CHAPTER 6 1. J2BD-1 Understanding the customer is the foundation of your business and it is going to be important to get thinking about the many core jobs a customer group is trying to get done. Using the five steps of the SDM template (explained in Doing J2BD Step 1: Defining the Market), carry out the initial steps of building a deeper understanding of how your potential customers are getting their jobs done and are measuring success. A simple way to start is to informally talk to frie nds or family about why they bought a product X or Y and start to dig deeper as to what competitive set of solutions were being measured against this purchase.

2. J2BD-2 In the previous exercise, you should have developed several SDMs. Identify a core job and customer group that you think are of most interest for your business idea. Now, ignoring any specific context, calculate a market size hypothesis based on the defined customer group and core functional job. Follow the first three steps as out lined in doing J2BD Step 3: Hypotheses Development.

CHAPTER 7 1. Value gaps Designing a credible and compelling VP lies at the heart of an entrepreneurs key goal of acquiring paying customers. However, acquiring paying customers requires discovering the most important value gaps that your target customer group has. Complete the first two steps of the VP design process by uncovering the three value gaps outlined in this chapter for your own business idea. You s hould build on the SDM you defined in Exercise 1 of the Chapter 6 to develop your value gap hypotheses for each of the three value gaps. Avoid personal assumptions so that hypotheses are developed from understanding potential customers. Identify and inte rview people from your target customer group that are struggling to get the job done. Prepare questions about the job and why customers make certain decisions. Record and analyse your data to inform your hypotheses of the most important value gaps.

2. Testing your value gaps From the previous exercise, you should have a set of most important value gaps for the core functional job, that is, value gaps 1 and 2. Complete steps 3 and 4 of the VP design process. First, map out your target customer groups most important value gaps onto the VP canvas. Brainstorm all possible ways of creating value. Filter your ideas using the following questions. -Does the idea actually fill the value gap identified? -Is the idea executable with available resources? -Does the executable idea present an adequately low risk for the customer group? Once complete, a good VP canvas should put you in a strong position to build a structured VP statement as described in step 4.