From www.alexandercowan.com/venture-design

1. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
Venture
Design
Workshop I
Achieving
Customer
Relevance

2. 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.

3. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
PRODUCT IDEAS?
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Do you have a
product idea you
can use?

4. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
PRODUCT IDEA: ENABLE QUIZ

5. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
PRODUCT IDEA: WEDOTHAT

6. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
PRODUCT IDEA: MY LETTER, MY STORY

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

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

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

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

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

12. 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

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

14. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
THE FULL STACK PRODUCT PERSON
Specialties
DESIGN&UX
UNIXSYSADMIN
RUBY
PYTON
JAVA
PHP
...
ENTERPRISESALES
...
SEO
ANALYTICS
...
...
...
Foundation
Skills
LEAN
DESIGN
THINKING
CUSTOMER
DEV.
AGILE
Technical
Literacy
ARCHITECTURE
FUNDAMENTALS
App. & Platform
Integration
ROLES &
SYSTEMS
In a Technical
Team
SOFTWARE
FUNDAMENTALS
Model-View-
Controller

15. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
WHY IS DESIGN THINKING HARD?
Design Thinking
Now
Survival
Then

16. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
Empathy Creativity
DESIGN THINKING

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

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

19. 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

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

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

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

23. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
NOT A GOOD PERSONA
• Women
• Age 28-45
• Has 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

24. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
• Women
• Age 28-45
• Has 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
NOT A GOOD PERSONA
Bullet points are almost
never vivid or detailed
Stock photo- not real
This is a huge
population- not exact
These responses are ‘fake
actionable’- survey responses
like this are unreliable

25. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
THE ART OF CUSTOMER DISCOVERY

26. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
A BETTER PERSONA
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 child education and keeping track of what works.
She posts to Facebook at least twice a week and responds to other
moms’ items more often than that.
She has a few blogs and publications she reads regularly…
Mary the Mom

27. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
A BETTER PERSONA
the use of a first name helps
w/ vividness (a little)
these full sentences look like a
good start towards something
vivid and detailed
this is a real photo of a
relevant person taken with an
iPhone in the real world
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 child education and keeping track of what works.
She posts to Facebook at least twice a week and responds to other
moms’ items more often than that.
She has a few blogs and publications she reads regularly…
Mary the Mom

28. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
A LITTLE GAME FOR BETTER PERSONA DISCOVERY
Day in the Life
we look at a few photos for a given persona
you make some guesses about them
there are no right answers BUT
there is a right process: observe and infer
OBJECTIVE: get a feel for what’s real; start to create something vivid
(not a full picture, just snippets)

29. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
OUR PERSONA
Sally the
Single Mom

30. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
WAKE UP!

31. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
WAKE UP!

32. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
GEARING UP FOR THE DAY

33. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
AT WORK

34. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
AFTER WORK

35. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
PRE-BED

36. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
BED

37. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
GEAR

38. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
IF I HAD 3 EXTRA HOURS…

39. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
ABOUT SALLY THE SINGLE MOM…
What’s her favorite kind of music?
Band/composer?
Where did she buy their last pair of shoes?
What movie did she last see?
What did she drink with dinner last night?
If she had a dog, what kind?
What’s her favorite magazine?

40. 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

41. 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)

42. 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

43. 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)

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

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

46. 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

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

48. 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

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

50. 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

51. 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.)

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

53. 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

54. 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

55. 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

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

57. 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)

58. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
… and they have a certain
PROBLEMS(S) …
… where they’re currently using
certain ALTERNATIVE(S) …
… and I have a VALUE
PROPOSITION that’s better enough
than the alternatives to cause the
persona to act (purchase, use, etc.).
A certain PERSONA exists…
AND NOW THE PRODUCT HYPOTHESIS
!
?
X

59. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
EXERCISE: YOUR PRODUCT HYPOTHESIS
… and they have a certain
PROBLEMS(S) …
… where they’re currently using
certain ALTERNATIVE(S) …
… and I have a VALUE
PROPOSITION that’s better
enough than the alternatives to
cause the persona to act
(purchase, use, etc.).
A certain PERSONA exists…
‘HR and functional managers are in charge of
technical hires
and they struggle to effectively screen for
technical skill sets, making the hiring process
slower and more labor intensive and
producing worse outcomes than they should
reasonably expect.
Currently they implement a patchwork of
calling references and asking a few probing
questions.
By offering an easy, affordable, lightweight
technical quizzing solution, Enable Quiz can
acquire and retain these customer personas,
delivering material value.’ (4 min.)
Enable Quiz example:

60. 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

61. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
As
Presenter
As
Audience
1) What is this? (Use positioning
statement)
2) Who is the persona? What kind of shoes
do they wear?
3) What problem scenario(s) are you
looking at? What alternatives does the
persona use now?
4) What’s your value proposition?
5) What’s your product hypothesis?
6) What do you need to learn more about?
- Focus on the process; avoid editorial
- Ask a lot of questions
- Think about it like an investor
EXERCISE: PEER PRESENTATION
(5 min./ each)

62. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
STORYBOARDING: ORIGINS
copyright Fred Moore & Disney Pictures
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF

63. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
Personas
STORYBOARDING EXAMPLE

64. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
Personas
STORYBOARDING EXAMPLE

65. 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.

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

67. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
EXERCISE: BEFORE AND AFTER BOARDS
Using the squares, create a before and then after
storyboard- 3 panels each
BEFORE
(using the
Alternative)
AFTER
(with the Value
Proposition) (10 min.)

68. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
DESIGN THINKING- USING PERSONAS
Foundation in
Design Thinking
Personas Problem Scenarios
Alternatives
Your Value Propositions
SELLING
STUFF
Who’s buying?
Where?
Why?
Who are we
selling to?
Where do we
reach them?
With what
proposition?
MAKING
STUFFWhat does the
user actually do?
What does the
user (most) want?

69. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
PERSONAS- DISCOVERY & VALIDATION
MVP
Tell me about yourself.
What do you do? How often?
How does it make you feel?
Interviews
AdWords, etc. + Landing
Page Tests
Real-Time Analytics
& Recording
Minimum Viable
Product
What language, propositions resonate?
What is the customer prepared to do?
What do users actually do?
Do customers like it? Buy it? Use it?
Tell others about it?

70. 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

71. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
X
PROBLEM
SCENARIOS &
ALTERNATIVES
What?
PRODUCT &
PROMOTION
/
CUSTOMER
DISCOVERY &
EXPERIMENTS
Tell me…?
BY THE NUMBERS
PERSONAS
Who?
USER
STORIES &
PROTOTYPES
How?
Scale?
Pivot?
VALUE
PROPOSITIONS
& ASSUMPTIONS
What if?
!

72. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
4 TYPES OF LEAN HYPOTHESES
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
PERSONA
HYPOTHESIS
PROBLEM
HYPOTHESIS
VALUE
HYPOTHESIS
CUSTOMER CREATION
HYPOTHESIS

73. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
PERSONA HYPOTHESIS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Does this person exist?
Can you identify them?
Do you understand them really well?
What do they think-see-feel-do in your area?

74. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
PERSONA HYPOTHESIS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
‘Everyone is my customer!’
Possibly true at some point, but
you need to nail early adopters
to get traction.

75. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
PERSONA HYPOTHESIS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
‘There are a few customers to
focus on- I’m not sure which
one’.
Pick the one with the most
compelling need and choose.
Or guess. But don’t diffuse your
focus.

76. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
PERSONA HYPOTHESIS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
‘I can’t find anyone to interview’
Then I would step back. This
almost certainly means you’ll
have trouble with the next steps
as well.

77. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
PERSONA HYPOTHESIS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
‘I think I get this persona, but I’m not
sure about the whole think-see-feel-do
thing.’
Think-see-feel-do is not the only
way to go but it’s pretty good.
Solid personas are the stitch in
time that saves 9.

78. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
PROBLEM HYPOTHESIS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Have you identified a discrete problem/need?
How important is it to the target persona(s)?
What alternatives do they use today? How?

79. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
PROBLEM HYPOTHESIS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
‘During customer discovery interviews, the
subjects consistently mentioned our problem
scenario’
Excellent! That’s a good
preliminary validation you’re on
the right track.

80. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
PROBLEM HYPOTHESIS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
‘We did a questionnaire and >80% of
subjects said they wish [our problem
area] was better.’
Don’t trust questionnaires,
especially with leading
questions. Focus on face-to-
face.

81. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
PROBLEM HYPOTHESIS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
‘I am in this business/I am one of these personas and I
know I have this problem- and I’m sure it exists for
most others like me.’
Good start but approach
discovery like you know nothing.

82. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
PROBLEM HYPOTHESIS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
‘Our product doesn’t really address a problem,
exactly, so this isn’t relevant for us.’
There are no new problems or
habits. Make sure you know
what you’re after.

83. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
PROBLEM HYPOTHESIS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
‘Our product is so fundamentally novel that
there are no current alternatives.’
(see previous)

84. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
PROBLEM HYPOTHESIS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
‘We’ve mapped out the alternative and observed
or key personas in action with them.’
Excellent! You’re ready to
synthesize, tune and test your
value proposition!

85. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
VALUE HYPOTHESIS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
How much better than the best alternative is your
product?
How obvious is that to the customer?

86. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
VALUE HYPOTHESIS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
‘Over 80% of the people we asked said they’d buy
our product!’
Can’t trust it- Yellow Walkman
data

87. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
VALUE HYPOTHESIS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
‘We did a concierge test and [got paid, got asked
by the customer when they could buy our
product].’
Excellent! You’re on the fast
track of iterating to a successful
outcome. Time to look at an
actual MVP.

88. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
VALUE HYPOTHESIS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
‘We finished our concierge test. They liked it but as
a result it was a long way to conclusive.’
Now that you know how, could
you get paid for the next one?
Try other test and then if
negative, consider pivot.

89. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
VALUE HYPOTHESIS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
‘We made a bunch of pre-release sales, but
they’re non-binding.’
That’s OK (as long as you made
the agreement with a real
decision maker). You’ve got a
reasonably good validation of
value hypothesis.

90. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
VALUE HYPOTHESIS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
‘We couldn’t make any pre-release sales.’
Why not? No interest? That’s
bad. Need to sell real product
(and that’s really why), consider
what’s behind that.

91. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
VALUE HYPOTHESIS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
‘We found a few AdWord-landing page combinations
that had better than expected click through and
conversion rates to email sign-up’s.’
Excellent! That’s a good
validation of your value
hypothesis and you’re gotten a
jump start on your Customer
Creation Hypotheses.

92. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
VALUE HYPOTHESIS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
‘We tried a few things with AdWords and landing
pages, but the results weren’t great.’
What happens when you try the
same thing out in the real
world? Search is a good way to
connect with existing demand
but not necessarily learn about
its fundamentals.

93. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
CUSTOMER CREATION HYPOTHESIS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
How will you get the customer’s: attention, interest,
desire, action, onboarding, retention?
How will you know if it’s working?

94. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
CUSTOMER CREATION HYPOTHESIS
ALEX COWAN
AlexanderCowan.com
@cowanSF
Most of these results are pretty
definitive.

95. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
WHERE ARE YOU NOW?
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!

96. 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.

97. Copyright 2014 Cowan Publishing
RECOMMENDED NEXT STEPS
“Homework”
1. Draft a working set of personas
Pick the most important buyers and/or users. More is not necessarily better- you can always add
more (re-segment) later. Finish think-see-feel-do. Find a photo.
2. Draft a working set of problem scenario-alternative-value proposition trios.
3. Finish a working product hypothesis and positioning statement.
GOOGLE DOC TEMPLATE FOR ABOVE:
http://bit.ly/venturetemplate
4. Finish a working interview guide to validate your persona and problem hypotheses and
complete a few customer interviews.

98. 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

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