What are The Four Ps? It’s a retail (and marketing) principle, first documented over 60 years ago by Michigan State Professor of Marketing, E. Jerome McCarthy. The Four Ps include: Place, Price, Promotion, and Product (though not necessarily in that order).

The first conventional transaction via the Internet occurred in the early 1990s. 1994 to be exact. Dan Kohn, a young economics grad student, sold a Compact Disc for $12.48 to a friend 300 miles away by encrypting his friend’s credit card information via a crude website (which required a modified internet browser to function).

While Santa Cruz County has an excellent track record of support for the small business community, we are also missing one critical component: A hands-on, practical, one-on-one crash course in the Lean Startup and MVP methodologies-- one supported by academia but wholly driven by non-academic industry professionals at the top of their influence.