Helping passionate entrepreneurs around the world practice customer development and validation techniques. Made possible by VentureHive.co and Microsoft Innovation Centers in Nepal, Armenia, Chile, and Iran.

1. @adamberk
Entrepreneurial Science For Startups
AKA “Lean Startup” (a trademark owned by @ericries)
A MINIMUM VIABLE SLIDE DECK
PREPARED FOR
“Entrepreneurs in Chile, Armenia, Nepal, &
Pakistan with an idea to change the world who are
willing to experiment to see if the world wants to be
changed”.
BY

3. I am an
entrepreneur
because ….
take a photo and tweet #DEccelerate

4. The most
annoying
thing that
happenedtoday… this this week…
(not related to your startup)

7. Scientists do not coddle
ideas. They crash test
them. They run them
into a brick wall at sixty
miles per hour. If the
idea is sound the pieces
will be of the wall.

8. “Yeah runnin' down a dream
That never would come to me
Workin' on a mystery, goin' wherever it leads
Runnin' down a dream.”
-Tom Petty (rock n roll singer)

9. THINK.TEST.PROVE.
Prove Wrong? Think different
Prove Right? Think BIGGER
-aa-ALBERT EINSTEIN
just kidding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)

10. Good idea?
Who cares!

11. No really,
Who cares?

12. Good idea?
Prove it!

13. UNTIL THEN

14. What
PROBLEM
are you
solving!?

19. Test the
riskiest
ones
first

20. Test Demand NOT SUPPLY

21. Isolate your variables and
assumptions
test them independently

24. You do not
know HOW you
did it until you
KNOW how to
do it again.

26. PERFECTION
is achieved
NOT when there is nothing left
to A D D ,
BT WHN THRE IS
NTHING LFT TO
TAKE AWY

28. If you
cannot
explain it
simply,
you
do not
UNDERSTAND IT
well enough.
<<< That guy

29. If you think your customer segment is
MILLENNIALS, YOUNG PROFESSIONALS,
EVERYONE, SMBs, MULTIPLE ACTORS, YOUR
MENTORS, PEOPLE WHO HAVE A VESTED
INTEREST IN BUILDING YOUR SOLUTION (added
after the webinar) FRIENDS, FAMILY,
you do not
UNDERSTAND IT
well enough.
<<< That guy

30. If you think the problem you are
solving is
LACK OF TIME, LACK OF
MONEY, LACK OF CUSTOMERS,
LACK OF YOUR SOLUTION,
you do
not
UNDERSTAND IT
well enough.
<<< That guy

31. “Do things that
don't scale”
-Paul Graham

33. Someone in this program, (maybe
EVERYONE) is my next case study…
Until then…
http://www.quora.com/What-are-some-
good-examples-of-global-companies-
who-started-small-doing-just-one-thing-
solving-just-one-problem-for-a-specific-
customer-and-eventually-grew-huge

35. “I want to solve
this problem
for this person,
because”
-You

36. PITCH

37. Customer Development
Problem/Customer fit. No solutions

38. The BEST
place to start is
SOMEWHERE.

39. FACTS
vs
PROBLEMSyou cannot solve a fact
learn the difference

40. AN EARLY
ADOPTER TELLS
YOU THEIR
PROBLEM BEFORE
YOU TELL THEM

41. YOUR JOB is to find
someone to go first.
Not to SAY they will go
first, but to go first.

43. It is no coincidence that
the diffusion of
innovation curve…
looks
like a crow bar.

45. HEADACHE
PROBLEMS
VS
MIGRAINE
PROBLEMS
say hi to @dianakander and ask her about her dog (and watch her
talks online)

46. say hi to @dianakander on twitter, and ask
her about her dog - then watch more of her
brilliant talks

49. CUSTOMERS
have multiple
PROBLEMS PROBLEMS
have multiple
SOLUTIONS SOLUTIONS
SOLUTIONS SOLUTIONS
SOLUTIONS SOLUTIONS
SOLUTIONS SOLUTIONS

55. Cure tunnel vision

56. Don't let your idea...

57. Get out
of your comfort zone

58. GOOB
(credit, Steve Blank)

59. Pull
don't push - it's harder than it seems.

60. PAST
not future

61. LISTEN
do you hear that? you have 2 ears and only
one mouth for a reason. Listen at least 2x as
much as you talk.

62. PRACTICE
Do you get junk mail? How many loyalty
cards do you have? How did you find this
restaurant?

63. PRACTICE

64. STOP
Do not ask for $, do not write code… UNTIL

65. They may not know WHAT they want,
but they have to want SOMETHING

66. tweet “hey @kevinpmarra you were right they are not milkshakes,
but it’s not froyo”

67. tweet “hey @claychristensen, milkshake marketing is brilliant #jtbd”

68. tweet “hey @claychristensen, milkshake
marketing is brilliant #jtbd #313problems”
JTBD… video
games
GO (exercise)

69. Don't build this.

70. OR THIS
if you build without testing, you are probably
building the wrong thing...

71. NO SURVEYS
NO SOLUTIONS
NO FOCUS GROUPS
NO EXCUSES
NO WOULD
NO FRIENDS
NO FUTURE
NO “CONVINCING” (NEPAL:)
NO B2B2BS

72. NOsolutions,
selling, friends,
family, surveys

73. NO
RECAP
1. LEAN = run experiments
waste less
2. WHY custdev = learn
problem, prove problem, to
find bigger problem, to
3. HOW custdev = just do it. In
person. No solutions. No
would

74. NO
YOUR JOB
Talk to the customers stated
in your final customer
segment box within 7 days.
B2B 10 total 4 per person
B2C 25 total or 10 per person

75. NO
END. MODULE ONE.
Talk to the customers stated
in your final customer
segment box within 7 days.
B2B 10 total 4 per person
B2C 25 total or 10 per person

77. @dianakander @trikro @lissijean
@Justin_Wilcox @unbounce
@customer_ninja @AlleyNYC
@sgblank @ericries @paulg @danariely
@fakegrimlock @claychristensen

78. NO
END. MODULE ONE.
Talk to the customers stated
in your final customer
segment box within 7 days.
B2B 10 total 4 per person
B2C 25 total or 10 per person

80. Embrace constraint. Then iterate!

81. Don’t get lucky, get good.

85. Unbounce

86. I am unique because…
I am valuable because…
My startup is unique because…
My startup is valuable because...

87. SUPPLY
&
DEMAND

88. Deliver value.
Deliver Solution (Manually). Learn. {period}

89. “I make money using my
brains and lose money
listening to my heart. But in
the long run my books
balance pretty well.”
-Kate Seredy

90. “If you are not
embarrassed by the first
version of your product,
you shipped too late.”
-Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn)

91. “To do good,
you actually have to do
something.”
-Yvon Chouinard (Patagonia Founder)

92. “it turns out that focus is so
important, even if you pick
the wrong focus you're doing
better!” BILL GROSS
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gross-lessons-2011-12?op=1#ixzz2gO4zcdIJ

93. “Do things that
don't scale”
-Paul Graham

94. “If you can’t get them to
adopt your idea with high-
touch, face-to- face service,
they will not buy into your
cold web page.”
-Manuel Rosso

95. “Do the least that
gets you to the end
instead of the most
that gets you to the
beginning”
-ab

97. Thejourneyofsolvingaproblemforamillioncustomersstartswithasingleprobleminterview...

101. Manual

102. NO
harm,
copyright
infringement,
building,
adwords

103. Thank you!
adam@neighborrow.com
@adamberk

105. THE END

106. Science. Economics.
Supply & Demand
Opportunity cost.

107. Thank me?
Send feedback to
adam@neighborrow.com
@adamberk
or send an entrepreneur to my
next event in Paris or Kansas
City.

108. I PROMISE…
If you do 10 interviews and
share them here bit.
ly/milvalchal, you have a
mentor for life

109. @adamberk
@dianakander
@lesamitchell
@jacksonlindauer
@anitabnewton
@ryanabennett
@nathankurtz
@ArielMediaKC
We are here to help :)

110. Test the riskiest things first

111. Feasible. Desirable. Viable.
Just because it is feasible
does not mean it is desirable.
Almost everything that is
desirable and feasible is viable

113. what if the
bottleneck
is at the bottom?