Entrepreneurs hate reading books. They want to do things. And fast. I know. I am an entrepreneur. And that is exactly why most start-ups fail. Of course, there are many factors that contribute to a start-up’ s demise, but chief among them is when leaders jump to a solution without fully understanding and appreciating the problem.
This is exactly why this book is needed – it is designed to provide a checklist and a method for understanding (1) what users and customers want, and (2) how to more fully comprehend the unmet need before launching a solution. Design Thinking has been around for a long time but only recently has been accepted as an essential method for conceiving products and solutions while empathizing with the user.
I am so glad to see that Mashhood, whom I have known for several years in Silicon Valley, was able to view the essence of design thinking as applicable to any entrepreneur. Most books on entrepreneurship focus on the mechanics of getting funding or the journey of an entrepreneur. Starting with the user of the solution as the focal point is exactly how entrepreneurs should be thinking. This is the book to lead us in that direction.
With precise techniques and methods, an entrepreneur can start to empathize with the user. I am confident that if entrepreneurs read this book and follow the cogent advice and method outlined by the author, we will see far more start-up success stories – both in terms of finding the perfect product-market fit and scale, and in terms of financial returns.
This book is a much-needed and relevant work – one of significant importance in today’ s rapidly changing world. Regular jobs are disappearing, and more and more people will be taking on entrepreneurial endeavors to succeed.
Even though technology plays a dominant role in emerging business models (and will continue to do so), the focus on human centricity has never been more pronounced. Design Thinking puts the importance of human centricity at the core of problem solving. Focusing on the user’ s current journey in order to identify opportunities and craft a vision for future experiences is an extremely valuable way of approaching a new venture. Today, user experience is everything.
There are many books out there about Design Thinking, agile development, and business models. But this book brings the three concepts together in an easy-to-use, structured framework that adds tremendous value to the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
The step-by-step approach devised by Mashhood will be extremely useful for budding entrepreneurs and product managers alike.
This book is unique in its bringing a holistic framework together. Many entrepreneurship books focus on specific angles of a new venture – funding, financial projections, marketing, business regulations, registration, and so on. Those are all very valuable, but they address only the “ How” of a new venture. This book will help uncover the “ Why.”
Mashhood’ s business model framework is grounded in the value proposition for the key stakeholders, and it will enable entrepreneurs to have honest conversations about what makes their idea tick. This framework very succinctly places value at the center and helps entrepreneurial teams figure out how to not just create and deliver the value but also how to capture and fund the value.
In addition, the framework also brings forth the importance of looking beyond an entrepreneur’ s idea into the key trends impacting his or her business model today and tomorrow.
This book also walks the reader through each step and how to think about particular aspects of the business.
Mashhood’ s unique approach pushes the entrepreneurial team into explicitly thinking about assumptions they are making in all aspects of the venture and into documenting them so they do not drop the ball as the craziness of the new venture creation envelops their lives. This is one of the most important and most easily forgotten aspects of many new ventures. Having an account of these assumptions will help entrepreneurs in understanding and mitigating risks.
Raising money for start-ups is what I have done all my life. Having raised close to $100 million for seven start-ups (and having advised many more), I can tell you that it all comes down to your ability to tell a compelling story. This is the book that allows you to see how the product or service you want to create will transform the lives of your users and helps you tell that story in the most effective way possible.
Naeem Zafar
University of California, Berkeley
Founder and CEO of TeleSense
Silicon Valley, California
Naeem Zafar has been teaching at the University of California, Berkeley, since 2005. He is a Dean’ s Teaching Fellow, lecturer and Industry Fellow at the Center of Entrepreneurship and Technology. He is also the Professor of the Practice at Brown University. He teaches courses in Entrepreneurship, Technology Strategy, Innovation and New Venture Finance at Brown and Berkeley.
Naeem is also a serial entrepreneur and currently the Founder and CEO of TeleSense, a company creating solutions in the Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) space, addressing storage and safe transport of grains. His aim is to save the food lost to bad storage conditions using technology. Previously, he co-founded and served as the CEO of Bitzer Mobile, an enterprise security and mobility company that was acquired by Oracle in 2013.
Naeem started his own business at the age of 26 and subsequently went on to start, or work at, six start-ups. His first job out of Brown University with a degree in electrical engineering was to design chips and electronic systems. Twenty years, two children, one IPO and five CEO stints later, he founded Startup-Advisor, a company focused on educating and advising entrepreneurs on all aspects of starting and running a business (www.Startup-Advisor.com).
Naeem has authored five books on entrepreneurship. These books are on topics ranging from conducting market research to seeking the right funding to finding successful ways to start a business. More information can be found on www.NaeemZafar.com. His books, including 7-Steps to a Successful Startup, are also available on Amazon.com, Kindle and on the iTunes App store.