Alexander Osterwalder: Tools For Business Model Design

On This Episode

Saul Kaplan and Alexander Osterwalder talk about business model design, prototyping, and testing, to make business model innovation safer and easier to manage for corporate leaders.

Alex Osterwalder invented the Business Model Canvas, co-founded strategyzer.com, and was lead author for two international bestsellers, Business Model Generation and Value Proposition Design. He speaks and leads workshops worldwide on business model design.

Osterwalder likes clarity, concrete definitions, and predictable processes. He likes tools. He believes we can bring all of these things to the “fuzzy space” of business model innovation by making it a more systematic profession.And just as a surgeon uses a distinct set of instruments for a specific surgery, so should innovators have a reliable set of tools to create business models that respond quickly to market shifts.

Today, the business model itself needs constant upgrading. But, Osterwalder notes, “as long as we have fuzzy tools, we can’t work seriously on these difficult problems.”Reliable innovation tools that perform regular adjustments to the business model could keep the organization tuned up and ready to maneuver.

Show Notes

• Saul Kaplan (@skap5)
• Alexander Osterwalder (@AlexOsterwalder)
• Co-Founder, Strategyzer; author and speaker on business model design