Key learning points on building a viable business model

On 5th July, a workshop on “How to build a viable Business Model” was held to equip entrepreneurs with a better understanding of what makes a good business model and what to look out for when pitching to investors. Speakers included Tanguy Lesselin of Cartouche, and Piyush Chaplot of Innosight Ventures. The workshop was co-organized with SGE.

Check out the key learning points generously contributed by the speakers from the workshop:

Tanguy Lesselin:

• Use a business model canvas to brainstorm, visualize, simulate, evaluate and decide on a business model
• Measure your business model’s key metrics, like cost of acquisition and lifetime value, and make sure the micro economics work out fine
• Because of the financing gap between early stage and growth capital, make sure your business model choice does not put you in the deadly zone
• Make sure you build a long term exclusive and valuable asset over time, additional monetization shall then come
• Anticipate that you may have to pivot one or several times before you find the right sauce, so try to have enough runway to go through this process, and learn to move fast with your team so you can pivot without friction

Piyush Chaplot:

• Use incubation period to test all the basic assumptions before you start scaling
• Raise enough capital to survive and cross the incubation period
• Investors like scalable businesses with proven unit economics and real customers
• Don’t do business modeling just for investor presentations. Business plans should be something that gets followed in real life
• Perfection is no co-incidence.

For key learning points on previous workshops, check out “How to build a Rock Star product,” “How the hell can we raise money,” and “Firing up your Dream Team.”

Photos of the event:

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Photo: Luis Argerich