Disciplined Entrepreneurship: An Alternative to Lean LaunchPad?

Kramer WininghamProgram Manager, Studio G

Arrowhead Center at New Mexico State UniversityMarch 21st, 2014

Open Conference 2015

Abstract

● Studio G used Lean LaunchPad to coach and mentor student entrepreneurs for two years.○ Encountered challenges○ Pivoted to MIT’s Disciplined Entrepreneurship○ Learned interesting aspects about both curriculums○ Wanted to share our experiences to help others using these

curriculums to teach entrepreneurship.

Introduction

● Studio G is New Mexico State University’s student incubator.● Offered through Arrowhead Center, New Mexico State

University’s Economic Development Arm.■ 35 active student businesses currently in Studio G■ Work with about 75 new student entrepreneurs

annually■ Mentorship provided by staff, student employees, and

enterprise advisors

Background

● Studio G’s Mission:○ Help Aggies Start Businesses

● Goal is to get clients generating revenue as quickly as possible● Current staffing for Studio G (4)

○ Manager - full-time staff○ Coordinator - part-time staff○ Two graduate assistants

● Shared space, more of a community than a true incubator● Free to students and recent alumni

Background (cont.)

Entrepreneurship curriculums were implemented into Studio G programming for two primary reasons:1. To avoid reinventing the wheel by utilizing well-regarded

methodologies.2. To provide a consistent structure for advisement to all clients from

all mentors.

Background (cont.)

In our program the curriculum needed to be able to:● Train new student entrepreneurs● Train student employees to guide, coach, consult, and advise

student entrepreneurs AND provide the tools to succeed doing so.

Structure

● Case Study - Lean LaunchPad & Disciplined Entrepreneurship○ Introduction○ Implementation○ Feedback & Observations○ Advantages○ Disadvantages

Lean LaunchPadCase Study

Case Study: Lean LaunchPadOverview

● Lean LaunchPad or Evidence-based Entrepreneurship consists of three parts:○ The Customer Development Model○ Business Model Canvas○ Agile Engineering

● And four steps○ Customer Discovery○ Customer Validation○ Customer Creation○ Company Building

● Goal: Find a repeatable scalable business model based on customer insights

Case Study: Lean LaunchPadImplementation

● Business Model Canvas○ Talking point/progress tracker in mentor meetings to quickly convey progress

and status.● Hypothesis testing

○ The concept of validating assumptions made by the startup through customer insights.

● Startup Owner’s Manual distribution and adoption in classes in the College of Engineering○ Helped disseminate details about Lean Launch

● Design Thinking training○ Empathy maps, customer insights, etc.

Case Study: Lean LaunchPadFeedback & Observations

● Appealing to students● Made entrepreneurship accessible and easier than traditional business planning● Helped grow the entrepreneurial culture at NMSU substantially● Dramatically increased participation in Studio G, particularly from College of

Engineering

Case Study: Lean LaunchPadFeedback & Observations

● Business Model Canvas was most effective as a strategy guide for formulating and validating hypotheses.○ Often became a brainstorming tool - this was a disaster

■ Became overwhelming for clients. Narrowing component extremely important, needed to be emphasized to mentors.

● Two primary problems○ Clients and Mentors lacked a broader vision. They knew their next steps, but

not where they were going in a “big picture” sense.○ Brainstorming using a Business Model Canvas clouded focus and produced

“laundry lists” that felt like “homework” to the clients.

Case Study: Lean LaunchPadFeedback & Observations

● Difficult to formulate a mission and vision when clients were waiting for customers to identify what their mission and vision should be.

● Successful clients came in with a clear idea and vision and were undeterred by major pivots.○ Iterations helped helped refine the idea, but the idea remained.

● Pivots are dangerous○ Canvas should be used to refine, not redirect.

Case Study: Lean LaunchPadAdvantages

● Made entrepreneurship more appealing and accessible.● Improved culture of entrepreneurship through ease of access.

Disadvantages● Failed to provide sound methodology for focusing client

activities.● Lack of focus/direction eventually overwhelmed some clients.● Not enough guidance for new entrepreneurs to manage

uncertainty inherent to entrepreneurship.

Disciplined EntrepreneurshipCase Study

Case Study: Disciplined EntrepreneurshipOverviewDeveloped by Bill Aulet from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Covers six basic themes:1. Who is your customer?2. What can you do for your customer?3. How does your customer acquire your product?4. How do you make money off your product?5. How do you design and build your product?6. How do you scale your business? Underlying these six themes are 24 steps that walk through the validation and development of a business.

Case Study: Disciplined EntrepreneurshipOverview

Disciplined Entrepreneurship builds on Lean LaunchPad, and also draws a heavy influence from Geoffrey Moore’s Crossing the Chasm and other well-known entrepreneurship books.

Case Study: Disciplined EntrepreneurshipImplementation

● Adopted as consulting methodology in June 2014● Implemented through a deep dive by all student mentors

○ Eight 15-minute presentation covering 3 steps○ Covered all 24 steps in a two-hour block with staff, mentors and clients

● Offered as client curriculum by August 2014● Developed 1-page modules for each of the 24 steps.● Began a Networking Hour with regular presentations on Disciplined

Entrepreneurship

Case Study: Disciplined EntrepreneurshipFeedback & Observations

● Received positively because clients were eager for more guidance and structure than provided by Lean LaunchPad.

● Excelled as a standalone teaching tool○ Each step contained concrete and valuable business lessons

● Encouraged focus and refinement○ Increased certainty○ Helped clients get out of the brainstorming phase quickly to

focus on making their idea real.

Case Study: Disciplined EntrepreneurshipAdvantages

● Focus was emphasized as a key principle and encouraged from the beginning of the process.

● Each step provided concrete and valuable principles that offered sound guidance to mentors and entrepreneurs.

● Adaptable and applicable to a wide variety of businesses.

Case Study: Disciplined EntrepreneurshipDisadvantages

● Formal curriculum progress is difficult because there is not Business Model Canvas tool for Disciplined Entrepreneurship. Worksheets had to be developed for each step to guide formal progress.

Takeaways● Lean LaunchPad is very effective for making entrepreneurship accessible. ● As a standalone curriculum our new entrepreneurs struggled due to lack of

focus and direction.● Disciplined Entrepreneurship’s emphasis on focus and reducing ideas to

concrete actions addressed many of these challenges for our new entrepreneurs.

● In the experience of Studio G, student entrepreneurs have responded well to the structure and principles of Disciplined Entrepreneurship.

Questions/Comments?

Kramer WininghamArrowhead Center at New Mexico State University

(575) 646-7151jkramer@nmsu.edu