VALUE PROPOSITION MAPPING RICK JACKSON, FOUNDER, BIZACCELERATOR

Business Model Validation Lab Identify Assumptions Rapid Prototyping Mentor Prep + Cost Assumptions Strategic Planning Customer Discovery Customer Validation Mentor Feedback Keep Momentum

Steve Blank ‘No idea survives first contact with customers’ This is an important point to make throughout the course of the Lab: the best teacher for the entrepreneurs is the customer. To really get to a place of VALIDATION, they will need to get feedback from customers.

10% of startups fail because of ______________ Have entrepreneurs guess the answers here...

10% of startups fail because of product or technology failure 90% of startups fail because of inability to find customers and a market Steve Blank Have entrepreneurs guess the answers here...

The Customer Everything flows from validated assumptions of: who the customer is what the problem the customer has is if entrepreneur is able to effectively address that problem with a solution if the customer is willing to pay for it There is nothing more important to first determining if there is product-market fit. Every other assumption will flow from here.

Common Challenges Entrepreneurs don’t know exactly how to prioritize what to focus on in the early days of their venture Entrepreneurs don’t spend enough time in market Entrepreneurs underestimate how fast they can learn There is nothing more important to first determining if there is product-market fit. Every other assumption will flow from here.

Today’s Plan Determine your key assumptions

Your Job This Week Unknowns → Knowns This is a concept that will be drilled home again and again and again throughout the course of the Lab. Take an unknown and convert it into a known through increasing your rate of confidence in that thing being true. How do you increase your rate of confidence? You get feedback from customers.

1. Customer 2. Problem 3. Solution 4. Value Prop

Pricing What are you charging? Are customers willing to pay this?

Level of Confidence (LoC) Your Job: Low LoC→ High LoC How? Customer Discovery and Validation (up next)

1. Customer 2. Problem 3. Solution 4. VP Owners of Japanese made cars, in the Los Angeles area, who use their car to commute to work every day and whose car is out of warrant Car isn’t running, engine light on, there is some issue with car Need to get to work Need to make money Don’t know whether or not they can trust a mechanic to correctly diagnose the problem, tell them what’s wrong, not overcharge, do a good job fixing the problem A mobile mechanic service who will come to your car, either at home or at work, and uses technology to keep up with the schedule needed repairs for customers, remind the customer of those upcoming need, allow them to easily schedule appointments and send reports of diagnostics, in plain language, before repairs are done so customer is informed and can approve the repairs remotely. Mobile car mechanic exists to solve these problems by 1) coming to the customer to perform repairs 2) using technology to help them track, schedule and understand the need for routine repairs and others. Can’t find time for routine maintenance to avoid breakdowns We will be coming back to these assumptions throughout the entire program, in order to validate or invalidate them. Knowing your value proposition is step #1 to convincing funders that you have a strong sense of who your customer is, and what you provide to them.