“One exec said to us: ‘My tractor costs about $100K, and together with all the other stuff that goes with it, it’s $200–300,000. Like everyone else they talked to about autonomous lawnmowers, this group was universally unimpressed with the idea. If you ask the right questions to these people and listen carefully, you might learn something you didn’t already know.Īs part of their customer development process, Jorge and Lee crossed paths with some big farmers and agribusiness execs. One positive side effect of doing customer development is that it puts you in front of a lot of different, well-placed people. The second major benefit of lean development was just around the corner. The first major benefit of lean startup development had just demonstrated itself: Jorge and Lee discovered that their autonomous lawnmower idea was a bad one before diving headfirst into product development and crashing hard into a market that didn’t exist. This is not a good business.’ It was a resounding no.” Almost everyone immediately said ‘we do not want this product. They learned pretty fast.Īs Lee says, “We went through and interviewed customers in each one of our target segments. This means talking to potential customers in depth to uncover their most urgent business problems and whether or not they like your proposed solution.īlue River’s team was cautiously excited and optimistic when they reached out to their network and went out into the world with their autonomous lawnmower idea.įortunately, Lee and Jorge are smart guys. They came up with golf courses, football stadiums, parks and recreation departments, and consumers.Īfter building out your Business Model Canvas, the next step is customer development. On their original canvas, Jorge, Lee, and the rest of team defined a handful of potential market segments that might be interested in a lawnmower that drives itself. What are you going to be selling? To whom, exactly? What is your value proposition for them? Why would they buy it? Who would be the key partners? What about vendors and suppliers?
The early stage of this process involves building a “ Business Model Canvas,” on which you draw a large grid and list out every single core assumption you’re making about your product and the market you’re going to sell it to: Get that MVP into customers’ hands as quickly as possible.
Take what they learn and pivot their concept until it resembles something the market wants, keeping lines of communication with customers going at all times.Go into the market to test those assumptions by talking to potential customers, suppliers, vendors, and technologists.List out all of their core assumptions about the market for it.Over 10 weeks, Blank’s class - which Blank teaches at both Stanford and Berkeley - walks its students through a practical implementation of his famous lean methodology. Thankfully, learning that your initial idea is terrible was in many ways the point. “We knew that no one was going to spend tens-of-thousands of dollars to automate one person’s job,” Blank says, “It was a bad idea, but we couldn’t tell them that. When co-founders Jorge Heraud and Lee Redden first pitched this idea in front of Steve Blank’s Launchpad class at Stanford, Blank was sitting in the back, quietly laughing to himself. Uncover the secrets of the Happy’s Humble Burger Farm franchise, Obscura Biotech, and your very existence.Before Blue River brought its market-leading agricultural robot to market, its founders planned to build an autonomous lawnmower. Chaotic Restaurant Event System - put out fires, take out the trash, get those rats!.
Upgrade your restaurant to make your job even easier!.State of the art restaurant management simulation! Cook food, fill drinks, and serve customers!.TRUST US.īut hey, you’ll do fine! Just as long as you don’t upset Happy, you’ll do great! We believe in you! let’s just say Happy the Humble Heifer isn’t as joyful when the customers are upset. If you get three of those infractions, well. If you give customers the wrong order, or take too long, it’ll count as an infraction. When each customer makes an order, it’s up to you to make a plan and execute it well. I hear rumors of Happy-Dogs and desserts in the near future, too! The fries and salmon nugs are also a big hit. The customers sure do love the menu they can’t get enough of the Happy’s Deluxe, Fantastic Fowl, and Poppin’ Pork sandwiches. You’ll be grilling patties, operating deep fryers, and pouring drinks at our quiet restaurant on the edge of town. Congratulations! You’ve just been hired to work the night shift! You’ll be all by yourself, we trust you can handle it…