By Torgeir Aadland, Associate Professor, NTNU
About the exercise
This is a discussion-based exercise designed to introduce students to business models and business model design. The exercise promotes learning through several examples, and the discussion-based teaching enables the students to follow along. It also includes an open-ended idea creation brainstorm, and the opportunity to let students make a “quick and dirty” assessment of their ideas. The exercise could either be the students’ first encounter with Business Models and the Osterwalder Business Model Canvas (BMC), or as a follow-up after an introductory lecture on business models.
The BMC is a valuable and common tool for entrepreneurs to define a business model. However, it is not self-explanatory for students with little entrepreneurial experience – they could get confused when trying to understand and use the canvas on their own. This exercise puts the educator in control to prevent misconceptions while students define different aspects of the business model.