30-Day Problem Discovery Workshop

Understand your customers better than they do.

30-Day PD is a cohort-based workshop designed by Ash Maurya (author and creator of the Lean Canvas) that teaches you how to uncover big-enough problems worth solving through customer interviews.

The next cohort-based workshop runs from Mar 7th - Mar 28th, 2022.
Cohorts are limited to 10 teams and are run in multiple timezones so you can attend from anywhere.

Life's Too Short to Build Something Nobody Wants

Too many entrepreneurs simply throw their best-guess solutions over the fence at customers — calling it an MVP or experiment. The problem with this approach is that it has statistically been shown that most initial solutions miss their mark. Customers today are bombarded with a multitude of choices and when they encounter a half-baked MVP, they don’t turn into early adopters or testers, they leave.

Without real customer feedback, you’re left guessing at which course corrections (or pivots) to make. And the build trap ensues. This is where you chase after the mythical killer feature, one where success always seems to be just around the corner. But pretty soon, weeks turn into months, the business model doesn’t get any better, and you start running low on resources.

The challenge today isn’t throwing more solutions at customers, but uncovering the better solution to build — which begs the question: “What does better even mean?” This is the million (or billion) dollar question.

A fundamental mindset shift needed to answer this question is starting with problems before solutions.

Love the Problem, Not Your Solution

Starting with a solution (no matter how small) is like building a key without a door. If you simply flip that around and start with problems, solution building becomes a lot easier, and you actually build keys to doors that take you places.

Furthermore, understanding your customer's problems grants you super powers. If you can describe your customer’s problems better than they can, there is an automatic transfer of expertise — your customers start believing that you must also have the right solution for them. Marketer, Jay Abraham, calls this phenomenon the “Strategy of Pre-eminence”.

You’ve probably experienced this at your doctor’s office. After receiving a successful diagnosis, you probably believed your doctor had figured out your ailment, and you rushed to fill the prescription they’d ordered — even though your doctor was simply following a systematic process of elimination by unpacking your symptoms using educated guessing.

Nailing your customer's problem is no different.

The Problem With Problems

While the idea of starrting with problems before solutions is simple, doing this effectively can be quite challenging. You can’t simply ask customers to list their top problems because

  • they often don't know. There’s a reason why people go to therapists. It often takes another person to go beyond surface problems and get to root causes.
  • they may not want to tell you. If admitting to a problem makes your customers feel vulnerable or uncomfortable, unless they know you, like you, and trust you, they’ll deny having the problem.
  • you’ll bias their responses. When you lead with a problem, you cast a spotlight on specific issues, which tends to exaggerate your customer’s response. It’s easy to miss the forest for the trees.
  • they might give you a solution instead of a problem. Be wary, that even customers are prone to the Innovator’s Bias. When asked about a problem, they will often tell you their idea of how to solve the problem versus explore the problem fully with you. A mis-diagnosis here is a recipe for going down a rabbit hole.

This is why surveys and focus groups fall short at the early stages of a product. They are validation, not discovery, tools. The best way to discover problems worth solving is through customer interviews. But simply talking to customers is not enough. You have to know how.

This workshop teaches you how to use carefully scripted customer interviews to deeply understand your customers.

"Before this program, I had goals set, but, I didn't have a clear understanding of how or when I needed to achieve those goals."

Edel Lyons
Rag Revolution

What You'll Learn

30-Day PD teaches you how to

  • Identify your ideal early adopters.
  • Set up interviews using a learning versus pitching frame.
  • Effectively uncover problems during these interviews.
  • Prioritize problems worth sovling.

Idea Not Required

Working with existing ideas is often mired in existing biases, sunk cost fallacies, and a shroud of confidentiality — all of which limit teams from taking off their blinders and really see the world of possibilty.

Succeeding with innovation, today, is no longer driven by differing skillsets, but different mindsets.

The challenge today isn't "Can we build it?", but rather "Should we build it?".

Starting with a clean slate helps participants check their constraints at the door — making it easier for them to see the world in a completely new way and rewire their foundational mindsets.

Once you learn to see the world differently, you can then readily apply this new lens to growing an existing product or launching a new product thereafter.

Who's it for?

  • Aspiring entrepreneurs
  • Innovators and intrapreneurs
  • Product managers
  • Makers and visionaries

Why a Cohort-based Workshop?

We have reimagined a completely different learning model: one that combines best-in-class entrepreneurial education, online tools, small class size, live instruction, deliberate practice, and external accountability.

When it comes to leveling-up on entrepreneurial education / product management skills, there are no shortage of options. You could read books, take an online course, attend workshops, or simply learn on the job.

Our cohort-based workshops are different.

More than a workshop or online course.

The key to mastering anything is creating space for deliberate practice and establishing external accountability.

MOOCs have a dismal 6-7% completion rate.

The reason relying on books and workshops alone fall short is come-Monday, it's back to business as usual. Old habits die hard.

Our cohort based workshops are about triggering a mindset change.

Participants learn by doing and are held accountable through the project delivery commitments they make during the program. Certified coaches help facilitate, steer, and reinforce these commitments through real-time feedback, live workshops, and 1:1 coaching.

You don't need to quit your day job or travel to participate.

All our workshops are delivered 100% online and designed to be taken part-time. This means you can attend from anywhere and don't need to quit your day job to participate.

We recommend allocating 10-15 hours / week to get the most out of this program.

The key to finding the next big idea isn't working longer hours, but focusing your scarcest constraint, time, on the few key actions that drive the biggest impact.

Practice trumps theory.

What sets this program apart is that it is taught and led by practicing entrepreneurs. We practice what we teach and the more we coach, the more we learn and share, the better results everyone gets. Everything in this program (content, tools, coaching) has been meta-recursively tested using every principle, technique, and tool in the program.

Our workshops are built by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs and it shows.

"This program not only changed my approach to building my startup, but it made sure I was focusing on loving the problem and not the product, and constantly reminding myself that the product is the whole business model and not just the MVP itself."

James Spalding
CEO of VOALÁ

How is 30-Day PD Structured?

In 30-Day PD, you learn by doing. The program is delivered over four online workshops (2 hours each) run weekly over 30 days. These workshops teach you the latest techniques for designing a bullet-proof business model.

In between workshop sessions, you'll get to apply everything you learn using a battle-tested curriculum and online business modeling tools. At the end of the program, a LEANSTACK certified coach will review your business model with you and share feedback in a private coaching session.

WEEK 1: THE CUSTOMER FORCES MODEL

In this workshop you'll learn the behavioral science of how customers buy and use products. We'll build on this model in subsequent workshops.

WEEK 2: RUNNING A PROBLEM DISCOVERY SPRINT

This workshop breaks down the 3 steps for running effective customer interviews.

WEEK 3: UNPACKING INSIGHTS

We'll cover how to post-process your raw interview notes into actionable insights.

WEEK 4: ADVANCED TACTICS

Interviewing is a skill that gets better with more practice. We'll discuss more advanced techniques for running interviews.

30-Day PD in a Nutshell

Delivered 100% online in multiple timezones.
Attend from anywhere.
4 weekly workshops.
2 hours each.
Learn by doing.
Design your business model.
Private coaching session with a certified coach.
Business model diagnostic.
Online tools.
Put what you learn to practice.
Community.
Discussions and private forums.

Where Did this Workshop Come From and Who's Using It?

30-Day BMD was created by Ash Maurya, author of 2 best-selling books and the creator of the Lean Canvas.

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Ash is praised for offering some of the best and most practical advice for entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs all over the world. Driven by the search for better and faster ways for building successful products, Ash has developed a continuous innovation framework for raising the odds of early product success built upon principles and techniques drawn from Lean Startup, Business Modeling Design, Design Thinking, Jobs-to-be-Done, Behavioral Science, and Systems thinking. He regularly hosts sold out workshops around the world and serves as a mentor to several accelerators including TechStars, Capital Factory, and guest lecturers at several universities including MIT, Harvard, and UT Austin. Ash serves on the advisory board of a number of startups, and has consulted to new and established companies.

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This workshop incorporates learning across hundreds of workshops and thousands of hours of coaching startup and corporate teams building products spanning a broad spectrum of domains ranging from banking to software.

The tools, curriculum, and coaching systems used in 30-Day BMD have already been deployed and battle-tested across numerous enterprises, startup and corporate accelerators, and universities around the world.


Alumni Case Studies

We have put hundreds of teams through this program across the world. Here are some of their stories:

GoodLawyer doubled their monthly recurring revenue after LEANSTACK.

G2V took an idea from early concept to growing traction in less than 90 Days.

DealSimple
DealSimple was able to raise their pricing by 4X by positioning their real estate product in terms of what customers wanted to buy (an assistant) vs. what the team initially though they were selling (software).
TryDawn
TryDawn has already doubled revenue and is on track to 6X their revenue as a result of identifying and focussing on the key constraints in their therapist marketplace business model.
Trustini
Trustini went from having no access to their customer segment (personal injury laywers) to booking dozens of interviews, closing sales, and delivering an MVP.

"If you're interested in entrepreneurship/innovation, forget going to Harvard Business School (FYI, I am an MBA graduate of HBS). Apply these concepts instead. Had I done so, I know I would have saved myself much time, money, and the attendant dead brain cells."

Z. Bynum

Frequently Asked Questions

What is your refund policy?

Due to the high-touch nature of this program, we only accept a limited number of participants into each cohort. As a result, we have a no refunds policy once the program starts.

We understand that circumstances change and if you find that you need to defer your participation to a later cohort, we can move you one-time to the next available cohort.

Why should I join this program? Can't I get the same learnings from your books and free videos?

For the same reason that we attend schools and universities, or elite athletes hire coaches -- for experience, advice, and external accountability.

That's what makes this program different from traditional courses. In addition, we are constantly evolving and refining our framework. You'll learn a completely revised problem discovery process with updated interview scripts and offer testing techiques not covered in any of our books.

Is this a remote or onsite coaching program?

The coaching program is run 100% online using the LEANSTACK platform to deliver courses, tools, and livestream events. We also have coaches in (almost) every timezone region which means you can attend from anywhere.

How much time will I be required to dedicate to this program?

We recommend allocating 10-15 hours a week.

How do timezones work?

We run the live workshop sessions in 3 timezones (Central US time, London time, and Sydney time). You specify your preference during registration which determines your cohort. The 1:1 coaching session will be coordinated to mutually fit. Everything else is handled asynchronously over the LEANSTACK platform.

Can you introduce me to investors?

Yes. We partner with a number of accelerators who teach our playbooks in their programs and are happy to introduce you to investors if fund-raising is part of your goal.

I still have questions!

Just drop us an email at team@leanstack.com or use the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of your screen.

"Life's Too Short to Build Something Nobody Wants"

Ash Maurya
Author, creator of Lean Canvas, and founder of LEANSTACK.