Transforming an Idea Into a Business with Design Thinking: The Structured Approach from Silicon Valley for Entrepreneurs and Leaders

We are living in fascinating times, when the power of technology is not just reshaping, but is transforming the globe in unprecedented ways. These include the ability to connect with anyone across the globe in an instant using a tiny device in the palm of our hands to the availability of self-learning systems to take over, not only the most mundane of tasks, but the most sophisticated tasks previously thought to be performable only by superior human faculties.

Regardless of whether you consider this progress to be beneficial to society or harmful, these technological advancements are here to stay. On one hand, these current transformational technological advancements threaten this stability of society. On the other hand, they present an opportunity for all of us to awaken our inner entrepreneurs.

This book makes the transition from an employee to an entrepreneur smooth for the masses. Many of us have ideas to improve this world in some way and even feel strongly about some of those ideas at a deeper level. However, we find ourselves perplexed on two levels:

1. Where to start when building an idea into a business?

2. What are the various dimensions and activities needed to launch an idea into a business?

This book will introduce you to a structured framework, called Transform3+1, to transform your idea into a business by following simple and specific steps spread across four stages. The framework is grounded in the belief that all solutions solve human problems using technology or otherwise. The first stage will help you understand the problem facing your target user by building empathy. Once you understand the problem, comes the stage of devising a solution in an iterative manner through prototyping the new concept and validating with the user. Most start-ups fail not because they didn’t find the right problem to solve for the target user or that their solution lacked technological prowess but because they could not figure out a sustainable business model. Third stage will focus on crafting a business model. And the final stage introduces you to a unique approach of managing risk associated with your venture.

This unique framework leverages the principles of Design Thinking, agile development, and lean start-up combined in an easy to follow manner by anyone and helps transform ideas into business in a short timeframe with little or no investment.

Muhammad Mashhood Alam is a Senior Director, Innovation & Digital Transformation at SAP’s Design & Co-innovation Center. He is a senior business innovation leader with a unique blend of business, technology and design expertise. He drives co-innovation and Digital Transformation, Innovative Thinking, Innovation Center setup and out of the box approaches to identifying and solving problems leveraging cutting edge technologies including Machine Learning, Internet of Things, Blockchain, Computer Vision, Chat bots, Cloud, Big Data, Mobile and networks. He excels at orchestrating and leading highly immersive engagements with C-level executives and directors to align strategy and generate ideas for new business models. In addition, he is a consistent over-achiever with six US Patents and two prestigious global awards.