At the start of my term, I was put on the Crossmanager project under the title of Business Designer. The flexibility of this assignment proved to be rewarding but initially frustrating. I spent most of my time working alone. Crossmanager was still in its infancy, and had lots of unanswered questions. We had to consider feedback from box owners running Crossmanager V1, limited market research to guide our strategy, and a fuzzy picture of the competitive landscape.

I had no idea where to start digging first. I did a SWOT analysis, lean canvas business model, tons of market research, and a deep competitor analysis to guide strategy. I came up with a revolutionary product direction and business model. It was going to target an untapped customer segment and take the entire fitness world by storm. I presented a ten page report of my research to my boss and Crossmanager’s programmer, excited to hear their feedback from my fresh, new idea.