Introduction to the Lean Startup

This virtual executive course teaches methodologies and provides tools to validate a potential opportunity for any new for-profit or non-profit idea. It is an introduction to cultivating a new idea when you are constrained by human and financial capital, testing your most critical assumptions, finding and speaking with prospective customers and partners, and rapidly iterating ideas based on real customer feedback.

Starting with any new idea (come with your own idea, join classmates to work together on one, or use an instructor-proposed idea), you will learn how to assess the feasibility of the opportunity and learn how to determine if the effort to develop the idea into a business is commensurate with its potential long-term market value. You will achieve this by learning Lean Startup methodologies and tools, including the Business Model Canvas, persona development, customer interviewing techniques, and value proposition development.

During this virtual session you will learn how to get unbiased, “out of the building” feedback from users and customers that will be essential for validating a new idea. You will also learn how to develop an effective elevator pitch that you can use to test your idea with potential investors and get the feedback needed to succeed.

This virtual executive course will also provide you with a resource library of videos, documents, and tools that you can use to launch any new idea, as well as an introduction to the regional startup scene and its vast resources.

Topics Covered:

• Testing market viability and performing customer research
• Assessing the size of the opportunity
• Creating and using a minimum viable product
• Developing a value proposition and elevator pitch