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HOW TO CREATE YOUR LEAN CANVAS
Capture your business model in a portable 1-page diagram. The Lean
Canvas is the perfect format for brainstorming possible business models,
prioritizing where to start, and tracking ongoing learning.
The best way to illustrate the use of the canvas is through an example. I’ll
describe the thought process that went into building a Lean Canvas for the
companionbusiness model hypotheses testing tool - also called Lean
Canvas.

Brainstorm Possible Customers
Sketch Multiple Lean Canvases
Prioritize Where to Start

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HOW TO CREATE YOUR LEAN CANVAS

B rainstorm Possible Customers

You most likely already have an inkling of the problem, solution, and
customer in mind. Start by brainstorming the list of possible customers you
envision usingyour product.
1. Distinguish between customers and users
If you have multiple user roles in your product, identify customers.
A customer is a someone that pays for your product.

2. Split broad customer segments into smaller ones
I’ve worked with startups that felt the problems they are solving are so
universal, they apply to everyone.
You can’t effectively build, design, and position aproduct for everyone.

While you might be aiming to build a mainstream product, you need to
start with a specific customer in mind. Even Facebook, with it’s now 500
million+ users started with a specific user in mind - Harvard college
students.
3. Sketch a Lean Canvas for each customer segment
As you’ll find shortly, the elements of your business model can and will vary
greatly by customersegment. I recommend starting with the top 2-3
customer segments you feel you understand the best or find most
promising.

RUNNING LEAN

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Case-study: Lean Canvas
Background
In the course of applying Customer Development and Lean Startup principles to
my products, I inevitably needed to document my business model hypotheses. I
started with the worksheets at the end of Steve Blank’sbook: “The Four Steps to
the Epiphany”.
While this was a great exercise, the output was a collection of documents and
spreadsheets that become hard to manage and share with other team members over
time. I then ran into Alex Osterwalder’s work on Business Model Canvas. While I
really liked the portability and clarity of a 1-page business model, I found some of
his canvas elements too general andstarted toying with an adaptation that
eventually became the Lean Canvas. The scope of the problems I was addressing
also grew from just documenting hypotheses, to measuring and communicating
progress over time.
When I started, I envisioned the Lean Canvas being a replacement for worksheets
and business plans which led to the following “possible customers” brainstorm list:
Really broadcategory: Anyone that uses a business plan today
More Specific Possible Customers:
1. Startup founders (bootstrapped, funded)
2. Startup accelerators
3. Investors (Angels, VC)
4. Large companies
Since this was a “scratch my own itch” kind of problem, I decided to build my first
Lean Canvas for startup founders.

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HOW TO CREATE YOUR LEAN CANVAS

S ketch Multiple Lean Canvases

In thissection, I’ll outline the process for sketching a Lean Canvas.
1. Sketch a canvas in one sitting
While a business plan can take weeks or months to write, your initial
canvas should be sketched quickly.
2. It’s okay to leave sections blank
Rather than trying to research or debate the “right” answers, put something
down quickly or leave it blank and come back to it later. Some elements like“Unfair Advantage” take time to figure out. The canvas is meant to be an
organic document that evolves over time and it’s okay to say “I don’t know”.
3. Think in the present
Business plans try too hard to predict the future which is impossible.
Instead, write your canvas with a “getting things done” attitude. Based on
your current stage and what you know right now, what are the next set of...