Book Review: Business Model Generation, Yves Pigneur

If you are looking for an easy read and great introduction to business modeling, this a great book.  The book provides excellent real industry examples to explain the steps for building a business model.  The book focuses on nine essential building blocks:

1. CS -  Customer Segments
2. VP - Value Propositions
3. CH - Channels
4. CR - Customer Relationships
5. R$ - Revenue Streams
6. KR - Key Resources
7. KA - Key Activities
8. KP - Key Partners
9. C$ - Cost Structure

These building blocks are laid out graphically and are referred to as a "business model canvas".  As you progress through the book each building block becomes clearer.

The book also does a good job of walking through how to identify what is critical for the business, where the cost structures are, where the benefits are, and how to organize those ideas.

If you have  previous knowledge of business model generation, this book may be a bit lacking in providing more depth.  The examples and cases are not very in depth.

In the end it is a good primer and reference book worthy of a spot on my bookshelf.