Testing Business Ideas

Outline

Testing Business Ideas (2019) is a practical guide to reducing the risk of new business ideas by testing them before investing heavily. David J. Bland and Alexander Osterwalder show how to identify the assumptions behind an idea and present forty-four experiments for testing whether customers want it, whether it can be built, and whether it can be profitable. The book is designed for entrepreneurs, innovators, and teams in organisations of all sizes.

• Every new business idea rests on assumptions, and the first job is to identify them before spending heavily.
• Testing an idea early, before major investment, is how you reduce the risk of building something that fails.
• The book presents forty-four experiments that help you check whether customers actually want your idea.
• The same experiments also test whether the idea can be built and whether it can be profitable.
• Real evidence from customers should guide your decisions, not opinion or hope.

David J. Bland and Alexander Osterwalder combine experience in startups and business strategy. Bland is an adviser who helps companies test new ideas, and Osterwalder is a Swiss business theorist and cofounder of Strategyzer, known for creating the Business Model Canvas. Osterwalder’s other books include Business Model Generation.