Business Model Canvas — the Playbook

I’ve recently been finding myself referring more than a few entrepreneurs who are just building their startups to take a look at the various posts I’ve written about the business model canvas and finding a product marketing fit.

To help them out, and in the name of clarity and convenience, I’ve decided to gather all the various sources into this post, and i’ve also written them down in the order I suggest you read them in, if you wish to learn and practice this method.

My suggestions to learning and practicing the method:

1. Reading — I advise you start with the two background reading posts i’ve listed below:
   - How to build a business plan for your startup — The Lean Business Model Canvas
   - Identifying the customer and finding a product market fit
2. The video course (free) — After the reading, watch Steve Blank’s free video course, which explains every step in the method — This course is comprised of short 5 min videos.
   The course is 5 hours in total (although the video player settings can be modified for 2x speed viewing). I strongly recommend entrepreneurs to take this course.
3. Practice — After getting familiar with the method, the most important take away is to take a pen and paper and start practicing.
   In my view, the most important part of the method is to focus all your efforts on the value proposition canvas. In the name of practice and the successful completion of this report, it’s best to work paragraph by paragraph with the 38 assisting questions.

Questions to help guide you through the process:

• 38 Questions that will help you find your Startup Product Market Fit
• 50 questions to help you build your startup business plan with the business model canvas

Work files

• Canvas page download (PDF)
• Customer profile and value proposal page download (PDF)
• Ad-Lib Value Proposition Template (PDF)
• My Google Slides Business Model Canvas template (with questions) to help you add digital sticky notes as a team and to keep the history from the various canvassing you’ve done
• Strategyzer.com — The method website

Media and resources

• Steve Blank’s free video course that explains every step in the method [Free Online Course]
• Short overview video on the method

• Video series overview on the method

• My Workshop slides on building a business plan for startups & entrepreneurs — My Presentation

Click to play my slideshow