CanScan

Our first week was full of highs and lows.

On the high side, we spent some time discussing the vision for the company and what we thought would be possible to accomplish. We truly believe we have the opportunity to develop diagnostic tool that can significantly improve oncologists ability to effectively manage a patient’s cancer, resulting in dramatic improvements in cancer patient outcomes! We’re all excited to be working on this project together and have the opportunity to do so in the framework of the Lean Launchpad class offered by Steve Blank. The teaching team and mentors that are supporting the class read like a who’s-who of the silicon valley start-up and venture financing community. It doesn’t get much better than this.

On the lows, our team has encountered its first major challenge as a team. Arun, our computer science expert and experienced business professional/EWMBA student, will need to leave the team indefinitely to attend to family matters. It will be difficult to fill Arun’s role on the team, and we will miss him. On a personal note, I (Brian) found out I would be unable to receive credit for the course due to course requirements that currently limit enrollment for full-time MBA students. We’ll be pushing on regardless.

Over the course of the first week, we’ve had some really productive working sessions on initial steps in team formation. We were able to further fill-out a primary and secondary business model canvas and flush out some ideas for follow-on products/services. We also submitted an application to the Haas Business Plan competition and will be moving forward on that front in parallel with objectives for the Lean Launchpad class.

Interviews have commenced and we’re in the process of absorbing customer (?) feedback. Still establishing who the customer actually is and attempting to crystallize the value proposition to each. Its been challenging!