Alexander Osterwalder biography, quotes and books
Alexander Osterwalder (1974) is a renowned Swiss management scientist, author, and strategy consultant. Most people know him for his work in the field of business models. Alexander Osterwalder is also the co-founder, along with Yves Pigneur, of the Business Model Canvas and the Value Proposition Canvas.
Biography of Alexander Osterwalder
Education
In 2000, Alexander earned his master’s degree in political science from the University of Lausanne. In 2004, he earned his Ph.D. in Information Management Systems from the University of Lausanne with his dissertation Business Model Ontology.
In 1999, even before graduating, Alexander Osterwalder founded “Netfinance”, a company specializing in online trading and investments. At that time, he was also working as a business reporter for Bilanz and as a research fellow at the University of Lausanne.
During his doctoral research, he conducted intensive, practical research into business modeling; this approach to research inspired him greatly. The research led to the establishment of two new companies: BusinessModelDesign.com, founded in 2006, and Strategyzer, a platform and consulting firm specializing in strategy, innovation, and business models. Both companies are still in operation today and are highly successful.
In 2010, Alexander Osterwalder, together with Yves Pigneur, published a book titled Business Model Generation. This book is entirely devoted to developing workable business models and creating value propositions that sell. The book features contributions from 470 “co-authors” from 45 countries. It became a huge success, with over a million copies sold worldwide in 30 languages. Two well-known models they developed at the time are the Business Model Canvas and the Value Proposition Canvas.
What is Alexander Osterwalder best known for?
Alexander Osterwalder is best known for the Business Model Canvas. This model helps organizations clearly map out their business model on a single page. This makes it easier to see how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value.
Together with Yves Pigneur, Osterwalder made business models more practical and easier to discuss—not only for strategists, but also for entrepreneurs, students, managers, and innovation teams. The Business Model Canvas is therefore often used in the development, testing, and improvement of new ideas.
Later, Osterwalder also worked on the Value Proposition Canvas. This model helps to better understand what customers need and how a product or service meets those needs. His work is therefore widely used in strategy, innovation, entrepreneurship, marketing, and product development.
His “canvas” approach wasn’t limited to organizations. In 2012, Business Model You was published, applying the concept behind the Business Model Canvas to personal development and career choices. The Business Model You model demonstrates that professionals, too, can reflect on the value they deliver, for whom that value is important, and which activities align with it.
Business Model You provides a practical way to gain clarity about work. This leads to greater insight into talent, relationships, income, work activities, and personal goals. The book clearly demonstrates the broad applicability of Alexander Osterwalder’s work: from strategy and business models to more consciously steering one’s work and career.
Video: Alexander Osterwalder on the Business Model Canvas
In this short video, Alexander Osterwalder himself explains how the Business Model Canvas works. The model reveals how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value. This makes a business model less abstract and easier to discuss within teams.
The video ties in well with his work on business models, entrepreneurship, and innovation. Especially for readers who are not yet familiar with the Business Model Canvas, this explanation quickly provides more context regarding Osterwalder’s influence on strategy and business development.
Famous quotes by Alexander Osterwalder
- “Once you understand business models, you can then start prototyping business models just like you prototype products.”
- “Actions speak louder than words. There is a big difference between what people say and what they do. People might tell you they are excited about your new product, but when they are in a buying situation, their behavior might be totally different.”
- “Great entrepreneurs are often great listeners, and they can spot patterns and pick up on small details in customer stories.”
- “Co-creation is much more work than writing in a hidden corner and then publishing your content. However, the benefits outweigh the costs.”
- “Founders go wrong when they start to believe their business plan will materialize exactly as written. I advise entrepreneurs to burn their business plan—it’s simply too dangerous for the health of your business.”
- “Dream jobs are more often created than found, so they’re rarely attainable through conventional searches. Creating one requires strong self-knowledge.”
- “People are moved more by stories than by logic. Ease listeners into the new or unknown by weaving the logic of your model into a compelling narrative.”
- “A business model describes the rationale behind how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value.”
- “A design mindset requires shifting one’s focus from making decisions to creating options from which to choose.”
- “None of us wants a Kodak moment anymore: innovation that doesn’t prevent a company from going bankrupt.”
Books, articles and publications by Alexander Osterwalder
- 2021. High-Impact Tools for Teams: 5 Tools to Align Team Members, Build Trust, and Get Results Fast. John Wiley & Sons.
- 2020. The Invincible Company: How to Constantly Reinvent Your Organization with Inspiration From the World’s Best Business Models. John Wiley & Sons.
- 2019. Testing Business Ideas: A Field Guide for Rapid Experimentation. John Wiley & Sons.
- 2014. Value Proposition Design: How to Create Products and Services Customers Want. John Wiley & Sons.
- 2013. Designing business models and similar strategic objects: the contribution of IS. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 14(5), 237-244.
- 2012. Business Model You: A One-Page Method For Reinventing Your Career. John Wiley & Sons.
- 2011. Aligning profit and purpose through business model innovation. Responsible Management Practices for the 21st Century, 61-76.
- 2010. Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers. John Wiley & Sons.
- 2007. How to describe and improve your business model to compete better. Draft version.
- 2005. Clarifying business models: Origins, present, and future of the concept. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 16(1), 1.
- 2005. Skype’s disruptive potential in the telecom market: A systematic comparison of business models. University of Lausanne, Information Systems Institute.
- 2005. Comparing two business model ontologies for designing e-business models and value constellations. BLED 2005 Proceedings, 15.
- 2004. The Business Model Ontology: A Proposition in a Design Science Approach. University of Lausanne.
- 2004. Understanding ICT-based business models in developing countries. International Journal of Information Technology and Management, 3(2-4), 333-348.
- 2004. Investigating the use of the business model concept through interviews. Proceedings of the International Conference on Electronic Business, 568-573.
- 2003. Modeling value propositions in e-business. Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Electronic Commerce, 429-436.
- 2003. Toward business and information systems alignment through a business model ontology. Strategic Management Society Conference.
- 2003. Modeling customer relationships in e-business. BLED 2003 Proceedings, 41.
- 2002. E-business model design, classification, and measurements. Thunderbird International Business Review, 44(1), 5-23.
- 2002. An e-business model ontology for modeling e-business. BLED 2002 Proceedings, 2.
- 2002. An ontology for developing e-business models. IFIP DsiAge.
- 2002. The Business Model Handbook for Developing Countries. University of Lausanne.
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Original publication date: October 3, 2016 | Last update: June 20, 2026
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Vincent van Vliet
Vincent van Vliet is co-founder and responsible for the content and release management. Together with the team Vincent sets the strategy and manages the content planning, go-to-market, customer experience and corporate development aspects of the company.
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