Before The Sprint

The Startup Sprint weekend is an awesome, and very intensive, format that’s going to introduce you to a raft of new concepts, tools and approaches over the course of 48 hours.

Hitting the ground running

Three of the areas you’ll be developing over the weekend are:

  1. Business modelling with the Lean Canvas
  2. Customer interviewing
  3. Pitching

To get the most out of the weekend, it will be advantageous for you to have some understanding of these new areas before you arrive at the event. Below are a list of resources to help you do that.

1. The Lean Canvas

The Lean Canvas was developed by Lean Startup doyen Ash Maurya. It is an adapted version of the Business Model Canvas some of you may have encountered previously. The Lean Canvas is optimised for use by early stage teams and ventures. We’ll be using the canvas extensively on the first evening and over the course of the weekend. Download a copy and take a look at it.

Lean Canvas Explainer Video

Once you’ve got a copy of the Canvas, watch this explainer video below (ignore the references to his online platform).

2. Customer Interviewing

A fundamental principle of the Startup Sprint is the importance of being problem, rather than solution, focussed. An important skill in unearthing painful customer problems worth solving is the ability to have insightful conversations with customers.

How To Interview Customers

Successful customer interviewing is a skill that can be learned. Here’s a great introductory video you should watch in preparation for Day 2 of the Sprint, when you’ll be getting out of the building and talking to customers.

Talking To Humans

This book is a must read for anyone who wants to know how to have effective conversations with customers. It’s really short and easy to read. Please make sure you’ve read it before Day 2 of the Sprint. Download a copy here. We’ll also give you a hard copy of this book at the Sprint.

3. Pitching

Day 3 of the Sprint culminates with each team delivering a pitch! Below is some inspiration.

These are real pitch decks from big names like AirBnB, Tinder, WeWork, LinkedIn etc so they can see some examples.