1. UCSF Life Science
Lean LaunchPad
Diagnostics Track
Class 5
Revenue Streams
How Do You Make Money?
Todd Morrill

2. Revenue Streams
How do you Make Money?

3. © 2012 Steve Blank

4. Big Ideas
• Each Customer Segment will have its own
Revenue Model (although some may overlap)
• Pricing is a small portion of the overall
revenue model
• Timing of payment is more important than
you think
• “Regent/rental” is a common structure (but a
misleading description)

5. Key Revenue Model Questions
• What are my customers paying for? (value received)
– Value to them:
economic, social, emotional, flexibility, temporal, etc.
• How much will they pay for it? (price)
– How much will they pay. Not “want to pay” or “could pay”
• In what form will they pay? (currency)
– Usually cash in Dx markets (!)
• How will they receive it? (structure)
– “Asset purchase”, subscription, rent, license, etc.
– Reagent rental
• When will they pay? (timing)
– Up front, 30 days [or more],

6. Reagent rental
• Capital equipment is bundled with a
multi-year contract for consumables
purchases
• One purchase order is created (i.e.
one sale)
• Financing / cost of capital is a key part
of the transaction
– Vendor, customer or 3rd party may ‘carry’
the financing costs and risks
Year 1
Year 2
• Significant effect on cash flows, build
costs, servicing, etc.!
Year 3

7. Pricing

8. How do I price the product?
•
•
•
•
Competitive pricing
Volume pricing
Value pricing
Portfolio pricing
•
•
•
•
“Razor/razor blade” model
Subscription
Time/Hourly Billing
Leasing

9. Additional components of pricing
• Exclusive vs. non-exclusive
• What do you price? What do you give away
for free?
• How does cost vary at different production
levels?
• Price decay with time
• Competition / alternatives

10. Is minimum caloric intake a good way to
plan a party?

11. Is audible threshold a good way to
play music?

12. Is ground level a good place to
fly your plane?

13. NOT UNLESS YOU HAVE TO
Is cost a good way to calculate pricing?

14. When you might have to:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Commodity product
Competitive pressure
Customer familiar with costs
Customer dominant
None of these should apply to you...

15. Your Revenue Model Calculations
(all of which are first guesses)
for each customer segment…
…based on the VALUE you provide…
…What is your best guess at the PRICE
you will sell at?
Hancmarginisexiguitas non caperetvectigalia.

16. Does it add up?
1. Is revenue adequate to cover costs in the
short term?
2. Are you confident revenue will grow
materially if not dramatically over time?
3. Does profitability improve as the revenues
get bigger?

17. Next week
• Slides as per the syllabus
• In addition:
– Updated slide on reimbursement
– Updated slide on ecosystem [every week from
now on]