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• Background Note | HBS Case Collection | 2012 (Revised from original 2011 version)

  Customer Discovery and Validation for Entrepreneurs

  Frank V. Cespedes, Thomas Eisenmann and Steven G. Blank

  Provides practical guidelines for conducting market research to explore and validate demand for entrepreneurial offering. Explains how the research objectives of entrepreneurs might differ from those relevant to managers evaluating product or service offerings to established markets. For each of several research techniques, specifies conditions under which the technique is most likely to yield valuable insights; describes how the technique should be adapted for use in an entrepreneurial context; and offers tips and cautions about applying the technique. The techniques include customer surveys, usability tests, market trials, split tests, and Net Promoter Score. Appendices discuss the use of focus groups and conjoint analysis in an entrepreneurial context. The Note is therefore suitable for use in MBA, Executive Education, Field Study, or project contexts where the focus is startups, new business development, product development, or innovation.

  Keywords: Customer Value and Value Chain; Entrepreneurship;

  Citation:

  Cespedes, Frank V., Thomas Eisenmann, and Steven G. Blank. "Customer Discovery and Validation for Entrepreneurs." Harvard Business School Background Note 812-097, August 2012. (Revised from original November 2011 version.)

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• Comment | Policymaking Insights from Behavioral Economics | 2009

  The Behavioral Economics of the Labor Market:Central Findings and Their Policy Implications by Ernst Fehr, Lorenz Goette, and Christian Zehnder

  George P. Baker

  Keywords: Economics; Behavior; Labor; Policy; Government and Politics;

  Citation:

  Baker, George P. Comment on "The Behavioral Economics of the Labor Market:Central Findings and Their Policy Implications by Ernst Fehr, Lorenz Goette, and Christian Zehnder." Policymaking Insights from Behavioral Economics, edited by Christopher L. Foote, Lorenz Goette, and Stephan Meier, 241–244. Boston, MA: Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, 2009.

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• Working Paper | HBS Working Paper Series | 2009

  Conglomerates and LBO Associations: A Comparison of Organizational Forms

  George P. Baker and Cynthia A. Montgomery

  Citation:

  Baker, George P., and Cynthia A. Montgomery. "Conglomerates and LBO Associations: A Comparison of Organizational Forms." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 10–024, September 2009.

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