Start-up Modeling @ Nazareth

Hey all,

I was fortunate enough to connect with Chen Weinstein, Head of Entrepreneurship and Incubation at StarTau who got me in touch with a Nazdiv, a Nazareth-based business incubation center. They run a program for entrepreneurs from Nazareth and the surrounding area and they needed someone to run a workshop on the Business Model Canvas.

How cool! I always love helping upcoming entrepreneurs get their business models in order and crystallize their go-to-market strategy. niche, niche, niche, that's what I always say. This time around, I got to work with awesome people from Nazareth, a beautiful city I don't remember ever visiting. It was a small group of about 9 guys, all with very interesting ideas, focusing primarily on the tourism and the transport industries.

Business Models

I split the workshop into two parts. The 1st part included a high-level overview of some basic marketing concepts followed by a drill-down of some common business models. This always sparks a discussion re: the meaning of a business model and the number of models known companies use.

The Lean Canvas Workshop

After the break, I used Uber as a test case for understanding the key concepts of the Lean Canvas. I populated a sample Lean Canvas together with the group.

I then gave the group 20 minutes to prepare their own canvas before picking one to discuss together with the group. I noticed one guy at the back who wasn't sure how to fill out the canvas. I decided to use his idea as the example for the group.

Finding The Niche

As I always say, niche, niche, niche, while guiding the group to expand their thinking, it became an easy task to extend the customer segments and the acquisition / marketing channels.

The next step from here is to create a few additional canvases, each covering a specific segment or sub-segment. The goal is to find the best niche to get started with. One should be careful to not create too many actors (dimensions) to the model, as this would increase the risk of providing a good quality product that fits the user's / customers' needs.

See you next time. I have scheduled another session on the 31st of March, 2015 to review the homework I gave the entrepreneurs. Their task was to identify the best niche to start with using the Lean Canvas as the guide.

T