes,
financing,
etc.
• Access
to
resources.
What
is
the
best
place
for
your
business?
• Where
is
your
cash
flow
break-­‐even
point?
• What
are
the
key
financials
metrics
for
costs
in
your
business
model?
• Costs
vs.
ramp
vs.
product
iteration?
• When
will
you
need
these
resources?
• Roll
up
all
the
costs
from
partners,
resources
and
activities
in
a
spreadsheet
by
time.
• Submit
interview
notes,
present
results
in
class.
• Did
anything
change
about
Value
Proposition
or
Customers/Users,
Channel,
Demand
Creation/Partners?
• Update
your
blog/wiki/journal
• Prepare
for
December
13th
and
14th
at
Stanford
o 10
–minute
Team
Lessons
Learned
Presentation
o 1-­2
minute
video
See
http://www.slideshare.net/sblank/tag/stanford
for
sample
final
team
presentations.
I-­‐Corps
E245
Syllabus
Revision
18
page
16
of
16

17.
10
Dec
13th
at
Stanford
Rehearsal
Day
Mackenzie
Room,
Huang
Engineering
Center
9:00-­‐10:00am
Presentation
and
Video
Workshop
Oren
Jacob
We'll
talk
through
some
example
slides
and
presentations
from
previous
groups,
we'll
discuss
the
basic
format
we're
asking
you
to
follow
and
the
reason(s)
why,
and
then
we'll
get
to
work
10:00
–
noon
Presentation
and
Video
Q&A
Oren
Jacob
The
next
few
hours
are
lab
time
where
we’ll
working
with
you
all
on
an
ad
hoc
basis,
walking
around,
talking
about
where
you
are,
what
you're
working
on,
answering
questions,
and
encouraging
you
all
as
we
all
whip
our
presentations
into
shape.
Noon-­‐
1:00pm
SBIR
101
/
Lunch
Errol
Arkilic
The
basics
of
the
SBIR
program
and
how
the
funding
process
works.
1:00
-­‐4:00pm
One-­‐on-­‐One
Practice
Pitches
Oren
Jacob
Each
of
your
teams
will
each
get
a
chance
to
present.
I'm
the
audience.
No
grades,
just
notes.
Notes
about
what
you
are
missing,
what
you
should
take
out,
and
what
you
should
do
more
of
to
get
ready
for
Wednesday.
4:00
-­‐5:00pm
What’s
Next?
Jon
Feiber
/
John
Burke
How
does
venture
capital
funding
work?
How
to
raise
money
from
a
VC?
I-­‐Corps
E245
Syllabus
Revision
18
page
17
of
17

18. 11
Dec
14th
9:00
–
2:00pm
at
Stanford
Mackenzie
Room,
Huang
Engineering
Center
1-­2
minute
Videos
&
Lessons
Learned
Presentations
Deliverable:
Each
team
will
present
a
10
minute
“Lessons
Learned”
presentation
about
their
business
in
front
of
the
teaching
team
and
potential
investors.
I-­Corps
“Lessons
Learned”
Presentation
Format
Slide
1
–
Team
Name,
with
what
business
you
ended
up
in
and
number
of
customers
you
talked
to.
Slide
2
–
Team
members
–
name,
background,
expertise
and
your
role
for
the
team
Slide
3
–
key
NSF
funded
technology
and/or
innovation
Slide
4:
the
size
of
the
opportunity
Slide
4
-­‐
Business
Model
Canvas
Version
1
(use
the
Osterwalder
Canvas).
Slide
5
-­‐
So
here’s
what
we
did
(explain
how
you
got
out
of
the
building)
Slide
6
–
So
here’s
what
we
found
(what
was
reality)
so
then,
…
Slide
7
-­‐
Business
Model
Canvas
Version
2
(use
the
Osterwalder
Canvas).
We
iterated
or
pivoted…
explain
why
and
what
you
found.
Slide
8
-­‐
So
here’s
what
we
did
(explain
how
you
got
out
of
the
building)
Slide
9
–
So
here’s
what
we
found
(what
was
reality)
so
then,
Slide
10
-­‐
Business
Model
Canvas
Version
3
(use
the
Osterwalder
Canvas).
We
iterated
or
pivoted…
explain
why
and
what
you
found.
Etc….
Every
presentation
requires
at
least
three
Business
Model
Canvas
slides.
Side
n
–
“So
here’s
where
we
ended
up.”
Talk
about:
1. what
did
you
learn
2. whether
you
think
this
a
viable
business,
3. whether
you
want
to
purse
it
after
the
class,
etc.
Final
Slides
–
Click
through
each
one
of
your
business
model
canvas
slides.
I-­‐Corps
E245
Syllabus
Revision
18
page
18
of
18

19. Teaching
Team
Tom
Byers
-­‐
Academic
Director,
Stanford
Technology
Ventures
Program
tbyers@stanford.edu
@tommybyers
650-­‐387-­‐8517
Steve
Blank
–
Lecturer,
Stanford
Technology
Ventures
Program
sblank@stanford.edu
@sgblank
415-­‐999-­‐9924
Jon
Feiber
–
General
Partner
Mohr
Davidow
Jdf@mdv.com
650-­‐302-­‐0011
Tina
Seelig
–
Executive
Director,
Stanford
Technology
Ventures
Program
tseelig@stanford.edu
@tseelig
650-­‐464-­‐7736
John
Burke
-­‐
General
Partner
True
Ventures
jburke@trueventures.com
@andemca
650-­‐319-­‐2150
I-­‐Corps
E245
Syllabus
Revision
18
page
19
of
19

20.
Teaching
Assistants
Thomas
Haymore
–
Phd
Candidate,
Stanford
MS&E,
J.D.
Stanford
Law
School
2013
thaymore@stanford.edu
@tchaymore
512-­‐970-­‐0567
Stephanie
Rose
Glass
srglass@stanford.edu
Eve
Byer-­Young-­
Associate
Director,
Stanford
Center
for
Professional
Development
evebyeryoung@stanford.edu
I-­‐Corps
E245
Syllabus
Revision
18
page
20
of
20

21.
Steve Blank
After 21 years in 8 high technology companies, Steve retired in 1999. He co-founded
my last company, E.piphany, in his living room in 1996. His other
startups include two semiconductor companies, Zilog and MIPS
Computers, a workstation company Convergent Technologies, a
consulting stint for a graphics hardware/software spinout Pixar, a
supercomputer firm, Ardent, a computer peripheral supplier,
SuperMac, a military intelligence systems supplier, ESL and a video
game company, Rocket Science Games.
After he retired, Steve wrote a book about building early stage
companies called Four Steps to the Epiphany. He moved from being an entrepreneur to
teaching entrepreneurship to both undergraduate and graduate students at U.C. Berkeley,
Stanford University and the Columbia University/Berkeley Joint Executive MBA
program.
In 2009, Steve was awarded the Stanford University Undergraduate Teaching Award in
the department of Management Science and Engineering. In 2010, he was awarded the
Earl F. Cheit Outstanding Teaching Award at U.C. Berkeley Haas School of Business.
Steve followed his curiosity about why entrepreneurship blossomed in Silicon Valley
and was stillborn elsewhere. It has led to several talks on The Secret History of Silicon
Valley.
In 2007 the Governor of California appointed Steve to serve on the California Coastal
Commission, the public body which regulates land use and public access on the
California coast. He’s on the board of Audubon California (and its past chair). In 2009
he joined the board of the California League of Conservation Voters (CLCV).
Steve was the commencement speaker at Philadelphia University in 2011. Text of the
speech is here.
I-­‐Corps
E245
Syllabus
Revision
18
page
21
of
21

22.
Jon Feiber
It was a chance meeting that brought Jon Feiber into the venture industry.
Jon, then a vice president at Sun Microsystems, was
considering leaving Sun for a startup. After a
preliminary discussion about the startup at Mohr
Davidow, he got an offer to join the firm.
Today, he is among Mohr Davidow’s most senior
partners and is responsible for many of the firm’s
successful investments. Most of Jon’s investments
harness emerging technology. “I like the intersection
of emerging technology and big markets – geeky
projects,” he admits.
He began his career as a software programmer for mainframe maker Amdahl
Corp. “I tend towards entrepreneurs who have real insight into hard problems
and a sense of their need by customers.”
Mohr Davidow, he believes, will remain one of the technology industry’s
most successful investors because of its faith and commitment to
entrepreneurs. “This firm has always been known for being direct and open
in its relationships with entrepreneurs,” he explains. “Our enthusiasm for the
entrepreneur is matched by depth of knowledge and experience in the areas
that we choose to invest in.”
“Being a venture capitalist is one of the greatest jobs you can have,” he
continues. “I get to hang out with the smartest people in the world and help
them turn their ideas into world class companies.”
Jon holds a bachelor's degree in computer science and mathematics and
astro-physics from the University of Colorado
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23. John Burke
John is a founder of True Ventures, with a passion in early stage investing
and growing companies. For eight years, he lived
through the balancing act of building his own
company at BMI Software, which he founded in
1989 and sold in 1997.
He began his venture career at ABS Ventures in
1999, working with Phil Black, and then, after
the acquisition of Alex Brown and Sons by Deutsche Bank, continued on
with DB Capital Partners. Before founding True, John was a Managing
Member with Blacksmith Capital. He recently crossed an important threshold
in his professional life: he has now been a venture capitalist longer than he
was a CEO. However, like most life changing events, he can still remember
the late nights dealing with HR issues, the relief of meeting payroll, and the
satisfaction of delighting a customer.
Having lived through the tough decisions required in entrepreneurship, John
is now able to guide his portfolio companies through the difficult times with
a deftness that only those years of operating experience bring. John holds a
BS degree in Mechanical Engineering from U.C. Berkeley, a BA degree in
Economics from U.C. Santa Cruz, and a MBA degree from Harvard Business
School. When he is not thinking about how to create a more valuable
company, you can probably find him bird hunting with his German Shorthair
Pointer, teaching his kids to ski, or building furniture in his shop.
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24. Alexander Osterwalder
Alexander Osterwalder is an entrepreneur, speaker and
business model innovator. He co-authored Business Mod
el
Generation, a global bestseller (over 120,000 copies) on
the topic of business model innovation.
In the words of Fast Company Magazine in naming Alex's book one of the
Best Books for Business Owners in 2010, "In Business Model Generation,
Osterwalder encourages owners to plot out their business model using
something he developed called the "business model canvas." It forces
entrepreneurs to communicate their business model visually, which
Osterwalder says sharpens their thinking and allows them to get what's in
their head onto a canvas for others to see and contribute to. Once your vision
has been exported from your head onto a canvas your employees helped to
create, you'll have a business that can grow without you calling all the shots
— which is the essence of a sellable company. This is by far the most
innovative book on how to think about putting together a business."
He holds a PhD from HEC Lausanne, Switzerland, and is a founding member
of The Constellation, a global not-for-profit organization aiming to make
HIV/AIDS and Malaria history.
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25. Tina Seelig
Tina Seelig is the Executive Director for the Stanford Technology Ventures
Program (STVP), the entrepreneurship center at
Stanford University's School of Engineering. STVP is
dedicated to accelerating high-technology
entrepreneurship education and creating scholarly
research on technology-based firms. STVP provides
students from all majors with the entrepr
eneurial
skills needed to use innovations to solve major world
problems.
Tina teaches courses on creativity, innovation, and
entrepreneurship in the department of Management
Science and Engineering, and within the Hasso
Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford. Tina was recently awarded the 2009
Gordon Prize from the National Academy of Engineering, recognizing her as a
national leader in engineering education. She also received the 2008 National
Olympus Innovation Award, and the 2005 Stanford Tau Beta Pi Award for
Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. In 2004, STVP was named the
NASDAQ Entrepreneurship Center of the Year.
Tina earned her Ph.D. from Stanford University Medical School in 1985 where
she studied Neuroscience. She has worked as a management consultant for
Booz, Allen, and Hamilton, as a multimedia producer at Compaq Computer
Corporation, and was the founder of a multimedia company called
BookBrowser.
Tina has also written 15 popular science books and educational games. Her
books include The Epicurean Laboratory and Incredible Edible Science,
published by Scientific American; and a series of twelve games called Games
for Your Brain, published by Chronicle Books. Her newest book, published by
HarperCollins in Spring 2009, is titled What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20: A
Crash Course on Making Your Place in the World.
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26. Welcome to I-Corps 245
This
course
provides
real
world,
hands-­‐on
learning
on
what
it’s
like
to
actually
start
a
high-­‐tech
company.
This
class
is
not
about
how
to
write
a
research
paper,
business
plan
or
NSF
grant.
It’s
not
an
exercise
on
how
smart
you
are
in
a
lab
or
a
classroom,
or
how
well
you
use
the
research
library.
The
end
result
is
not
a
paper
to
be
published
or
PowerPoint
slide
deck. Instead
the
entire
team
will
be
getting
their
hands
dirty
talking
to
customers,
partners,
competitors,
as
you
encounter
the
chaos
and
uncertainty
of
how
to
commercialize
your
technology.
Getting
out
of
the
building
is
what
the
class
is
about.
It’s
not
about
the
lectures.
If
you
can’t
commit
the
time
to
talk
to
customers,
don’t
take
the
class
You’ll
work
in
teams
learning
how
to
turn
your
research
and
technology
idea
into
a
great
company.
You’ll
learn
how
to
use
a
business
model
to
brainstorm
each
part
of
a
company
and
customer
development
to
get
out
of
the
classroom
to
see
whether
anyone
other
than
you
would
want/use
your
product.
Finally,
you’ll
see
how
agile
development
can
help
you
rapidly
iterate
your
product
to
build
something
customers
will
use
and
buy.
Each
week
will
be
new
adventure
as
you
test
each
part
of
your
business
model
and
then
share
the
hard
earned
knowledge
with
the
rest
of
the
class.
Working
with
your
team
you
will
encounter
issues
on
how
to
build
and
work
with
a
team
and
we
will
help
you
understand
how
to
build
and
manage
the
startup
team.
Students
▪ I-Corps 245 is only open to NSF I-Corps students.
▪ We encourage the teams to recruit any and all resources to their teams. Non students can
serve as extra members of the teams.
▪ Each team must have 3 I-Corps students.
▪ This is very intense class with a very high workload. We expect you to invest at least 5-10
hours per week.
Attendance and Participation
▪ You cannot miss the first three classes at Stanford or the final presentations at Stanford
▪ If you anticipate missing more than one remote lecture, we recommend that you wait to
apply to the I-Corps when you can commit the time.
▪ Getting out of the building is what the class is about. It’s not about the lectures. If you
can’t commit the time to talk to customers, don’t take the class.
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