Testing Business Ideas: A Field Guide for Rapid Experimentation

by David J. Bland, Alexander Osterwalder

Overview

A practical guide to effective business model testing

7 out of 10 new products fail to deliver on expectations. Testing Business Ideas aims to reverse that statistic. In the tradition of Alex Osterwalder’s global bestseller Business Model Generation, this practical guide contains a library of hands-on techniques for rapidly testing new business ideas.

Testing Business Ideas explains how systematically testing business ideas dramatically reduces the risk and increases the likelihood of success for any new venture or business project. It builds on the internationally popular Business Model Canvas and Value Proposition Canvas by integrating Assumptions Mapping and other powerful lean startup-style experiments.

Testing Business Ideas uses an engaging 4-color format to:

• Increase the success of any venture and decrease the risk of wasting time, money, and resources on bad ideas
• Close the knowledge gap between strategy and experimentation/validation
• Identify and test your key business assumptions with the Business Model Canvas and Value Proposition Canvas

A definitive field guide to business model testing, this book features practical tips for making major decisions that are not based on intuition and guesses. Testing Business Ideas shows leaders how to encourage an experimentation mindset within their organization and make experimentation a continuous, repeatable process. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781119551447
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	11/12/2019
Series:	The Strategyzer Series , #3
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	7.40(w) x 9.50(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

David J. Bland Author and founder based in Silicon Valley who helps companies find growth using “Lean Startup” methods, design thinking, and business model innovation.

Alex Osterwalder Lead author of the international bestsellers Business Model Generation and Value Proposition Design; #7 on the “Thinkers 50” list; passionate entrepreneur; and in-demand speaker.

Read an Excerpt

Your #1 job as an innovator, entrepreneur, or corporation is to test your business ideas to reduce the risk of failure.

Seven out of ten new products fail to deliver on expectations. Testing Business Ideas aims to reverse that statistic. In the tradition of the global bestseller Business Model Generation, this practical guide contains a library of hands-on techniques for rapidly testing new business ideas.

You’ll learn the process, design your first experiment, and start testing business ideas. If you’re already familiar with testing, you can boost your skills with the extensive library of tests. Lastly, you’ll learn to scale testing systematically in your organization through ceremonies and shared language. It’s time to move past opinions and bulletproof your ideas with evidence today.

Table of Contents

1 Design

Design the Team p. 3

Shape the Idea p. 15

2 Test

Hypothesize p. 27

Experiment p. 41

Learn p. 49

Decide p. 59

Manage p. 65

3 Experiments

Select an Experiment p. 91

Discovery p. 101

Validation p. 231

4 Mindset

Avoid Experiment Pitfalls p. 313

Lead through Experimentation p. 317

Organize for Experiments p. 323

Afterword p. 329