Which markets to play in? A tool for entrepreneurs and innovators

Find out where to play by applying the Market Opportunity Navigator - A 3-steps tool for identifying, evaluating and strategizing your market opportunities, to get the most value for your innovation.

As entrepreneur or innovator you are trained to run fast, but…Are you running in the right direction?

Choosing the right market for your innovation is the biggest, and trickiest, question for innovators. Research has shown that all too often entrepreneurs don’t spend enough time identifying and researching their market opportunities – instead they jump at the first opportunity that looks good, and fail to properly evaluate and leverage other opportunities. This common mistake means that you often choose the wrong market or lock yourself into one specific direction.

In this course, you will learn how to set a promising strategy, by using a business tool called the Market Opportunity Navigator.

This tool offers an easy to apply framework to better identify, evaluate and focus on the right market opportunities.

It works in three simple steps, with dedicated worksheets to guide you through the process:

1. Search broadly - to generate your set of market opportunities
2. Assess deeply - to evaluate your options and compare their attractiveness
3. Strategize smartly - to focus on the most attractive opportunity while remaining agile

This structured tool works for entrepreneurs and managers in established companies, when-ever they need to plan or re-plan their strategy.

At the end of this course, you will be able to:

• Generate a set of market opportunities stemming from your core strengths
• Evaluate the attractiveness of market opportunities in a comprehensive manner
• Make an informed strategic choice, that will increase your chances of focusing on a promising market
• Balance focus and flexibility- two critical aspects for gaining success
• Develop a mindset that nourishes open mindedness and receptiveness to adaptation

Meet the instructors

• Marc Gruber
• Sharon Tal

Course structure

The course is structured into 5 weeks of about one to two-hour lectures:

• Week 1 - Introduction 

Presenting the challenges of choosing which markets to play in, and the basic logic behind the Market Opportunity Navigator 

• Week 2 - How to generate your Market Opportunity Set 

Presenting the 1st step of the Market Opportunity Navigator: how to apply Worksheet 1 to decouple your core abilities and to identify different applications for different sets of customers. The output is your Market Opportunity Set

• Week 3 - How to evaluate your market opportunities 

Presenting the 2nd step of the Market Opportunity Navigator: how to apply Worksheet 2 to evaluate the Potential of a market opportunity and the Challenge associated with capturing its value. The output is your Attractiveness Map.

• Week 4 - How to design your Agile Focus Strategy 

Presenting the 3rd step of the Market Opportunity Navigator: how to apply Worksheet 3 to design a smart portfolio of Backup and Growth Options around your Primary Market Opportunity. The output is your Agile Focus Strategy.

• Week 5 - Implications and benefits 

Presenting the implications of the Agile Focus Strategy, and the benefits of applying the Market Opportunity Navigator over time, and in concert with other well known business tools.

Other EPFL MOOCs

You'll find more information about EPFL MOOCs here. This course in particular might be of interst to you:

• Launching New Ventures

How to navigate through this course

Start the course by clicking on the below menu.

If you are new to edX and would like to learn how to navigate the edX platform, take this fun and interactive demo course designed to help you explore the edX learning experience. It is perfect to take before you start this present course.