 My name is Ramshree Nivasan. I'm an agile coach and a trainer. I am from New Jersey. I'm passionate about people, process, products, and I'm learning a lot about lean startups. I've tried some of these stuff with my clients, and I like the way it works. So today we are going to be playing a game to mimic or imitate some of the things which lean startups do, and each table probably will be having about six to eight or 10 people. So if you're going to be sitting in the chairs there, you're going to be participants, you're not going to be playing the game, so I will leave it up to you to decide on that. So before we get started, how many of you here are product managers or have been product managers? How many of you guys have worked in a startup? How many of you guys have worked in a startup and have managed projects? Cool. I thought no hands would go out. So the objective of this game is really see how startups work. I've worked in various organizations, big and small, Fortune 500s. I've been doing some consulting for quite some time. This is about me. The objective of this game is to run a profitable business, a profitable startup. A startup is inherently very different from a large organization which has established business processes and a product line because startups are inherently very unstable. There is a lot of chaos there and people really try to succeed with startups and a lot of startups fail. Anybody know of a startup which failed in the recent past? In India? Sorry? You don't hear about one that fails. You only hear about success. Which one succeeded recently? Flipkart. That's a good business model. There was a startup named Dabbleboard which actually is a whiteboard kind of software for web usage. They were doing some stuff and finally they failed. They shut it down like about six months ago. There's a history about people starting a business. They have a great idea. They start up and finally things fail. We're going to explore some of this on what happens through a game. This obviously doesn't really cover all the aspects of a startup including the legal aspects, the accounting aspects but it's just more about the product development aspect in a startup. Cool. Your objective is to run a profitable startup. I'll be seating you guys with some initial supplies and we'll be doing some runs or iterations. Your iteration here is different from the iteration term which you are using in your agile or scrum processes. Each run is going to be three minutes long and you're going to have a one-minute retrospective and you're going to be cleaning up your plays as well. You're going to be working as teams and you're going to be having some constraints. You're going to be having two helpers here, Dabble, who will be helping me with something and Sandeep will be helping me with the supplies. So come on here each table, grab some supplies, each of you need one flip chart, one pen per table, one pen per table, one pen per table, one pen per table. You got it? You need flip charts? Okay. I'll also be giving you scissors, right? One scissor per table. One scissor per table. Okay. One scissor per table. Each scissor? Anybody? One scissor per table. Everybody got scissors? Okay, you don't have it? Okay, cool. It's cool. You're going to be tracking some metrics, right? You're going to be tracking some metrics. So are you ready to note down what metrics you'll be tracking? You can use spare paper if you want. You're going to be tracking some metrics which is cost of supplies. Actually, we need some A4 papers as well. It's right there in the back. Here. Cost of supplies. Your operation cost. How much money you're making. The cost of a rejected widget or bug. You'll be making widgets. I won't tell you what widget that is, right? Revenue, which is the money you generate by sale. I have money here. I'll be seeding you with some money and balance of profit for each of these iterations, right? So can you give them like four sheets per table? Can you give them like $200 per table? So this is your seed money and your seed stuff and you would be building something for me. I will be acting as a customer during the game and then move or take on the head of facilitator after we are done with the game. So you're going to be working together as teams. Any questions in the game so far? That's totally up to you. I'm going to leave it up to you to decide. Yeah, the cost of supplies is what you're going to be tracking. So maybe you buy some supplies from me later on during the iteration. You're going to be tracking the cost, right? Any questions so far? I'm going to offer you a tip here. Listen to your customer. I'm your customer. I'm the guy who's having the money. I'm going to ask you to listen to me. Settle clues on what I do and how I react, right? So you have to learn that about what I am expecting, right? And you're going to be building a widget for me. The widget, everybody ready? This one? Balance and profit. Yeah, sure, sure, sure. I can leave this on so you can track it. He's going to be using that and he's going to be giving you the supplies as well. So we're going to leave this slide, right? Everybody ready? Yeah. We're going to have 300 iterations and I'm going to signal the iteration by raising my hand and it's a visual indicator. If you see me raise my hand, that means the time is up. You stop what are we doing and you raise your hand. Got it? You're self-organizing. There's going to be a lot of chaos, but we're going to try and minimize that by visual signals. Okay? The widget is something which flies. I'm your customer. I like things which fly. So the widget is something which flies. Yes, you have a question? Whatever you have in your table, you make something for me with that, right? So you will find out. You have some supplies. You have some money. So you will find out. And you're going to be using a flip-chat to track your metrics and not for making the widget. The iteration is starting, right? When you see... Yeah, that's it. I can buy multiple objects. If you make multiple objects, I'll buy multiple objects. Yes. You can buy multiple objects. Yes. You will make a bid and if I like it, I will pay you higher. If I don't like it, I'll pay you lower or I won't pay. You will find out. Sorry. Yes. You will find out. Yes. I will be buying it from you. Yes. You will find out. Yes. I'm a widget collector. I collect widgets with flag. Something that flies. Yes. Nothing else. Nothing else. You will find out, right? The goal is for you to maximize your profit, right? And nail down what I really want, what I'm willing to pay. Have we started? Yeah, I will buy multiple items. We are starting right now. Three minutes clock is set. Go for it. Yeah. No, I don't like this. No, I don't like this. I don't like this because it flies but it is ugly. I'm a widget collector. I don't want to put this on my wall. Right? Yeah. Yeah. No, you don't paste that. I don't want it on my wall. Yes. That looks interesting. Show me. Yeah, it kind of flies but... Yeah, but kind of falls down too. Yeah. Yeah, maybe I will... I want something better. Yeah, I won't buy that. No? Yeah. Oh, that is beautiful. Yeah, I like it. Yeah, yeah. I'll pay $20 for that. $20. Yeah, here you go. Take the money. Thank you very much. Yeah, sure. No, I don't like this model. Kind of... It flies. Yeah, I'll pay $20 for that. Yeah, this one I don't like. I don't like these models. Yeah. I'll pay $20. You have to give it to double because he's going to be putting it. Yes, I don't like this because it doesn't really fly. Yeah, $20. Yeah, give it to double. Get the money. So, how about this? Give it to double. So, how about this? So, we could give you the first one. How about this? Yeah, this is okay for me. Yeah, I'm just kind of having some planes like this. So, can you make some more of these? Maybe two or three of this I'll pay $20. For all of them? Yeah, all of them. Yeah. This is... Wow, I like this. I'll pay you $60. Oh, nice. $20. $40. $60. Cool. Cool, cool, cool. Yeah, cool. $60. Double, this is $60. $60. Yeah, sorry. Yes, yes. This one flies but I have enough of these. But if you make some more, maybe six or seven of them, I'll pay you like $40. Would you buy this? Yeah, I'll buy that. I'll buy that. But... Yeah. Yeah, this is okay. I'll give you like maybe 20. I like this. $40 for this. You don't like this? Yeah, I don't like that. Yeah. No. How about this? This is... Yes, I said $40. Yes. This is actually okay. But... You know... No. How much is it worth to you? Nothing. No. No. No. No, no, no. Oh, yeah. This is something I like. Yeah. Nice. Nice. Yeah, this is very unique. Got some IAF on it. IAF is Indian Air Force? Yes. Okay. I'll pay you $70 for this. $80 for this. Oh, yeah. $80, $80. Yeah, he's got some design. Yeah, yeah. Nah, nah. Yeah, I like that design. Yeah. Time up. No, buying anymore? Time up, time up, time up. 60 more. Time up. 60 more. 20... No, I probably will buy it next iteration though. Go. Thank you. Go. Is he paid for that? Nah, this is $40. $40? Yeah. You have one minute for your retrospective. One minute to get your metrics up and running. I need to see your metrics. I'm not going to talk to you now. I'm sure it's going to do a lot of money. I wish I could print money like this. Yeah, just kidding. I'm busy right now. When the next iteration starts? Yeah. So are you looking for such kind of perspective? I actually have to catch up. I'm a customer. I'm busy. I can't talk to you right now. I'm a little bit busy. Okay. I guess ready for the next iteration? Everybody got your metrics? We are starting our next iteration in five seconds. Nobody's done the metrics? Okay. Next iteration starts. You got three minutes, guys. Start your next iteration. Three minutes. You can actually get in the classroom. I am high. I see. Okay. Yeah, I like the writing here, but I'll buy it if you make it a little bit more colorful. Colors. Yeah. Actually, I'm a little bit dirty, but I like the writings, though. You know, the design is something I like. Yeah. So what do you think? Any modification? Yeah, give me some more design, but I don't like the shape, though. Oh, you don't like the shape? Yeah. Yeah, this flies well. It flies very well. Yeah. I see a happy face, too. Okay. That's nice. I like this design, though. Okay. Yeah, but I need more colors. More colors? Yeah, I need more colors. More colors? You should just add some more design. Okay. Oh, he's customized it. I like it, man. I'll give you $100 for this. Oh. So you'd like more and more such things? Yeah. I mean, I don't know. This is unique. I like this. It's a $100 plane. Yeah. I'm kind of liking something which is unique, and so I like designs. This is white label? This is white label? No, I don't buy this. We can learn whatever way you want. No, I'm not in the business of branding. I just collect planes. American. I have some designs and stuff, but maybe I'll just buy this for maybe $20. Okay. Yeah. Yeah, $20. Your wings don't record this. Ah, okay. Very good. Cool. Yeah, but it's only black, right? So, yeah, $20. Yeah, just to remember, I mean, Sandeep there has the supplies. Okay. So if you want something, you can go buy it. Oh, yeah. $20, right? Yeah, this is good. So $20, $20, all these $20. $20? $20, $20. Yeah. Yeah. But you see me, and I'm just kind of liking this kind of design. You know, he's kind of made up all these designs. So it is one sample, so we'll come up with next time. Yeah, maybe next time. This is a new one. How about this? This is something, yeah. What's something? You didn't give me the money. Yeah, I bought how much? This is something. Yeah, $20. Yes, cool. What about that? So another one. Okay, cool. Fly your dreams. Okay, cool. Yeah. Oh, yeah. It's nice. I like this, but I want a little bit of blunt edges. I mean, it's a little bit sharper. I'm seeing that people are flying this, so it's hurting them. So I want a little bit blunt edge, okay? How about this? So I'll buy it this time for $20, but next time I'm looking for a little bit blunt edges. Okay. Right? Blunt edges. This one I won't buy. Sorry. Something that can fly in water. It's called swimming. It's called sailing. It's not flying. No, this one. No, it doesn't work, man. No, no, no. No, I won't buy this. Sorry. The one with Indian flag. Okay, I'll give you $20 for that, but I want all colors, though. Okay. Yeah, get it to me with colors. I'll give you $20. Get it to pay me my $20. No. Yes. Thank you. No, man. So look at what I have. You know, I have beautiful stuff here. That's $20. Yes, yes. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. See, look at... No, I won't buy this. No, actually, this is different, unique. Yeah, but I don't like the sharp edges, though. Can you make them trim? Yeah, trim. Yeah, yeah. The pretty guys have mouth and eyes. Time up. Do your retrospective. One minute. Do your retrospective. Time up. I'm not talking to you now. One minute for your retrospective and getting your metrics. Not right now. Yeah, I like colors. What about this? Family. Small things? No, man. How about this one? No, I won't buy this. How about this one? This one. Yeah, this is actually different, but... I don't know. Yeah, I like blunt edges. I'm seeing like you're flying it. It hurts. Oh, this one. Yeah, I mean, this is... What is this? I can put peanuts in it and this. Yeah, this has some cuts and it has unique, but I still like blunt edges. So, I'll give you 20 for this. I'll give you right. Yeah, I like this. The edges are shaped, curved. I'll give you actually $80 for this. Oh, thank you. Yeah, $80. This is $80. You have to get $100. You have to get $100. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Get $100 from him. Yeah, thank you. Yeah, give him $100. Here you are. $80. $80. Get $40 from him. Get a unique one. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Listen to me. So, here's the one. Yeah, yeah. I'm looking for blunt edges. So, I have enough color. No, if there's a problem with your... Yeah, yeah. There's a problem with the blunt edges. I'm a customer, man. I got the money. There's a problem. Sure, you had... So, there's a plane like this. I don't want that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I actually need a nice blunt tapered edges. If you go for the blunt edges. Cool, cool. This is okay. But I don't like... I have enough planes. I have more beautiful planes. If you go for blunt edges. Yeah. Yeah, blunt color. Yeah, blunt color. Can you shape and taper the edges a little bit for me? Okay. Make it more circular. Right? Yeah, it's cool. Yeah, nice, nice. What about groundbreaking helicopter design? Will it? Actually, this is unique. Yeah, we are patenting it. Soon, we'll be making a final design. Yeah, look at this, man. It's unique. This is $140. I get the money. Yeah, yeah. This is good. This is good, too. How much would you buy that? I'll buy this for $40. Are you serious? Forty. Forty. How about this? I won't buy this. How about this? No, I won't buy that. Forty. You promised me $140. $140. $140. Yeah, blunt edges. Right? Let me count it. Yeah, time up, guys. I'm with an American flag. Why American flag? I just thought you were from the US. Seven. Okay. Okay, iteration is over. Sorry, I can't talk to you now. My iteration is over. Three minutes. Time starts now. Three minutes. Time starts now. Yeah. So, now this comes what you bought for $100. It comes with customizations. You can choose the covers whenever you want with the different colors. Yeah. But I'm looking for nice tapered edges too. All right. However, our research shows that if you do that, your flying time will reduce by a certain percentage. And you're over. I'm buying it. So, sorry. How about this? You got the gel coating. But you wanted something that flies. Yeah. Yeah, I want something that flies. Yes. You wanted something that flies. Yeah. I don't like the design though. How about this? No, man. I need blunt edges though. So, blunt edges. Yeah, blunt edges. Got blunt edges. Yeah. Can you also see if we can shape these things up a little bit? Yeah. How about this? Yeah. I mean, yeah. Okay. I mean, but it's too small though. Something which flies with blunt edges. Probably no edges too. You know, like nice design. Yeah. A new one. Round edges. Round edges is good. You can customize it to your needs. Any which way you want. Now, maybe pay $20 for this one. Really? Not more than that. Blunt edges. These are blunt edges. No, this is not blunt edges. I can find carpets. No, I don't buy that. Blunt edges. Blunt edges. Yeah. $20 for this. No, not really. Okay. What is wrong? Beautiful blunt edges. Blue windows. Blunt edges. Blunt edges. Blunt edges. Come on. At least 40 for it. No. You wouldn't get the blue edges. 20. It's a flying saucer. 20. 20. Yeah. Yeah, this looks kind of more symmetrical. I like it. Okay. To some extent, but it's a... How do you... What is this, you said? It's a flying saucer. It's a flying saucer? It doesn't need any clear. Oh, okay. So... Okay. Also, you can... You can... It's made with the material. Uh-huh. Where, you know, you can use it as a parachute also. Okay. Okay. I'll pay you $100 for this. Okay. $100. Yeah. No. It has a lot of edges. I don't like them. $100. $100. Yeah. 40. Yeah. 60. Okay. Yeah. 100. Yeah, actually. Maybe. Nah. It's okay. I mean... I suppose I gave you a plate. Would you buy it? Nah. You don't have a red plane. But I got similar planes, you know. No, you don't have a red plane. See... Wait, wait, wait. It's completely red. Okay. You will have something different. Okay. I'll pay 20, man. At least 40. Nah. 20. Come on, it's... What's that? It's a beautiful... Oh, it's a... It's a flying saucer. It's a flying saucer. Oh, nice. You can have it as a hat, too. And you can eat food on it. It flies. Oh, it flies. Okay. Oh, nice. I like it. I'll pay $100 for that. Cool. Let's take 120. 40. 60. 80. 100. That's cool. Would you like colors on it next time? Try it out. Maybe. You know, if it's good, I'll buy that. Yeah. Cool. Yeah, I paid 100. This one is 20, you know. Look at this. This is okay. But I'm not too sure if it flies. We can try. We can try. Can you try? War damage. Yeah. No, no, no. No, man, I like kind of these kind of stuff. You know, they are actually symmetrical. I like symmetry. This has a nice design, too. Some designs. Are you getting anything? Yeah. This flies. No, no. This takes you to space. No, no, no. You won't get anywhere. I'm ready to sell it for 250 bucks. No, I won't buy it. Sorry. Try some other customer. War damage. Come on, look at this. No, no, no. Don't get it. You don't have a piece at all. Look at this. Why would I buy this? Why would I buy this? It's a supplying thing. Okay. No, I don't want that. Hey. Yeah, I already have that. But maybe you can get some design on this. Like that? Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's cool. I like this design. Yeah. Yeah, that's cool. I'll pay you. 200 bucks. I'll pay you 80 bucks. 80 bucks. The other one was 100 bucks. You can be a butterfly. Yeah, I'll pay you 80 bucks for this. Hey, you can be a butterfly. No, I don't want that. Ram. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, no, 80 bucks. Get it from Sunday. This one is an alien ram. I've seen this. No, no, no. This is okay. $20. Get 20 from Sunday. Okay. How many multiple wings? Alien ram. I already have some of that. Hey, you can be a butterfly ram. No. No. No. Ram. No. You wanted innovative things. See this. Yeah, actually, I don't have something similar. You don't have. 20 for this. I don't have a 20. Okay, I'll get you for $20. Oh, $20 is too cheap. Okay, okay, I don't want it. It's traditional kite. Which flies. Oh. Woo. Nice, nice. Kite which flies. Cool. I'll pay 100. Wow. Cool. 100 is a little less, right? That's what I'll pay. Yeah. Maybe we should make some better design. You know, I like it. So this is also unique. 100. 100 for that. It's a flying bottle. Supplies come from this guy. Your supplies come from this guy. I'll take it for this time. But next time your supplies comes from this guy. But I'm not sure if it flies. It's called throwing, not flying. You said 100, right? You got 100. 20, 40, 60, 80. Oh, it's a happy flying saucer. No, that's not part of stationery available. Oh, no, it is. Actually, some people selling it. Oh, come on. Yeah, no, man. That actually violates the rules of the game. You don't see that. He's not selling it. It's a kind of... Okay, at least 60. Come on. Now, this one I'll take it for maybe 20 dollars. So if you were to buy one, what would you want? It'll be really beautiful. I'm an art collector. So I really want something beautiful, something nice, something which I can put it in my display. And maybe very unique and... Beautiful, nice, unique. Yeah, very unique. Yeah, kind of... It's like single color. Maybe if you get me 10 of these, I'll pay 20. How much did you want to pay? I'll pay only 20, man. I got better stuff there. See this? How about this side talking plane? Nah, it's okay. It's a bit different, though. Yeah, maybe I'll... Probably make 20. 20. This is actually not too good. I have better stuff than this. Let us design. No, man. I already got something. I don't need that. 20, yes, 20. 20. It's not just a plane. It's a space shuttle. You can go so far out. It's actually... This was the first space shuttle that came back. The design is also very unique. It can actually come back. Okay, it's a model of a space shuttle. No, it really flies straight. No, it's called throwing. No. Really flies? Yeah. See, this can also jump over. It's throwing, man. It's okay. It can even generate power from anything. No, I don't buy that. We have 15 beyond Earth. I'll take it for maybe 20 dollars, not more than that. 10 more? No. 20. Thank you. It's 20. 20. This is a magic. This is also 20. Magic outfit from the Arabian makes. Nah, come on. I don't buy that. No. Ram, you don't have a similar one. Nah, I have similar. Nah, I have similar. You don't have anything. Look at this, man. See this, man. You don't have. Nah, I don't want that. This is 20 as well. This is 20. You don't want it? This is not i-4. That's 20. Yeah, this is i-4. Yeah, 20. Yeah. No, this is not part of your supply. It's broken. Time up, guys. It's broken. That's how it works. It's a feature. It's definitely for 100 meters. Nah, I mean, I need some symmetry. I need some beauty in it. Okay, at least 60. Nah. Nah. Time up. Time up, guys. One minute for your retrospective. One minute for your retrospective. Okay, we're starting our last iteration. Time starts now. Three minutes, guys. Last iteration. That's 20. No, this was 109. Nah, I really have a beautiful design there. Yeah. This is something. Nice. Nice. But it's not a widget. Yeah, but I'll still... Yeah, I'll pay you like $40. Yeah. I paid you $40. Yeah. I paid you $40. Ah, nice. It could be at least with the 60. That's interesting. You can choose your motion depending on which direction you hold the plate. I was going to stick. What? Or is this a part of the model? Yeah, yeah. It's actually, you can take it off. Are you looking for something more different? Yeah, I mean, I like soft edges, though. It's still something which flies. But I'll take this. I don't need this. I'll take this for maybe $20. $20? Yeah. Nah, I'm not into butterflies, man. This is the bird of the bird. It's a rare bird. Nah, I'm not into birds. I'm into machines. Yeah, this is a bird eye. It's a prototype. It's a prototype. I mean, we are emulating the fastest bird that we found some two centuries back based on the... Nah. Nah. Nah. We can color it any which way you want. What's this? Kite. Oh, okay. Valentine's Day kite. Actually, this is different. Valentine's Day kite. Okay. What? Cool. So, you don't need a parachute? No, we have a smiling kite. Yeah, I'll take it, but I'll only pay like $40. 40, that's it. Thank you. Cool. Time up. $120, yes. Okay. So, I was trying to tell you that this is a machine which can fly, which is... How much you paid for this? $20. This kite? Yeah, I paid $120 for the Valentine's Day kite. What the customer was actually wanting, right? I didn't tell you make a plane. I just said I'd need a widget which flies, right? Sometimes I didn't even check if it flies because I am a collector. You're trying to really find out what is the product which would sell. If you're a startup, you're really figuring out a stable scalable business model. It's not just a product. It's a whole business model. A lot of people say, oh, I have a great idea. Now I'm going to go do a startup. It doesn't really work. And that's one of the major reasons for a lot of failure is because they say, I got a great idea. I'm going to now build a company around it. I'm going to make tons of money. It doesn't really work. Startup failed for a lot of reasons, including the founder's fight. The product is really two way ahead of its curve. Or most often, they actually don't have customers who would buy their particular offering. So these are some of the nine fundamental sins because of which your startup kind of crumbles from inward. One is, I know what the customer wants. That's actually the biggest one because you don't have a customer when you're a startup. Established businesses have customers. They know the product. They know the offering. Startups really don't have customers. Maybe if you're a domain expert, maybe you have already established relationships. Yes, you have some knowledge about what your market is, whether it's a niche market, mass market, any of those things. But until you really make your first sale and until you establish a scalable business model, you don't have a customer. The second thing is, I know what features to build. If you're in product development, the sales will tell you, oh, I actually need this, this, this, this, this. And so build this. And engineering goes and builds it. And they try to sell it. And unfortunately they can't. And that's one of the biggest mistakes. We all think we have Steve Jobs inside our head, but unfortunately that's not very true. There are about nine other reasons. I'm going to skip some of them. Slides will be available and you can check it out. And the emphasis here is we have a fixed plan. So we know what to do, especially the founders. So we'll go ahead and do it and make the plan work. And there is no room for learning from your experiments. We don't even experiment. We say, oh, this is the plan. We are going to do this and we are going to make money. What happened during the course of your experiment is you learned a lot. You didn't make the same kind of planes which you made in your first iteration. You tried different stuff. I paid higher for something like this, which was unique. And then I started to pay less for it because it's not unique anymore because your competition is catching up. Google came up with amazing Gmail. Now Microsoft is also working on to improve its output experience. How many of you had a smart phone now? How many of you had a smart phone five years ago? People are catching up. So your product offerings always keep changing. You have to be very conscious about it, especially if you are in a B2C business. These will be available. And this is actually from Steve Blank's book. Steve Blank is actually one of the great guys in the San Francisco Bay Area. He found about eight startups and he actually kind of made this from an art to a science. So if you were to redefine a startup, a lot of people think it's just executing a plan and growing an organization, whereas a startup is a temporary organization looking for not just a product, but a scalable and a sustainable business model. And Lean startup is something which Steve Blank, Eric Rees, Alexander Osterwalder, all those guys kind of formulated it and they made this process from an art to a science. They have some specific formula for you which you can use if you're doing a startup or if you're building a startup to test the waters. You're actually having a lot of hypothesis. That's what we'll talk about. One of the biggest differences is a startup is not a small scale of a big organization. Your startup is looking for a sustainable business model. That is, in a big enterprise, you have established customers and established product. So you don't really need that kind of experimenting with a bigger enterprise. The slides will be available and I'm going to skip over some of these slides because we are short on time. We have about three minutes left. Any questions so far which I can answer about startups? Yeah, very true. The very reason is sometimes your customers don't even realize that you have a problem. I'll show you some of the references and the term for it is early evangelists. Early evangelists actually are people who know that they have a problem and who are looking for a solution and who are trying to patch up something with their resources and available skills to find a solution and somebody who actually has a budget to buy your solution or your offering. The way you actually learn it is using a customer development model. You can build startups without actually using a customer development model or your business model canvas, but Steve Blank actually kind of formulated this and he says this. There is such part of it that's where your startup is and you are iterating there between customer discovery and customer validation. When you're talking with me, you're doing customer discovery. When you're getting your money, you're getting customer validation. If I don't pay for it, no, it doesn't really work. Sometimes what happened here was you pivoted. You were making planes initially. You discovered something that I was willing to pay more for something which has a lot of symmetry like this and then you changed your model. So it was unique. You started making kites and you started making something unique. You pivoted than making planes. Each iteration, you are learning something. The goal of your experimentation is learning. Once you start learning, you actually can move from customer validation to customer creation where you can have a scalable, repeatable process. Steve Blank came up with these 14 items about customer development manifesto and he really talks about using agile development. I have highlighted some of these terms. He talks about agile development and he talks about using a business model canvas for your startups for validating your hypothesis. Anybody familiar with the business model canvas term? What do you use it for? The revenue streams, the value creation. Exactly. Structuring your talks around it. It's just a graphic organizer. I'm going to skip over all these things. The major thing with business model canvas is it's not just about an idea. It's not just about a customer channel or it's not about a customer segment. It's about everything. Running a business includes your cost structure, your revenue structure, your value proposition, which is the most important thing. What value do you deliver to your customer? And key activities, resources, and partners too. Maybe you are actually a startup. You need to partner with other organizations because you really cannot offer the whole enchilada. The one thing which you are trying to validate in each of your iterations is my hypothesis. Your business model canvas usually looks like this. These are actually sticky notes. It's like a 9 feet by 5 feet canvas with sticky notes all over. The reason why you are using a big visible chart like this is because the vision is very clear to everybody in the organization. There is no confusion. Everybody gets the big picture. We saw that startups, their job titles are very fuzzy. It's okay for a developer or an engineer to go and talk with the customer as long as he understands and he gets the big picture. One of the best examples I have seen is some organization called Library Corporation. Library is actually a dwindling business, especially considering Wikipedia and Internet and online books. This library corporation actually makes an inventory management system for school libraries and colleges. Their business model was dwindling and they had to really reinvent themselves and they actually did it with a lean approach using business model generation and lean canvas. You can go and Google there and they have an excellent understanding about their customers. The beauty is, in their organization, developers have Slack. When we say Slack, that's non-protective time. They have about 50% Slack is what Simon Marcus told me. When you have Slack, that actually gives you the ability to experiment. You can do a lot of experiments. You can do multi-variate cohorts. You can really figure out what the customer wants. We're not going to be talking about metrics though. I'm going to be skipping all these slides. Running an experiment is what we did. We called it a run. It's an experiment. You don't really have to build a full-fledged product. You can just have videos, just like how Dropbox is a video. Initially, you can have paper prototypes. You can even have landing pages on SEO or SEM. SEM is probably the most easiest thing. You pay a couple of dollars. You can really see how much traction you have for those keywords. I'm over time here. I'm going to stop here, but I'm going to... This is something I'm going to move to the references. I'll make the slides available for you. The SLEEN startup model is not just used for software organization. It's also used in hardware. There's a company called Lit Motors based in San Francisco. They're actually building a motorbike which is gyroscopically stabilized. The previous slide was supposed to be the beautiful picture, but it's not showing up. What you really see here is a very lean version of the motorbike, and what they actually do is they're taking orders. Some of the slides that you saw here is this is actually by James... the art of agile development. Who's the author? James Shores. He actually is doing some test-driven JavaScript development. He's validating what he's doing right or wrong by crowdsourcing it. You can go to Kickstarter.com, and you can see how many people really want to contribute to the project. There are multiple ways of validating your idea, and if you can sell your idea much before you really get true customers, it's a great thing. I'm going to give you some references here. The startup owner's manual is the second book by Steve Blank. It's a great book. If you are a startup, it's your Bible. If you're running a startup, it's a Bible. Business model generation is what you saw. The business model canvas. Roman Pitchler also has a product canvas. It's just a visual organizing tool, so you can use the canvas any way you like. Ash Mayura modified the canvas too, so see what fits you. And the famous book, Lean Startup by Eric Rees. The game which we played is also available online by Andre Dorn. I learned it from Andre, but we modified it a little bit. He did it with snowflakes, but I'm doing it with aeroplanes here or a widget which flies. And you can go to Udacity and also learn about startups. Steve Blank is taking a course there. That's it, folks. Any questions at this point in time? Thank you.