Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers

Your business model defines how you compete. It is the manifestation of your corporate strategy and the basis for your profitability. Given its importance, its surprising business models are not better understood. Business Model Generation seeks to address this point providing a comprehensive and engaging approach to understanding and creating business models. This is perhaps the most innovative book on business design to come around in a long time. The book is the work of Alexander Osterwalder and more than 470 collaborators and contributors. It provides a graphically engaging, spirited look at business models, their creation and application in business. This is the first book built by mass collaboration based on the participation and contribution of multiple people giving the book a level of practicality that is welcome in subject that can easily become academic. The book is organized into six sections that correspond to the processes involved in generating a business model. The sections include: Canvas - which discusses the basics of the business model template and its nine building blocks Patterns - applies the model to understand different business models and companies that exemplify the business models. Design - the techniques used to develop the nine building blocks within the business model which include: customer insights, ideation, visual thinking, prototyping, storytelling and scenarios. Process - concentrating on applying these techniques to creating a business model Outlook - a view on the future of business models. The book is highly recommended for people who want to learn more about business models, its related techniques and wants to put them into practice. The book's approach, its layout and treatment of the subject are refreshing and helpful. Strengths The book offers a comprehensive view of business models. The five sections talk you through the activities involved in creating a business model including multiple techniques. Osterwalder's model for business models is clear and provides an effective structure for understanding your business and how it fits with your value proposition, strategy and products. Placing the models in action to explain companies like Apple, the newspaper industry, and the insurance industry among others. Applying the model builds you understanding of model's context and Covers advanced techniques including ideation, visual thinking, story telling that help you expand your toolkit. The illustrations and use of photography creates an engaging read that draws the reader into material and keep them engaged. Challenges There is litle that is fundamentally new in this book, other than its presentation, construction and style. That is not to say that the book is bad or wrong, its just that ideas related to value propositions, capabilities, etc appear elsewhere. What this book does do and do well is bring these ideas together in a novel and accessible way. The majority of the book is based on the Osterwalder's own model developed while he was at Lausanne. The dependence of the book on the model can limit its effectiveness if you take a different approach to business modeling. The book provides limited support for key functions such as IT, HR and Finance which are not explicitly supported in the business model which focuses more on issues of strategy and positioning. The book is large and bound by its narrow edge. While this makes the books photography and graphics possible, but it also makes the book unwieldy. The book is not available in electronic format as that does not work with the book's layout.

If you are going to read one business book on design, innovation and business models this is the one. I plan to give a copy to each of my adult kids. Business Model Generation brings together a simple but compelling framework for organizing business models with a wide range of frameworks and techniques from stragegy and design thinking. It includes important ideas around multi-sided platforms (two-sided markets for you economists), applications of design thinking, scenario plannning ... It is a powerful integration of these ideas, one that most people will be able to act on. The book also has an excellent website at [...] and the collaborative approach to authoring and validating the book is fascinating - some 470 people from around the world contributed to the book. I read this in parallel with Cory Doctorow's new novel Makers Makers and the two books riff off each other in interesting ways (the fictional company Kodacell could be seen as a scaling of the business model generation method). It is worth thinking about what happens in Makers while imaginging new business models. I do have some questions about the book, and a few reservations. Why no index? In a book like this an index is necessary, and the designers could have used this as an opportunity to innovate a visual index, perhaps using mind mapping. The design. I have long been advocating this kind of visual design for business books. Reading this one I had some reservations. The book is influenced by PowerPoint and web design and has some of the weaknesses, see The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint: Pitching Out Corrupts Within, Second Edition . I had to work hard to integrate the information and ideas in the book into a story. I am glad that the authors and designers took the approach they did, but this approach to books needs a lot more work before we really understand how to use it. Depth and originality. There is little that is new here. What is powerful is the way in which so many current ideas are integrated. I am not an expert in all of these areas, but where I do have some deep knowledge, pricing for example, I found the content thin and in some ways misleading. For example, there is no discussion of value-based pricing and the role it plays in driving differentiation. See Strategy and Tactics of Pricing, The (5th Edition) (Alternative eText Formats) . I also thought that the treatment of design thinking smacked too much of received wisdom and did not question or innovate on the paradigm (I know, that is not the purpose of the book). The book is a bit weak on execution, and I am hoping that the website will be a place to track how people are using the business model generation approach and what experiences they have with business model execution. But I expect to come back to this book and to use it in my own companies and in coaching others. So, despite my reservations, six stars!

This is a wonderfully engaging, entertaining and educating book on the very important but unfortunately less understood concept of "business model design & innovation". The book does not provide an essentially novel definition for the concept of business model as such, but the way it handles the concept is simply brilliant and so easy to understand. It first takes the general definition of a business model as "the rationale of how an organization creates, delivers and captures value" and develops a nine step schema which brilliantly and very legibly covers all FOUR essential areas of any business: Customer, Offer, Infrastructure and Financial Viability (i.e. the profit model). The book then goes on to explaining each one of the nine steps and proposes using a very simple (but extremely clever) BUSINESS MODEL CANVASS to brainstrom around. From there onwards the authors move on to categorise some of the most common business models and explain their workings on the basis of the CANVASS. The examples may be known cases but the way they are explained within the structure of the CANVASS is certainly praiseworthy. Even by that early point you fall in love with the approach as well as the actual design format of the book. The design of the book is very entertaining and makes it fun to read such an intellectually demanding topic. You find, in the rest of the book, the methods regarding the design of innovative business models and revising your company's strategy on the basis of changing business model environments. This is a lovely book. The way the subject is approached, the way it is modelised, the way it is presented, the participative way the book is written and the easiness of understanding makes it a rare treasure in the area of business literature. I congratulate the authors and all those who took part in the project and extend my sincere thanks to all of them for making me experience such a pleasant, entertaining and enlightening reading.

This book is getting buzz in the startup community these days. I read through it a week or so ago, and it is a useful addition to the entrepreneur's library. The book has five major sections. In the first, the authors introduce their notion of a business model canvas broken down into nine constituent parts. Some of these parts are obvious things that anyone trying to think about a business model would examine such as customer segments, value proposition, channels, customer relationships and revenue streams. The canvas adds in the other pieces (key resources, key activities, key partnerships and cost structure) and adds an organizational overlay that lends itself to analysis. The second major section takes a look at five different business models and fits them into the canvas. The third section, called "Design," describes various techniques such as visual thinking, ideation and prototyping, "that can help you design better and more innovative business models." The Strategy section then takes the earlier concepts and combines them with other strategic approaches such as SWOT analysis and Blue Ocean strategies in order to determine where opportunities for improving models may lie. In the final major section, "Process," the authors lay out a roadmap for running a business model design initiative. Note that much of the book relies heavily on concepts and work originated by others. This is actually a great strength since it pulls together a lot of different theories and presents them in an easily digested form. The writing is accessible, and it may be that many of the concepts are more easily absorbed here than in the original source materials (all of which are conveniently referenced in case you want to explore further). The notion of the canvas is new, and it does have an organizational elegance about it that is appealing. One of the points in the first section is that the first five constituent parts of a business model are all about value, whereas the final four are all about efficiency. This makes it easy to see why it made sense for Amazon to unbundle its businesses into an e-commerce line and an IT infrastructure management line. Aside from a few styling miscues (tiny white print on a black background on some of the pages, really), the major complaint about the book from me -- and many others -- is that it lacks depth. Most of the case studies are short and the answers are dished up without consideration of the iterations that must have been required to get there. This book is trying to present a generalized way of looking at business models -- and I would say that it succeeds very well at that task -- but nothing beats seeing the concepts applied in real time rather than in retrospect. For people that are interested in seeing the canvas in action, I highly recommend reading about the Lean Launchpad project at Stanford on Steve Blank's blog. Think about it as an advanced class after you read the book in the introductory class.

If your a business owner, everything you need to know about developing or reviewing your business can be learned in the first 40 pages of this book. It pulls together all the aspects or building blocks of a business model in a very clear and concise manner utilizing what authors term a Business Model Canvas. This building blocks should be familiar to most if not all business owners: Customer Segments, Value Propositions, Channels, Customer Relationships, Revenue Streams, Key Resources, Key Activities, Key Partners and Cost Structure. The book does not regurgitate information about these building blocks that can be found in so many other sources, but does summarize the key points. The books greatest contribution for the business owner is the canvas. This graphic enables the business owner to quickly visualize just how all these building blocks interacts -- just like a pictorial of a human skeleton quickly shows the novice how the various bones interact. I feel the remainder of the book is primarily geared towards those professionals who assist business owners in developing their business models. It takes the discussion of business modeling to a whole new level than other business modeling books. I would characterize this part of the book as applying an engineering discipline to the field of business modeling. I am very anxious to incorporate the lessons into my own practice.

I was required to buy this one for my Venture Creation class in my 2 year MBA. This book - and the class - is one of the BEST books I read so far. It provides new concepts in business and different business models and gives a new perspective and way to look at different business. And the best part is that it's very straightforward and focuses on the important thing WITH VISUAL. So you get the concept and the core idea right away, without reading pages after pages wondering what the point the writer is trying to say. It also uses many different companies from traditional, e-commerce, retail, social media etc. to illustrate the different business model. Plus, it also demonstrates how we should re-evaluate the business model after the changes in the markets, trends etc. to adapt to the evolution of the market, industry, economy, consumers / customers... I come back to read it every now and then and always enjoy reading it still.

Content: This book is a must read for anyone attempting to start a new company; or a person who wants to learn how to start a company. Anyone can benefit from the information presented in this book, and at the very least the book will get you thinking and your creative juices flowing. Interesting ideas presented and described clearly with intent to teach you new ways of constructing a business model. Presentation: The presentation of this book is great, many visuals and the pages are broken down in a manner that makes you want to actually read everything. Pages are not cluttered with filler to make the book longer; however, all important information seems to be available. Graphics are great and the flow of the book is very easy to follow. Only one drawback here - the shape of the book makes it hard to read in bed - but that's nothing too serious.

I was surprised to discover a free online pdf on businessmodelgeneration.com that included much of what the book provides. I wondered, how do the authors expect to generate a profit if they give the store away? But sure enough, I was intrigued enough by what I saw - particularly the Business Model Canvas (a blueprint to address every aspect of a business model), to go ahead and purchase the book. I wasn't disappointed. This is not only a book for the business model generation, but it also helps generate new business models, new ways of thinking about what it means to profit in business. The book is filled with helpful case studies, diagrams and mindmaps which catalyze new ways of thinking. While it didn't permit to skip the hard work of creating a business plan with all the requisite P&L and cash-flow projections, it freed me up to think differently about the entire enterprise (pun intended).

Este libro es el referente de distintos Masters de emprendedores e innovación en distintos países, y después de leerlo puedo entender porqué. El libro se presenta en un formato muy innovador y visual, analizando multitud de casos prácticos para explicar las distintas partes del libro: - Generación de modelos de negocio: en esta parte del libro se presenta la herramienta "Canvas" de modelo de negocio. Una manera muy gráfica de presentar lo que es un negocio y las partes que lo componen. Me ha ayudado enormemente a evaluar potenciales negocios, y entenderlos mucho mejor, sus puntos fuertes y débiles y su potencial de rentabilidad. - Tendencias de modelos de negocio: explica modelos de negocio innovadores que han surgido en los últimos años, como modelos freemium, modelos colaborativos, plataformas bilaterales. - Diseño: cómo aplicar la creatividad y la innovación en distintos modelos de negocio. Aporta métodos utilizados por profesionales de la innovación y la creatividad en modelos de negocio. - Estrategias: como Océanos Azules, evaluación del entorno del negocio. Te ayuda a pasar de un modelo en papel a un negocio real a partir de una estrategia. - Procesos: en el diseño de modelos de negocio. Altamente recomendable para cualquier profesional en el sector de la innovación, emprendedores del sector tecnológico o negocios en crecimiento. David Garcia, Autor del blog "Modelos de negocio SMART"

I have read many books on the subject of business and entrepreneurship and I have to say that this book has been a great contribution to my growing library. What I loved about this book was how it tied much of my existing knowledge down to a single methodical blueprint - the business model canvas. Which I'm sure I'll use over and over. It then went on to attempt to identify different types of business model design patterns and while I don't believe it fulfilled its duty entirely it did provide a few useful ideas and unveiled useful business model concepts. This book did a wonderful job of pointing how business model innovation can completely change your business and its potential success. A must read for all aspiring entrepreneurs. Practical and modern and certainly introduces interesting ways of using the model to get the business design juices flowing. While the format and the illustrations were particularly 'cool' I did find it slightly distracting. Even so, I'm still giving it 5 stars because it was such a joy to read and a wonderful contribution to the books on this subject.

Stilla nice reference to start with

書店で日本語版が平積みしているのを見て、大変惹き付けられました。 翻訳者の小山龍介さんのファンでHack!シリーズは読みましたが、 いかに優れた翻訳であっても翻訳者のバイヤスがかかってしまうのが否めないので、 原書を購入しました。 （また購入時は日本版より原書が300円安かったけれど、今みたらほぼ同額になっていました。） 原書の英語は英検２級程度で、 ビジネスパースンだったら、 皆知っている用語ばかりなので大変読みやすいです。 『ビジネスモデル』を考える際に、右脳と左脳に訴える要素を本の中で解説しています。 本の作り方もその通りで、きれいなグラフィックで右脳に訴えて、コンテンツが左脳に入るようになっています。 一瞬、美術書を見ているような気持ちになります。 スティーブ・ジョブスの頭の中もこんな風だったのじゃないかなとふと思いました。 そして、この本は読んで終わりではなく、 自分が仕事をする上で、顧客やコスト構造、収益の流れなどを考える際に、 全体像と個別の要素を考えながら、ワークする助けになります。 表現はシンプルですが、長年の蓄積と多くの人の手によって作られただけあって、 無駄がなく、エキスが全部詰まっています。 後は、どう使いこなすかです。

This is an amazingly simple book on generating business models that would force you to think, act, implement your business idea. A must read for all the intrapreneurs and a must read for all the entrepreneurs.