Which do you pick?
Here are 6 reasons why:
No MBA Required.
A design goal when creating the Lean Canvas was ensuring it was accessible to anyone in the company (not just the business folks) because good ideas can come from anywhere. We tested the Lean Canvas in hundreds of workshops and across thousands of teams to ensure that all the boxes on the canvas were intuitive and easy to understand, and that you didn’t need a business degree or a PhD to fill one out.
For more on the specific differences between the two canvases, check out this Medium article
Used around the world.
All that testing paid off... Today you see the Lean Canvas used, not just by business folks, but also engineers, designers, and product managers at thousands of startups, accelerators, and large companies. It is taught at many of the top business and engineering schools around the world, and even at the high school level which is a testament to its simplicity.
Customer-Problem-Solution Focused.
Lean Canvas prioritizes getting your customer-problem-solution foundation in order first -- making it ideal for early stage innovation projects and startups. It's easy to see how if your customer and problem assumptions aren't in order, everything else on your canvas falls apart. And without the solution box, the canvas becomes just another business document that engineers, designers, and product managers cringe at.
The power of the Lean Canvas lies in its simplicity.
The Business Model Canvas attempts to overcome its lack of customer centricity by pairing it with the Value Proposition Canvas.
But then you have 2 canvases.
Why create 2 canvases, when one will do?
Built by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs, not for consultants.
The Lean Canvas was created by serial entreprenuer, Ash Maurya, who wanted a more practical business planning tool than a business plan and a more actionable business modeling tool than a Business Model Canvas.
Get better business outcomes.
Creating a better business modeling tool or a better business model canvas was never the point. Lean Canvas is part of a bigger Continuous Innovation framework that helps you systematically uncover what customers want and build products they cannot refuse.
