The Startup Checklist: 25 Steps to a Scalable, High-Growth Business

Key activities. What the business does to make its business model work, such as inventing, buying, building, distributing, operating, and so forth.

Channels. How the business reaches its customers and delivers value to them—for example, through direct online sales, retail distribution channels, value-added resellers, company-owned storefronts, or affiliate programs.

In general, there is a simple math equation that estimates basic viability by multiplying four factors:

Value propositions. How the business solves problems and meets the needs of its customers, creating value for them in the process.

Customer segments. The specific, different groups of customers the business serves—that is, the identified customers for whom it will create value.

The lean plan is about what is supposed to happen, when it is supposed to happen, who does what, how much it costs, and how much money it generates.

One of the best “agreements to agree” for cofounders that I've seen is the Founder Accord from McCormick & O'Brien, which is included, with their permission, in Appendix F. It is intended to provide entrepreneurs with the comfort they need to take risks, while sparing them the effort and expense required to complete a customary corporate format

Management often boils down to setting clear expectations and following up on results. Those expectations are the metrics.

There are many ways to think about a business model. One of the most effective is described and illustrated by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur in their best-selling book Business Model Generation.* In their structure, a business model includes nine basic elements: