Tag: Value Proposition Design

Recommended reading list

Since joining the Rise Up team, have noticed that a lot of students and graduates ask what would I recommend for them to read. Some might be looking for extra references for an assignment, others might want to know more before deciding if entrepreneurship is for them, some are already developing an idea but have gotten a bit stuck with something, and some simply enjoy reading and are naturally curious.

Whatever their motivation, I’m always happy to oblige and offer some recommendations. So I thought I should provide a list through this space and keep it updated as we go forward, so that anyone interested can have a look through it in their own time.

Below you will find a list of my personal favourites, with small descriptions of why I think they’re great and even convenient links to their location at our very own Newcastle University Library system (where applicable).

Value proposition design : how to create products and services customers want
Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, Gregory Bernarda, Alan Smith. 2014
Philip Robinson Books Level 4 (658.4012 OST)

All in startup : launching a new idea when everything is on the line
Diana Kander, Steven Gary Blank. 2014
Available online (from the Newcastle University Library website)

Idea work : lessons of the extraordinary in everyday creativity
Arne Carlsen, Stewart Clegg, Reidar Gjersvik. 2012
Philip Robinson Books Level 4 (658.421 CAR)
Philip Robinson STC Student Texts (658.421 CAR)

This is service design thinking : basics, tools, cases
Marc Stickdorn, Jakob Schneider. 2012
Philip Robinson Books Level 4 (658.562 THI)

Sprint : how to solve big problems and test new ideas in just five days
Jake Knapp, John Zeratsky, Braden Kowitz, Simon Schuster. 2016
Philip Robinson Books Level 4 (658.403 KNA)
Philip Robinson STC Student Texts (658.403 KNA)

The startup owner’s manual. Vol. 1 : the step-by-step guide for building a great company
Steven Gary Blank, Bob Dorf. 2012
Philip Robinson Books Level 4 (658.11 BLA)
Philip Robinson STC Student Texts (658.11 BLA)

The lean startup : how constant innovation creates radically successful businesses
Eric Ries. 2011
Philip Robinson Books Level 4 (658.11 RIE)
Philip Robinson STC Student Texts (658.11 RIE)

Scaling lean : Mastering the key metrics for startup growth
Ash Maurya. 2016
Philip Robinson Books Level 4 (658.11 MAU)

The four steps to the epiphany : successful strategies for products that win
Steven Gary Blank. 2013
Philip Robinson Books Level 4 (658.4012 BLA)
Philip Robinson STC Student Texts (658.4012 BLA)

As always, I hope that’s useful. Do let me know if you want to include any personal favourites of yours and I’ll be very happy to update the list with your contributions.

Happy starting-up!

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Steve Blank’s Tools for Entrepreneurs

You might know Steve Blank as the author of “The Four Steps to the Epiphany” and “The Startup Owners’ Manual”, both recommended reading for anyone thinking about starting their own business. But few of you might know that he is actually less into making tons of money out of his every thought and very much into sharing all kinds of info.

He has, therefore, put together a dedicated part of his website precisely for that purpose. It is basically a repository of links to absolutely everything related to things that entrepreneurs might need along their journey that quite frankly makes me wonder 2 things:

1. Is he trying to compete with Google as a search engine for entrepreneurs? and

2. Why do I even bother trying to create my own repo?

Anyway, visit him here: https://steveblank.com/tools-and-blogs-for-entrepreneurs/ but come back for more great other obscure resources that he hasn’t found out about (yet!)

Cheers!

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Alex Conwan on Venture Design

Alex Conwan's Venture Design Process
  Venture Design Process, Copyright © 2016 Alex Cowan

If applying entrepreneurial theory to real life problems was a super power, Alex Conwan would definitely be a hero. He teaches at UVA Darden’s MBA and is the mastermind behind a free MOOC on Coursera but is not an academic in the traditional strict sense of the word.

What he is, is more akin to a kind of wizard that gathers ingredients from all over and mixes them in his magical cauldron of awesomeness to produce potions that help you create or grow your business.

He has come up with a framework called “Venture Design”, that combines all (my favourite) the best entrepreneurial theories out there (i.e. Lean Start-up, value proposition Design, etc.), with research methods from design thinking and ethnography and transforms them into an incredibly practical set of highly applicable processes, templates and tools that create a clear path for the confused entrepreneur to follow (or any kind of entrepreneur, really).

I’m rubbish at explaining it and super biased because I feel truly inspired by his work, but you can judge by yourselves here: http://www.alexandercowan.com/

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