Lean Canvas vs. the Traction Canvas

The short answer: The Lean Canvas describes your business model on one page. The Traction Canvas is a one-page sales playbook: it shows the order in which to win your first customers. Many founders use both.

Where they overlap and where they differ

Left: covered by Lean Canvas only. Middle: covered by both. Right: covered by the Traction Canvas only.

Box by box

How much the Lean Canvas covers each Traction Canvas box. Full circle: a core focus. Empty: not covered. This is our own assessment; see all models compared.

What Lean Canvas does well

Alexander Osterwalder created the Business Model Canvas, and Ash Maurya adapted it into the Lean Canvas for startups. The Lean Canvas captures the problem, customer segments, unique value proposition, solution, channels, revenue streams, cost structure, key metrics and unfair advantage on a single page.

• It forces founders to write their business down in one place.
• It highlights the riskiest assumptions to test.
• It is widely taught, so mentors and investors recognize it.

How Lean Canvas maps to the Traction Canvas

The Traction Canvas has ten boxes in three zones, completed in order: Learn (Boxes 1 to 5), Earn (Boxes 6 to 9) and Scale (Box 10). Here is how Lean Canvas lines up with it.

Where the Lean Canvas lands on the Traction Canvas. Faded boxes are not covered. The table below has the details.

Lean Canvas	Traction Canvas	How it connects
Problem	Box 1: Problems Learn zone	Problems finds the one worth solving now.
Customer segments and early adopters	Box 2: Bifurcation Learn zone	Bifurcation narrows the market to the buyers most likely to act.
Existing alternatives	Box 3: Competition Learn zone	Competition covers every alternative a buyer has, including doing nothing.
Unique value proposition	Box 4: Seven Second Sale Learn zone	The Seven Second Sale creates almost instant interest.
Channels	Box 5: Enrolling Box 6: Trigger Events Learn, Earn zone	Enrolling and Trigger Events are your first sales channels.
Unfair advantage	Box 10: Marketing Moat Scale zone	A Marketing Moat is a hard-to-copy advantage.

The gap Lean Canvas leaves

How far each canvas takes a founder on the road to $1M in ARR and a Series A. Bar strength shows how much of each zone is covered, using the box-by-box ratings above.

The Lean Canvas captures a business at one moment, but it doesn't say what to do first, or how to sell. The Traction Canvas doesn't cover revenue streams or cost structure, and the Lean Canvas doesn't cover the sales work in Boxes 6 to 9.

When to use the Lean Canvas, and when to use the Traction Canvas

Use the Lean Canvas when you are starting a brand new company, especially as a first-time founder: it captures your business model on one page. Use the Traction Canvas once you have that model and need your first paying customers, in order, on the way to Keep the Lean Canvas for your business model. When you need to know how to actually sell your way to your first $1M, use the Traction Canvas, completed in order from Box 1.M in ARR. If you are an existing company launching a new product, we recommend the Business Model Canvas instead of the Lean Canvas.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between the Lean Canvas and the Traction Canvas?

The Lean Canvas describes what your business is. The Traction Canvas describes how to win customers, as ten boxes completed in order.

Should I use the Lean Canvas or the Traction Canvas?

Both. They answer different questions, and the problem and customer boxes on each reinforce the other.

Find out which box you’re stuck on

Every founder under $1M in revenue is stuck on one of the ten boxes. The free Traction Readiness Diagnostic shows you which one, and where to start.

Take the free Traction Readiness Diagnostic

See how the Traction Canvas compares with other startup models