This is the handout from our “3×5 card workshop” on the Lean Canvas at the July 2018 Bootstrapper Breakfasts in Silicon Valley. Attendees did one of the basic exercises on a 3×5.
Basic Exercises for Lean Canvas at Bootstrapper Breakfasts July 2018
Pick one of Customer, Problem, or Solution Focus:
Customer Focus
- We Want to Help [Customers]
- Who are Currently relying on [Existing Alternatives]
- To solve [Problem]
- Refinement: identify 3-6 objective selection criteria to determine Target customer
Problem Focus
- We want to Solve [Problem]
- For [Customers]
- Currently relying on [Existing Alternatives]
- Refinement: identify 3-6 diagnostic criteria to help narrow problem definition
Solution Focus:
- Our [Solution]
- Replaces [Existing Alternatives]
- For This [Problem]
- Refinement: Identify potential types or categories of customer who have this problem and are using one of the existing alternatives
Intermediate Questions
Customer Focus
- For [Customer Segment]
- With [Problem]
- Our [Solution]
- Offers [Unique Value Proposition]
- Compared to [Existing Alternatives]
- Fueled by [Our [Unfair Advantage]
Obsolete Status Quo
- Unlike [Existing Alternatives]
- Our [Solution]
- For [Customer Segment]
- With [Problem]
- Offers [Unique Value Proposition]
- Fueled by [Our Unfair Advantage]
Key Elements of the Full Canvas
- Customers: focus on Early Adopters (Narrow / Sort / Identification Criteria)
Given 100 prospects: who is in the most pain or who is most likely to decide quickly - Problem
- Solution
- Unique Value Proposition
- Existing Alternatives (status quo baseline for value proposition)
- Unfair Advantage (e.g expertise, technology, relationships, track record, reputation/brand)
Background / Articles on Lean Canvas
- https://leanstack.com/leancanvas
- https://leanstack.com/business-model-canvas-alternative
- https://blog.leanstack.com/a-lean-canvas-is-not-enough-to-replace-a-business-plan-36a28888b2fd
- https://blog.leanstack.com/why-lean-canvas-vs-business-model-canvas-af62c0f250f0
Here are three ways you can fill out a Full Lean Canvas
- Free App: Use the free version of Leanstack available at https://leanstack.com/welcome
- GDoc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OrM6LluI938MwED1aoLYnpbHTuGbhQeNI8bJ7WoCjkQ/edit(under File menu “Make a Copy”) This can also be saved as a Word File.
- PDF: https://icteuu.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/lean-canvas-poster.pdf
For some background on the Lean Canvas see Ash Maurya’s “Why the Lean Canvas vs. Business Model Canvas” https://blog.leanstack.com/why-lean-canvas-vs-business-model-canvas-af62c0f250f0
Worksheet © SKMurphy, Inc for use at Bootstrapper Breakfasts
(contact Sean Murphy www.skmurphy.com / 408-252-9676)
Image Credit: Lean Canvas Image Courtesy 3 Day Startup Please note that image was not included in original handout, credit is for use in this blog post.
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