Assessing a Business...Simply

Silicon Valley is largely made of two types of people. The first type tends to roil in complexity and detail and, left to their own devices, would develop products and services that may work well but may never solve a meaningful customer problem. And the second type tends to work at the aspirational and visionary level but often does not have the operational "chops" to bring their vision to market.

Technology leaders and individual contributors alike need to figure out ways to bridge this gap. That's why I appreciate simple and direct frameworks for evaluating business and project opportunities--so that we can cut through the noise and describe an opportunity in simple terms for all technology audiences. Here's a framework that I think is simple, direct, and powerful.

This framework was invented by Alexander Osterwalder and is included in a book named, Business Model Generation.  I was introduced to this through a blog from a Redpoint VC.  I like this model because it provides a "back of the envelope" way of capturing what a business offers, how it reaches customers, and its likelihood of profitability and success.  And we all can understand it.