Business Model Canvas · Part 1 · 40 years in practice
Build the founder before you build the model.
Part 1 of August Kjerland's Business Model Canvas course. Three video lessons on everything that comes before the canvas: your why, your starting point, and the road from idea to market. Built on Osterwalder and Pigneur, and on Bill Aulet's Disciplined Entrepreneurship at MIT.
Lifetime access | 3 video lessons | ≈ 35 minutes | 14-day refund
Engagements across 30+ companies and institutions in Norway, Japan, and the U.S.
The problem
Why most business models are wrong on day one.
Most founders open the canvas too early. They fill in nine boxes for a company they have not thought through. The same patterns show up over and over.
Solution first, customer later. They fall in love with the product and look for a problem afterwards.
Defending the idea instead of testing it. Every critical question feels like an attack.
Underestimating what they already have. Skills, contacts and industry insight never make it onto the page.
Waiting for the perfect plan. Perfection is the enemy of good enough.
The canvas is a great tool. It works best when the founder behind it is clear.
The method
What this course does.
01
Person first
The business starts with the person or the team. Why, mission, passion and values, before any box on the canvas.
02
Honest inventory
Your starting point and your initial assets, mapped plainly, so your next move is realistic.
03
Market-ready
From idea to product-market fit. Test, do not defend. Problem before solution. Customer before product.
Inside the course
What you'll learn (three lessons).
From your why to the first step into the canvas. Every framework is cited and applied. You leave with a foundation, not a stack of theory.
Lesson 1. Start with yourself. Why us, the mission in practical terms, passion connected to a real problem, values that hold under pressure, and why a deep why creates trust, loyalty and direction.
Lesson 2. From starting point to idea. Knowledge, network, experience and ambition. Counting your initial assets. Product-market fit, what Airbnb's air mattresses teach about iteration, and problem before solution.
Lesson 3. From idea to market. Who you create value for, why the same problem feels different in different markets, price as positioning, timing, and the step into the canvas itself.
What's included
What you get.
3 video lessons
About 35 minutes, filmed with August. Watch in one evening.
Before the Canvas workbook
Eight exercises on 11 pages, ready to print.
Pro-tips for every lesson
Five practical moves per lesson, straight from forty years of practice.
Recommended reading list
Osterwalder and Pigneur, Aulet, Ries, Blank, Kim and Mauborgne.
Real examples
Airbnb, Henry Ford, Amazon, and August's own companies.
Lifetime access
Buy once. Watch on your schedule. Updates included at no extra cost.
FIT
Who it's for, who it's not for.
This course is for you
Founders with an idea and a blank canvas.
Owners of young companies who want a sharper model.
Students of entrepreneurship who want the practice behind the theory.
Anyone preparing to talk to investors, partners or a bank.
This course is not for you
You want a template filled in for you. This course makes you do the thinking.
You want all ten building blocks in detail today. This is Part 1, the foundation before the canvas.
ABOUT
About August Kjerland.
August Kjerland is a Norwegian entrepreneurship lecturer at BI Norwegian Business School and the University of Agder. He has spent forty years building, advising and negotiating across Europe, Japan and the United States, from marine equipment to his own consulting business. This course is the foundation he wants every founder to have before they open the canvas.
The canvas is one page. The thinking behind it is the real work.
PRICING
Instant access:
€49
(one-time)
Lifetime access
Learn at your own pace
14-day refund policy
Updates included at no extra cost
Secure checkout via systeme.io · card, Apple Pay & Klarna
What participants say
From founders and operators who work with August.
"August’s sessions are calm, structured, and immediately practical. I left with clearer thinking and tools I could use the same day."
Greta N.
Interior designer
“August connects theory to practice with concrete examples and smart questions that spark reflection. His sessions consistently make complex topics feel more accessible and actionable.”
Preethy M. J.
Norstellar
“Thanks to August, I was finally able to gather my thoughts, clearly define my plans, and most importantly, get my business off the ground! I highly recommend it.”
Kacper K.
Freelance Graphic Designer
FAQ
Frequently asked questions.
Lifetime. Buy once, watch on your schedule, including any future updates.
No. Part 1 is the foundation before the canvas, and the canvas itself is introduced at the end of lesson 3.
This is Part 1 of a longer series. It stands on its own: the foundation most founders skip.
14-day refund, no questions asked. Email and you get your money back.
No. The same questions help established companies that want to rethink their model.
Both. Co-founders get the most out of it when they do the workbook exercises together and compare answers.
August’s Brief
Practical notes on entrepreneurship, pitching, and cross-cultural business. A few times a month. No hype.
Entrepreneurship. Decoded.
Practical entrepreneurship from an operator with forty years of executive and board experience. He teaches at BI Norwegian Business School and University of Agder.
© 2026 August Kjerland · Privacy Policy
Powered by August Kjerland & GMERK.