Lead User Innovation Handbook

Spring 2026 · Lead User Innovation Handbook

MIT Lecturer Erdin Beshimov created a short manual that collects and explains a wide range of lead user innovation cases. Lead user innovation is a process where ideas and new products are designed by the consumers of the product and not by a large corporation. Well-known examples include Airbnb, Spanx, and Odwalla, in addition to many more. Educators everywhere can easily download the handbook and share it with their students. Each example will be presented clearly and briefly, with context and key takeaways that make it easy to use in a classroom discussion or assignment.