Services
Strategy and Learning Support for the Early Stage
What We Offer
We help founders make sense of the early stage.
The heart of our approach is an appreciation for the complexity and concerns of the human. This applies to the founder, the customer, the investor, and anyone else involved in the effort to make a startup come to life.
The KeyChange Venture Design Framework is a context for decision-making that founders can use to prioritize their limited time and resources for best effect. Validated Learning Support provides the discipline, accountability, and collaboration that unlock the insights and make progress possible.
Venture Design Training – Our Early Stage Foundations program includes 8 in-depth Venture Design training workshops where founders are introduced to the full breadth of our Venture Design framework and strategy toolkit. This gives the founder context, tooling, and a start at applying the tools in a safe and fun environment.
Validated Learning Support – After completing the training, founders put these tools into practice through strategically selected and specifically designed experiments to test the riskiest assumptions about their startup idea. This is confronting, so it helps to have the support, and also it is the best possible way to hone the idea into something that might be able to work in real life.
We are with you every step of the way and are available to help keep things straight at the strategic level as well as get into the weeds around experiment design, synthesis, and adapting to emergent insights, otherwise known as pivoting.
In our work together, founders become fluent in the mindsets, terms, and tools to speak effectively about their startup idea to customers and investors. Our primary goal is to empower founders to develop a clear understanding of what actions to take in order to validate their idea, make progress, and ultimately become investable.
Our Methodology
The KeyChange methodology focuses on refining the various models inside of your venture. These models are used to identify risk and provide a context for prioritization for early-stage learning activities.
Customer Model: Who you are creating value for, the situation they are in, and in their own words, the problem that needs solving
Market Model: Maps the landscape of existing alternatives and how you're positioned against or alongside incumbents to maximize success
Business Model: Describes how you create, deliver, and capture value
Financial Model: Answers the question “Is This Worth Doing?” and “How Much Is It Worth?” first for founders and then for investors
