Lean Startup Fundamentals
Overview
The aim of this unit is to provide students with the knowledge and practical skills of testing, advancing and improving their own business idea based on lean start-up methodology. Students will learn the basic lean start-up process built on the three components of lean methodology: business model design, customer development and agile engineering. Students will identify a worthwhile problem for solving, develop a hypothesised solution with a clearly defined value proposition, design and conduct tests to validate the assumptions in a real-world setting, and make pivoting decisions appropriately to revise the initial business model.
Requisites
100 credit points
01-June-2025
02-November-2025
Learning outcomes
Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:
- Design customer value proposition based on a thorough analysis of customer problems, needs and wants.
- Identify and apply key principles of lean-start-up methodology to assess the desirability, viability and feasibility of a new business model.
- Select, design and evaluate an appropriate business model for a new venture.
- Work and communicate effectively as an individual or as part of a team across a range of activities and contexts
Teaching methods
Hawthorn
| Type | Hours per week | Number of weeks | Total (number of hours) |
|---|---|---|---|
| On-campus Class | 2.00 | 12 weeks | 24 |
| Online Lecture | 1.00 | 12 weeks | 12 |
| Unspecified Activities Various | 9.50 | 12 weeks | 114 |
| TOTAL | 150 |
Assessment
| Type | Task | Weighting | ULO's |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assignment | Individual | 15 - 25% | 1,2 |
| Report | Individual | 35 - 45% | 1,2 |
| Report and Presentation | Individual/Group | 30 - 50% | 1,2,3,4 |
Content
- The process of entrepreneurial action
- Customer discovery and business model
- Crafting the value proposition
- Establishing product-market fit
- Validated learning and pivoting
- Customer development: Customer relationships and channels
- Feasibility of the business model
- Viability of the business model
- Customer creation: Markets and competitors
- Starting your business & protecting your business ideas
- Pitching
Study resources
Reading materials
A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.