Case Study: Custus
Power Of Attorney for Care Homes - Ideation Stage
Background
The ideation phase can be very messy. Earlier this year we had the opportunity to work with two founders who had an idea to make life easier for the relatives of dementia patients. Their idea was to use blockchain technology to make it easier for relatives to share power of attorney information and welfare care plans with care homes, doctors, and hospitals. This is a problem at the moment as the verification of power of attorney credentials is a lengthy and complicated process for all concerned.
The Challenge
The founders had reached a block, although they had several potential partners identified, they couldn’t see a path forward to actually launch the product. With nine participants in the marketplace – ranging from public to private to individuals and everything in between – the varied competitive and alternative landscape, and all the technical challenges (and non-technical founders), it was difficult to know where to start.
To find a way forward, we encouraged the founders to apply for a government-sponsored grant competition. Over a two-week period, Startup Circle provided the founders with business analysis support and coaching. We worked with their technical partners to create a cloud-based reference architecture that could be used as a low-investment Proof of Concept. We developed conceptual models and use cases, mapping datasets and data flows across the nine participants. We also coached the founders in conducting competitive and comparative analysis, and created a project plan and budget.
The Results
The founders were able to identify at least four new routes to market, and also strengthened several key partnerships. Whereas before the founders were out of options, now they were spoiled for choice. Although in the end, Custus did not win the funding competition, winning was only a small part of the purpose of the submission. Importantly, this exercise enabled the founders to fill critical gaps in their thinking and approach to their idea.
While working on their Startup Growth Engine, we used concepts from Lean Startup, and the Lean Canvas from Ash Maurya. With nine different market participants, many of which being government or public services, the idea looked like it might be impossible to bootstrap in any normal way. The ideation phase is always messy, but having a framework really helps. The approach we took was the same as we would take for any of our clients: identify early market opportunities to bring your solution in front of as many potential customers as possible.