This is a practical project at Business Development Lab from my minor master's degree Innovation&Entrepreneurship in EIT Digital Master program. We went through the who process for setting up a startup with the Lean Startup Method. Our team has four students from University of Twente, we all worked together in every stage from identifying the problem to testing our solution.
In the year 2021, the world is facing a pandemic caused by the Covid-19 virus. The Netherlands has been going on and off lockdowns since then, citizens are asked to keep 1.5m distance from each other. A solution must be found that can enable safe events and gathering. This is where the idea sparked – a device that gives a signal when you are too close to someone.
At GLOW, we believe the pandemic shouldn't stop us from being together. Our solution provides organizations the opportunity to get back together, in person, safely. Our GLOW bracelets allow for ample personalization, allowing you to make it perfect for your event. With options such as group division, personalizable distance alert, and different color selection, making your event Covid-19 safe has never been easier!
After identifying the opportunities and proposing the solution, we decided to focus market segmentation on educational organizations. Then, for supporting our idea, several research methodologies were used:
● Defining Need Hypothesis.
● Desk Research.
● Interviews and Observations.
Overall, we were able to detect an observable pattern in our potential customers, that is the need for a solution that allows for safe distance-keeping as well as increased social interaction and returning to the workplace/educational facilities. The solution must be customizable, due to the constantly changing regulations.
To make sure that the product reflects the research findings as much as possible, the requirements for the product have been set out using the MoSCoW framework. Based on this, we developed the user scenario and product sketch.
Our glow devices use bluetooth technology to recognize each other, giving the wearer a luminous and vibrational signal when they got closer than the chosen distance from each other. Its sleek, lightweight design allows for maximum comfort and ease of use, while still ensuring that the members of your community can come back together in full security.
To get the user perspective and verify the need hypothesis, we made interviews with potential buyers and users, and asked them to rate the idea and prototype for testing a number of the requirements sketched out by the MoSCoW list.
To explore the rationale for financial viability, cost model and revenue model were made for the first year's business. Based on the models, the break-even point was calculated.
Finally, we designed our business model canvas based on the framework proposed by Osterwalder, and made an investor pitch.
This project is the first time I applied the the Lean Startup Method (LSM) into practice, in particular in the aspects of defining a project, making a justified selection of customer/stakeholders, carrying out qualitative market research into problems and solutions, and integrating results from qualitative market research into recommendations.
