The Process
Introduction
2 Craft your value proposition
3 Define the business model
4 Define Go-to-market strategy
5 Identify and test hypotheses
6 Build an MVP
7 Launch, grow and improve
Become an empowered entrepreneur
Hi, my name is Silvan.
I am a 36-year-old entrepreneur based in Zurich and have been building businesses for 8 years now.
When I first started out launching a business in Brussels and London things were not easy. I did not have a clue how to get started, nor what to do next. However, we somehow managed to secure funding and win some clients. Despite this, we were unable to significantly grow the company.
Fast forward five years, I had the opportunity to join a leading Venture Capital firm in Switzerland that used Venture Building as a methodology to build and grow a portfolio of successful companies.
This experience was eye-opening. It made me realize how different pieces of startup advice make sense together. Ultimately, there is a red line that entrepreneurs can follow to build successful companies.
Currently, I am scaling the leading co-practice for mental health in Switzerland for this Venture Capital firm in the role of a Co-Founder and COO.
As I am very passionate about inspiring others to build meaningful businesses, I launched this program to equip aspiring entrepreneurs with all the knowledge they need to succeed.
Learn about best practices in entrepreneurship
Traditionally, companies create lengthy business plans that explain how to realize a certain business idea. They then proceed to build a product that is eventually launched in the market. Only after launch do customers start interacting with the product and provide feedback on whether they actually demand it or not.
This is a risky approach, as lots of time and capital are being spent on a business whose success is unlikely. After all, 90% of all startups fail.
This sparked entrepreneurs to establish a set of best practices to find answers to the key building blocks of a business, with the objective to:
- Increase chances of success by at least 10 times
- Reduce the capital needed to almost 0
- Significantly reduce the time needed to get started (launch alongside a job)
However, current best practices provide limited guidance on what to do at each stage of your business. This is where Venture Building comes in.
Venture Building takes these best practices and simplifies them into a straightforward process that you can follow to address the Building Blocks of your business.
Follow a simple step-by-step process
The Venture Building Process is a simple step-by-step guide that helps you build any business.
It’s important to understand that there is not one single Venture Building process. Instead, Venture Builders have all designed their own process. On top, these companies create additional benefits such as access to talents, capital and shared resources.
Considering this, I put my experience into practice and designed a process that I believe works for aspiring entrepreneurs.
Thereby, my goal was to design a simple process that helps you understand and find answers to the key parts of a business, following best practices in entrepreneurship.
Start
- Identify a problem to solve
- Understand the customer and the market
- Develop a unique value proposition
- Define the business model and pricing
- Determine the go-to-market strategy
- Understand the unit economics
- Identify and test your hypotheses
- Develop a minimum viable product (MVP)
- Build, measure, and learn
Going through this process can take anywhere from 4 to 16 weeks, depending on the amount of focus you can dedicate to it. Don’t be discouraged by that, building a business will require dedication and persistence but will be extremely rewarding if you succeed, and lots of fun on the way.
Currently, Venture Building is primarily utilized by Venture Capitalists, forward-looking institutions, or top-notch consultancy firms. With VentureBloom, I aim to make its benefits accessible to aspiring entrepreneurs as well.
Start without a business idea
You do not need a business idea to get started.
Venture Building is a methodology that helps you identify user problems and design a product that solves them.
If you already have a business idea, you may still follow the process. It will help you understand whether your business idea is built on a strong fundament and how you can make it grow.
Assemble the 10 building blocks of your business
Our objective is to successfully start a business. Therefore, it is worth understanding what a business actually is.
In simple terms, a business is a group of people who create a product or service to help their customers solve a specific problem. Looking into a business's architecture more closely, we can identify 10 building blocks that an entrepreneur needs to address in order to succeed in the market.
I learned about these building blocks while fundraising for my previous company. Even if you're not seeking funding, understanding how investors evaluate a business can help you focus on the essential parts of your business. Having said that, no investor wants to see a lengthy business plan. Instead, they prefer a concise presentation of your business in just 10 slides, addressing these key building blocks.
Following the Venture Building Process will help you find answers to these building blocks step by step.
10 Building Blocks | Your Business |
Problem | What problem is your business solving? |
Value Proposition | Who is your customer and how do you solve their problems? |
Unique insight | Why is it you succeeding? |
Business model | How will you make money? |
Market size | Is the market you conquer large enough? |
Competition | Who are your competitors and how do you differ? |
Financials | Do the unit economics and the financial case make sense? |
Go-to-market | How will you grow? |
Traction | Do you have proof that your business is succeeding? |
Team | Are you the right team to run the business? |
Launch a startup, small business or traditional company
Venture Building has traditionally been used to build billion-dollar startups. However, the methodology is perfectly applicable to any kind of business.
Venture Building and best practices in entrepreneurship come from an ecosystem focused on startups that can create tremendous value for the founders and their investors. However, this is not the objective of everyone. Some entrepreneurs might be happy with running a small online business that can create significant cash flow or a more traditional company such as a restaurant.
As you can imagine, no matter what business you aim to launch, you will need to find answers to the building blocks from above. In doing so, you should make sure to have the best practices in entrepreneurship at your disposal, wrapped into a simple process that helps you find answers to the architecture of your business.
Limitations of Venture Building
Learning about Venture Building will equip you with state-of-the-art knowledge about entrepreneurship that can be applied to any business.
Take action and find a problem to solve
The only thing holding you back from a successful business is taking action.
In fact, this may be why most businesses fail - because they never get executed. Don't make the same mistake. If you truly want to become an entrepreneur, it's time to get started.
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