Lean Launchpad

Lean LaunchPad is an entrepreneurship methodology to test and develop business models based on querying and learning from customers. It is based on the scientific method and combines experiential learning with the three building blocks of a successful lean startup: Alexander Osterwalder's "Business Model Canvas",^[1][2] Steve Blank's "Customer Development Model,^[3][4] and Agile Engineering.

Created by serial entrepreneur-turned-educator Steve Blank, Lean LaunchPad has changed the way entrepreneurship is taught.^[5] Instead of the traditional business school practice of teaching students how to write a standard corporate business plan, or simply build a product, the course provides hands-on experience in what it takes to start a company.

Students propose and immediately test business hypotheses. They get out of the building to talk with prospective customers, partners and others. They use the customer feedback acquired in these interviews to refine their product or service; ensure their product or service meets a customer need or solves a customer problem; and validate that they have created a repeatable, scalable business model.

Methodology

Lean LaunchPad pedagogy combines three elements: a Flipped Classroom, Experiential learning and Team-based learning. During the course, students need to interview potential customers in order to validate or invalidate their hypotheses, as expressed in the Business Model Canvas. Students listen to recorded lectures and presentations before each class, and use class time to present what they learned from customer interviews the previous week. Students present their findings which creates the basis for discussion, critiques, and brain-storming by both professors and students.^[6]

As of 2016, the Lean LaunchPad is taught in more than 200 universities worldwide^[7] and more than 300,000 people have signed up for a free online version of the class.^[8]

Beyond the classroom

In addition to changing the face of entrepreneurial education, the Lean LaunchPad is helping to drive innovation inside the U.S. government.

The course is the foundation of the U.S. National Science Foundation Innovation Corps, which since 2011 has been the standard for commercializing science in the U.S.^[9][10][11]

Two other versions of the class – Hacking for Defense and Hacking for Diplomacy –address national defense and foreign policy challenges. Piloted at Stanford in 2016, these classes connect the Silicon Valley innovation mindset with islands of innovation inside the U.S. Department of Defense, intelligence community and U.S. State Department.^{[12][13][14][15][16]}

Hacking for Defense immediately began to scale after its pilot in spring 2016. In 2017, it will be taught in more than 15 other universities across the country, providing solutions to hundreds of critical national security problems annually.^[17]

References