"Nintendo unlocked a completely underserved market by simplifying the game console." Alexander Osterwalder
Alexander Osterwalder returns to The Innovation Show with a world first. The co-founder of Strategyzer and creator of the Business Model Canvas shares the Value Stack, a brand new tool built on six patterns of value creation. Strategyzer has stopped writing books. Alex explains why the team has moved to applied playbooks, and how the patterns help any team articulate its value proposition and then test which benefit matters most to customers.
What Alex shares in this episode
- Why Nintendo won a huge new market with an inferior console
- How Henry Ford turned a handcrafted luxury into a car his own factory workers could buy
- Why trust was a feature for Airbnb and the entire proposition for FedEx overnight
- How Google Ads rescued advertisers from wasting half their budget
- Why Salesforce Trailblazers prove identity builders work in B2B, well beyond Harley-Davidson
- How Diners Club invented the credit card proposition from nothing
- Why Amazon Web Services scores on two patterns at once
- Why Strategyzer swapped dense books for playbooks
Chapters
00:00 Wii Ease Booster Hook
00:41 Sponsor Kyndryl
01:18 Guest Intro Value Stack
02:18 From Books to Playbooks
02:56 Six Value Patterns Overview
04:18 Ease Boosters Nintendo Wii
05:54 Access Boosters Ford Model T
06:48 Confidence Builders Trust
07:38 Value Catalysts Google Ads
08:20 Identity Builders Communities
08:54 Market Shapers Credit Cards
09:57 Playbook Demo and Discount
10:43 Giveaway and Where to Find
12:00 Events Closing Thanks
12:40 Sponsor Outro Kyndryl
Get 20% off Strategyzer playbooks at https://www.strategyzer.com with the code INNOVATIONSHOW20.
Win a digital copy of The Invincible Company. Name the gentleman on Alex's slide (he co-authored one of Alex's first books) by replying to the Thursday Thought, with thanks to Kyndryl: https://thethursdaythought.substack.com
Alex joins Aidan in Dublin on 1 and 2 December for Enterprise Ireland client sessions. Looking for a keynote speaker on innovation or change in Ireland that week? Get in touch at https://theinnovationshow.io
About the Guest
Alexander Osterwalder is the co-founder of Strategyzer and the inventor of the Business Model Canvas. He is lead author of Business Model Generation, Value Proposition Design and The Invincible Company. https://www.strategyzer.com
About the Host
Aidan McCullen is the 2025 Thinkers50 Innovation Award recipient, keynote speaker on AI, disruption, innovation and change, host of The Innovation Show, and author of Undisruptable: A Mindset of Permanent Reinvention (Wiley). Learn more about Aidan: https://theinnovationshow.io/about-aidan-mccullen
This series is brought to you by Kyndryl, who run and reimagine the technology systems that drive advantage for the world's leading businesses. With a unique blend of AI-powered consulting built on unmatched managed-service capability, Kyndryl helps leaders harness technology for smarter decisions, faster innovation, and lasting competitive edge. Learn more about Kyndryl and the Kyndryl Institute at https://www.kyndryl.com
About The Innovation Show: the Thinkers50-recognised podcast where square pegs find their place in a world of round holes.
Website: https://theinnovationshow.io
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