A Startup Cockpit for the Proof-of-Concept

Abstract

More and more innovative new ventures step away from the traditional business plan centred model and follow the ``Lean Startup Idea''. This paper introduces a measurement tool -- the Startup Cockpit -- that helps startups on their way from an idea-based organization to a company with a profit-generating business model. It is based on the Customer Development model of Blank (The four steps to epiphany. San Mateo, 2006), the Lean Startup methodology of Ries (The lean startup: How today's entrepreneurs use continuous innovation to create radically successful businesses. New York: Crown Business, 2011), and Maurya (Running lean -- Iterate from plan A to a plan that works, 2nd edn. Sebastopol: O'Reilly Media, 2012), the Lean Analytics concept of Croll and Yoskowitz (Use data to build a better startup faster. Sebastopol: O'Reilly Media, 2013) and Faltin's ideas (Brains versus capital: Entrepreneurship for everyone -- Lean, smart, simple. Berlin: Stiftung Entrepreneurship, 2013, Kopf schlart, simple. München: Carl Hanser Verlag, 2008). All of those authors introduced a number of crucial processes and meta-principles that promote successful business model development for startups.