Certificate Program for Educators
How to best teach and apply the Market Opportunity Navigator in educational settings
Want to join the next cohort?
Leave us your name and email and we'll notify you when registration for the next cohort is open.
Thank you!
We'll get back to you once the registration is open.
The opportunity
Identifying and prioritizing market opportunities is a crucial and ongoing process in start-up creation and throughout the life of established businesses – yet it is often one of the most challenging tasks that managers face when bringing innovation to the market.
Relying too often on luck or intuition, this challenge calls for systematic frameworks and tools that allow founders and managers to make an informed strategic choice and move forward with confidence.
This program presents the Market Opportunity Navigator - a business tool for identifying, evaluating and prioritizing market opportunities. Marc and Sharon - the creators of the Market Opportunity Navigator - will dive into the framework, take you behind the scenes of how it was created, and share important tips & tricks for applying it in educational settings – as a standalone course or program, or embedded with existing classes.
Enjoy adding the Market Opportunity Navigator to your own educational toolset, get a certification for your knowledge, and become part of an evolving network of experts and educators from all around the world!
The program
The Market Opportunity Navigator is used by thousands of companies in all parts of the world, and has recently been adopted for the Lean toolset by Steve Blank. It provides a wide-lens perspective to find different potential market opportunities for a business before diving deeper, by covering three key questions:
- Which market opportunities exist for us?
Identifying market opportunities stemming from the company’s core competencies. - Which market opportunities are most attractive for us?
Evaluating possible opportunities systematically. - Which market opportunities should we focus on?
Designing a clear focus and a strategic roadmap.
Using real-life examples and a hands-on approach, we will thoroughly explain and practice the Market Opportunity Navigator and its dedicated worksheets, show how it works plug-and-play with other tools (such as the Business Model Canvas and Customer Discovery), and give practical information on how to best teach and implement it in different educational settings.
Who is it for?
Universities and accelerators around the world have added the Market Opportunity Navigator into their curriculum and apply it with their students and trainees, including Stanford, Cornell, INSEAD, IMD and MassChallenge, to name but a few.
They use the Market Opportunity Navigator in entrepreneurship, innovation, marketing and strategic management programs, in different formats (1-hour sprints to workshops that last several days) and for different audiences (bachelor & master students, PhDs & postdocs, entrepreneurs, scale-up leaders, and innovators in established companies).
If you train students or practitioners in one of these settings and wish to upgrade and enrich your toolset- this program is for you!
The modules
The program includes 3 interactive workshops and a summary session for peers' feedback.
Identifying new market opportunities stemming from a firm’s core abilities
Tuesday, May 4, 17:00-20:00 CET
In this interactive workshop, we will discuss the importance for start-ups and corporates to adopt a structured discovery process for identifying and prioritizing market opportunities. We will then dive into the first step of the tool: Identifying market opportunities, and practice its application together on a concrete case.
What you will learn:
- Why should you look before you leap (Research background)
- Common mistakes in setting a strategic focus
- How to apply Worksheet 1 of the Market Opportunity Navigator
- Examples from different industries and business stages
- Working with the Market Opportunity Navigator Web Application
- Tips, pitfalls and common mistakes in generating your Market Opportunity Set
- Practical exercise to master the framework
Setting a clear strategic focus- Evaluating and prioritizing new market opportunities
Tuesday, May 11, 17:00-20:00 CET
In this interactive workshop, we will dive into step 2 and 3 of the Market Opportunity Navigator. We will discuss how to systematically assess and compare a varied set of opportunities and design a smart strategic focus using multiple examples and then practice by applying the process on a concrete case.
What you will learn:
- How to apply Worksheet 2 of the Market Opportunity Navigator
- The common challenges and pitfalls when assessing the attractiveness of market opportunities
- How to manage focus and flexibility with real options (Research background)
- How to apply Worksheet 3 of the Market Opportunity Navigator
- The implications of having an Agile Focus Strategy
- Different examples from various industries and stages
- Practical exercise to master the framework
How to implement the framework in a classroom/workshop setting
May 18, 17:00-20:00 CET
This module discusses different teaching possibilities and training formats in various educational settings. We will share our rich experience, present all the ready-made resources, and explain how this framework interacts with other tools (such as the Lean Startup and Design Thinking) so you can easily plug it into your existing curriculum.
What you will learn:
- Complementing other tools: 'where to play’ before ‘how to play’
- Developing a fully accredited hands-on course based on the Market Opportunity Navigator
- How to add a module to an existing course (entrepreneurship / innovation/ strategic management/ marketing)
- Running bootcamps and practical workshops for budding entrepreneurs
- Programs for tech transfer audiences (PhDs, postdocs, researchers)
- Teaching online vs offline: tips, tools, and pitfalls
- How to adapt the process for social ventures
- Supporting resources, including: videos, webinars, case studies, slide decks and guides
Implementing the process in your own institution
Tuesday, May 25, 17:00-18:30 CET
This special summary meeting will be devoted to peers' interactions and feedback.
You will get to present and discuss with a peer how you plan to implement the framework in your own institute, for feedback and brainstorming. It’s a unique opportunity to learn from others, contribute, and bring your plan to life.
Overview
This certification program runs online along the course of four weeks, with three interactive workshops and a wrap up session for peer-to-peer feedback.
Date and times
Module 1: Tuesday, May 4, 17:00-20:00 CET
Module 2: Tuesday, May 11, 17:00-20:00 CET
Module 3: Tuesday May 18, 17:00-20:00 CET
Wrap up: Tuesday, May 25, 17:00-18:30 CET
We will use:
- Zoom
- The Market Opportunity Navigator Web App
- LinkedIn closed group
Investment
Early Bird: 499 euros (Until Apr 19)
Regular: 599 euros (Until May 3)
Availability: Up to 20 people
Want to join the next cohort?
Leave us your name and email and we'll notify you when registration for the next cohort is open.
Thank you!
We'll get back to you once the registration is open.
Meet your coaches
Sharon and Marc created the Market Opportunity Navigator and co-authored the complementing book ‘Where to Play‘ based on hundreds of cases that they studied during their practical and academic work.
What others say about our certificate programs
-
“This was an insightful session where you come to learn new ways for enhancing entrepreneurial processes. The content of this workshop goes beyond identifying opportunities for ventures to discover opportunities within one self. This is a remarkable experience that I’m eager to share with my community.”
Dr Sara Abdulaziz Alshareef (Saudi Arabia) – KAU
-
“The Market Opportunity Navigator’s Methodology has a lot of support research, relevant experiments and easy to follow. It’s simple but not simplistic. The program was brilliantly conducted and organized to provide us with a lot of “Aha!” moments. It was super well designed, since the 1st email to the last contact. Everything was held with professionalism and kindness.”
Luiz Lemos (Brasil) – Therabiz
-
“I recommend this course for all consultants that want to support business managers who seek new market opportunities to sustain future business growth. Very well structured, simplified and applicable way to identify, evaluate and select potential customer segments. Highly recommended for product development teams to synchronise opinions and build common understanding about strategic directions and unused opportunities.”
Dāvids Štēbelis (Latvia) – Management Service Company