Technology Product Entrepreneurship
CS9.424Ramesh Loganathan + Prakash Yalla•Monsoon 2025-26•4 credits
Formulas & Diagrams
High-ROI section — formulas improve marks, diagrams improve recall.
Formulas
Startup definition
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All three jointly necessary; missing any one yields a different kind of organisation.
Hexagon — Generalize
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Lift the concept to a higher dimension or adjacent domain.
Hexagon — Fusion
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Combine with a dissimilar concept (Phone + Camera = smartphone).
Hexagon — Find the Nails
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Solution looking for problems — map all applications of one capability.
Hexagon — Find the Hammers
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Problem looking for solutions — map all ways to hit the same nail.
Hexagon — Add an Adjective
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Modify with a descriptive quality (Banking → AI Banking).
Hexagon — Do the Opposite
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Invert the core assumption (office to people → remote work).
Painkiller test
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If either is low, you have a vitamin not a painkiller — investors won't fund it.
Value equation
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Price = the transfer line splitting Total Value between customer and firm. Price < NBA → customer leaves.
Maximising value
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Grow value by adding benefits, cutting cost, or both.
BMC viability
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The Box Office equation. The arithmetic justification for every block above it.
Phase 1 funnel
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The arithmetic of Phase 1's generate-and-filter pipeline.
Diagrams
Startup DNA three-pillar Venn
Three circles (Innovation, Scalability, Uncertainty) intersecting at 'Startup'. Each two-way overlap labelled with the failure mode of the missing third.
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Four-phase journey timeline
Arrow left-to-right with four phases and deliverables; capstone Investor Pitch at the end.
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Gartner Hype Cycle
Curve with five stages labelled and the founder's sweet spot starred on the Slope of Enlightenment.
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Idea Hexagon
Central X with six labelled vertices and their formulas; arrows pointing outward.
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Crucible funnel
18 variants → Oxygen Test → Five Filters → 3 surviving hypotheses.
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Levine's Tree
Product (leaves) → Solution (trunk) → Problem (roots). Weak roots → tree falls.
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5Ws spoke with Why as keystone
Five labelled spokes; Why highlighted in the centre or in a different colour to mark the keystone.
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Stakeholder Ecosystem orbit
Concentric rings around the organisation with seven role labels (Decision Maker, Influencer, Buyer, Manager, Operator, Evaluator, CFO).
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Old Map vs New Compass
Left: linear pipeline of traditional product dev. Right: customer-development loop with pivot arrows.
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Build-Measure-Learn loop
Four-corner loop IDEA → BUILD (MVP) → MEASURE → LEARN → (Persevere or Pivot) → IDEA.
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Validation Board
Top-left zone tracks pivots (rows: Customer/Problem/Solution Hypotheses; columns: Start + 4 pivots). Bottom-left zone holds experiments. Right zone columns: Invalidated / Validated. 'GET OUT OF THE BUILDING' stamp.
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Earlyvangelist Pyramid
Five-tier pyramid from base (You-know they have a problem) to apex (Have Budget).
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Value Proposition Canvas
Left square (Products & Services / Pain Relievers / Gain Creators) interlocking with right circle (Jobs / Pains / Gains). Numbers 1-6 in fill order. Arrows showing relievers→pains and creators→gains mapping.
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Experience Economy ladder
Five rungs ascending: Commodity → Goods → Service → Experience → Transformation. Coffee example labelled on each rung.
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Value Perception three-layer
Baseline Value (bottom) → Next Best Alternative (middle) → Our Offering (top), capped by Value Ceiling. 'Your value potential' is the band between NBA and your offering.
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Business Model Canvas (nine blocks)
Standard nine-block canvas: Back Stage (left half — KP, KA, KR), VP (centre), Front Stage (right half — CR, CS, CH), Box Office (bottom strip — Costs, Revenue). Three-zone shading.
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Lean Canvas
Nine-block Ash Maurya canvas. Highlights the four substitutions vs BMC: Problem (vs KP), Solution (vs KA), Key Metrics (vs KR), Unfair Advantage (vs CR).
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STP five-petal segment flower
Five overlapping petals with the business at the centre. Adjacent petals show overlap regions (boundary competition).
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AHA Grid 2×2
Benefits (vertical) × Price (horizontal). Four quadrants labelled Leaders / Contenders / Challengers / Laggards. Star drawn at top-left to mark the disruption sweet spot.
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Competition Matrix
Rows = competitors + 'New Organization'. Columns = traits. Checkmarks for capability presence. Highlighting on traits the customer cares about most.
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USP Defensibility four-tier ladder
Bottom (Tier 4 Easy to imitate) → Top (Tier 1 Cannot be imitated). Arrows showing the founder's journey upward.
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SWOT 2×2
Internal vs External × Helpful vs Harmful. Four quadrants (S/W/O/T) with diagonal arrows showing cross-quadrant SO/ST/WO/WT connections.
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Find Your USP four-zone Venn
Three overlapping circles (Brand / Consumer / Competitor). Four zones labelled: Winning ✅, Risky ❓, Losing ❌, Who Cares.
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FOMO/FOLS pitch architecture
Two-act pitch diagram. Act I (FOMO ignition: market, vision, traction). Act II (FOLS calming: team, defensibility, unit economics).
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