The Lean Canvas

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This is a summary of The Lean Canvas lecture by Yusuf Aria Putera (CVM Lead)

Imagine… you put your heart and soul to create a cool product

Then you realized that it doesn’t solve any problem

And nobody wants it

9 out of 10 Startup fail

The #1 reason is that they build a product that nobody wants

and doesn’t solve any problem in the market.

To overcome this we need to build the right products.

What’s the right product?

It has a 3 core concept of fuv… (whut?)

Feasible

It means we can build the product with our current resources available

Usable

It means the product is solving the user’s problem and they can use it easily

Valuable

It means the product brings not only value for the user but also for the company’s needs (e.g. bring profit)

Your product should be here

Ok, now that’s what the right product looks like.

Then…

How do we create the right product?

Well actually not only the product

but the entire business

because we don’t just create a product mindlessly

But also to consider every other aspect such as the problem it solves, the customer segment, the value proposition, and so on.

The tool that favors us is called 🎨Lean Canvas

🎨

Lean Canvas is a start-up version of the business model canvas

While the business model canvas breaks down ideas into crucial elements.

The lean canvas adopt it to help validate ideas from essential data

to make sure we build the right things.

How to use the 🎨Lean Canvas?

So, it contains 9 essential aspects that relate to each other.

The lean canvas is filled by an order.

Start with your target customer.

1️⃣

Customer Segments

Business is solving a problem. Your product will solve people’s problems.

Who will you help with your product?

Not targeting everybody but be specific.

Define your customer segments before we dive into the problem they have.

After you list your customer segments.

Then we look at problems they might have

2️⃣

Problem

Not your business problem, but your target customer’s problem

What is the thing that holds them back now?

Maybe it is some pricy stuff, a lengthy procedure,

or other difficulties that they experience.

List the top 3 problems of your customer

How to spot a real problem?

If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses

-Henry Ford (🌐elite global)

The 5 Whys

deep dive into their root problem by asking 5 why question

differentiate what user wants and needs

Also, there are Existing Alternatives section at the bottom

It means the current competitor that solves and targets the same problem/segments

and what’s the customer commonly uses to solve the problem

Then we move to the next section of Lean Canvas

3️⃣

Revenue Streams

What will we expect to become our sources of income

for our company, through our products or the other.

If it doesn’t bring revenue, it will be hard to strive as a business.

Revenue can be a subscription, one-time payment, or even a referral.

Think about every possibility that can bring the revenue.

4️⃣

Solution

This is what our product will come as

After we have clarity on the customer segments and the problem they have

Now we will list the top 3 solution

That can solve their top 3 problem

The solution should be concrete, so we can get the bigger picture

of what our product will look like

to solve those problems

There is also Alternate Problem-Solution

It is a concept of thinking about the solution from a different perspective

If we usually increase something to solve the problem (e.g. faster lift)

we might try to decrease something that can help too (e.g. put a mirror to decrease the boring level)

After the solution is defined, move on to the next

5️⃣

Unique Value Proposition

What will make the customer want to buy our product?

UVP should be enticing the differentiation between our and the other

It can be a unique feature, an amazing benefit, or even a user-friendly interface.

Think of what will make the customer become interested and want to try

At the bottom of UVP, there is a High-Level Concept

it is a statement that concludes our product in 1 sentence.

The high-level concept should be easy to understand.

What the product is about…at a glance

6️⃣

Channels

How will we reach our customers?

Channels define the path for our products to be used by the customer

Either through digital, offline, social media, or even collaboration.

List of the possible way to reach our customer

7️⃣

Key Metrics

What’s success look like? what are the criteria for it?

Key metrics define the most important thing to pursue in your business

that measures success.

(e.g. a monthly active user)

8️⃣

Cost Structure

What did it cost to build our solution?

the common are fixed costs like salary and office bills

then the variable costs like tech-stack, and infrastructure (cloud, storage, hosting, etc.)

marketing cost can add to if your products need traction from paid advertising

Last but not least

9️⃣

Unfair Advantages

Probably one of the most important aspects…no?

because the business will become very competitive in the market

but UA will keep the competition become irrelevant

💫

Unfair Advantages simply the things that make your business or product can’t be copied by the others

it can be in form of the loyal audiences you have built, the partnership from strong entities, or support from the government.

Another company that tries to copy your product and model will not surpass you

because of the strong UA that you have.

Now, you have clarity over your product.

And a bigger picture of what your business will look like

After you define your product, how to address your market size?

Remember tamsamsom (what is this mantra 👺)

TAM

Total Addressable Market

how many people are actually on this market for your product

SAM

Serviceable Available market

how many people can use your product on the market with this business model

SOM

Serviceable Obtainable Market

how many people that we can obtain to use your product from the portion of SAM

Bonus

⚠️

Common Mistakes

Defining problem as a business problem (should be the user problem)

The canvas is not relatable to each other (aspects should sync on the canvas)

High-Level Concept is not a marketing tagline (summarize our product in 1 sentence)

Unfair Advantages can be easily copied (should be strong enough to compete)

Hey, you have made it this far!🙌

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