How to Become a Lean Entrepreneur by Applying Lean Start-Up and Lean Canvas?

Abstract

Purpose

Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (LUASA) uses a holistic approach to foster entrepreneurial thinking and behavior of students and employees. Students and participants of the program shall be motivated to start own ventures during the study program or later in the life.

An entrepreneurial eco-system shall be built and a close partnership with regional key actors established.

Methodology/approach

A combination of Design Thinking and Lean Start-up is used for the entrepreneurial education. Fostering experimentation, early customer feedback, and interdisciplinary teamwork is essential. An enhanced Lean Canvas version is used for having a guideline to work on the important questions and documenting the learnings in the iterative process.

Findings

The program “Smart-up” of LUASA is running since three years as a pilot in two departments and is now rolled out to the entire University. Since program start more than 120 start-ups have been founded.

In all study programs, an “entrepreneurial track” is defined and students can earn credits while working on their own projects. Two interdisciplinary modules are offered. The proposed Smart-up Lean Canvas has been proven to be a key tool to develop innovative ideas in start-ups and in existing companies.

Research limitations/implications

The combination of Design Thinking and Lean Start-up in a holistic setup proved that students can learn the methods and tools and are able to use them now or later as entre- or intrapreneurs.

Practical implications

Students are motivated to start their own business, meet role models and participating at different (networking) events.

Originality/value

The combination of Design Thinking and Lean Start-up with analytical approaches like Systems Thinking and Data Analytics supports the problem understanding and solution (product/service and business) design.

Citation

Link, P. (2016), "How to Become a Lean Entrepreneur by Applying Lean Start-Up and Lean Canvas?", Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Education (Advances in Digital Education and Lifelong Learning, Vol. 2), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 57-71. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2051-229520160000002003