The Lean Startup Approach

Join us in kicking off our Entrepreneurship Workshop Series on Wednesday, October 3 from 12 - 1PM in UC 115.  We’re delighted to announce that we’ll be hosting Stephen Auvil, Senior Vice President for Transfer and Commercialization at the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO).  Stephen will talk to us about the Lean Startup Approach, a process that guides entrepreneurs in discovering the needs of their customers and tailoring products to best fit those needs. If you’re thinking of launching your own business or product and looking for knowledge on your customer base, this is the workshop for you!

The primary reason that businesses fail is because entrepreneurs do not fully understand their market.  It is not sufficient to think you know who your customers are.  You need to validate your customers and fully understand the value that your business will provide.  You also need to know how your customers will learn and get access to your product and what partners you will need in the operations of your business.  The Lean Startup Approach is an iterative process that guides entrepreneurs to efficiently discover the true needs of their customers and to tailor products to best fit those needs.  This talk will provide a general overview of the Lean Startup Approach and present one of the key tools used in this approach – the Business Model Canvas.