About Challenge Studio

Hello and welcome to Challenge Studio 1!

We designed this course to give you a solid foundation and practice in bringing your ideas to life. In this course, you’ll be equipped with the knowledge, skills and tools to navigate what it means to turn a problem into a tangible solution, build a minimum viable product from that solution, and explore ways to make your product sustainable.

This course introduces you to building and launching a venture. It builds on the skills you’ve acquired in Product Management and Design, and Engineering for Development, and gets you to put them into practice.

Coming into this course, you’ve identified a development problem you are excited to solve. In this course, we’ll guide you through the process of developing your solution, getting insights from your users, launching your solution publicly, presenting it to various stakeholders, and exploring ways to fund your solution to make it sustainable.

While this course takes you through many entrepreneurial concepts, the idea is not to necessarily make you an entrepreneur. The idea is to expose you to entrepreneurial thinking, mindsets and approaches that are invaluable whether you decide to be an entrepreneur or to work within a company. Entrepreneurship has so many transferable skills and you get to learn them in Challenge Studio.

Throughout the course, you will engage in practical activities, case studies, and hands-on projects to apply the concepts learned. This course intends to not only equip you with the skills to launch a venture but also with the ability to contribute positively to the world around you.

Course Information

• The instructor for this course is Farai Munjoma (farai.munjoma@kibo.school)
• The course will run from April 8 to June 14, 2024.
• Live classes will be held on Monday, 4:00 - 5:30 pm GMT (some workshops will run until 6:00 pm GMT). The live classes are mandatory.
• Office hours will be held on Monday, 3:00 - 4:00 pm GMT. These are optional chances to get additional support from the instructor.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, you will be able to:

• Conduct user research on the problem and opportunity space of a chosen challenge.
• Collect quantitative and qualitative data about a group of customers and use it to define product value proposition and roadmap.
• Select and apply product design frameworks relevant to particular situations.
• Develop a product or service to solve a well-defined user problem and define success metrics.
• Launch a venture that solves a well-defined user problem.
• Ideate and prototype solutions to an identified problem.

Course Structure

Coming into Challenge Studio 1, you have identified a development challenge you are passionate about and interested in solving. From your previous course, Engineering for Development, you have been equipped with the skills to spot problems and articulate your chosen problem in an actionable statement.

Starting this course, you will take your identified problem statement a step further by building solutions for them. At the beginning of this course, you will have the opportunity to re-work or change your problem statement altogether. We want to leave room for the possibility that, as you have learned more about the world around you, your thinking and interests have evolved.

Each week in Challenge Studio 1 builds on the next, starting with refining your problem statement, ideating solutions, building a minimum viable product, testing and iterating on it, and finally pitching your solution to peers and potential investors.

The most challenging part of this course will be getting out of your head and talking to real users. This is a very important but often challenging skill because it puts your hard work under scrutiny. But it is a crucial part of creating a successful product.

Academic Integrity

When you turn in any work that is graded, you are representing that the work is your own. Copying work from another student or from an online resource and submitting it is plagiarism.

Using generative AI tools such as ChatGPT to help you understand concepts (i.e., as though it is your own personal tutor) is valuable. However, you should not submit work generated by these tools as though it is your own work. Remember, the activities we assign are your opportunity to prove to yourself (and to us) that you understand the concepts. Using these tools to generate answers to assignments may help you in the short term but not in the long term.

As a reminder of Kibo's academic honesty and integrity policy: Any student found to be committing academic misconduct will be subject to disciplinary action, including dismissal.

Disciplinary action may include:

• Failing the assignment
• Failing the course
• Dismissal from Kibo

For more information about what counts as plagiarism and tips for working with integrity, review the "What is Plagiarism?" Video and Slides.

The full Kibo policy on Academic Honesty and Integrity is available here.

Assessments

This course requires you to work in your venture team to achieve your goals. Your overall course grade will consist of:

• Weekly Assignments: 60%
• Final Essay: 10%
• Final Project: 30%

Assessment List

Late Policy

You are expected to submit your work by the deadline. Each assignment page will include instructions and a link to submit.

The table above specifies the assignments for which late submission is possible. Any work submitted late will incur penalties in accordance with Kibo's Late Work Policy.

Course Overview

Challenge Studio 1 is a 10-week course that guides you through the process of refining an identified problem to building an innovative solution and creating and launching a minimum viable product (MVP). This course empowers you to see yourself as problem solvers and changemakers who can spot problems and build impactful, sustainable solutions to address them.

In this course, you will be equipped with the knowledge, mindsets, practical skills, and tools to ideate, prototype, test, and pitch solutions to others. Through a combination of online lessons, workshops, case studies, guest speakers, and group projects, you will learn to identify, analyze, and create solutions to meet user needs.

This course requires active learning, collaboration, and real-world application of knowledge. At the end of the course, you will have a comprehensive understanding of entrepreneurial thinking and be equipped with the skills and confidence needed to create practical solutions.

Course Structure

Coming into Challenge Studio 1, you have identified a development challenge you are passionate about and interested in solving. From your previous course, Engineering for Development, you have been equipped with the skills to spot problems and articulate your chosen problem in an actionable statement.

Starting this course, you will take your identified problem statement a step further by building solutions for them. At the beginning of this course, you will have the opportunity to re-work or change your problem statement altogether. We want to leave room for the possibility that, as you have learned more about the world around you, your thinking and interests have evolved.

Each week in Challenge Studio 1 builds on the next, starting with refining your problem statement, ideating solutions, building a minimum viable product, testing and iterating on it, and finally pitching your solution to peers and potential investors.

The most challenging part of this course will be getting out of your head and talking to real users. This is a very important but often challenging skill because it puts your hard work under scrutiny. But it is a crucial part of creating a successful product.

Course Tools

In this course, we are using these tools to work on code. If you haven't set up your laptop and installed the software yet, follow the guide in https://github.com/kiboschool/setup-guides.

• GitHub is a website that hosts code. We'll use it as a place to keep our project and assignment code.
• GitHub Classroom is a tool for assigning individual and team projects on Github.
• Visual Studio Code is an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that has many plugins which can extend the features and capabilities of the application. Take time to learn how ot use VS Code (and other key tools) because you will ultimately save enormous amounts of time.
• Anchor is Kibo's Learning Management System (LMS). You will access your course content through this website, track your progress, and see your grades through this site.
• Gradescope is a grading platform. We'll use it to track assignment submissions and give you feedback on your work.
• Woolf is our accreditation partner. We'll track work there too, so that you get credit towards your degree.

Getting Help

If you have any trouble understanding the concepts or stuck on a problem, we expect you to reach out for help!

Below are the different ways to get help in this class.

Discord Channel

The first place to go is always the course's help channel on Discord. Share your question there so that your Instructor and your peers can help as soon as we can. Peers should jump in and help answer questions (see the Getting and Giving Help sections for some guidelines).

Message your Instructor on Discord

If your question doesn't get resolved within 24 hours on Discord, you can reach out to your instructor directly via Discord DM or Email.

Office Hours

There will be weekly office hours with your Instructor and your TA. Please make use of them!

Tips on Asking Good Questions

Asking effective questions is a crucial skill for any computer science student. Here are some guidelines to help structure questions effectively:

1. Be Specific:

   • Clearly state the problem or concept you're struggling with.
   • Avoid vague or broad questions. The more specific you are, the easier it is for others to help.

2. Provide Context:

   • Include relevant details about your environment, programming language, tools, and any error messages you're encountering.
   • Explain what you're trying to achieve and any steps you've already taken to solve the problem.

3. Show Your Work:

   • If your question involves code, provide a minimal, complete, verifiable, and reproducible example (a "MCVE") that demonstrates the issue.
   • Highlight the specific lines or sections where you believe the problem lies.

4. Highlight Error Messages:

   • If you're getting error messages, include them in your question. Understanding the error is often crucial to finding a solution.

5. Research First:

   • Demonstrate that you've made an effort to solve the problem on your own. Share what you've found in your research and explain why it didn't fully solve your issue.

6. Use Clear Language:

   • Clearly articulate your question. Avoid jargon or overly technical terms if you're unsure of their meaning.
   • Proofread your question to ensure it's grammatically correct and easy to understand.

7. Be Patient and Respectful:

   • Be patient while waiting for a response.
   • Show gratitude when someone helps you, and be open to feedback.

8. Ask for Understanding, Not Just Solutions:

   • Instead of just asking for the solution, try to understand the underlying concepts. This will help you learn and become more self-sufficient in problem-solving.

9. Provide Updates:

   • If you make progress or find a solution on your own, share it with those who are helping you. It not only shows gratitude but also helps others who might have a similar issue.

Remember, effective communication is key to getting the help you need both in school and professionally. Following these guidelines will not only help you in receiving quality assistance but will also contribute to a positive and collaborative community experience.

Screenshots

It’s often helpful to include a screenshot with your question. Here’s how:

• Windows: press the Windows key + Print Screen key
  • the screenshot will be saved to the Pictures > Screenshots folder
  • alternatively: press the Windows key + Shift + S to open the snipping tool
• Mac: press the Command key + Shift key + 4
  • it will save to your desktop, and show as a thumbnail

Giving Help

Providing help to peers in a way that fosters learning and collaboration while maintaining academic integrity is crucial. Here are some guidelines that a computer science university student can follow:

1. Understand University Policies:

   • Familiarize yourself with Kibo's Academic Honesty and Integrity Policy. This policy is designed to protect the value of your degree, which is ultimately determined by the ability of our graduates to apply their knowledge and skills to develop high quality solutions to challenging problems--not their grades!

2. Encourage Independent Learning:

   • Rather than giving direct answers, guide your peers to resources, references, or methodologies that can help them solve the problem on their own. Encourage them to understand the concepts rather than just finding the correct solution. Work through examples that are different from the assignments or practice problems provide in the course to demonstrate the concepts.

3. Collaborate, Don't Complete:

   • Collaborate on ideas and concepts, but avoid completing assignments or projects for others. Provide suggestions, share insights, and discuss approaches without doing the work for them or showing your work to them.

4. Set Boundaries:

   • Make it clear that you're willing to help with understanding concepts and problem-solving, but you won't assist in any activity that violates academic integrity policies.

5. Use Group Study Sessions:

   • Participate in group study sessions where everyone can contribute and learn together. This way, ideas are shared, but each individual is responsible for their own understanding and work.

6. Be Mindful of Collaboration Tools:

   • If using collaboration tools like version control systems or shared documents, make sure that contributions are clear and well-documented. Clearly delineate individual contributions to avoid confusion.

7. Refer to Resources:

   • Direct your peers to relevant textbooks, online resources, or documentation. Learning to find and use resources is an essential skill, and guiding them toward these materials can be immensely helpful both in the moment and your career.

8. Ask Probing Questions:

   • Instead of providing direct answers, ask questions that guide your peers to think critically about the problem. This helps them develop problem-solving skills.

9. Be Transparent:

   • If you're unsure about the appropriateness of your assistance, it's better to seek guidance from professors or teaching assistants. Be transparent about the level of help you're providing.

10. Promote Honesty:

    • Encourage your peers to take pride in their work and to be honest about the level of help they received. Acknowledging assistance is a key aspect of academic integrity.

Remember, the goal is to create an environment where students can learn from each other (after all, we are better together) while we develop our individual skills and understanding of the subject matter.

Live Classes

Each week, you will have a mandatory live class.

Video recordings and resources for the class will be posted after the classes each week. If you have technical difficulties or are occasionally unable to attend the live class, please be sure to watch the recording as quickly as possible so that you do not fall behind.

Final Assessments

Welcome to Challenge Studio

Introduction

📺 Watch the following video from your instructor to learn what you will study in lesson 1.

Learning Outcomes

After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

• Understand why Challenge Studio is an important course for your studies and life
• Define entrepreneurship, specifically what it means to build a venture
• Learn the mindsets required to be an entrepreneur and to start a venture
• Form a team and understand how to work effectively together
• Revisit your problem statement from the previous course (Engineering for Development) and refine it

Non-Engagement Risks

If you don’t engage in this lesson fully, here is what could happen to your venture:

• Poor team dynamics, lack of clear direction, misaligned goals, inefficiency in time management leading to project delays and suboptimal team performance.

Venture Building Case Study

Throughout this course, you will be building your venture alongside a fictional group of African university students. Each week, you will learn a little bit more about their progress as they build their venture using the concepts and principles that you are learning. Let's meet your fellow entrepreneurs!

Week 1: Forming EduBridge

On a sunny Saturday in April, four university students (Kwasi, Tolu, Brian, Amina) meet to discuss a shared concern: improving access to quality education in remote African regions. They brainstorm the concept of EduBridge, a digital platform to connect learners with educational resources. Each member, bringing a unique set of skills from their respective fields—technology, education, design, and business—lays out their vision for what EduBridge could become.

This initial meeting is filled with vibrant discussions about potential challenges and opportunities, setting the stage for a venture that blends educational content with technological innovation. They agree on key roles, leveraging their individual strengths to cover the project's diverse needs, from content creation to user interface design and business strategy.

The session concludes with a clear action plan, outlining the steps they need to take to bring their vision to life, emphasizing the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration in solving complex problems.

Why Challenge Studio?

You’re probably wondering why this course is called Challenge Studio. It’s because, in this course, you’ll work on development challenges in a practical way, like in a workroom or a studio. But why is this important for you to learn as a student?

In our ever-changing world, where new technologies are constantly being introduced, and things evolve rapidly, knowing how to identify needs, problems, or challenges around you and having the skills to address them is a competitive professional and personal advantage.

In Challenge Studio, our aim is to make you a change maker and problem solver who goes beyond the classroom and is equipped with the skills to innovate, adapt, create, and be resilient. With what you’ll learn in Challenge Studio, you’ll be able to spot opportunities from challenges in the world, solve real-world problems, and contribute meaningfully to society.

Through this course, you’ll build or improve your creative, critical thinking, and communication skills, all essential for you to succeed in any career path you choose. Whether you intend to run your own business, lead innovative projects, or succeed in an established business, the skills you’ll learn in Challenge Studio will provide a foundation to hone your skills in turning challenges into opportunities and ideas into impactful solutions. This way, you don’t only enhance your career prospects, but you also learn how to be a leader and change maker.

To successfully complete this course, we’ll introduce you to what it means to think and build like an entrepreneur. Think of this as an introduction to entrepreneurship and venture building.

Principles for Challenge Studio

In this course, there are five principles that will be repeatedly mentioned in almost every lesson. These principles are not just something to read. They are your guide to success in Challenge Studio and can be applied to different aspects of your life as well. As you read them, make them a part of how you think and act as you work on your solutions. The five principles are:

1. Love the Problem, Not the Solution.
2. Done is Better than Perfect.
3. Learn and Iterate.
4. Entrepreneurship is a Team Sport.
5. Fail Fast; Fail Forward.

Let’s explore each principle:

Love the Problem, Not the Solution

Focus on understanding the problem deeply before jumping into solutions. Sometimes, the problem itself changes, or there might be better solutions than the initial idea.

You may have started this course with a problem that truly matters to you. Keep that problem at the center of your focus throughout the entire journey. When you start building a solution for this problem, you might be tempted by the process of building to fixate on what the solution looks like or the effort you’ve invested in bringing your solution to life. When that happens, remember not to let that distract you from the problem. Your solution may go through multiple changes, but what should remain unwavering is your dedication to the initial problem and the people affected by it. By prioritizing the core challenge you aim to address, rather than clinging to a specific solution, you open yourself up to curiosity. This mindset encourages you to delve deeper into the root cause and gain a better understanding of the problem. By doing so, you’ll have even more innovative, creative, and effective solutions to the problem you’ve identified.

Done is Better than Perfect

Aim for progress over perfection. It's important to keep moving forward and refining your ideas rather than waiting for everything to be flawless before taking action.

Picture this: you're really hungry and want something to eat. Would you wait to cook a five-course meal, or would you make 2-minute instant noodles with a boiled egg? Similarly, when building innovative solutions, speed matters. Note that speed doesn't mean sacrificing quality. Just because you're hungry doesn't mean you'd eat paper from your notebook. The goal is to minimize delays, overcome perfectionism, and prioritize what's most important. You can always come back later to improve over time. Get your solution out into the world quickly, gather feedback, and iterate over time.

Learn and Iterate

Embrace a cycle of learning and improvement. Continuously gather feedback, adapt, and refine your approach based on what you learn along the way.

When delving into entrepreneurship, embracing the principle of learning and iterating is essential. You should always be open to feedback, tweak your strategies, and improve based on what you learn along the way. This not only helps reduce risks with your startup but also keeps you flexible in a constantly changing market. By constantly learning and making things better, you can upgrade your products or services, spot new opportunities, and get creative with your ideas. Plus, it's all about being resilient, learning from setbacks, and staying relevant in a competitive world. So, don't be afraid to keep refining your approach. It's all part of the journey towards building something awesome!

Entrepreneurship is a Team Sport

Collaboration and teamwork are essential. Success often comes from leveraging diverse perspectives, skills, and experiences within a team.

You’ve probably heard the saying “two heads are better than one” or “if you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together”. Working with others is such a crucial part of entrepreneurship because it means you will build and collaborate with people who have diverse experiences, skills, strengths, and backgrounds that could complement and enhance your product. When you have an effective group of people working towards a shared goal, and each person contributes their skills and expertise, you will have a more successful venture. While you could still have a successful venture if you did this alone, it would definitely be a lot more overwhelming.

Fail Fast; Fail Forward

Don't be afraid to fail. View failures as opportunities for growth and learning. The key is to fail quickly, learn from mistakes, and use that knowledge to propel yourself forward.

Failure is a part of life and entrepreneurship. When things don't go as planned, use the experience to gather insights, adjust strategies, and move forward with improved knowledge. For example, have you ever received your grades for a course and realized it was lower than you expected? So might consider this failing. But what did you do after? You reviewed your instructor's feedback and used that to study harder for the next assignment. This is a way to approach failure, even in entrepreneurship. Analyze what went wrong, adapt your approach, and apply these lessons to future events for better outcomes.

Now that we have our principles laid out, let’s understand more about what we will be applying these principles to: Entrepreneurship.

What is Entrepreneurship: A Refresher

Before we jump into all the steps and processes you’ll go through in this course, let’s start by preparing your mind about what it means to start a venture. Beginning with the different types of ventures that exist.

What is an Entrepreneur?

In this section, we will discuss what entrepreneurship is. You’ve already covered some of these concepts in your Engineering for Development course, so consider this a refresher.

📺 Start by watching this video for an introduction to entrepreneurship.

Okay, let’s recap that. Here are some key takeaways from this video:

Anyone can be an entrepreneur. Yes, even you! With an idea and the right tools to develop it, you can build and run a functional and successful business. That being said, having an entrepreneurial mindset or having an idea alone does not make you an entrepreneur. To be one, you need to have taken the risk to get a business off the ground.

Businesses take different forms, and there is no one size fits all for the type or scale of business you can start. For example, you could have a brick-and-mortar business (e.g., a restaurant, supermarket, or clothing store). You could also have a software company or online product (e.g., a game app like Candy Crush or a productivity software like Trello). Maybe you have a community or an empowering network (e.g., WomenWhoCode or ProductHunt), or you want to run an online media empire (e.g., TechCabal or BellaNaija). Maybe you prefer to use your skills to work independently (e.g., becoming a graphic designer or social media strategist). All these are examples of entrepreneurial ventures, and we will explore more about them in another section of this lesson.

Entrepreneurship is not easy, but it can be very rewarding. That’s why, as an entrepreneur, you need to believe in yourself and what you are building. You’ll be taking a financial gamble, sometimes working long hours to get your product off the ground, and have to create the structure for how you work.

So, before getting into being an entrepreneur, it is helpful to know what motivates you to go on this journey. For some, it is the freedom and independence that comes with setting your schedule. For others, it is having control of their time and finances. It could also be the impact you would have in the world or being able to push the boundaries of what you think is possible to create. Whatever the reason, knowing your motivations will keep you going throughout your entrepreneurship journey.

A question that every entrepreneur needs to ask themselves is: “What does success look like to me?”

❓ What does success look like to you? Share your thoughts in the padlet below.

The Mindset of an Entrepreneur

With this understanding of what it means to be an entrepreneur, let’s learn more about the mindsets you need to take on entrepreneurship and to successfully complete this course.

📺 Start with this video that shares why the entrepreneurial mindset matters, especially as an engineering (or computer science) student.

In this video, we get a glimpse of the 3Cs that define the entrepreneurial mindset:

1. Curiosity
2. Connection
3. Creating Value

Curiosity

📺 Watch the following video to learn more about curiosity in entrepreneurship

The root of curiosity is an information gap between what we currently know and something that we might need to know or want to know. As a consequence, a key way to sparking curiosity is by asking "What if" or "Why" questions.

Embrace curiosity as your driving force behind innovation and problem-solving. In computer science, technology is constantly evolving, and your curiosity will motivate you to explore new ideas, technologies, and possibilities. It will encourage you to ask questions, challenge the status quo, and seek creative solutions to complex problems. Without curiosity, you may be less likely to identify new opportunities or develop innovative products and services that can disrupt markets and drive growth. As you look around, ask yourself why things are the way they are and what if things could be better.

Connections

📺 Watch the following video to learn more about turning connections in concepts.

Recognize the importance of viewing your venture, the market, and the broader ecosystem as interconnected systems. Each component, whether it's technology, users, partners, or competitors, interacts with and affects other parts of the system. By understanding these connections and their implications, you can identify leverage points, anticipate feedback loops, and make more informed decisions to create positive outcomes. Embrace the complexity of these interconnected systems and leverage your understanding of connections to design more robust strategies, products, and solutions that can adapt and thrive within dynamic environments.

As shown in the video, the concept of connections can also help you focus your thinking and generate more creative ideas.

Creating Value

📺 Watch the following video on the importance of creating value.

At the core of entrepreneurship is the concept of creating value through products, services, or solutions that address real-world needs, solve problems, and deliver meaningful benefits to users. Therefore, it is critical for entrepreneurs to focus on creating value for customers, stakeholders, and maybe also society at large. Whether it's through improving efficiency, enhancing user experience, or enabling new capabilities, prioritize value creation to distinguish your offerings from competitors and build a sustainable business.

However, creating value is not obvious and easy. As you build your venture, it can be challenging to know if what you are creating actually creates value for the target users. This is why talking to your potential users is so important so that you have some initial ideas of what might create value for them. Additionally, it is also important that you create MVPs so that you can test your products with real users to see if they actually create value and iterate until they do.

These 11 mindsets are:

• The ability to maintain a positive attitude
• Openness to anything
• The curiosity of a child
• The ability to persuade
• Creative problem-solving
• Self-motivation
• Resiliency and tenacity
• Taking ownership of everything that happens
• Receptiveness to anything
• Passion
• Empathy

Fictional Case Study: Aminata Diop

Let’s illustrate what we’ve covered so far with the story of Aminata Diop, the founder of Soleil Solutions.

Aminata Diop is a young and ambitious entrepreneur from Senegal with a passion for creating positive change in her community. Aminata grew up in a small village where access to electricity was a luxury, and frequent power outages were a common occurrence. Determined to make a difference, she embarked on a journey to become an entrepreneur and address the pressing need for reliable and affordable energy solutions.

Aminata started by identifying a need. She noticed that her community struggled with the lack of access to electricity, hindering economic development and limiting educational opportunities. Many households relied on costly and environmentally harmful alternatives like kerosene lamps. Aminata saw the potential for a sustainable solution that could not only address the energy crisis but also contribute to the overall well-being of her community.

Driven by the desire to make a difference, Aminata came up with a idea — a solar-powered lighting system that would be both cost-effective and environmentally friendly. She believed that harnessing the abundant sunlight in Senegal could provide a reliable and renewable source of energy for her community.

Launching a business from scratch was not an easy task, especially for someone with limited financial resources. Aminata faced numerous challenges, including securing funding for research, development, and production. Undeterred by the obstacles, she took a calculated financial risk and invested her savings into conducting feasibility studies, developing prototypes, and seeking partnerships with local and international organizations that shared her vision.

After extensive research and development, Aminata started her business, Soleil Solutions, with the mission of bringing affordable solar energy solutions to rural communities. She collaborated with engineers, designers, and local artisans to create a line of solar-powered products, including lamps, phone chargers, and small appliances. Aminata faced hurdles in refining her products and establishing a reliable supply chain. However, she persevered, learning from setbacks and continuously improving her designs. She partnered with local manufacturers to produce the solar devices, creating job opportunities in her community.

To sell her business and make her products accessible, Aminata adopted a flexible pricing model and leveraged community outreach programs to educate people about the benefits of solar energy. She also worked with local distributors to reach remote areas. As the demand for her products grew, Aminata expanded her market reach to other regions in Senegal and neighboring countries.

Through Aminata's dedication and entrepreneurial spirit, Soleil Solutions became a catalyst for positive change. The community now had access to clean and affordable energy, improving living conditions, enhancing education, and fostering economic development. Aminata's journey exemplifies the true essence of entrepreneurship—identifying a need, developing a solution, taking financial risks, and creating a sustainable business that makes a meaningful impact.

❓ What entrepreneurial mindsets can you identify from Aminata Diop’s story?

How to Build an Entrepreneurial Venture

So far, we’ve covered what entrepreneurship is and the mindsets needed to be a successful entrepreneur. Let’s now learn about what goes into building an entrepreneurial venture.

How to Start an Entrepreneurial Venture

In this section, we will learn from two influential startup leaders, Sam Altman (CEO of Open AI) and Paul Graham (Co-Founder of Y Combinator), about what it means to start a startup. They say there are four key things you need:

1. A great idea
2. A product customers love
3. A high-performing team
4. The ability to execute

📺 Watch the following lecture by Sam Altman (currently CEO of Open AI) and Dustin Moskovitz (Co-Founder of Facebook and Asana) on how to start a startup.

To recap, here are the four things you need to start a venture:

Having a great idea. The foundation of any entrepreneurial venture lies in having a compelling and innovative idea. This idea should address a specific problem or need in the market and should have demonstrated potential value. A great idea sets the direction and purpose for the business, providing a clear vision that inspires both the team and potential investors. Without a compelling idea, it becomes challenging to attract customers, investors, and talented team members. We’ll talk more about having a great idea in Week 2.

Building a great product. Beyond just having a good idea, it's crucial to develop a product or service that resonates with customers. Building something that customers genuinely love involves understanding their pain points, preferences, and behavior. By creating a product that adds significant value to customers' lives or businesses, you increase the likelihood of gaining traction, generating revenue, and fostering customer loyalty. A great product is something that people love, and the best way to know if they love it is by talking to them.

Having a great team. This emphasizes one of our principles for this course. No venture can succeed without a talented and dedicated team behind it. A high-performing team brings together individuals with complementary skills, expertise, and perspectives, enabling the venture to tackle challenges effectively and innovate rapidly. Additionally, a cohesive team fosters a positive work culture, promotes collaboration, and enhances morale, all of which are crucial for long-term success. The collective efforts of a skilled team can propel the venture forward, driving growth and achieving ambitious goals.

Execution. Execution is what transforms a great idea into a successful business. It involves turning plans into action, making critical decisions, and overcoming obstacles along the way. The ability to execute requires discipline, resilience, and agility—traits that enable entrepreneurs and their teams to navigate uncertainties, adapt to changing market conditions, and capitalize on opportunities.

One thing that was mentioned at the start of the lecture was that there is an additional component: luck. Even with all of the above-mentioned components, luck can still play a role in whether your startup succeeds or not.

📺 (Optional) Watch Sam Altman's lecture on the third and fourth key ingredients: "team" and "execution."

The key points from Graham's essay are:

• Be careful with cofounders
• Startups take over your life
• It's an emotional rollercoaster
• It can be fun
• Persistence is the key
• Think long-term
• It takes lots of little things
• Start with something minimal
• Engage users
• Change your idea
• Don't worry about competitors
• It's hard to get users
• Expect the worst with deals
• Investors are clueless
• You may have to play games
• Luck is a big factor
• Community is valuable
• You get no respect
• Things change as you grow

Working Together to Build Your Venture

One of the principles we mentioned in Challenge Studio is that entrepreneurship is a team sport. Having a great team is also one of the things Sam Altman mentioned is essential to building a venture. This means that in your entrepreneurial journey, you will be working with others to bring this idea to life.

In this section, we’ll spend some time talking about what it means to work with others to build your venture. This is important because, starting this week, you’ll form a team and submit your first task as a group. Throughout the rest of this course, you will have weekly group submissions that require you to collaborate, contribute, and work effectively together.

This section will set expectations on what it means to work effectively together, some challenges you might face, and how to overcome those challenges. Before we get into this section’s content:

❓ Reflect on the following questions, and share your experiences in the padlet below:

• Think of a team experience where you felt the most productive, and your team was the most effective. What three things made this team effective?
• Think of a team experience where you felt the least productive, and your team was not effective. What three things made this team ineffective?

What is a team, and what makes a high-performing one?

A team is a set of individuals working collaboratively to achieve a common purpose. In your case as entrepreneurs, we assume that you work together towards building and delivering a solution to a problem you’ve identified and feel passionate about solving. However, your passion and quest for a common goal might not be enough to unleash your team’s full potential.

📺What this video to learn what it takes to make a team high-performing.

For a team to be effective, you should have:

• A shared passion. In an effective entrepreneurship team, shared passion is the driving force that unites team members toward a common goal. Passion is the intense enthusiasm and commitment that individuals bring to their work, fueled by a genuine belief in the value of the venture. When team members share a passion for the mission, they are more likely to persevere through challenges, inspire creativity, and foster a positive working environment.
• A sense of purpose. A sense of purpose gives your entrepreneurship team a clear understanding of why they are starting the venture. It goes beyond making profits and delves into the positive impact the team aims to create. Having a strong sense of purpose not only inspires team members but also attracts customers, investors, and partners who align with the mission. This shared understanding of purpose provides direction, guides decision-making, and shapes the team's identity.
• An understanding of your role. In an effective entrepreneurship team, each member understands their specific role and how it contributes to the overall success of the venture. Clarity in roles reduces confusion, enhances efficiency, and promotes accountability. When everyone knows what is expected of them and how their contributions fit into the broader picture, collaboration becomes smoother, and the team can play to each member's strengths.
• Trust and effective coordination. Trust is the foundation of effective teamwork. High-performing teams cultivate trust among members by demonstrating reliability, integrity, and competence. Trust enables seamless coordination and collaboration, as team members feel confident in each other's abilities and intentions.

These elements matter because they make the team strong, united, and excellent at executing. Passion keeps everyone excited, purpose gives direction, and understanding roles and trusting each other helps everyone work together smoothly.

📺 Let’s also hear from Simon Sinek what makes the highest performing teams.

On top of having passion, purpose, and knowing your role, Simon Sinek mentions that the highest-performing teams thrive when there is a willingness to be there for each other.

Working effectively as a team: The Stages of Team Formation

Before each team gets to a point of being there for each other, they go through some stages of development. A helpful model is this one by Bruce Tuckman called the stages of team formation.

❓Before you watch the video, guess what each stage is and what it means: Forming. Storming. Norming. Performing. Adjourning.

Share your thoughts in the padlet below.

📺 Watch this video to learn about the stages of team development.

As mentioned in the video, the Tuckman model of team development is a popular framework used to understand the stages that teams go through as they work together towards a common goal. Developed by Bruce Tuckman in 1965, the model consists of five stages: forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. Each stage is marked by unique characteristics, challenges, and opportunities for growth. By understanding the Tuckman model, teams can better navigate the ups and downs of working together and ultimately achieve greater success.

The first stage, forming, is a period of testing and orientation in which members learn about each other and evaluate the benefits and costs of continued membership. During this stage, the team focuses their energy on task development by creating clear goals, structure, direction and roles to begin creating trust among the team members. It's a time when individuals may be polite, defer to authority, and try to find out what is expected of them and how they will fit into the team. The behaviour of the team is a reflection of their excitement about the new team and the uncertainty or anxiety they might be feeling about their place on the team.

The second stage, storming, is marked by interpersonal conflict as members become more proactive and compete for various team roles. Members try to establish norms of appropriate behavior and performance standards. During this stage, the team develops tasks to redefine the goals and conflict management. It's possible that the team could become less polite due to frustration and disagreements.

The third stage, norming, is where the team develops its first real sense of cohesion as roles are established and a consensus forms around group objectives and a common or complementary team-based mental model. The team focuses their energy on their goals and productivity. During this stage, the team develops an increased sense of comfort by expressing their ideas, feelings, and constructive criticism for the team’s success. Members are more conscious of the effort and achieve group harmony.

The fourth stage, performing, is where the team members have learned to efficiently coordinate and resolve conflicts. In high-performance teams, members are highly cooperative, have a high level of trust in each other, are committed to group objectives, and identify with the team. The team accomplishes the tasks and celebrates the progress. During this stage, the team experiences a feeling of satisfaction and shares insights into personal and group processes. They feel attached to the team and feel confident they behave with a doing attitude and are more fluid among members.

The fifth and final stage, adjourning, occurs when the team is about to disband. Team members shift their attention away from task orientation to a relationship focus. During this last stage, the team's feelings might be concerns and anxiety because of the uncertainty of the future. The team focuses the tasks in three sections – completion of deliverables, evaluation, and closing.

Refining Your Problem Statement

Every good venture starts with a problem. By this, we mean it starts with you building a solution to a problem people have. You spent most of your Engineering for Development (E4D) course learning how to analyze development problems and strong problem statements. To kick off Challenge Studio, you'll refine your problem statement together with your newly formed team to work on one statement that you all agree with. As a team, you can also choose to create a whole new problem statement that is different from what you worked on in E4D.

📺 Watch the following video to jog your memory on problem statements.

As you learned in E4D, remember that good problem statements are:

• Clear: The problem statement should be crystal clear, leaving no room for ambiguity. It should convey the issue in a straightforward and understandable manner.
• Relevant: The problem statement should be highly relevant to the research at hand. It must directly relate to the subject matter and research objectives.
• Important: Address the question of why the problem matters. Why should anyone care about this issue? Highlight its significance in the larger context.
• Impactful: Consider how solving this problem can make a difference in the world. What positive changes or contributions can your research bring about?

📺 Watch this video, which walks you through writing a problem statement

The questions in the above template are:

• What is the key issue you are trying to address, and why is it important?
• Who is it a problem for?
• What social or cultural factors shape this problem?
• What evidence do you have that this is worth the investment?
• Can you think of this problem in a different way? How can you reframe it?

Assignment - Group Meeting Reflection

Your final submission for this group meeting assignment is a 300 - 600 word written reflection on your group meeting. You should review the team charter template that you filled out. (Note: Don't submit the completed team charter. Instead, make sure you submit your own reflection of the meeting).

Your individual reflection should include the following components:

1. Discuss your team's goals and objectives, core values, and the dynamics of the team, including the overall atmosphere during the meeting.
2. Discuss your team's agreed-upon norms, conflict resolution process, and communication and collaboration systems.
3. Discuss what you are looking forward to with regards to building your venture with your team.
4. Discuss what you are concerned about with regards to building your venture with your team.

Submission

Each group member should write their own individual reflection and submit a copy on Gradescope and Anchor.

Getting to the Right Solution

Introduction

📺 Watch the following video from your instructor to learn what you will study in lesson 2.

Learning Outcomes

After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

• Apply design thinking and problem-solving strategies to identify user needs and potential solutions.
• Enhance teamwork skills through collaborative ideation and constructive feedback.
• Learn to prioritize features and solutions based on feasibility, impact, and user value.
• Develop a shared vision and project roadmap that aligns with team goals and user needs.

Non-Engagement Risks

If you don’t engage in this lesson fully, here is what could happen to your venture:

• Inability to identify and validate the real needs of customers, leading to a solution that may not be viable or desired in the market.

Venture Building Case Study Week 2 - Aligning on Solutions

This week, the EduBridge team decides to step outside the campus and engage directly with their potential users to gather insights. They organize a series of informal focus groups with students and teachers in nearby schools, aiming to understand the educational challenges and needs firsthand.

Armed with notebooks and a set of open-ended questions, they initiate conversations about the students' daily learning experiences, the resources they currently use, and the obstacles they face. They sketch out ideas based on the feedback and consider the feasibility of incorporating these needs into the platform. Some team members focus on understanding the content and accessibility requirements from both a pedagogical and operational perspective.

The team regroups at the end of the week to share and analyze the insights they've collected. They find common themes and pain points among the feedback and start to align on a solution that addresses these core issues. This exercise not only brings them closer to a user-centered solution but also teaches them the value of empathy and active listening in the design process.

What Makes a Good Idea

Everyone has an idea for something. Whether it is to create a new app or a new business. You’ve probably heard that ideas are a dime a dozen. This saying implies that ideas are quite plentiful and easy to come by. What really turns ideas into something magical and impactful is the execution, which turns that potential (the idea) into a tangible reality. That being said, ideas are still an important part of the process because they are the starting point of the journey.

📺 Watch the following video to learn what makes a good idea.

As mentioned in the video, for your ideas to have an impact, they must create value. What does this mean?

There are two ways:

1. Solve a real problem (i.e., solve a pain)
2. Help people do something that they like (i.e., create a gain)

Here are two examples of what this looks like when translated into a product idea:

Health and Fitness

Pain-solving idea: Personalized Weight Loss Program

This idea aims to solve the pain of individuals struggling with weight management and related health issues. It could involve creating a personalized weight loss program tailored to an individual's specific needs, incorporating elements like diet plans, exercise routines, and behavioral counseling. The focus here is on addressing the pain points associated with effectively planning and committing to a weight loss program.

Gain-creating idea: Creating a New Social Sport (e.g., Pickleball)

This idea focuses on creating a gain by helping people enjoy the process of staying fit by engaging in a new social sport. Pickleball provides individuals with a fun and accessible way to engage in physical activity, promoting cardiovascular health, improving coordination, and enhancing overall fitness levels. Moreover, the social nature of pickleball encourages interaction and camaraderie among players, fostering friendships, community engagement, and a sense of belonging.

Where do great business ideas come from?

📺 Watch the following video to learn about where great start-up ideas come from.

Here are three key points from the video:

1. Timing is important.
2. Other people might think the idea is bad, too obvious, or too difficult.
3. Market size is big.

Case Study - Piggyvest

Let's take the example of Piggyvest, a Nigerian fintech company.

Piggyvest is a significant online savings and investment platform in Nigeria, with a user base exceeding 4 million individuals. It has become a leading app for saving and investing in the country, offering personal savings with attractive interest rates and a network for investing in lucrative business opportunities.

The idea for Piggyvest was sparked by a viral tweet on December 31, 2015, where someone shared their experience of saving ₦1,000 daily in a traditional piggy bank (kolo) throughout the year. Inspired by this, the founders saw an opportunity to digitize and improve this saving method. They aimed to create a platform that allowed users to save money automatically on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, with the option to withdraw their savings after three months, along with some interest. This concept quickly evolved from a simple idea into a detailed product, thanks to the team's previous experiences with startups and their ability to execute quickly. The first version of the product was developed in just three days, leading to the launch of Piggyvest, initially known as Piggybank.ng​​.

Piggyvest was officially launched on January 7, 2016, as West Africa's first online savings and investment app, starting solely as a savings platform. After three years of focusing on savings, the platform rebranded to Piggyvest in April 2019 and began offering direct investment opportunities to its users. This expansion was part of their mission to empower everyone to better manage and grow their finances.

Throughout its development, Piggyvest has been marked by significant milestones, such as joining the Village Capital accelerator in 2017, which led to their first major funding. The program's unique model allowed Piggyvest to be one of the two companies selected for funding by the other participating companies, providing them with their initial $50,000. This funding was crucial in helping them figure out how to monetize their platform and achieve their first revenue. The journey from there involved learning from customer feedback, overcoming challenges related to trust in a new digital saving method, and achieving rapid user growth through strategic partnerships and continuous innovation.

Since its inception in 2016, Piggyvest has disbursed over ₦1.1 trillion (USD 1.42 billion) to its customers. In 2022 alone, it paid out more than ₦400 billion (USD 519 million), reflecting only a fraction of the money saved with Piggyvest, indicating the high level of trust and liquidity within the platform. The company is moving into a "money management phase," planning to offer credit services in Nigeria by leveraging its licenses from the SEC, the Central Bank of Nigeria, and as a microfinance bank.

In a significant development, Flutterwave, Africa's most valuable startup, invested in Piggytech, Piggyvest's parent company, in 2023. The investment, rumored to be around USD 3 million, is structured as a SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity), allowing Flutterwave to receive equity in a future funding round. This move is part of PiggyVest's broader push to raise external funding, aiming to deepen its relationship with Flutterwave while continuing with its investment round.

The Fallacy of the “Good Idea”

We have spent this lesson discussing the importance of the idea as a starting point for the entrepreneurial journey. However, it is critical not to fall prey to the misconception that having a good or innovative idea is sufficient for business success. It is easy to fall into this trap by focusing heavily on the novelty or perceived brilliance of your idea while neglecting other critical aspects of business development, such as:

Execution: The ability to implement the idea effectively, which includes planning, resource allocation, and managing operations.

Market Demand: Whether there is a genuine need or desire for the product or service in the market.

Business Model: The strategy for generating revenue and ensuring the venture is financially sustainable.

Customer Understanding: Deep insights into the target customer base, their needs, preferences, and behaviors.

Adaptability: The capacity to pivot or adjust the business model in response to feedback, market changes, or unforeseen challenges.

Team and Leadership: The strength and compatibility of the team leading the venture and their ability to inspire, manage, and make strategic decisions.

📺 Watch the following video to learn more about the fallacy of the "good idea."

Understanding User Needs

One thing we learned from the previous section is that you should be creating a gain or fixing a pain for your target user. Inherent in this is that you have a user whose needs you understand. So, let's spend some time in this section double-checking that you do understand your user needs.

…But first, let’s briefly recap what you learned about the concept of Design Thinking from the Product Management and Design class.

Design Thinking: A Refresher

📺 Watch this video introduction to Design Thinking from IDEO, one of its pioneers

In their paper, Understanding Innovation: Design Thinking, Christoph Meinel and Harry Leifer of the Hasso-Plattner-Institute of Design at Stanford University (d.school) describe four principles of design thinking:

• The human rule: design is social in nature — problems must be solved in a way that satisfies human needs and acknowledges the human elements in all technologies.

• The ambiguity rule: ambiguity is inevitable — experiment at the limits of our knowledge, the limits of our ability to control events, and the freedom to see things in a different light.

• The re-design rule: all design is re-design — technology and social circumstances are constantly evolving. We need to understand how our human needs were met in the past.

• The tangibility rule: making ideas tangible facilitates communication — this directly refers to creating prototypes.

📺 Watch this video to understand the design thinking process

The video describes five stages of design thinking, which are:

• Empathize: research your user's needs to better understand the problem you are trying to solve.
• Define: with the information gathered from research, define or state the problem
• Ideate: generate many potential ideas that might solve the problem and look for alternative solutions
• Prototype: experiment with various solutions. Create inexpensive prototypes that you can share with users
• Test: rigorously test prototypes and use the results to refine your problem statement and/or solutions

Here is a summary of the key tools and obstacles for each stage of design thinking that are mentioned in the video.

Looking at the five stages of the design thinking process, it is clear that understanding user needs is squarely in the "Empathize" stage, so let's spend some more time exploring user empathy.

Understanding Empathy

📺 Watch the following video to learn more about best practices in user research, especially when interviewing users.

As mentioned in the video, three ways to carry out user research are:

• Ask: Conduct interviews with users, focusing on their personal experiences, feelings, and motivations rather than just their opinions on a product or service. Ask open-ended questions that encourage storytelling and active listening to understand their perspective.
• Look: Spend time observing users in their natural environment where they would interact with your product or service. This method allows you to see firsthand how they behave, which can provide insights that users might not articulate in an interview.
• Try: Immerse yourself in the user’s environment and context to get a firsthand understanding of their challenges and needs.

Ask - Talking to Users

This isn't about just throwing questions at people and hoping for the best. It's about having real conversations. Think of it like chatting with a friend over coffee, where you're genuinely interested in their stories and feelings. You'll need to come up with some killer open-ended questions that get them talking. Then, listen. Really listen. Let them lead the conversation, and you might be surprised by what you learn.

Process

1 - Preparation

• Define your research objectives: Know what you want to learn from the interviews. Develop a discussion guide: List open-ended questions that encourage users to share their experiences and feelings. You should brainstorm questions first, then identify themes and order them around those themes so that the interview flows more logically and naturally.
• Recruit participants: Choose participants who represent your target users. Diversity in perspectives can enrich insights.

2 - Conducting Interviews

• Build rapport: Start with light, non-intrusive questions to make the participant feel comfortable.
• Listen actively: Pay close attention, acknowledge their answers, and use non-verbal cues to show engagement.
• Encourage storytelling: Prompt participants to share specific stories or instances related to their experiences.
• Explore emotions: Delve deeper into their emotional responses to understand not just what they did but also how they felt.
• Take Notes: Make sure you take copious notes so that you have a record of what was said.

3 - Post-Interview

• Debrief: Synthesize your notes to identify key insights and interesting quotes immediately after the interview while memories are fresh.
• Analyze findings: Look for patterns, insights, and quotes that align with your research objectives.
• Share insights: Present your findings to your team, using direct quotes to convey the user's voice and perspective.

Look - Observing Users

This is where you observe users in their natural habitat to understand their context and challenges. You're not there to interfere; just watch and learn. Take note of what they do, how they do it, and any challenges they face. It's about capturing the real, unscripted user experience that goes beyond what people may tell you in an interview.

Process

1 - Planning

• Define objectives: Know what behaviors, interactions, or phenomena you want to observe.
• Choose locations: Identify places where users naturally interact with your product or service. Or where they might be demonstrating/facing the problem that you are trying to solve.
• Obtain permissions: Ensure you have the right to observe in chosen locations, respecting privacy and ethical considerations.

2 - Observing

• Try to blend in: Observe without interfering with natural behaviors.
• Take detailed notes: Record observations, behaviors, interactions, and any environmental factors that might influence behavior.
• Capture the context: Note the physical, social, and emotional context to provide a comprehensive understanding of the observed behaviors.

3 - Analysis

• Identify patterns: Look for recurring behaviors or interactions that may indicate underlying needs or pain points.
• Contextualize findings: Relate observations to the broader context of the user’s experience.
• Share insights: Present your findings using photos, videos, or diagrams to illustrate key observations while respecting privacy and confidentiality.

Try - Becoming the User

This is where you get your hands dirty. Dive into your users' world and experience what they experience. Use the product, walk a mile in their shoes, and embrace their challenges and frustrations. It's one thing to hear about or observe something; it's another to live it. Keep a diary of your adventures and emotions throughout this process. This firsthand insight is gold when it comes to understanding the user journey and making your project resonate on a deeper level.

Process

1 - Preparation

• Define the scope: Decide on specific aspects of the user experience you want to immerse yourself in.
• Set objectives: Know what you want to learn or achieve through immersion.

2 - Immersion

• Engage authentically: Participate in activities or use the product as your users would. Avoid going through the motions superficially.
• Document the experience: Keep a journal or diary to record your observations, thoughts, and feelings throughout the process.
• Reflect: Pay attention to challenges, surprises, and any emotional responses you have.

3 - Analysis

• Reflect on your experience: Identify key takeaways, challenges, and insights that emerged during immersion.
• Relate to user needs: Consider how your experiences align with or differ from what you've learned about your users through other research methods.
• Share insights: Present your findings to your team, highlighting how the immersion experience provided a deeper understanding of the user’s perspective.

You may have noticed that the final part of each research approach involves sharing your insights. There are a couple of ways that you can share what you have learned from your users. One powerful way is through the creation of an empathy map.

Creating An Empathy Map

An empathy map is a powerful tool for synthesizing user research so that you can gain deeper insights into your user's thoughts and feelings. It helps you empathize with users, guiding more user-centered product development and services. An empathy map is typically divided into four quadrants ("Says," "Thinks," "Does," and "Feels"), with each representing different aspects of the user's experience.

📺 Watch the following video to learn more about creating an empathy map

One of your assignments for this week will be to turn your user insights notes into an empathy map. For this assignment, you can use any tool your team is comfortable with (e.g., Figjam, Excalidraw, Miro) to present your final empathy map.

📺 Watch the following video on the Define stage of the design thinking process to learn about additional techniques that you can use to synthesize what you've learned about the user.

Generating Ideas for User Needs

Now that you've got a handle on how to understand what users need, it's time to shift gears and learn how to turn that understanding into solid business ideas. In this lesson, we're going to explore different ways to brainstorm and generate ideas. Think of this as your toolkit for coming up with the kind of ideas that make people go, "Why didn't I think of that?!" We're going to look at all sorts of ways to brainstorm and get those creative juices flowing.

📺 Watch this video to learn how to come up with innovative business ideas

Here are the questions mentioned in the video, as well as the examples of businesses whose products or services answer each question for a specific user and context:

• Is there an easier way? (e.g., HelloFresh)
• Can I make this more accessible? (e.g., Airbnb)
• What can I improve about this? (e.g., Uber)
• Is it time to pivot? (e.g., Netflix)

Ideation

While it is great to see how successful businesses have created solutions that answer the above questions, it's not clear how they did so. How did they go from an initial understanding of the challenges that users faced or the opportunities that might have existed (i.e., the output of the Empathize stage) to actually coming up with an idea that they can flesh out and start prototyping?

📺 Watch the following video on the Ideation stage of the design thinking process.

Some of the ideas presented in the video might seem a little abstract, so lets check back in with the EduBridge team to see how they are using the Ideation stage of the design thinking framework to make progress on building their venture.

Checking-In with the EduBridge Team

On a Tuesday afternoon in late April, the EduBridge team assembled over Zoom for their scheduled brainstorming session. Alongside the core members (Amina, Tolu, Brian, and Kwasi) were two local educators, Ms. Adhiambo and Mr. Okeke, who were invited to provide additional perspectives.

Amina outlined the session's structure: a two-hour limit, a focus on generating a broad range of ideas without immediate critique, and an openness to unconventional suggestions. The team agreed, understanding the value of diverse and creative input in developing solutions.

The whiteboard was quickly filled with notes and sketches. Tolu presented an idea for an app that could deliver educational content via SMS to areas with limited internet access. This concept sparked a lively discussion about accessibility and reach. Ms. Adhiambo suggested a model where both students and teachers could contribute to the platform's content, making it more relevant and engaging. Brian, inspired by this community-driven approach, proposed incorporating game-like elements to encourage participation. Kwasi, typically more grounded, surprised the group by suggesting the use of drones for material delivery to remote locations. This idea, while ambitious, highlighted the team's willingness to explore all possibilities. Building on the conversation, Mr. Okeke recommended a feature for the app that would allow students to connect and collaborate, simulating a classroom environment. This idea aligned with EduBridge's goal of fostering community and support among users.

In the latter part of the session, Amina introduced constraints to challenge the team further, such as designing solutions with minimal cost. This led to creative suggestions like utilizing community radio infrastructure and creating paper-based learning kits enhanced with digital elements through QR codes.

The session concluded with a reflective discussion, where each participant highlighted a favorite idea from the day, emphasizing the collaborative nature of the brainstorming process. The whiteboard, covered in a variety of ideas and concepts, stood as a testament to the session's productivity. The inclusion of external educators provided valuable insights, grounding the team's creative solutions in real-world educational needs.

Boosting Creativity and Getting Unstuck

It would be great if all brainstorming sessions were as successful as the one described above. However, ideation can be challenging and frustrating more often than not. Remember that creativity is actually a process, as opposed to some innate natural skill. Employing useful techniques can help you get better at it.

📺 Watch the following video to learn techniques that can prepare you for ideation, help you create solutions, and unblock you when you get stuck.

Evaluating Your Ideas

Now that you've got a bunch of ideas on the table, it's time to take a step back and see which ones are worth pursuing further. We'll walk you through some practical ways to assess your ideas, looking at factors like feasibility, viability, and how well they meet user needs. Think of it as a reality check for your creative alter ego, ensuring you're investing your time and energy in ideas that could actually make a difference.

📺 Watch the following Y Combinator Start-Up School video on idea evaluation.

Here are some insights from the video.

4 common mistakes with startup ideas:

• Not solving a real problem
• Getting stuck on a "tarpit idea" (common ideas that are much harder than they seem)
• Not evaluating the idea
• Waiting for the perfect idea

Some key questions to ask yourself about your idea:

• Do you have founder/market fit? (Are you the right person/team to be working on this idea?)
• How big is the market?
• How acute is this problem?
• Do you have competition?
• Do you want this? Do you know people who want this?
• Did this only recently become possible or only recently become necessary?
• Are there good proxies for this business?
• Is this an idea you want to work on for years?
• Is this a scalable business?
• Is this a good idea space?

An Idea Evaluation Framework: Desirable, Feasible, Viable

📺 Watch the following video on how to evaluate Tesla through the Desirability, Feasibility, and Viability

Desirability: This aspect focuses on whether there is a real need or desire for the product or service in the market. It's about understanding the customer and their problems, needs, and wants. The key question to ask is, "Do customers want this?" It involves user research, market analysis, and empathy to ensure that the solution addresses a genuine customer need in a way that is meaningful and appealing to them.

Feasibility: This refers to the technical, operational, and logistical ability to actually create and deliver the product or service. It involves assessing the technology required, the skills and resources available within the organization, and any other operational requirements. The key question here is, "Can we build this efficiently with the technology and resources we have?" This component ensures that the solution is practical and sustainable from a production standpoint.

Viability: This dimension assesses whether the business model behind the product or service can generate revenue and sustain itself in the market. It's about the economic logic behind the offering, considering factors like pricing strategy, cost structure, and revenue streams. The key question is, "Can this be a financially sustainable business venture?" Viability ensures that the solution is not only desirable and feasible but also profitable in the long run.

Case Study: HealthTracka

Healthtracka is a health-tech startup based in Lagos, Nigeria, co-founded by Ifeoluwa Dare-Johnson and Victor Amusan in May 2021. The startup is dedicated to decentralizing lab testing across Africa by providing convenient at-home lab testing services and delivering digital results. This innovation is particularly critical in a continent where the healthcare infrastructure is strained, and the doctor-to-patient ratio is alarmingly low, with figures such as 1:5,000 being reported in some regions. Healthtracka's services aim to bridge the gap in healthcare access by making it easier for individuals to undergo medical diagnostics without the need to visit a hospital or laboratory, thereby reducing the risks associated with such visits and the waiting times often involved.

DFV Evaluation

Desirability

Healthtracka addresses a critical gap in the African healthcare system by offering at-home lab testing, which is highly desirable in regions where access to healthcare facilities and diagnostics is limited. The convenience of home-based lab testing is appealing to users who face challenges such as long travel distances to healthcare facilities, high costs, and long waiting times. The company has successfully built trust with its users, overcoming initial skepticism about the reliability of at-home testing services. This trust is crucial for the desirability of the service, as it assures users of the legitimacy and quality of the health tests provided. Furthermore, by investing in health education and promoting the importance of regular health checkups, Healthtracka is increasing the desirability of its services. The startup engages with communities through social media and other channels to enhance healthcare awareness.

Feasibility

Healthtracka partners with reputable lab centers and employs a network of phlebotomists to collect samples from users' homes, making the operational model feasible. The company has established quality checklists to vet these lab centers, ensuring high standards. The startup's digital platform, where users can book lab tests and receive digital results within 48 hours, demonstrates the technical feasibility of Healthtracka's service model, and its efficiency and user-friendliness are critical for managing bookings and delivering results effectively. Healthtracka's plans to expand into more African countries and introduce new product lines, such as APIs for healthcare providers, indicate the feasibility of scaling its business model to meet growing demand across the African continent.

Viability

Healthtracka generates revenue by offering a range of lab tests that users can book through its platform. The service includes the convenience of home sample collection and digital result delivery. The startup's move to introduce subscription plans and its B2B offerings to telehealth providers, hospitals, and pharmacies further diversify its revenue streams, enhancing its viability. With a growing focus on preventive healthcare and the convenience of digital and remote services in Africa, Healthtracka is well-positioned in a market with high growth potential. The demand for healthcare services that can circumvent the challenges of the traditional healthcare system in Africa supports the long-term viability of Healthtracka's business model​.

Crafting a Solution Statement

📺 Watch the following video on Lean Canvas.

Assignment - Solution Statement

Ensure that your solution statement contains the following information:

• The problem being addressed.
• Your proposed solution and its key features.
• The anticipated benefits for users.
• Potential challenges that your team can foresee and how you plan to address them.

Submnission

Submit your final solution statement in Gradescope and then upload a PDF document with it in Anchor.

MVP 1: Build, Test, Iterate

Introduction

📺 Watch the following video from your instructor to learn what you will study in lesson 3.

Learning Outcomes

After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

• Understand the concept of a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and its role in the lean startup methodology.
• Gain basic skills in prototyping and testing an MVP with real users.
• Learn to analyze feedback and data to make informed decisions on product adjustments.
• Practice iterative development cycles to enhance product-market fit.

Non-Engagement Risks

If you don’t engage in this lesson fully, here is what could happen to your venture:

• Development of a product that doesn't meet user needs or expectations, resulting in wasted resources and potential failure at launch.

Venture Building Case Study Week 3 - Prototyping EduBridge

Armed with laptops, a shared vision, and insights from potential users in hand, the EduBridge team embarks on developing their Minimum Viable Product (MVP). Amina sets up the development environment, laying the groundwork for a scalable and user-friendly platform. Meanwhile, Brian curates a list of essential topics and lessons, ensuring the content is both relevant and engaging. Tolu focuses on creating an intuitive user interface that reflects the feedback gathered from the focus groups, emphasizing ease of use and accessibility. And Kwasi begins mapping out a basic framework for user testing, considering how to best gather and analyze feedback. Their work sessions are a blend of focused individual tasks and collaborative discussions that underscore the iterative nature of developing a tech-based solution and the critical role of continuous user feedback in shaping a product that truly meets the users' needs.

MVPs: A Refresher

Do you remember this quote? It’s from the Build, Measure, Learn section of your Product Management and Design course. In this section, we’ll refresh your understanding of minimum viable products (MVP). Let’s start with a definition:

A minimum viable product (MVP) is the simplest version of your solution that your target user can interact with. It’s the first thing you can give to your very first set of target users to see if your solution provides any value that addresses their needs.

📺 Watch the following video to gain a better understanding of MVPs.

How to Build an MVP

Michael Seibel from Y Combinator says that an MVP should be built fast, and it probably won’t work well. If it works well, it’s not an MVP.

📺 Watch this video to learn more of what Michael Seibel has to say about MVPs.

These resources are rich with insights, so let’s pull out some of the key takeaways.

Why You Should Build an MVP

In the video we watched, Michael Seibel says that your MVP won’t work well, so you’re probably wondering: “if my MVP might not work, what is the point of building one?”

Here are some of the reasons why you should build an MVP:

• To quickly put something out publicly. It’s better to ship something quickly, even if it is bad than to build what you think is the perfect solution and no one uses it.
• To have a clear sense of what you need to build to solve your customers' problems. This will bring your idea to life and give you a sense of the amount of resources needed to get it to a final state.
• To get something into the hands of your customers as quickly as possible and see if they’ll use it.
• To get feedback from your customers before you spend a lot of resources. It’s easier to learn from your customers if you put something in front of them.
• To Iterate and improve your product.

How to Identify an MVP

When thinking about MVPs, different people have different interpretations. So, how can you be sure if something truly qualifies as an MVP? Here are three things that make an MVP:

1. Speed. MVPs are about how quickly you can build and ship a solution. For the very first MVP you build, especially if it is a software solution, it should take no more than 2 weeks (this week, we’ll challenge you to build your MVP in 1 week).
2. Limited functionality. An MVP deliberately keeps things simple. Unlike a fully built product, your MVP should have a few basic functions. Ideally, when your target user interacts with your MVP, they should only be able to do one thing. That could be requesting a service or placing an order.
3. Appeals to a few people. Your MVP is not for everyone. It's designed for a specific group of users. By focusing on a target audience, you can tailor your MVP product to their unique needs.

Examples of MVPs in Practice

Take the Airbnb example Michael Seibel referenced, for instance.

Airbnb is an online marketplace and hospitality service that allows people to lease or rent short-term accommodation, including vacation rentals and apartment rentals. It is now valued at over $80 billion, but Airbnb did not start out as the product you see today. It started out as a simple landing page with a few pictures.

In August 2008, when Airbnb had just launched its first MVP, the founders, Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia, built a very simple website where people could book a space in their apartment. Their target users were attendees of the iDSA conference in San Francisco who needed a place to stay because hotels were fully booked.

This landing page took less than two weeks to put together. It had no payment page, map view, or profile page. If a guest booked a space, they could only sleep on an airbed!

Let's review whether what Airbnb built was an MVP an MVP when they just started:

• Was it built fast? Yes. They built the landing page in less than 2 weeks
• Did it have limited functionality? Yes. You could only book an airbed in one apartment (no payment, no maps, no profile pages).
• Did it appeal to a few people? Yes. It was only available to conference guests coming for the iDSA conference in San Francisco.

This early version of Airbnb laid the foundation for what would later become a hugely successful online marketplace for lodging and travel experiences. Now, after 15 years, Airbnb is available on multiple platforms, and multiple locations. It also allows users to do cool things like offer experience or list entire houses.

Here’s a before and after of the Airbnb platform.

Airbnb Before (2008)

Airbnb Now (2024)

More MVP Examples

📺 Watch the following video to see more examples of MVPs

❓ From the examples we have seen in this section, which of them is your favorite example of an MVP and why?

Final Note on MVPs

• A cardinal rule of building an MVP, and entrepreneurship as a whole, is to hold the problem tightly, hold your users tightly, hold your solution loosely. Basically, love the problem, not your solution.
• In this course, we expect that you will be working on a software product. However, it is worth noting that not all types of products can have an MVP that is overly simplified. Some exceptions include biotechnology, hard tech, and solutions with significant regulations (e.g., medication or vaccines).

Types of MVPs

Creating an MVP isn't a one-size-fits-all process. Depending on your venture goals, solution, and available resources, you have various MVP options to choose from. Understanding these options is key as you turn your idea into a real product that people can use—and maybe even pay for!

In this section, you will learn about different types of MVPs. We'll explain each type using videos and show how they work, making it easy to follow. By the end, you'll have a good sense of which MVP could best suit your solution.

🧩 Activity: Guess the MVP

Before we get started, let’s see if you can match the descriptions below to the type of MVP.

Possible Types of MVPs:

1 - Wizard of OZ MVP

2 - Landing Page MVP

3 - Explainer Video MVP

4 - One Painkiller MVP

MVP Descriptions:

A- It looks automated to users, but the team is manually making things happen

B- It addresses one core problem and nothing else.

C- A short video that shows what a product does by walking through its features and functions.

D- A basic webpage with a clear call to action to check if people are interested.

Which MVP goes with which description?

📺 Watch the following video to see if you were correct.

Categories of MVP: Low and High Fidelity

From this video, we learn that there are two categories of MVPs:

• Low-fidelity: The simplest form of your MVP that tests core ideas without having all the details and functionalities.
• High-fidelity: A more polished experience that tests the user interface, user experience, and user engagement.

You might remember these terms from your Product Management and Design (PMD) class. Right now, we're focusing on the simple, low-fidelity MVP. Later in the course, you will explore more about high-fidelity MVPs.

Low-Fidelity MVP

From your PMD class, you learned about a similar concept of low-fidelity prototypes. In that course, we shared that low-fidelity prototypes are best used in the early stages of the design process when many ideas are still up in the air and experimentation is still taking place. They allow us to make changes to ideas and designs easily and quickly.

In a similar way, a low-fidelity MVP is a basic version of a product designed with minimal features and functionality. The term "low-fidelity" refers to the simplicity of this early-stage prototype.

Key Characteristics of Low-Fidelity MVPs:

1. Basic Features: Stripping away complexity, a low-fidelity MVP includes only fundamental features.
2. Limited Functionality: It performs a singular function, allowing for easy adjustments.
3. Rapid Development: Developed swiftly, with a recommended timeline of no more than a week.
4. No-Code/Low-Code Approach: Initial development utilizes no-code or low code tools, ensuring agility.

When to Use a Low-Fidelity MVP:

• Idea Validation: Confirm the viability of your concept.
• Quick User Feedback: Gather insights rapidly from potential users.
• Cost Efficiency: Minimize initial development costs.
• Quick Iteration: Facilitate swift adjustments based on feedback.
• Risk Minimization: Test and refine without significant investment.

Examples of Low-Fidelity MVPs

1. Landing Page MVP: A landing page MVP is a simplified web page that showcases the core idea or product, often used to measure interest, collect leads, and assess user engagement.
2. Slide Deck/Mockup/Presentation MVP: This MVP involves creating a visual presentation, like a slide deck or mockup, to convey the product concept or idea, facilitating communication and feedback.
3. Blog MVP: A blog MVP entails publishing initial thoughts, concepts, or information related to a product to engage potential users, gather feedback, and build an audience.
4. Forums/Communities MVP: In this MVP, you participate in or create forums and communities relevant to your product, interacting directly with potential users to understand their needs, concerns, and preferences.
5. Surveys/Questionnaires MVP: A surveys/questionnaires MVP involves creating and distributing targeted surveys to gather specific feedback, opinions, and data from a potential user base.
6. Explainer Videos MVP: This MVP utilizes short videos to explain the core features and benefits of a product, providing a visual representation to help users understand the concept.
7. Advertising Campaign MVP: An advertising campaign MVP involves running targeted ads to gauge market response, measure click-through rates, and assess the overall interest in a product or idea.
8. Crowdfunding Campaign MVP: This MVP utilizes crowdfunding platforms to present a product idea to the public, validate interest, and secure initial financial support based on backers' pledges.
9. Idea Spotting Networks MVP: Idea spotting networks involve leveraging platforms where diverse perspectives provide feedback on a product or idea, helping refine concepts through collaborative insights and discussions.

Planning Your Low-Fidelity MVP

Now that you know some types of low-fidelity MVPs that you could utilize for your venture, let's talk about how to actually plan your MVP.

📺 Watch the following video to learn how to plan your MVP

Here are some key takeaways from the video:

Know Your Core Value Proposition: Identifying the core value proposition is crucial. It involves understanding the primary pain point the product addresses, the target audience, and how the product stands out. This should be written down, and agreed on by all team members.

Timeline and Budget: It's important to consider both the timeline and budget for the MVP development. Factors like market opportunities, team costs, etc., can influence the timeline.

Feature Categorization (Outline the user journey in your product):

• Must-Have Features: Essential features without which the product cannot function. These are central to the product's experience.
• Should-Have Features: Important but not critical features that can be included with compromised execution quality.
• Could-Have Features: Desirable features that aren't necessary but could enhance the product if time and resources permit.
• Won't-Have Features: Identifying what will not be included in the MVP is also crucial for focus and resource allocation.

User Journey and Use Cases: Mapping out the user journey and major use cases helps in understanding which features are necessary for solving the user's pain point.

Prioritization: Prioritize features based on the core value proposition and the product's viability.

Leadership and Alignment: Strong leadership and alignment within the team are essential for making tough decisions and navigating the challenges of MVP development.

Start with a Design Sprint: Start with a design sprint to create a real-looking prototype validated by real users, which makes planning and decision-making easier.

Building Your Low-Fidelity MVP

📺 Watch the following video to learn how to approach building your first MVP.

Here are some key takeaways from the video:

Avoid the "Zombie App" Phenomenon: Plan carefully during MVP development so that your MVP is a useful learning tool in your venture and product development journey.

Deliver Value: Focus on delivering the core value to the customer rather than getting caught up in the features.

Iterate: Use an iterative approach where each version of your product solves the user's problem more efficiently, rather than incrementally building parts of your product that don't solve the problem until the very end.

Leverage No-Code Tools: No-code tools offer speed and flexibility in the MVP development process, allowing for quick iterations based on market feedback.

Choose the Right No-Code Stack: Various no-code platforms and tools are suited for different types of projects. The video mentions several stacks:

• WAMS Stack: Webflow, Airtable, MemberStack, and Zapier for membership websites and SaaS platforms.
• Bubble: Offers deeper functionalities and is suited for more complex applications.
• Adalo and Glide: Specifically for mobile apps, with Adalo providing deeper functionalities.

Templates and Fast-Tracking: Many no-code platforms offer templates that can significantly speed up the development process. Choosing a template that meets most of your requirements can be a practical starting point.

Combine Platforms: For more complex needs, consider using different platforms for different aspects of your MVP (e.g., Webflow for the front-end and Bubble for back-end functionalities).

Product Evolution: Be prepared for your product to evolve. Starting simple and iterating based on user feedback is key to avoiding the costly mistake of building something that nobody wants.

Testing Your Low-Fidelity MVP

📺 Watch the following video to learn how to test your low-fidelity MVP.

Here are the key takeaways from this video:

There are four loosely defined circles of feedback:

• First Circle: This includes the product team and others within your team or company. They are readily available but too close to the project to give accurate feedback as users. They are ideal for reviewing low-fidelity prototypes.
• Second Circle: Subject matter experts who know about the market but are not directly working on the product.
• Third Circle: Your target users, who can give great feedback on prototypes that are sufficiently developed for meaningful interaction.
• Fourth Circle: This circle includes your customers' customers.

It's essential to test your MVP with all four circles of feedback to ensure a well-rounded evaluation of your product. This approach helps in identifying different perspectives and improving the product accordingly.

Checking-In with the EduBridge Team

As the EduBridge team reaches the crucial stage of testing their MVP, they strategically plan to engage the four circles of feedback to ensure comprehensive and actionable insights.

First Circle: Internal Review

They kick off their testing within the confines of their own team. Each team member took turns navigating through the low-fidelity prototype, pointing out potential improvements, and discussing functionalities that could enhance user experience. Their familiarity with the project's objectives allowed for a focused review of technical aspects and overall coherence with the mission. This internal session, though limited in providing user-centric feedback, was crucial in preparing the MVP for broader scrutiny.

Second Circle: Expert Insights

Next, the team reached out to a group of subject matter experts, including educators, tech developers specialized in educational software, and NGO workers in the education sector. They organized a series of virtual meetings, during which they presented their low-fidelity MVP. These experts, equipped with knowledge about the market and educational needs, offered insights into usability, content relevance, and scalability. Their feedback prompted the team to refine certain features and reconsider some of their initial assumptions about user needs.

Third Circle: Target Market Testing

With a more polished low-fidelity MVP in hand, the EduBridge team moved to engage their most critical audience: their target users. They conducted a series of user testing sessions with students and teachers in various schools, focusing on remote areas. The team observed as participants interacted with their MVP, noting their behaviors, questions, and any difficulties they encountered. This direct feedback from actual users was invaluable, highlighting what truly mattered to their core audience and what needed to be reworked or enhanced for better engagement and effectiveness.

Fourth Circle: Extended User Feedback

Finally, the team sought feedback from an often overlooked group: their customers' customers. This involved reaching out to parents and community members who, while not direct users, were crucial stakeholders in the educational ecosystem. Through community forums and feedback sessions, the EduBridge team gathered insights into the broader impact and relevance of their platform.

Assignment - MVP

Your group's submission should include your MVP report, which also links to the low-fidelity MVP that your group has built.

As a reminder, here are the components that should be in your report:

• Introduction
• Problem Statement [you have this from week 1's assignment]
• Solution Statement [you have this from week 2's assignment]
• Synthesis of User Insights [you have this from week 2's assignment]
• Goal of MVP (It should only be one thing)
• Type of MVP: Describe the type of MVP you are building.
• Hypothesis: What do you want this particular MVP to test? (It can be only one thing!)
• Features: A description of the features that are included in your MVP.
• Tools: Outline the tools you will use for your MVP.
• Your Low-Fidelity MVP: Include a link to your low-fidelity MVP.

Submission

Submit your MVP report on Gradescope, and then upload a copy of it to Anchor.

Introduction to Business Models

Introduction

📺 Watch the following video from your instructor to learn what you will study in lesson 4.

Learning Outcomes

After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

• Explore various business models and understand their implications for a startup's strategy and operations.
• Learn to assess the viability and scalability of different business models in the context of a venture.
• Develop the ability to articulate a business model's value proposition, revenue streams, and cost structure using a business model canvas
• Critically evaluate the alignment of a chosen business model with user needs and market demands.

Non-Engagement Risks

If you don’t engage in this lesson fully, here is what could happen to your venture:

• Choosing an unsustainable business model, leading to financial instability, inability to scale, or failure to capture value from the venture.

Venture Building Case Study Week 4 - Ensuring Financial Sustainability

As the MVP takes shape, the team starts to think about long-term viability. The discussion is pragmatic, centered around finding a balance between their social mission and the financial realities of running a platform. They explore various models, from subscription services to donor funding, with each member contributing insights from their field of study. The decision to pursue a freemium model emerges from a deep dive into user demographics and potential revenue streams, highlighting the critical thinking and strategic planning skills necessary for making informed decisions in the social entrepreneurship space.

What is a Business Model?

The term "business model" is frequently used in the entrepreneurship space. but you may be wondering, “what even is a business model?” In this week's lesson, we will explore the concept of business models, and you will learn how to craft and visualize the business model for your venture.

❓ In the Padlet below, share: what do you think a business model means?

The Purpose of Business Models

There are different definitions of what a business model is. One simple definition is that: A business model is a strategic plan outlining how a company creates, delivers, and captures value for its customers.

You might be thinking, “But I just started building my MVP. Why should I start thinking about business models?” That’s a great question!

Business Models are a core topic for any venture and endeavor, regardless of its stage (idea, startup, growth, scale) and type (individual project, for-profit venture, social enterprise, etc.). As long as your venture intends to create something that people will use and will expend resources to do so, it is important to consider your business model.

It’s helpful to think about your business model early, even as you build your MVP, because it gives you a sense of what to prioritize, how to assess if you have the right resources to bring your product to life, and whether you’re well equipped to make something people can use.

Crafting a business model when you're starting your entrepreneurial journey is like setting up a GPS for a road trip. It's your game plan that guides every move you make. When you map out your business model, you're putting down on paper how you'll grab the attention of your target customers, what you'll offer them that creates value for them, and how you'll keep the cash flowing. However, it's not just about keeping yourself on track. When you pitch your idea to people who might fund your dream, a solid business model is the foundation of a solid pitch. Additionally, a good business model helps you spot the bumps in the road ahead and figure out how to swerve around them before they lead to critical situations that doom your venture.

This week, your team will use the information you learn in these lessons to visualize the business model for your venture. But keep in mind that wrapping your head around your business model isn't just homework. It's your startup's secret sauce. Having a strong business model will help you make smart moves, win over backers, and avoid pitfalls!

📺 Watch the following videos to learn how to go from business idea to business model.

Components of a Business Model

Based on the definition of a business model shared above, it contains four key components:

1. Customer. The person for whom your product or service is made and who will pay for and use it. It is worth noting that sometimes, your customer is not your user. For example, a user benefits directly from your product or service while the customer pays for it.
2. Value Creation. What you offer to your customers to make your venture something they would pay for. This includes your tangible product or service offering that your target customer can use and a clear reason for why they should use this product or service.
3. Value Delivery. How you get this offering to your customers so they know about your product or service and can use it. This could include your distribution channels like social media or a website, and your partners.
4. Value Capture. How you receive whatever reward comes from delivering value created to your customers. This usually includes your revenue, downloads, active users, and so on.

Source: Prophet,

Business Model: A Deep Dive

📺 Watch the following video to learn more about the components of a business model and how they are connected.

Types of Business Models

Now that you know what a business model is, let’s explore some types of business models and some ways different ventures use them. Understanding different business models is crucial because it provides a foundation for making informed decisions about structuring and managing a startup. Each business model offers a unique approach to creating and delivering value to customers, as well as generating revenue. This knowledge is essential for tailoring a business strategy to specific market conditions and customer needs, fostering innovation, distinguishing the business from competitors, and adapting to changes in the industry.

📺 Let’s learn about some types of business models by watching this video from Aaron Epstein of Y Combinator. In this video, they share the nine business models they find most successful with their portfolio startups.

From this video, the 9 most successful business models from Y Combinator startups are:

1. SaaS (software as a service): cloud-based subscription software.
2. Transactional: facilitate transactions and take a cut.
3. Marketplace: facilitate transactions with buyers and sellers.
4. Hard tech: physical products that you make and sell to users.
5. Usage-based: pay as you go based on consumption.
6. Enterprise: sell large contracts to huge companies.
7. Advertising: sell advertisements to monetize from users.
8. E-commerce: sell products online.
9. Bio: science-based companies that sell research or other innovative developments.

❓ Which of these business models have you heard of before?

Let's take the general business idea (providing financial services) and look at how different types of startups could be built using each of the 9 business model types described above.

SaaS (Software as a Service): The startup could develop a cloud-based financial management software tailored for businesses or individuals, offering features like budgeting, investment tracking, and financial analytics on a subscription basis. This model ensures steady recurring revenue and scalability.

Transactional: The startup could position itself as an intermediary for financial transactions, such as payment processing or currency exchange services, earning a fee or commission for each transaction processed through its platform.

Marketplace: The startup could create a platform where buyers and sellers of financial products (e.g., loans, insurance, or investment opportunities) can connect and transact. This could allow the startup to earn revenue by taking a commission from each successful deal or by charging listing fees.

Hard Tech: The startup could create specialized financial hardware (e.g., secure point-of-sale systems, ATMs, or hardware wallets for cryptocurrencies) that cater to specific needs within the financial industry.

Usage-based: The startup could charge for financial services, such as API access for market data, credit scoring services, or usage of high-frequency trading platforms, where customers pay based on their level of usage or consumption.

Enterprise: The startup could develop comprehensive financial solutions tailored to large corporations, such as bespoke risk management software, large-scale asset management systems, or enterprise-grade compliance solutions, securing revenue through significant one-time sales or annual contracts.

Advertising: The startup could create content-driven platforms like financial advice blogs, investment analysis portals, or educational resources, generating revenue through advertising financial products, services, or even job listings relevant to finance professionals.

E-commerce: The startup could sell financial tools or resources online, such as financial planning ebooks, courses, software, or even physical goods like secure document storage solutions.

Bio: The startup could create a bio-based model that involves leveraging biotechnology for financial security or authentication purposes, developing products like biometric authentication systems for secure banking and transactions, or creating innovative solutions at the intersection of finance and bio-data analysis.

❓ Think of a product-led company you like. What is the name of the company and what is their business model?

It’s worth noting that these are not the only business models that exist. Most of these business models are geared toward product-led companies and tech startups. For an educational venture, for example, one of their business/revenue models is tuition. For a non-profit, it could be donations.

Here are the business models mentioned in the articles, along with some examples of companies that employ them.

Case Study: mPharma

Let’s look at the example of mPharma and their business model.

mPharma is a health technology company that is revolutionizing pharmaceutical access in emerging markets.

Founded in January 2013 by Gregory Rockson and his co-founders Daniel Shoukimas and James Finucane, mPharma’s problem statement is that the drug supply chain in Africa is broken. Essential medication patients need are not always available and when they are, they are multiple times more expensive than they should be.

To address this problem, mPharma uses technology to eliminate inefficiencies and price fluctuations that prevent prescription drugs from reaching sick people. Using the collective power of a network of pharmacies, they negotiate lower prices with the best manufacturers. This way, they keep pharmacy shelves stocked with no upfront payment required.

mPharma is headquartered in Ghana, and has expanded operations to eight other African countries including Ethiopia, Gabon, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Togo, Uganda, and Zambia. mPharma serves over 100,000 patients monthly and has a network of more than 400 pharmacies in their key markets, with their partner pharmacies having dispensed millions of life-saving drugs to patients.

📺 Watch to their founder, Gregory Rockson, as he shares more about mPharma and the problem they are solving.

One of mPharma’s products is the mymutti app. mymutti is a digital health companion that gives members access to a personalized range of quality and affordable healthcare benefits. This includes loyalty discounts, discounts on prescription medications, healthcare tracking, personalized wellness programs, and subscription payment discounts for refill medication. For customers to access enhanced benefits like doctor services and selected prescription medication, they pay a monthly subscription service of less than $2.00. There is also a free multi-membership tier that users can take advantage of.

❓ From what we’ve shared about mPharma, what is their business model?

❓ What other companies do you know that have a similar business model to mPhrama?

Visualizing Your Business Model

Now that you have a clearer sense of how to define a business model and know some types of business models let’s explore how to craft your own.

The Business Model Canvas is a great tool to understand what your business model is. This tool was developed by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur with the goal of helping you describe, challenge, design, and invent business models for your venture.

It’s called a canvas because it’s a one-page layout where you can paint and repaint what your business model is. It consists of nine components, each representing a key aspect of a venture. Here’s what the Business Model Canvas looks like:

Source: Digital Enterprise

The canvas has nine components that, when combined, help you understand how your business creates, delivers, and captures value for your target customer.

📺 Watch the following video to get a better understanding of the business model canvas and how to use it to map out your venture’s business model.

To recap, there are nine essential building blocks that make a business model canvas:

1. Customer Segments. This identifies the different groups of people or organizations your venture aims to reach and serve. For example, if you were building a fitness app, your customer segment could include individuals looking to workout at home, young professionals who are gym enthusiasts, or corporate wellness programs.
2. Value Propositions. This describes how your product uniquely addresses your customer segment’s problem or fulfills their needs. For example, if you were creating a premium electric car like Tesla, your value proposition could be that it is high-performance, has zero emissions, and has cutting-edge technology.
3. Channels. This outlines the ways your venture delivers its value proposition to customers, considering distribution and communication channels. For example, if you have a software company, your distribution channels could include partnerships with tech retailers or having a sales team, and your communication channels could be social media.
4. Customer Relationships. This defines the ways your venture engages or interacts with your customer segment. For example, a subscription-based streaming service like Netflix could use personalized content recommendations and responsive customer support as a way to maintain relationships with their customers.
5. Revenue Streams. This identifies how your venture makes money from each customer segment. For example, if you have a mobile app, your revenue streams could include app purchases, in-app advertisements, and premium subscription services.
6. Key Resources. This lists the crucial assets and capabilities required to deliver the value proposition, reach customers, and operate effectively. For example, if you were a health tech company, some of your key resources would be healthcare professionals and experts, your technology infrastructure, etc.
7. Key Activities.This describes the key tasks and processes necessary to execute your business model. For example, if you had a social media platform, some key activities would include content moderation, user analytics, and algorithm development for content delivery.
8. Key Partnerships. This highlights external organizations or individuals crucial to the success of your business model. For example, if you have an e-commerce platform, you may form partnerships with shipping companies, payment processors, and product suppliers.
9. Cost Structure. Identifies all costs associated with operating the business model. For example, a fast-food chain's cost structure includes expenses such as raw materials, labor, rent for locations, and marketing.

Together, these nine components give a holistic view of a venture, which helps you make informed decisions about your product, operations, and strategy. It's important to note that the relationships between these components are essential to understanding how your venture will function as a whole.

❓ Let’s bring this back to mPharma. In the padlet below, share what you think should go in each business model canvas block for their business.

Business Model Canvas and DFV

📺 Watch the following video to see how the Desirability, Feasibility, and Viability (DFV) evaluation framework interacts with the business model canvas.

From the video and the reading, we see that you can understand the:

• Desirability of your venture by understanding the:
  • Customer Relationships
  • Customer Segments
  • Channels
  • Value Propositions
• Feasibility of your venture by understanding the:
  • Key Partners
  • Key Resources
  • Key Activities
• Viability of your venture by understanding the:
  • Cost Structure
  • Revenue Streams

Your Value Proposition and Customer Segments

When filling out your Business Model Canvas, there is a recommended order to do this. It starts with the Customer Segment and Value Proposition.

Understanding your Customer Segments and then your Value Proposition forms the foundation for successfully completing the rest of your Business Model Canvas. In this section, we’ll dive into both components to give you a better understanding and a strong footing for completing your own business model canvas.

📺 Watch the following video to learn more about Customer Segments and Value Propositions.

Customer Segments

Remember, the customer segments box identifies the different groups of users your venture aims to reach and serve. You may have multiple customer segments with distinct needs and characteristics.

Key Questions:

• Who are our most important customers? For whom are we creating value?
• What are the different segments we are targeting?
• What are the demographics and psychographics of our customer segments?

Tips: Be specific in defining your customer segments. Understanding your customers deeply allows for more personalized value propositions and marketing strategies.

Value Propositionss

Your value proposition describes how your product uniquely addresses your customer segment’s problem or fulfills their needs.

Key Questions:

• What makes you better than others?
• What value do we deliver to the customer?
• Which one of our customer’s problems are we helping to solve?
• What bundles of products and services are we offering to each Customer Segment?
• Which customer needs are we satisfying?

Tips: Focus on clarity and simplicity. Clearly articulate how your product or service solves a problem or improves a customer's situation. Highlight the uniqueness of your value proposition.

Crafting your Value Proposition

As both resources highlight, a Value Proposition is the unique value your product or service offers to your customers. It’s the answer to the question: "Why should customers choose your product or service over others?”

To craft a compelling value proposition, you must have a clear and specific understanding of who your target customer is, what their pain points are, what your venture offers, and how it helps your target customer address their pain point.

Here’s a simple format to help you craft your value proposition:

For _________________ (insert your customer segment. Be as descriptive as possible). Who _________________ (insert your customer segment’s pain points) We offer _____________ (insert what your product) That helps _________________ (list the benefits of your product has for your customer segment)

Take mPharma as an example. Their value proposition statement will read something like this:

For pharmaceutical retailers and healthcare facilities in emerging markets who struggle with inefficient inventory management, procurement challenges, and inconsistent supply chains, mPharma offers an innovative pharmaceutical supply chain solution that helps improve operational efficiency and reduce costs.

Assignment - Business Model Canvas

Task 1: Complete your business model canvas

• Make a copy of this business model canvas template.
• Together with your team, fill out all the components for your venture. Make sure there is at least one entry for each business model canvas component.
• You can revisit the individual sections of this week's lesson for guidance on how to fill out components of the canvas.

Task 2: Interpret your business model canvas Once your team has completed the business model canvas, write an interpretation of your business model canvas. In the document, give detailed responses to the following questions:

• How did completing this business model canvas help you understand your venture better? Why did you choose specific entries for each business model canvas component, and how does each entry contribute to the overall success of your venture? For example, if you identified subscription as your chosen revenue stream, share why and how you think it would make your venture successful. You must complete this for all nine components of the business model canvas.
• Based on your business model canvas, how feasible do you think your venture is, and what evidence do you have to support this?
• What challenges might you face with your venture, and how does your business model help you address these challenges?

This interpretation document should be between 500-750 words and should have an introduction and conclusion. Your submission would be assessed on the level of comprehensiveness, completeness, and thoroughness that goes into completing it.

Submission

• All your submissions should use Google tools. Documents should be in Google Docs; the business model canvas should remain in Google Drawings.
• You should submit the link to your business model canvas and interpretation document on Gradescope and then upload a copy to Anchor.

Launching Your Venture

Introduction

📺 Watch the following video from your instructor to learn what you will study in lesson 5.

Learning Outcomes

After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

• Understand the key components and considerations for launching a tech startup.
• Design your launch plan and execute it after defining your objectives and their success metrics
• Learn strategies for effective product launch planning, execution, and management.
• Develop skills needed for a successful launch.
• Analyze and prepare for potential challenges and risks during the launch phase.

Non-Engagement Risks

If you don’t engage in this lesson fully, here is what could happen to your venture:

• Ineffective launch, poor market reception, inability to generate buzz or user adoption, resulting in low initial traction.

Venture Building Case Study Week 5 - The First Launch

The excitement is palpable as the team prepares for EduBridge's pilot launch at a local community school. They develop a simple yet effective presentation to introduce the platform and design a feedback form to capture the students' and teachers' first impressions. The launch day is a blend of nerves and excitement as they watch their target users interact with EduBridge for the first time. Observing real-time engagement, the team gains invaluable insights into user behavior and preferences. This hands-on experience underscores the importance of real-world testing in validating the product concept and the team's ability to adapt and respond to unexpected challenges and opportunities.

What it Means to Launch

Have you heard the saying, “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?”

Imagine your new product as that tree, surrounded by other products and services that are competing for your customer’s attention. You've tirelessly nurtured your “tree,” making it into something you know is game-changing and impactful. All the hard work you've put into building this tree is now ready for the world to see and use.

Now, if this tree (your product) falls (goes live) and no one is there to hear about it, does it make a sound? Can your product make the impact you hope for if no one notices or uses it?

For your product to truly make a difference, it needs an audience (People who will notice, appreciate, use, and spread the word about its benefits).

This is what a product launch is all about: Ensuring your product gets the attention it deserves, is seen and used by the right people, and stands out in the crowded forest of options.

What is a Product Launch?

A product launch is the steps you take to introduce whatever you are working on to your target customer. It is the continuous effort you put in to ensure your customer knows about, and starts interested in, your product or service. The main goals of a product launch are:

• to create awareness,
• to have users, and
• to generate revenue.

📺 Watch the following video with more explanation on what a product launch is and some tips to launch your product.

❓ What’s an example of a product launch you have seen before? It could be a new supermarket, a book launch, etc.

Case Study: The Apple iPhone 15 Launch

Apple is a global technology company known for making popular gadgets like the iPhone and the Apple Watch. They are also famous for their stylish computers like the iMac and the Macbook, and they create the operating system these devices run on. Apple offers digital services like the App Store, iTunes, Apple Music, and more, providing a complete experience for users. Whether it's distributing digital content, creating innovative hardware, or investing in research and development, Apple is a major player in shaping the tech world.

Apple is also known for its product launches. An Apple event is highly anticipated by tech enthusiasts and users worldwide, and they can have over 30 million views on YouTube. If you’ve never watched an Apple launch event, start by watching the most recent one, where they launched the iPhone 15 along with other products and software.

📺 Watch the following video of the September 2023 Apple Event

❓ What did you think about that video? In the padlet below, share one word that describes your reaction after watching the Apple iPhone 15 launch event.

Apple is great at generating anticipation, excitement, and global attention for their product launches. They have teams dedicated to planning and executing on the launch. It helps that they are a trillion dollar company with a lot of resources to pull this off.

Here are some of the things Apple does to have such successful launch events that you could learn from:

1. Making sure the product works. Before a product launch, Apple ensures that all products have been tested and are ready for use. They do this internally first, then with a small group of users and influencers.
2. Planning in advance. Apple is constantly releasing new products, showing that launching is not a one-time event (more on this in section 1.2 when we discuss types of launch). For example, every year, they release a new iPhone and host an event to showcase it. The dates for this event are usually fixed – usually in the second week of September every year. Having a set date for their event means that they are planning in advance and not waiting till the last minute to launch.
3. Building up anticipation. Leading up to the launch event, Apple usually has teaser events that fuel curiosity and discussion, creating a buzz long before the actual event. This way, they get interest from people even before the product launches.
4. Choosing the right channel and venue. Apple often chooses memorable venues that reflect their values of design and innovation, like the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park. They also choose distribution channels like YouTube and Twitter for maximum reach.
5. Demonstrating the product. During the event, attendees and virtual viewers are given the opportunity for hands-on experiences with the new products. This hands-on approach reinforces Apple's commitment to delivering transformative experiences, allowing users to interact with the technology firsthand. It also allows users to know what new features are available and encourages them to use these features.
6. Making the product available. Apple's marketing strategy creates a sense of urgency and exclusivity. Products are made available shortly after the announcement, with pre-orders opening immediately or shortly after the event. This strategy taps into the excitement generated during the launch.
7. Involving ambassadors and partners. Apple involves developers, ambassadors and partners in its events. By taking advantage of the ecosystem, Apple is showing that they value collaboration. This also increases their chances of getting people to refer them to others.
8. Collecting feedback and sharing updates after launch. Even after the launch event, Apple remains engaged with its audience. The company provides regular software updates, addresses user feedback, and ensures a positive experience after selling, reinforcing its commitment to ongoing improvement.

Why Does Launching Matter?

Launching a product is a crucial step for any company, and it's not just about showing off something new and cool. The importance of a product launch goes beyond the excitement of the moment. It's like throwing a big birthday party for your product, and here's why it matters so much:

1. Creating awareness. Imagine you've worked hard on a fantastic new board game. You want everyone to know about it and get excited. A launch is like turning on a spotlight, making sure people notice and start talking about your game. It's the way to shout, 'Hey, look at this amazing thing we've made!'
2. Setting the stage for traction. Let's go back to the board game example. You want people to not only know about your game but also buy it and enjoy playing. A well-planned launch generates interest and builds anticipation, making customers eager to get their hands on your product. It's like creating a buzz that turns into actual sales.
3. Building credibility. When a company confidently introduces a new product, it shows they believe in what they've created. It's like saying, 'We've put a lot of thought and effort into this, and we're proud of it.' This builds trust with customers and makes them more likely to choose your product over others.
4. Getting user feedback. Just like sharing a sneak peek of your game with friends before the big release, a product launch allows companies to see how people respond. Whether it's positive reviews, suggestions for improvement, or even concerns, this feedback is invaluable for making the product even better.

Types of Product Launch

In this section, we'll discuss the different ways a venture can introduce (or launch) its product to its users. Understanding these launch types is like having a toolkit for your product's success. Each launch type is unique and can help you identify the one that suits what you are building and what would resonate with your target audience.

By the end of this section, you'll be familiar with these launch types and understand when to use them. Let’s explore the different types of product launches and identify which one best aligns with your product and resonates with your target user.

📺 Watch the following video on the best way to launch your startup.

This video has a lot of nuggets. Here are some that we’ll highlight here:

• Most founders overthink their first launch. They think they have just one shot at launching publicly, and no one will ever buy or use their product if they get it wrong the first time. But this is not true. Airbnb launched three times before anyone even noticed. Look at where they are now!
• When is the best time to launch? Now! The best time to launch is now. The reason why it’s important to launch now is because, as an entrepreneur, you have such strong convictions about your solution and product, but it is all theoretical. Until you put your product out there early and someone is willing to use it, you will not know if you are solving a relevant problem.
• If you launch too early, what’s the worst that can happen?
• Remember that launching is not a one-time event. It is a continuous thing you do.

❓ Did anything else stand out for you from the video? Share in the padlet below.

Nine Types of Launches

In the Y Combination video, Kat Mañalac mentioned that there are nine types of launches. Let’s discuss each one:

Silent Launch

With a silent launch, the intention is to have your users discover your product organically. This kind of launch does not need any grand announcements or events. Instead, your users discover you by landing — this could be by landing on your website or store. This kind of launch can create a sense of exclusivity and, in most cases, all you need is a domain name, your company name, a short description of what you are building, a contact form, and a call to action (e.g., “subscribe now” or “get in touch.”)

Friends & Family Launch

You know when something exciting happens in your life, for example, getting high grades or winning a competition. Usually, the first people you want to tell are your friends and family. This kind of launch is like this. In this case, the exciting thing is your product. With this kind of launch, you are giving an exclusive preview of your latest creation to your close network. For example, when Facebook launched, it was first only available to some students at Harvard University.

This is one of the easiest launches you can do because you know it is with people who will encourage you (your Kibo community, for example). One issue with the friends and family launch is that your friends and family might not be your target users. That being said, they will be able to test your product and give you feedback on the functionalities at least.

Stranger Launch

This type of launch is the flip side of friends and family. Here, you are reaching out to people who are not familiar with you or your product. Ideally, they would be your target users. One advantage of this type of launch is that you’ll get unfiltered feedback about your product. This is a great way to know what you are doing right (or wrong).

Remember the Lugg example in Kat’s video? Lugg is a platform that connects people who want to move anything (e.g., furniture, luggage, appliances, etc.) with movers and trucks with the push of a button. When they launched the first version of their MVP back in 2014, their founder stood outside a furniture store to speak with people to encourage them to download and use the app. These people were strangers, but he knew that if they were outside a furniture store with their recent purchases, they were potential target customers. He was able to get signups and also get instant feedback from this stranger launch!

Online Community Launch

Here, the product is launched within specific online communities or forums relevant to the product niche. It leverages the existing user base and engagement within these communities to generate initial buzz and gather feedback. As mentioned in the video, you can plan a launch for every community you’re on (e.g., Discord, Twitter, Instagram, Slack, etc.) Other community examples include: startup school, product hunt, hacker news, Reddit, Facebook groups, and alumni groups. You should share: An introduction to your company, What you are building, and Who you are building it for and why.

Social Media Launch

Share online, be everywhere. This helps you to create hype around the product. Some companies also provide early product access to influencers in exchange for reviews, endorsements, or social media mentions.

Pre-order Launch

With a pre-order launch, customers are given the opportunity to purchase the product before it's officially released. This helps generate revenue and gauge demand while building anticipation for the product's release. E.g., kickstarter, indiegogo, gofundme.

Waitlist Launch

Interested customers are invited to join a waiting list to gain early access to the product once it's available. This creates a sense of exclusivity and anticipation among customers while also allowing the company to manage demand and prioritize access. Waitlist launches are often used for products with limited availability or during beta testing phases, helping to build a dedicated user base before the full launch. However, note that the longer you wait to launch and onboard people, the harder it is to convert people.

Press Launch

A press launch involves reaching out to journalists, media outlets, and industry publications to generate press coverage and publicity for the product. Companies may hold events or send out press releases to announce the product and its features. However, as an early-stage company, it’s hard to land press stories; even if you do, it’s not a silver bullet. They can’t be counted on for sustained growth.

New Feature/Product Launch

This is a standard launch in which a new product or significant feature update is introduced to the market. It typically involves a combination of marketing efforts, such as advertising, PR, and promotional events, to generate awareness and drive sales.

📺 Watch this video to see some more examples of the different types of launches.

Fictional Case Study: How AfriTech Solutions Launched

AfriTech Solutions is a fictional education technology (Edtech) company founded by Aisha Nkosi, Kwame Adjei, and Ngozi Eze. Their mission is to improve the education sector in Africa by introducing a personalized learning platform.

AfriTech Solutions just finished building the first version of their minimum viable product (MVP) and wants to test and iterate by launching it to their target users.

To gather initial feedback, AfriTech shared the link to their closed beta website with a few friends from their university with whom they share a Telegram group. They also shared it on their siblings' and cousins' WhatsApp groups for them to try it out. These groups were able to try the platform for free as long as they shared their feedback. This approach helped AfriTech get the initial feedback they needed to improve their MVP.

Encouraged by this initial feedback, the AfriTech team took it a step further — they decided to take their website live and remove it from the closed beta. However, they did not share this website link anywhere publicly because they wanted to make sure the website was stable enough to handle high-traffic visits. A curious person was on Google one day and searched for “Edtech companies in Africa.” This search showed them the AfriTech website as one of the results, and this person clicked on the website link. They were pleasantly surprised to see that it was a platform providing personalized learning! The person was able to sign up on the platform and subscribe to get updates.

Once the AfriTech team started getting a few more subscribers on their website, and as they felt more confident about their website stability, they decided to take things a step further. So, they searched for education forums on LinkedIn and Facebook, joined them, and started posting their website links there, including an introduction of the founders and the mission of the company. They also offered a discount code to the first 20 signups. This not only increased the platform's visibility but also generated discussions and word-of-mouth referrals within the target audience.

🧩 From this example, what type(s) of launch did AfriTech Solutions use?

• Press launch
• Silent launch
• Friends & Family launch
• “Request access” launch
• Online community launch

Planning Your Launch

One Sentence Description

Before you launch, you need a strong one sentence description that clearly communicates your vision and value proposition. A clear idea is the best foundation for growth. Some things to keep in mind when crafting this one-sentence pitch:

• Lead with what, not why
• Remove marketing speak and business jargon. Write as you talk.
• Keep it succinct

Here are some examples of one sentence descriptions that Kibo used for the launch of its degree program back in 2022.

❓ Think about the product or service that you are launching. What is your one-line description? Post it in the padlet below.

Objectives and Success Metrics

When planning your product launch journey, it's essential to define clear objectives and establish measurable success metrics. Objectives provide a roadmap for your launch, guiding your efforts and ensuring alignment with your overall goals. Success metrics are the yardsticks by which you'll measure the effectiveness of your launch. They provide tangible indicators of progress and help evaluate whether your launch objectives have been achieved.

Some objectives could be:

• Achieving a certain number of product sign-ups or pre-orders.
• Securing partnerships or collaborations with other businesses or organizations.
• Gaining media coverage or recognition for your startup and its launch.
• Generating revenue or securing funding to fuel further growth.

Some success metrics could include:

• Number of sign-ups or pre-orders received.
• Amount of revenue generated during the launch phase.
• Engagement metrics such as website traffic, social media interactions, and email open rates.
• Feedback and satisfaction ratings from early adopters or beta testers.

As you prepare for your launch, having clear objectives and success metrics will help you launch with purpose and enable you to focus your resources on activities that will help you achieve your objectives.

Creating Your Launch Plan

A well-crafted launch plan is the cornerstone of a successful launch. It should outline the strategic approach, tactics, and activities necessary to introduce your product to the market effectively. Your launch plan should encompass the entire lifecycle of the launch, from pre-launch preparations to post-launch evaluations.

Key components of a launch plan include:

• Launch objective and success metrics
• Target audience identification: Define your ideal customer profile and tailor your messaging and strategies accordingly.
• Marketing and promotional strategies: Determine the channels and tactics you'll use to create awareness and generate excitement around your product.
• Sales and distribution plan: Outline how you'll make your product available to customers, whether through online platforms, retail stores, or other distribution channels.
• Launch timeline and milestones: Create a timeline with specific tasks and deadlines for each stage of the launch process. Budget allocation: Effectively allocate resources to support various aspects of your launch plan, including marketing, production, and distribution.

You should have some of this information from the user research, business model canvas, and MVP testing results you completed over the last few weeks of the course. The launch plan is really about synthesizing everything and deciding exactly how you want to introduce more people to your product.

How to Handle the Risks and Challenges of Launching

It is essential to anticipate and prepare for potential challenges and risks that may arise during your product launch.

Common challenges include:

• Limited resources and funding constraints.
• Balancing academic commitments with entrepreneurial pursuits.
• Navigating legal and regulatory compliance.
• Overcoming skepticism or skepticism from potential customers or investors.
• Managing expectations and addressing unforeseen setbacks or delays.

To mitigate these challenges and risks effectively, consider:

• Testing and iterating on your product idea with minimal resources.
• Seeking mentorship and guidance from experienced entrepreneurs and your instructors (Don't forget to attend office hours!).
• Prioritizing tasks and focusing on high-impact activities that align with your startup's objectives.
• Building a support network of peers, mentors, and industry professionals who can provide advice, feedback, and encouragement.
• Embracing failure as a natural part of the entrepreneurial journey and learning from setbacks to refine your approach and strategy.

1.4: Let’s Launch

1.5: Assignment

Refining Your MVP: Iterate and Test

Introduction

📺 Watch the following video from your instructor to learn what you will focus on in lesson 6. Note that there is no new content this week. The aim is to give you more time to work on testing and iterating your MVP.

Non-Engagement Risks

If you don’t engage in this lesson fully, here is what could happen to your venture:

• Stagnation in product development, inability to respond to user feedback, leading to a product that fails to evolve with customer needs.

Venture Building Case Study Week 6 - Iterating Based on Feedback

Armed with feedback from the pilot launch, the EduBridge team dives into refining their platform. They categorize feedback into actionable items, prioritizing issues that directly impact user experience. Amina tackles technical glitches, while Tolu rethinks navigation flows that confuse users. Brian revises lesson content for clarity and engagement, and Kwasi analyzes feedback for insights that could improve user retention. This week is a practical exercise in agility and problem-solving as the team iterates on their product, demonstrating the iterative nature of tech development and the importance of user feedback in driving product improvements.

📺 Watch the following video for more on testing and getting user feedback.

Gaining Traction

Introduction

📺 Watch the following video from your instructor to learn what you will study in lesson 7.

Learning Outcomes

After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

• Develop an understanding of customer acquisition channels and their effectiveness for different types of products and markets.
• Learn to create and implement a go-to-market strategy that aligns with the startup's objectives and resources.
• Gain skills in metrics and analytics to measure the success of customer acquisition efforts.
• Understand the importance of customer segmentation and targeting in marketing and sales strategies.
• Start developing a clear and compelling business plan that outlines the startup's vision, strategy, market analysis, and financial projections.

Non-Engagement Risks

If you don’t engage in this lesson fully, here is what could happen to your venture:

• Failure to effectively reach or engage the target market, resulting in low customer acquisition and growth rates.

Venture Building Case Study Week 7 - Spreading the Word

With a continually improving version of EduBridge, the team focuses on expanding their reach. They design a simple marketing campaign, leveraging social media and community networks to share their mission. Kwasi leads the effort to establish partnerships with local educational institutions, while the rest of the team engages with online communities, sharing updates and gathering support. This grassroots approach not only broadens their user base but also fosters a sense of community around EduBridge, illustrating the power of strategic communication and community engagement in building momentum for a social venture.

What is Traction?

Imagine you make the best jollof rice and decide to start a business that makes it. Let’s call the business “Best Jollof.” You have bought your ingredients and opened an online store on Paystack's storefront to start selling this jollof rice to busy professionals during lunch. You’re excited. But there's a problem—Best Jollof’s online store has been live for one week, and no one is placing orders.

This happens in business. Without customers, even if your jollof (or whatever product you have to offer) is the best, the business might still not succeed. That's where "traction" comes in. Traction is like having a lot of orders for your jollof rice in your online store.

What is traction? According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, “Traction is the support or interest that is needed for something to make progress or succeed.”

Founder’s Institute goes further to say that, “Traction refers to the initial progress of a startup and the momentum it builds as it grows. When you have “traction,” you have a clear indicator that your product or service is viable, that you’ve found some level of product/market fit, you’re getting attention from your target audience, and you’re growing your brand.”

Essentially, traction is the early evidence of demand that your product shows to demonstrate that it has the potential to succeed and to grow. It is the sign that shows that your product is good, people want it, and your product is well known. When Best Jollof gains traction, it means people are interested and buying what is available for sale.

So, why is traction important?

One of the top reasons businesses fail is because they don't have enough customers. Traction is the first few people happily buying your product. It shows your business is on the right track. Even before your product is ready, you need to think about how to get people interested and coming back for more.

📺 Watch the following video to learn more about traction.

You can break down traction into 3 key elements:

1. You have a product your target customer likes. Traction shows that your product is something people want.
2. Your target customer has demonstrated that they are willing to pay for this product.
3. Your target customer is talking about your product to other people, and you didn’t have to tell them to.

📺 Watch the following video for more tips on how to gain traction.

Checking In with the EuBridge Team

With the EduBridge platform successfully launched, the team gathered for a post-launch meeting to assess their progress and discuss strategies for creating traction. Amina, leading the meeting, outlined their goal: to increase user engagement and drive adoption of the platform among their target audience of students and educators.

Tolu suggested leveraging social media to spread the word about EduBridge, sharing success stories, testimonials, and user-generated content to showcase the platform's impact. Brian recommended reaching out to educational influencers and organizations for partnerships and collaborations, offering them exclusive access to premium features or content in exchange for promotion. Kwasi proposed hosting virtual workshops and webinars to demonstrate the platform's capabilities and provide valuable insights into educational best practices. To manage resources, the team decides to move forward with Tolu and Brian's ideas.

With a plan in place, the team divided responsibilities and got to work executing their strategy. Amina took charge of managing social media accounts, crafting engaging posts, and monitoring engagement metrics. Tolu reached out to influencers and organizations, pitching collaboration opportunities and negotiating partnerships.

As their traction-building efforts gained steam, the team closely monitored key metrics such as user sign-ups, website traffic, and social media engagement. They analyzed data to identify trends and patterns, refining their strategy based on what resonated most with their audience. Their hard work soon began to pay off as user engagement increased and the platform gained momentum. Social media buzz grew, and influencers began sharing positive reviews. The team received encouraging feedback from users, who expressed appreciation for the platform's impact on their learning experience.

With each new milestone reached, the team felt a renewed sense of purpose and determination to continue pushing forward. They knew that building traction was a continuous effort, but they were committed to making EduBridge the go-to platform for quality education in Africa.

Understanding Traction Channels

So far, we’ve covered what traction means. Let’s go a step further to explore the ways you can get traction for your product. These are called traction channels: the ways you can attract, engage, and retain customers.

In his book Traction, Gabriel Weinberg shares 19 traction channels you can use for this. In this lesson, we'll delve into these traction channels available to startups and how selecting the right channels can significantly impact your business's success. Building a successful venture is hard, and most ventures fail because they can’t gain traction. Therefore, it is important to be intentional about your approach to gaining traction.

Defining Success

Before you learn about the different ways to gain traction, an important first step is to define what traction means for your business. Defining traction starts with understanding your venture's objectives and stage of growth. Whether you're in the early stages of product development or seeking to scale your operations, your definition of traction will evolve accordingly. You can use the following steps to define traction effectively:

Clarify Business Objectives: Begin by clarifying your venture's overarching goals. Are you focused on acquiring customers, generating revenue, achieving product-market fit, or expanding into new markets? Understanding your objectives will inform your definition of traction.

Identify Key Metrics: Determine which metrics are most relevant to measuring progress towards your goals. These may include customer acquisition cost (CAC), customer lifetime value (CLV), monthly recurring revenue (MRR), conversion rates, user engagement, or market share. Choose metrics that align with your business model and growth strategy.

Consider Stage of Growth: Take into account the stage of your startup's development. Early-stage startups may prioritize metrics related to product validation and customer acquisition, while later-stage startups focus on revenue growth, profitability, and scalability. Your definition of traction should reflect the specific challenges and opportunities of your current stage.

Set Specific Goals: Establish clear and measurable goals for each key metric. Define ambitious yet achievable targets within a specified timeframe. For example, set goals to acquire a certain number of customers, achieve a target revenue milestone, or improve user retention rates by a certain percentage.

Select Appropriate Traction Channels and Align Team Efforts: Select traction channels that help you to achieve your specific goals, and use the key metrics to evaluate your progress. Also, ensure that your team is aligned around the defined goals and metrics. Communicate the importance of traction and empower team members to contribute to its achievement.

Case Study: The Pitfalls of Not Defining Traction

Meet EcoSolutions, a clean tech startup dedicated to developing innovative renewable energy solutions. The team at EcoSolutions is passionate about creating a sustainable future by reducing carbon emissions and promoting clean energy adoption.

At EcoSolutions headquarters, the team gathers for a strategy meeting to discuss their traction efforts. The CEO, Ami, kicks off the meeting by emphasizing the importance of gaining traction to attract investors and accelerate the company's growth. However, as the discussion progresses, it becomes evident that the team members have different interpretations of what traction means for EcoSolutions.

Ami believes that traction should be measured primarily in terms of revenue growth. She argues that increasing sales and generating revenue are essential for the long-term sustainability and success of the company. On the other hand, the head of marketing, Alex, argues that building brand awareness and acquiring a large user base should be the primary focus. He suggests investing in social media advertising and influencer partnerships to reach a broader audience.

Meanwhile, the head of product development, Aba, advocates for prioritizing product innovation and customer satisfaction. She believes that developing cutting-edge technology and delivering exceptional customer experiences are key drivers of traction for EcoSolutions. As the debate ensues, it becomes clear that the team lacks alignment on their definition of traction and the appropriate channels to achieve it.

Despite their differing perspectives, the team decides to move forward with a multi-pronged approach to traction. They allocate resources towards various channels, including social media advertising, product development, and attending industry conferences and trade shows. However, as they implement these strategies, they soon realize that their efforts are not yielding the desired results. Months pass, and EcoSolutions continues to struggle to gain traction in the market. While their social media campaigns have generated buzz and increased brand awareness, they have not translated into significant sales. The product development team has launched several new features, but customer adoption remains stagnant. Frustration mounts within the team as they grapple with the disconnect between their efforts and the company's true traction goal of revenue growth.

Finally, Ami calls for a reassessment of their traction strategy. She proposes refocusing their efforts on channels that directly contribute to revenue generation, such as targeted sales outreach and strategic partnerships with industry players. The team agrees to realign their priorities and redirect their resources towards these channels. With a renewed focus on revenue growth, EcoSolutions begins to see positive results.

Traction Channels

Now that you understand why traction is important, let's delve into the different channels you can utilize to build traction for your product.

📺 Watch the following video on Traction Channels

Here are the 19 Traction Channels mentioned in the article and video, along with examples of how they could be used by a fictional fintech startup named KiboWallet.

1. Viral Marketing: This involves creating content that spreads rapidly through word of mouth or online sharing. Example: KiboWallet could launch a viral marketing campaign involving a humorous video about personal finance tips that resonates with millennials and encourages them to share it across social media platforms.

2. Public Relations (PR): PR involves managing the spread of information between a company and the public. Example: KiboWallet could issue press releases highlighting new features or partnerships, aiming to get coverage in financial publications and mainstream media to increase brand awareness.

3. Unconventional Public Relations: This involves creative tactics to generate publicity. Example: KiboWallet could organize a stunt where they set up a pop-up shop in a busy financial district offering free financial advice sessions, garnering attention from passersby and local media.

4. Search Engine Marketing: This encompasses paid advertising on search engines like Google. Example: KiboWallet could bid on keywords related to their services, such as "online budgeting tool," to ensure their website appears at the top of search results when users are looking for financial management solutions.

5. Social and Display Ads: This involves advertising on social media platforms and other websites. Example: KiboWallet could run targeted ads on Facebook and Instagram promoting their mobile banking app to users who have shown interest in personal finance or banking services.

6. Offline Advertising: This includes traditional forms of advertising such as billboards, print ads, and radio spots. Example: KiboWallet could place ads in financial magazines or on public transportation to reach a broad audience of potential customers.

7. Search Engine Optimization (SEO): SEO involves optimizing a website to rank higher in search engine results organically. Example: KiboWallet could create informative blog posts and resources on topics like investing or credit scores to attract organic traffic from users searching for financial advice.

8. Content Marketing: This involves creating valuable content to attract and engage a target audience. Example: KiboWallet could produce educational videos, blog posts, and infographics about financial literacy topics to establish itself as a trusted source of information and attract users to its platform.

9. Email Marketing: This entails sending targeted emails to prospects and customers. Example: KiboWallet could send personalized emails with tips for saving money or notifications about new features to users who have signed up for their service.

10. Engineering as Marketing: This involves creating free tools or resources that demonstrate the value of a company's product or service. Example: KiboWallet could develop a budgeting app calculator that users can access for free on their website, which showcases the benefits of using their full-featured paid app.

11. Targeting Blogs: This involves reaching out to influential blogs in your industry for partnerships or guest posting opportunities. Example: KiboWallet could collaborate with personal finance bloggers to write guest posts about budgeting strategies or investment tips, reaching their audience with relevant content.

12. Business Development: This involves forming partnerships or alliances with other businesses to reach new customers. Example: KiboWallet could partner with a popular budgeting app to offer a discount to their users for signing up for their investment platform, mutually benefiting both companies.

13. Sales: This involves direct selling efforts to acquire customers. Example: KiboWallet could employ a sales team to reach out to small businesses and offer them a demonstration of their accounting software, highlighting how it can streamline their financial processes.

14. Affiliate Programs: This involves incentivizing third parties to promote your product or service in exchange for a commission on sales. Example: KiboWallet could create an affiliate program where financial influencers or bloggers earn a commission for every user they refer who signs up for the company's financial planning tool.

15. Existing Platforms: This involves leveraging established platforms like app stores or marketplaces to reach customers. Example: KiboWallet could optimize its app store listings with relevant keywords and compelling descriptions to increase the visibility and downloads of its budgeting app.

16. Trade Shows: This involves participating in industry-specific events to showcase products or services. Example: KiboWallet could set up a booth at a finance and technology trade show to demo its investment platform and network with potential clients and partners.

17. Offline Events: This involves hosting or sponsoring events in the physical world to engage with customers and prospects. Example: KiboWallet could organize a financial planning workshop or seminar in partnership with a local community center to educate attendees on retirement planning and investment strategies.

18. Speaking Engagements: This involves speaking at conferences, seminars, or webinars to share expertise and build credibility. Example: KiboWallet's CEO could be a keynote speaker at a finance industry conference, discussing the future of digital banking and financial innovation.

19. Community Building: This involves fostering a community around your brand or industry. Example: KiboWallet could create an online forum or social media group where users can share tips, ask questions, and connect with like-minded individuals interested in personal finance management.

🪞 You use many different products in your life and have been exposed to many companies attempting to gain your attention as they build traction for their new products. Reflect on one experience that you found to be particularly good or bad, and share your experience in the padlet below. Be sure to include which traction channel the company used and why you thought it was effective or ineffective.

Testing Traction Channels

📺 Watch the following video on testing traction channels

A key takeaway from the above video is that you don't inherently know which traction channel will take off. Therefore, it is important to adopt an experimental mindset when it comes to traction.

1.3: Choosing the right Traction Channel

1.4: Crafting your Traction Strategy

Structuring and Funding Your Venture

Introduction

📺 Watch the following video from your instructor to learn what you will study in lesson 8.

Learning Outcomes

After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

• Learn about different legal structures for startups and their implications for governance, liability, and taxation.
• Understand the fundamentals of startup financing, including bootstrapping, angel investment, venture capital, and crowdfunding.

Non-Engagement Risks

If you don’t engage in this lesson fully, here is what could happen to your venture:

• Inadequate funding or improper organizational structure, leading to operational challenges, legal issues, or inability to scale.

Venture Building Case Study Week 8 - Formalizing the Venture

As interest in EduBridge grows, the team recognizes the need to formalize their operations. They spend the week researching startup legal structures, intellectual property rights, and the basics of financial management. Kwasi takes the lead, translating complex legal and financial concepts into actionable plans, while the rest of the team contributes to defining roles and operational processes. This transition from an informal project to a structured venture is a critical step, teaching the team the importance of legal and financial planning in ensuring the sustainability and scalability of their social enterprise.

Structuring Your Venture: An Introduction

In this context, structuring a venture means making it a formal entity. It is the next step you take when you want to move your idea from a project or hobby into something that offers value, generates revenue, and is sustainable.

Doing this involves being deliberate about what you want your venture to be, and it is a show of faith that you are invested in your venture for the long haul. The structure you choose for your venture can significantly impact how you operate, what decisions you make, what resources you can get, how to allocate those resources, and how to position yourself in the market, among other things.

📺 To learn more about what it means to structure a venture, watch this video.

Importance of Structuring Your Venture

You might be wondering—I just have an MVP, and I’m a student. Why is it important to think about business structures? Well, if you intend to collect money—either from customers or investors—formalizing your business structure is one way to increase your chances of closing sales and investments. It also provides credibility to what you are building and can protect you, your brand, your partners, customers, and investors.

🪞 Picture this: you applied to Kibo School, and when it was time to pay tuition, you were provided a personal account to pay into. What would your reaction be? Share in the padlet below.

If you are like me, you’ll probably have thought Kibo was not a real school, and you won’t have continued with your application process. This is an illustration of why registering a business is important. Here are a few more reasons to formally structure your venture, including the benefits you get from it:

1. To protect your brand name. So, you’ve thought of a unique name for your product or company as a whole, and you want to start using it publicly. One of the first things you do when formally structuring your venture is to conduct a name search with the regulatory bodies. This ensures that your brand name is not similar to any other product out there. This way, your brand name is unique to you and your product. Can you imagine if Google was not a registered company name, and someone else took their name?
2. Opening a corporate account. It’s important as a venture to separate your venture finances from your personal finances, especially if you’re generating revenue or sourcing for funding. When you want to open this account, any bank will require your registration certificate, which can only be obtained if you have registered your business.
3. Access to funding. If you decide to source funding for your business, your investors will only agree to transfer these funds to a corporate account. Before your investors even decide to give money, they would also want to assess the venture’s structure to see if it is in their best interests. For example, before deciding to invest, angel investors or venture capitalists would want to make sure your venture has enough equity to give them in exchange for their funding or that you have the right limited liability to protect their investment. A well-structured venture gives investors a better understanding of your potential for growth and profitability, making it more attractive for investment. It also has a higher likelihood of attracting external funding that will provide the necessary resources for growth and innovation. Most investors, donors, and grants do not invest in individuals; they invest in businesses.
4. Customer trust and confidence. Being a formal entity enhances your business's reputation to prospective clients. They can better understand the company's potential for growth, profitability, and stability, making it more attractive and trustworthy.
5. Attract good talent and employees. Similar to building customer trust, you want to signal legitimacy so that talented employees are attracted to join your company and contribute to its success.
6. Legal and regulatory compliance. Effective structuring ensures that a business complies with local laws and regulations. This not only mitigates legal risks but also fosters trust among stakeholders, including customers, investors, and regulatory authorities.
7. Business continuity. Imagine you start a venture, and one of your team members decides to leave. Depending on the structure you choose, this doesn't have to affect the entire business.

Understanding the Timing: When to Structure Your Business

Now that you understand what it means to structure a venture and why this is important, you are probably wondering “when” you should structure or register your venture and what types of structure you should consider. We’ll cover that now, starting with the “when.”

The decision to formalize your business involves various factors and depends on the nature of your venture, its growth stage, and your specific goals. While we can provide general guidance, it's important to consider consulting with legal and business professionals for advice tailored to your situation.

With most of the ventures, they start considering structuring their businesses at two key points:

1. When they start receiving payments from customers and
2. When they want to raise funding from investors

This usually happens because most clients, investors, and partners want to know they are doing business with a credible entity that is governed by legal and regulatory compliance before investing, patronizing, or doing business with you. These are not the only times to consider structuring your business. Here are a few other points that can determine when to formalize your venture:

• When You Start Generating Revenue. If your business has reached a point where you are making sales or providing services for compensation, it may be a suitable time to formalize. Establishing a formal structure can provide legal protection, help manage finances, and enhance your professional image.
• When You Begin Taking on Clients or Customers. Interacting with clients or customers introduces a level of responsibility and accountability. Formalizing your business before entering into contracts or agreements can help build trust with clients and protect both parties.
• When Seeking External Funding. If you plan to seek external funding from investors, banks, or other sources, having a formalized business structure is often a prerequisite. Investors typically prefer dealing with businesses that are legally established and have clear structures in place.
• For Legal Protection. Formalizing your business provides legal protection by separating personal and business liabilities. This can shield your personal assets from potential business-related risks and legal issues.
• To Attract Partnerships. If you're considering partnerships with other businesses, having a formal structure can instill confidence in potential partners. It demonstrates that you are serious about your venture and are committed to operating in a professional manner.
• When Hiring Employees. If your business is growing and you are considering hiring employees, formalizing your business becomes crucial. It helps establish employment contracts, adhere to labor laws, and create a structured working environment.
• For Tax Purposes. Formalizing your business allows you to choose a specific legal structure that can have implications for how your business is taxed. It is recommended that you consult with a tax professional to understand what structure best suits your venture.
• When Regulations Require It. Depending on your location and industry, there may be legal requirements or regulations that dictate when and how you should formalize your business. Research the legal requirements in your country and location.
• As You Scale. If your business is experiencing growth and scalability, it becomes increasingly important to have a formal structure in place. This includes clear processes, documentation, and systems to support expansion.

Why these points? Because they indicate moments when external parties, such as customers and investors, are likely to engage with your business. Formalizing your business at these stages provides assurance to partners that they are dealing with a professional and safeguarded entity.

While these examples offer potential milestones for when to transform your venture from an idea to a structured entity, the decision to formalize your business should ultimately align with your comfort level and the stage of development of your venture. Some entrepreneurs choose to formalize early for strategic reasons, while others may wait until certain milestones are achieved.

Types of Business Structure

Whether you’re ready to or not, knowing what types of businesses exist and how to go about structuring them is important knowledge to have when building a venture and considering entrepreneurship. In this section, we will explore the different types of business structures, including their pros and cons, and how to decide which one is right for you.

Types of Business Structures

Here are the 10 types of business structures mentioned in the article, along with an example of an EdTech business that employs that structure:

1. Sole Proprietorship: A business owned and operated by one individual. The owner is personally liable for all debts and obligations of the business.

   • Example: Emeka runs an online tutoring service called "Emeka's Tutoring Academy," where he offers personalized tutoring sessions in various subjects.

2. General Partnership: A business owned by two or more individuals who share management responsibilities and profits. Each partner is personally liable for the business's debts and obligations.

   • Example: Seun and Funmi co-founded "LearnSmart Tech," an EdTech startup that develops educational apps for children.

3. Limited Partnership: This is similar to a general partnership, but with one or more general partners who manage the business and are personally liable and one or more limited partners who contribute capital but have limited liability.

   • Example: ABC Education Fund is a limited partnership that invests in various educational technology companies, providing capital for their growth.

4. Limited Liability Partnership (LLP): A partnership in which partners have limited liability for the actions of the business and the actions of other partners.

   • Example: "TechTutors LLP" is a partnership of professional educators who provide online tutoring services. Each partner is protected from personal liability for the negligence of other partners.

5. C Corporation: A separate legal entity owned by shareholders, a C Corporation provides limited liability to its owners and allows for the issuance of stock.

   • Example: "EduTech Inc." is a publicly traded company that develops software for schools and universities to manage their administrative tasks and facilitate online learning.

6. S Corporation: Similar to a C Corporation but with a more favorable tax treatment and restrictions on ownership.

   • Example: "EduPro Solutions" is an S Corporation that offers professional development courses for teachers and administrators in K-12 schools.

7. Benefit Corporation: A for-profit corporation that is obligated to consider the impact of its decisions on society and the environment in addition to profit.

   • Example: "EcoLearn" is a benefit corporation that creates environmentally conscious educational materials and platforms for schools and homeschoolers.

8. Limited Liability Company (LLC): This is a flexible form of business that provides limited liability to its owners (members) while allowing for pass-through taxation.

   • Example: "SmartEd LLC" develops mobile applications for language learning, catering to both individual learners and educational institutions.

9. Nonprofit: An organization that operates for educational, charitable, scientific, religious, or other socially beneficial purposes. It does not distribute profits to owners.

   • Example: "Learn for All Foundation" is a nonprofit organization that provides free online courses to underserved communities worldwide.

10. Joint Venture: A business arrangement in which two or more parties agree to pool resources for a specific project or period of time.

    • Example: "EdCo Lab" is a joint venture between a university and a technology company to develop innovative educational software for use in classrooms.

Choosing the Right Structure For Your Venture

Some important factors to consider when choosing a business structure are:

1. Flexibility: Different business structures offer varying degrees of flexibility in terms of ownership, management, and operational control. Sole proprietorships and partnerships typically offer the most flexibility, allowing owners to make decisions quickly and without much bureaucratic process. On the other hand, corporations may have more rigid structures due to legal requirements and shareholder oversight.

2. Complexity: Business structures vary in complexity both in terms of formation and ongoing compliance. Sole proprietorships and partnerships are generally simpler to establish and maintain, requiring minimal paperwork and formalities. Corporations, especially C corporations, tend to be more complex due to regulatory requirements, formal meetings, and reporting obligations.

3. Liability: Liability refers to the extent to which business owners are personally responsible for the debts and obligations of the business. Sole proprietorships and partnerships typically offer unlimited liability, meaning owners are personally liable for business debts. Corporations and certain other structures, such as limited liability companies (LLCs), provide limited liability, shielding owners' personal assets from business liabilities in most cases.

4. Taxes: Different business structures are subject to different tax treatments. Sole proprietorships and partnerships are usually taxed as pass-through entities, meaning profits are reported on the owners' personal tax returns. Corporations, however, may be subject to double taxation, where profits are taxed at both the corporate level and again when distributed to shareholders as dividends. Certain structures, like S corporations and LLCs, offer pass-through taxation while still providing liability protection.

5. Control: Control refers to the ability of owners to make decisions regarding the business's operations and direction. In sole proprietorships and partnerships, owners typically have full control over decision-making. In corporations, control is often divided among shareholders, directors, and officers, which can lead to a more complex decision-making process.

6. Capital Investment: Different business structures have different options for raising capital. Corporations, especially publicly traded ones, have access to capital markets and can raise funds by selling shares of stock. Partnerships and sole proprietorships may rely on personal savings or loans to finance operations. LLCs offer flexibility in capital contributions and ownership structure, allowing members to invest varying amounts of capital.

7. Licenses, Permits, and Regulations: The requirements for licenses, permits, and compliance with regulations vary depending on the business structure and industry. Some structures may face fewer regulatory burdens than others. For example, corporations may need to comply with more extensive reporting requirements and corporate governance standards than sole proprietorships or partnerships. Additionally, certain industries may have specific licensing requirements that can impact the choice of business structure.

Evaluation of the different business structures

Explanation of Ratings:

• Flexibility: High flexibility allows for easy adaptation and changes in the business structure.
• Complexity: High complexity involves intricate legal and administrative requirements.
• Liability: Mixed liability indicates varying degrees of personal risk for owners.
• Taxes: High taxes represent significant tax burdens or complexities.
• Control: High control signifies greater authority over decision-making processes.
• Capital Investment: High investment refers to substantial financial commitments.
• Licenses, Permits, and Regulations: High involvement indicates extensive regulatory obligations.

❓ Which business structure do you think is best for your venture, and why? Share your thoughts in the padlet below.

Funding Your Venture

Now that you have an understanding of venture structuring, let’s explore ways to fund your venture.

📺 Watch the following video for an overview of financing options.

📺 Watch the following video to learn about how startup fundraising works.

💭 Discussion: Think of an African startup and share its name and the type of funding you think they have in the padlet below.

Types of Funding

There are different types of venture funding. Below are a few common ones:

1. Bootstrapping (Self-Funding): Bootstrapping involves using personal savings or revenue generated by the business to fund its operations and growth. Example: Founders might use their own savings to cover initial development costs, marketing expenses, and operational overhead until the product gains traction or becomes self-sustainable.

2. Friends and Family: Friends and family provide financial support to the startup in the form of loans or equity investment. Example: Founders might approach their network to invest in the company during its early stages, offering equity in exchange for funding to develop the software, build the team, and launch the product.

3. Crowdfunding: Crowdfunding involves raising small amounts of money from a large number of individuals via online platforms. Example: Founders could launch a crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for product development or gauge market interest in a new feature or service.

4. Accelerators and Incubators: These are programs that provide startups with capital, mentorship, and resources in exchange for equity. Accelerators typically have a fixed-term program aimed at rapidly scaling startups, while incubators offer longer-term support focused on nurturing early-stage companies.

5. Pitch Competitions: Pitch competitions involve startups presenting their business ideas or products to a panel of judges or investors in a competitive format. Winners may receive cash prizes, investment opportunities, or in-kind resources, along with valuable feedback, validation, visibility, and networking opportunities.

6. Grants: Grants are non-repayable funds disbursed by government agencies, corporations, or foundations to support specific projects or activities. Example: Founders could apply for grants to conduct research, develop prototypes, and validate the product in real-world settings.

7. Angel Investors: Angel investors are affluent individuals who provide capital to startups in exchange for ownership equity or convertible debt. Example: Founders might attract angel investors interested in the industry and use the funding to accelerate product development, expand marketing efforts, and hire key personnel.

8. Venture Capital: Venture capital firms invest large sums of money in startups with high growth potential in exchange for equity ownership. Example: Founders could attract venture capital funding to scale the product, enter new markets, and build a robust sales and marketing infrastructure.

9. Debt Financing: This is when companies take out loans or lines of credit from banks, financial institutions, or alternative lenders with the obligation to repay the principal amount plus interest over a specified period. Example: Founders could secure a business loan to finance expansion plans, such as scaling operations, hiring staff, or investing in marketing initiatives.

❓ Discussion: Do you think ventures should always raise external funding? Share your thoughts in the padlet below.

Assignment - Marketing Plan

You can copy the following template to ensure that you don't miss out on any required sections of the report. Marketing Plan

You do not have to use the template, but ensure that whatever format you use includes all the required information as listed in the assignment instructions.

Submission

Submit your marketing plan on Gradescope, and then upload a copy of it to Anchor.

📺 Watch the following video for additional insights into how to think about your marketing strategy.

Pitch Practice and Creating a Business Plan

Introduction

📺 Watch the following video from your instructor to learn what you will study in lesson 9.

Learning Outcomes

After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

• Enhance presentation and storytelling skills to effectively communicate the startup's value proposition to investors and stakeholders.
• Learn to constructively critique and improve business plans and pitches through peer feedback and practice sessions.
• Understand the key components of a successful pitch and how to adapt it for different audiences.

Non-Engagement Risks

If you don’t engage in this lesson fully, here is what could happen to your venture:

• Inability to convincingly pitch the business to stakeholders, resulting in lost opportunities for funding, partnerships, or support.

Venture Building Case Study Week 9 - Preparing to Pitch

The EduBridge team dedicates this week to preparing for their first major pitch to potential funders and partners. They collaboratively craft a narrative that highlights EduBridge's social impact, user feedback, and future potential. Rehearsing their pitch becomes a daily ritual, refining their messaging and delivery to make a compelling case for support. This preparation is not just about securing funding; it's a valuable exercise in storytelling, persuasion, and the art of communication, essential skills for any entrepreneur looking to make an impact.

Prepare Your Pitch Deck (Pitching to Investors)

Entrepreneurs often do not distinguish between an investor pitch and a customer pitch. Although they are both relevant to business growth, they each have different interests at stake. Hence, before discussing the components of a pitch deck, let’s state the difference between both types of pitches.

📺 Watch the following video to learn about the difference between an investor pitch and a customer pitch.

• Investors want to know:
  • What do you do?
  • How far along are you?
  • How big is your market?
  • How will you charge users?
  • What do you know that others don’t?
  • Who is on your team? E.g., founders, competencies, and experiences.

Mastering Your Pitch

Watch the following series of videos on how to master your pitch.

📺 Video 1: Entrepreneurs Suck at Pitching

📺 Video 2: Make Your Introduction Interesting

📺 Video 3: Demonstrate What You Sell

📺 Video 4: Show Me The Money

📺 Video 5: Stick the Landing

How to Develop Your Startup Pitch

❓ What are some common themes in the pitch decks of successful startups? Share your thoughts in the padlet below.

Bonus: Making Your Pitch Deck Look Nice

Practice Your Pitch

Now that you have a pitch deck, it is essential to convey the right message to investors in a simple and clear way. Remember, investors care about their return on investment. However, they need to know that you are the best person for this business, that you know the market, and know your competitive advantage as this is what sets you apart from competitors in the market, and be convinced to invest in your venture. One way to convince them is through storytelling.

📺 Watch the following video to learn how to sell your business through storytelling.

Example Pitches

📺 Healthtracka TechStars Demo Day Pitch

📺 Kibo School GSV Cup Pitch

Pitching/Public Speaking Refresher

Let's spend the rest of this lesson refreshing your memory on some of the key things you learned about presenting in your Communicating for Success class. These public speaking skills are extremely valuable when pitching to investors.

Anxiety Management as a Public Speaker

According to Craig N. Sawchuk, Ph.D., L.P. from the Mayo Clinic,

Public speaking can be a source of anxiety for many people, ranging from slight nervousness to extreme fear and panic. Individuals who suffer from this fear may avoid public speaking situations altogether or struggle through them with shaking hands and a quavering voice.

📺 Watch the video below to learn about how to manage anxiety as a public speaker.

Self-Assessment

📝 Now that you know what to do about anxiety when you are doing public speaking, let’s get you tested and see how well you can manage your anxiety while speaking publicly.

Confidence in Public Speaking

When you're getting ready for a presentation, it's normal to feel overwhelmed. Even if some people seem to be naturally gifted at giving great presentations, it's not an easy task for anyone. But there is always a way to make that better.

📺 Watch the video below to learn about the 3 Ps to becoming more confident as a public speaker.

Other strategies for developing self-confidence can be listening to your favorite music to relax or doing something you like beforehand, wearing a favorite or comfortable outfit, and/or get inspired by a speaker you look up to.

To give a compelling presentation, you need to be in the right state of mind and stay focused. It takes time and mental discipline to pull off a stand-out presentation. With the tips provided, you'll hopefully feel better equipped to prepare and present a powerful speech that you'll be proud of. Keep in mind that building confidence is an ongoing process that becomes easier with practice.

Body Language

We have previously looked at how you can control your anxiety and show self-confidence during your speech. These two elements are important in successfully delivering your speech to the audience. It is equally important to review how your body Language should also align with what you are presenting.

📺 How should I use my body language for my own benefit as a presenter? Watch the video below to learn how you can do that.

Practicing Delivery

Practice, Practice, and Practice a little bit more.

No one can deny that the best way to mastery is practice, and that should be your motto and your first go-to.

These five steps you can use to practice your delivery:

1. Go through your preparation outline aloud to check how what you have written translates into spoken discourse. Is it too long? Too short? Are the main points clear when you speak them? Are the supporting materials distinct, convincing, and interesting? Do the introduction and conclusion come across well? As you answer these questions, revise the speech as needed.

2. Prepare your speaking outline. Use the same visual framework as in the preparation outline. Make sure the speaking outline is easy to read at a glance. Give yourself cues on the outline for delivering the speech.

3. Practice the speech aloud several times using only the speaking outline. Be sure to “talk through” all examples and to recite in full all quotations and statistics. If your speech includes visual aids, use them as you practice. The first couple of times, you will probably forget something or make a mistake, but don’t worry. Keep going and complete the speech as well as you can. Concentrate on gaining control of the ideas; don’t try to learn the speech word for word. After a few tries you should be able to get through the speech extemporaneously with surprising ease.

4. Now begin to polish and refine your delivery. Practice the speech in front of a mirror to check for eye contact and distracting mannerisms. Record the speech to gauge volume, pitch, rate, pauses, and vocal variety. Most importantly, try it out on friends, roommates, family members—anyone who will listen and give you an honest appraisal. Because your speech is designed for people rather than for mirrors or recorders, you need to find out ahead of time how it goes over with people.

5. Give your speech a dress rehearsal under conditions as close as possible to those you will face in class. Some students like to try the speech a couple of times in an empty classroom the day before the speech is due. No matter where you hold your last practice session, you should leave it feeling confident and looking forward to speaking in your class. If this or any practice method is to work, you must start early. Don’t wait until the night before your speech to begin working on delivery. A single practice session—no matter how long—is rarely enough. Allow yourself at least a couple of days, preferably more, to gain command of the speech and its presentation.

Refining Your Business Plan

You should have started working on your business plan back in week 7, but now it is time to refine it in preparation for your final submissions.

As a reminder, here is the business plan template that you should use.

Remember, your business plan should include the following sections:

• Executive Summary
• Company Description
• Problem, Solution, & Market Size
• Product (How it Works)
• Revenue Model
• Operating Model
• Competitive Analysis
• Customer Definition
• Customer Acquisition and Marketing Strategy
• Traction
• Management Team
• Funding

You can review the lesson 7 lesson on What is a business plan? for a refresher on what each of these sections should contain.

Since you started working on your business plan, you have now submitted your Revenue Model and Marketing Strategy. You can feel free to add those sections directly to your business plan draft.

Tips for Refining Your Business Plan

Refining your business plan is a crucial step in the entrepreneurial journey, ensuring that your plan remains relevant, realistic, and aligned with your goals as your business evolves. Here's a systematic approach to refining your business plan:

Gather Feedback: Seek feedback from various stakeholders, including mentors, advisors, industry experts, potential customers, and even competitors. Different perspectives can provide valuable insights and identify blind spots in your plan.

Evaluate Market Conditions: Regularly assess market trends, industry dynamics, and competitor activities. Stay updated on changes in consumer preferences, regulatory environment, technological advancements, and economic conditions that may impact your business.

Analyze Performance Metrics: Review key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics relevant to your business regularly. This includes financial metrics like revenue, expenses, and profitability, as well as operational metrics like customer acquisition cost, retention rate, and conversion rate.

Assess Assumptions: Challenge the assumptions underlying your business plan. Are they still valid? Have market conditions or customer preferences changed? Update your assumptions based on new information and insights gained from experience.

Refine Strategies: Evaluate the effectiveness of your strategies and tactics in achieving your business goals. Identify areas where adjustments or improvements are needed. This may involve refining your marketing and sales strategies, product development roadmap, operational processes, or customer service initiatives.

Review Financial Projections: Regularly review and update your financial projections based on actual performance and changes in assumptions. Adjust revenue forecasts, expense estimates, and cash flow projections as needed to reflect the current business reality.

Stay Flexible: Remain open to adaptation and iteration. The business landscape is dynamic, and unforeseen challenges or opportunities may arise. Be willing to pivot your business model, modify strategies, or explore new markets if necessary to stay competitive and capitalize on emerging trends.

1.4: Assessment

By the end of this week, you should have completed

1. Your venture pitch deck
2. Your business plan

Please submit both documents in your weekly assessment survey to complete this week's course.