Technology Product Entrepreneurship

What a startup actually is (Steve Blank's definition), the three pillars of Startup DNA (Innovation × Scalability × Uncertainty), the four-phase journey, investor psychology (FOMO vs FOLS), trend-spotting (3C, Hype Cycle, Impact Radar), the Idea Hexagon (six dimensions of idea stretching), and the Crucible filter (Oxygen Test + Five Filters) that takes 18 variants down to 3 defensible hypotheses.

Levine's Law (fall in love with the problem); three levels of problem statements (vague → end-user → 4Ws+When); the 5Ws framework with Why as keystone; the seven-role stakeholder ecosystem (Decision Maker, Influencer, Buyer, Manager, Operator, Evaluator, CFO); the implications triad (Magnitude × Frequency × Population → Painkiller vs Vitamin); survey design without bias (past behaviour, quantified pain); the Detective Phase.

Old Map (Traditional Product Development) vs New Compass (Customer Development); Steve Blank's four stages (Discovery → Validation → Creation → Building); Search vs Execute with PMF as the pivot point; the six hypothesis types; the hypothesis formula; the Detective Phase (four past-behaviour questions); the Validation Board (up to 4 pivots); Build-Measure-Learn loop with MVPs; the Earlyvangelist Pyramid.

Why PMF feels different (the market pulls, the startup doesn't push); Tren Griffin's Value Hypothesis (features, audience, business model); the Experience Economy ladder (commodity → goods → service → experience → transformation); Differentiation Advantage (supply × demand sides); value equation (Customer Value + Marketer Value = Total Value); value relative to the Next Best Alternative; the six VPC slots (Jobs/Pains/Gains × Products/Pain Relievers/Gain Creators) with one-to-one fit; the Uber worked example; the 10 characteristics of a great VP.

BMC as strategic bridge (how-we-make × who-we-sell-to × how-we-stay-viable); nine building blocks organised into three zones (Front Stage: Customer Segments, Relationships, Channels | Back Stage: Key Resources, Activities, Partners | Box Office: Cost Structure, Revenue Streams); Value Proposition as the central bridge; Inflow > Outflow as the viability equation; Lean Canvas variant for startups under uncertainty (Problem, Solution, Key Metrics, Unfair Advantage replace Partners, Activities, Resources, Relationships); the canvas as a hypothesis to be tested via riskiest-assumption MVPs.

Companies don't exist in isolation (Demand × Supply × Rules triangle); STP (Segmentation → Targeting → Positioning); the five-petal segment flower; ecosystem mapping across adjacent markets; AHA Grid 2×2 (Leaders, Contenders, Challengers, Laggards by Benefits × Price); Competition Matrix benchmarking; Customer Importance Mapping (Unique/Best/Same/Poor × importance); USP & Defensibility four-tier ladder (Easy → Difficult → Cannot be imitated); SWOT with quadrant connections (SO/ST/WO/WT); Find Your USP four-zone Venn (Winning, Risky, Losing, Who Cares); STP feeds the 4P marketing mix.

Full pipeline across the four phases; the four key cross-phase connections (VPC zooms into BMC; Validation Board operationalises every canvas block; 5Ws Who → BMC Customer Segments → STP Segmentation → AHA Grid axes; Painkiller test reinforced by Contenders quadrant); the four canonical diagrams to memorise (Idea Hexagon, BML loop, VPC, BMC); six exam tactics (name the framework, draw the diagram, apply ≥2 frameworks per question, quote slide language, avoid the four common mistakes, fall back to four-phase pipeline when stuck); investor pitch structure (Act I FOMO; Act II FOLS).