It’s not the most inspirational title for a book, but then looks can be deceiving. Their last book Business Model Generation has sold a million copies in 30 languages, is currently #430 on Amazon and has 288 five star reviews. I met co-author Yves Pigneur, Professor of management and information systems at University of Lausanne at an event we both spoke at in 2011 staged by the Swiss innovation company Creaholic. In a beautifully architected way the book riffs through subjects such as customer segments, value propositions, channels, customer relationships, revenue streams, activities, resources, partners and cost structures. I tell you, a million copies.
The second book by Yves and co-author Alexander Osterwalder is “Value Proposition Design: How to Create Products and Services Customers Want” and it promises to be another winner for them and publisher John Wiley.
Here’s the pitch:
Value Proposition Design is for anyone who has been frustrated by business meetings based on endless conversations, hunches and intuitions, expensive new product launches that blew up, or simply disappointed by the failure of a good idea. The book will help you understand the patterns of great value propositions, get closer to customers, and avoid wasting time with ideas that won’t work. You’ll learn the simple but comprehensive process of designing and testing value propositions, taking the guesswork out of creating products and services that perfectly match customers’ needs and desires.
Practical exercises, illustrations and tools help you immediately improve your product, service, or new business idea. In addition the book gives you exclusive access to an online companion on Strategyzer.com. You will be able to complete interactive exercises, assess your work, learn from peers, and download pdfs, checklists, and more.
The book is on sale around October 20. Get your Amazon pre-order in now.