THE VIEW FROM TAFT
The lean start-up method aims to reduce business constraints and develop more “Filipinnovators.”
Energy, and Emerging Technology Research and Development ( DoST- PCIEERD), De La Salle University Manila ( DLSU), Research Triangle Institute ( RTI International), and the George Washington University (GWU) — launched a four-week, part-time experiential program on Feb. 19, at DLSU for DoST- funded researchers.
Based on the Lean Start- up Model of Stanford University, the Filipinnovation Entrepreneurship Corps Lean Start- up Training Program is an iterative process that aims “to obtain realworld learnings and insights that validate key components of the business model of a research project or product.”
According to Dr. Richard Abendan of RTI International, “it will also enable teams to determine the commercial readiness of their research, decide on whether the innovation warrants further efforts to bring to market, and develop a transition plan to bring it to market.”
In this program, teams of academic researchers, graduate students, and industry mentors learn through active outreach to customers in validating their assumptions of market needs for their products or technology.
Each team has four members: an Industry Mentor, a Principal Investigator, an Entrepreneurial Lead, and a Technology Transfer Officer. The entire team will engage with industry and will spend time learning from customers, partners, and even competitors.
The kickoff started on Feb. 19 and ended on Feb. 21, and focused on value proposition design, business model canvas, customer development, interview techniques, interview assessment, customer ecosystems, storytelling, and minimum viable product and prototypes.
Following this event, teams will have three five-day interview periods to conduct customer development interviews with potential customers.
The participants will be trained to use Launchpad Central (a “complete toolset for lean innovation”) to develop their Business Model Canvas, develop their hypotheses, and record customer development interview notes. Teams will receive online feedback from the instructors during two weekly online reviews, and individual feedback during office hours.
At a two-day virtual final event, the groups will gather in one place in the Philippines, and the instructors will deliver content remotely from the United States, and together they will discuss the lessons learned, the revenues and the costs, and market sizing.
Of course, a lot of work remains to be done since a business, whether big or small, needs time to grow, mature, and incubate, and a confluence of both human and nonhuman factors, from technical skills to entrepreneurial acumen as well as technology, equipment, machinery, and logistics.
The lean start- up method aims to reduce these constraints and develop more “Filipinnovators” who will create business both for inclusive growth and the common good.