Chapter 6 of 8

Chapter 6: Build Your Lean Canvas v0

Synthesizing the business model and extracting the Riskiest Assumptions to Test (RATs).

Playbook Chapters
What You'll Learn By the end of this chapter, you'll have your entire business idea on a single page, know how to find the hidden assumptions that could kill your startup, and understand which risks to test first.

Step 5: Put It All Together (The Lean Canvas)

You've done the hard work. You have a customer, a problem, and a value hypothesis. Now let's see if all the pieces actually fit together.

The Lean Canvas is a one-page business model. It forces you to think about everything—not just the product, but how you'll reach customers, make money, and what happens when things go wrong.

This is your "v0"—version zero. It's entirely unvalidated. Think of it as a hypothesis about your business, not a plan.

The 9 Boxes (And What Goes In Each)

Problem

Your top 3 problems (from Step 3). What pain are you solving?

Import from your Problem Statement.

Customer Segments

Who exactly are you serving? Be specific.

Import from your Persona work.

Unique Value Proposition

Why should customers choose you? What's different?

Import from your Value Hypothesis.

Solution

High-level description of what you'll build. Not a spec—just the core mechanism.

Keep it vague on purpose. Details come later.

Channels

How will you reach your customers? SEO? Cold email? Word of mouth?

This is often the weakest box. Be honest.

Revenue Streams

Who pays? How much? Subscription? One-time? Per-use?

If you can't answer this, you don't have a business.

Cost Structure

What does it cost to run? Hosting, tools, marketing, your time.

Solopreneurs: Include your opportunity cost.

Key Metrics

What numbers define success? Retention? Engagement? Revenue?

Pick 1-3 metrics that actually matter.

Unfair Advantage

What can't be easily copied? Network effects? Proprietary data? Unique expertise?

"First to market" is NOT an unfair advantage.

The Hardest Boxes for Solopreneurs

Channels: "I'll just do content marketing" is not a strategy. How will people find that content? Why would they share it?

Unfair Advantage: Be honest. If you don't have one yet, write "None yet" and figure out how to build one.

Find Your Hidden Assumptions (Before They Kill You)

Here's the uncomfortable truth: Your completed Lean Canvas is just a pile of guesses wearing a business suit. Every box contains assumptions you haven't validated.

The Three Types of Assumptions

Desirability

Do customers actually have this problem? Do they want this solution?

Primary risk for most startups. If nobody wants it, nothing else matters.

Viability

Will they pay this price? Can you acquire customers for less than they're worth?

Secondary risk. You can have demand and still go broke.

Feasibility

Can you actually build this? Do you have the skills and resources?

Usually lower risk for software. Primary risk for deep tech.

The Risk Matrix: What to Test First

Not all assumptions are created equal. Some are just risky guesses. Others could sink your entire venture if wrong. Use this matrix to prioritize:

X-Axis: Uncertainty

How much evidence do you have?
Low = Proven / High = Pure Guess

Y-Axis: Impact

If wrong, what happens?
Low = Minor Pivot / High = Business Death

Your "Riskiest Assumptions to Test" (RATs)

Assumptions in the top-right quadrant (High Impact + High Uncertainty) are your RATs. These are the beliefs that could kill your startup if wrong—and you have no evidence they're true.

Your entire goal in Validation (Playbook 02) is to move these RATs from "High Uncertainty" to "Low Uncertainty" before you build anything significant.

What You Walk Away With

  • A Lean Canvas v0: Your entire business model on one page. Messy, incomplete, and full of guesses—exactly as it should be at this stage.
  • A List of Assumptions: The hidden beliefs buried in every box of your canvas.
  • Ranked Risks: Your RATs—the high-impact, high-uncertainty assumptions you need to test first.
  • A Clear Priority: You know what to validate before writing a single line of production code.

You now have a structured business hypothesis and a hit list of risks. Final step: Should you actually pursue this idea?

Create Your Lean Canvas v0

Our AI-powered Lean Canvas Generator synthesizes everything you've learned and automatically extracts your hidden assumptions.

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Works Cited & Recommended Reading
Lean Startup & Validation
  • 1. Features - Lean Startup Tools from Ideation to Investment. LeanPivot.ai
  • 2. Ries, E. (2011). The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation. Crown Business
  • 3. Maurya, A. (2012). Running Lean: Iterate from Plan A to a Plan That Works. O'Reilly Media
  • 4. Blank, S. (2013). The Four Steps to the Epiphany. K&S Ranch
  • 5. An introduction to assumptions mapping. Mural
Jobs-to-Be-Done Framework
  • 6. Christensen, C.M. et al. (2016). Competing Against Luck: The Story of Innovation and Customer Choice. Harper Business
  • 7. Ulwick, A. (2016). Jobs to Be Done: Theory to Practice. Idea Bite Press
  • 8. Klement, A. (2018). When Coffee and Kale Compete: Become great at making products people will buy. NYC Press
  • 9. Jobs-to-be-Done: A Framework for Customer Needs. Harvard Business Review
Problem Discovery & Validation
  • 10. Torres, T. (2021). Continuous Discovery Habits. Product Talk LLC
  • 11. Fitzpatrick, R. (2013). The Mom Test: How to talk to customers. Robfitz Ltd
  • 12. What Opportunities May Lead to Someone Becoming an Entrepreneur. MBA Disrupted
Blue Ocean & Differentiation
  • 13. Kim, W.C. & Mauborgne, R. (2015). Blue Ocean Strategy, Expanded Edition. Harvard Business Review Press
  • 14. The Four Actions Framework (ERRC Grid). Blue Ocean Strategy
  • 15. Strategy Canvas: A Visual Tool for Differentiation. Blue Ocean Strategy
Market Analysis & Signals
  • 16. How to Validate Your Startup Idea. Y Combinator
  • 17. Market Sizing for Startups: TAM, SAM, SOM. Forbes
  • 18. Maholic, J. (2019). IT Strategy: Issues and Practices. Scribd
Cognitive Biases & Decision Making
  • 19. Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, Fast and Slow. Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Lean Canvas & Business Modeling
  • 20. The Lean Canvas Explained. Lean Stack
  • 21. Osterwalder, A. & Pigneur, Y. (2010). Business Model Generation. John Wiley & Sons

This playbook synthesizes research from lean startup methodology, Jobs-to-Be-Done theory, and behavioral economics. Some book links may be affiliate links.