Customer Discovery and the Validation of your Business Model
Fall 2016 ENTR Workshop with Bob Storey
Description
Customer Discovery and the validation of the hypotheses that underpin your Business Model are crucial steps before a formal business plan is developed or extensive development is undertaken. In this workshop you will learn about the Lean Start-up methodology that is being applied to venture creation and will focus on the philosophies and techniques that you will use as you identify your initial target customer segment and corresponding set of value propositions. It will help you understand how to develop the "Metrics That Matter" across the full business model, and the role that a minimum viable product (MVP) plays in helping to find a true product market fit. A must-have technique to eliminate confirmation bias and to discover true customer needs.
About Bob
Robert Storey is the Principal of The MVR Company and the Managing Director of the Maryland branch of VIC Technology Venture Development, a private, for-profit development firm with offices in Annapolis, Boston, Fayetteville, and San Diego. At VIC, he assists in the assessment and creation of new ventures, with a particular focus on medical technologies.
He is currently a National Instructor for both the National Science Foundation’s I-Corps™ and for the National Institute of Health’s I-Corps @ NIH™ program. In addition to his role at the US national level, he has been the principal instructor for international cohorts in the I-Corps & Lean Start-up arena in South America and Asia Pacific, as well as lead instructor for the US State Department’s Global Initiative for Innovation in Technology programs in Southern and Western Africa.
He is active on a national basis on the subject of assessment and formation of start-up technologies, and sits on the Boards of six start-up and mature firms.