Designing a Customer-Centric Business Model

Wed, 19 Nov 2025 18:44:52 +0000

Simply defined, a business model is how you deliver value to customers and how you make money in return. The most successful business models capture value in concert with the customer. In this session, originally presented in-person at the Harvard Innovation Labs, you’ll learn how to do just that. Michael Skok, founding partner at Underscore VC, will share how to identify your core business value and align your business model to your customer’s success.

About the Speaker:

Michael Skok is a founding partner at Underscore VC, a Boston-based firm investing in bold B2B software founders. Since starting his first software business as a teenager, Michael has spent 21 years as an entrepreneur and the past 18 years as a venture investor. During this time, he has founded, worked with, and invested in startups, and created thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of value.

As an entrepreneur and an investor, Michael has focused on breakthrough technologies and disruptive business models including Open Source, Cloud, IoT, and emerging domains such as Blockchain, Virtual/Augmented Reality, and Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning. He has served on or is active on many private and public boards such as Acquia, Demandware (now a Salesforce company), Mautic (acquired by Acquia in 2019), Salsify, and Zaius. He has also held leadership roles in many industry groups such as the Software Publishers Association, where he served as chairman for many years.

In 2015, Michael co-founded Underscore VC to help founders create enduring companies through the power of community. He has a passion for helping the next generation of entrepreneurs succeed by not only backing them with capital but bringing the resources and commitment of an aligned community around them to propel their success. To help achieve this, he has mentored and taught for over 10 years at Harvard University, where he is an Entrepreneur in Residence, and created the Startup Secrets series.

Want to dive deeper into Startup Secrets? Explore the interactive Startup Secrets Sandbox for frameworks, insights, and tools to help you build and scale your startup: https://bit.ly/3Cwv0nK