Saral Shiksha Yojna
Courses/Technology Product Entrepreneurship

Technology Product Entrepreneurship

CS9.424
Ramesh Loganathan + Prakash Yalla•Monsoon 2025-26•4 credits
Sample Papers/TPE Mock End-Sem Paper 8 (200-mark extended — all-new domains)

TPE Mock End-Sem Paper 8 (200-mark extended — all-new domains)

Duration: 240 min • Max marks: 200

Part 1 — Foundations (8 × 5 = 40 marks)

40 marks
  1. 1.Distinguish 'small business' from 'clone' from 'corporation' from 'startup' using the three pillars of Startup DNA. One sentence per category specifying which pillar is missing.5 m
  2. 2.Apply the Hexagon's 'Fusion' (X+Y) dimension to three seed pairs of your choice. Each must yield a distinct startup direction. Specify target user.5 m
  3. 3.Steve Blank's startup definition — what is the consequence of dropping 'temporary'? What does the company become?5 m
  4. 4.Apply the Crucible (Oxygen + Five Filters) to 'AI-powered sports-coach app for amateur cricket players'. State proceed / kill with one sentence of evidence per filter.5 m
  5. 5.Compare the founder's posture at the 'Peak of Inflated Expectations' vs the 'Slope of Enlightenment' on the Hype Cycle. Identify three operational decisions that differ.5 m
  6. 6.Why is the Phase 1 deliverable described as *hypotheses* and not *products*? Defend with two specific failure-mode statistics from Phase 1's content.5 m
  7. 7.Apply 'Find the Hammers' (X↓) to 'urban traffic congestion'. Generate four distinct solution directions.5 m
  8. 8.What is the FOLS-side defensibility content an early-stage deeptech founder should bring to Act II of an investor pitch? Name three specific items.5 m

Part 2 — Problem + Customer Development (6 × 10 = 60 marks)

60 marks
  1. 1.Draw Levine's Tree (Product / Solution / Problem). State the founder's natural instinct that the Tree disarms. Apply Levine's Law to a software startup of your choice — distinguish what the trunk-decoration would have been vs what root-interrogation reveals.10 m
  2. 2.A startup is selling to a hospital. Map the seven stakeholder roles. Identify which roles can *veto without approving* — name three. State the operational consequence for the founder.10 m
  3. 3.Apply Magnitude × Frequency × Population to 'recycled-material certification for SMB manufacturers'. State the TAP. Compare against 'recycled-material certification for FMCG brands' — does the conclusion change?10 m
  4. 4.Reproduce the Detective Phase's four interview question templates. Adapt to 'farmer adoption of new pesticide protocols'. Explicitly state what each question avoids that a founder-led pitch question would do wrong.10 m
  5. 5.Distinguish 'Problem-Solution Fit' from 'Product-Market Fit'. Apply the distinction to a startup that has paying customers but very high churn. Is this PSF, PMF, both, or neither? Justify.10 m
  6. 6.Design a Validation Board with all four zones (Pivot Track / Experiment Design / Results) for a scenario where the founder has 3 hypotheses, 4 attempted MVPs over 6 months, and 1 still-active pivot in progress.10 m

Part 3 — VPC / BMC / Positioning (4 × 15 = 60 marks)

60 marks
  1. 1.Draw the VPC for 'AI-coached language-learning for migrant workers in the Middle East from South Asia'. Fill all six slots in fill-order 1-6 with explicit arrows. Then test against Strategyzer 10 Characteristics #4 (narrow) and #9 (substantially differentiated). Conclude great / mediocre / breakthrough.15 m
  2. 2.Apply the Value Equation. For a price-elastic consumer SaaS at ₹299/month vs the same product at ₹999/month — show how Customer Value, Marketer Value, and Total Value change. State at what price point the customer churns to the Next Best Alternative.15 m
  3. 3.Draw the Lean Canvas (not BMC) for an early-stage deeptech startup of your choice. Highlight the four substituted blocks (Problem, Solution, Key Metrics, Unfair Advantage). Then articulate when the founder should migrate to the standard BMC.15 m
  4. 4.Apply the Defensibility four-tier ladder to a fintech startup. Stack at least four levers across the tiers. Then argue: which tier is hardest to climb to without legal events (patents, exclusive contracts)?15 m

Part 4 — Synthesis & Pitch (2 × 20 = 40 marks)

40 marks
  1. 1.Apply Cross-Phase Connection #4 (Painkiller + Contenders + Tier 1-2 = defensible startup recipe) to a startup of your choice. Verify each of the three ingredients with specific evidence. If any one fails, propose how to remediate within the next 12 months.20 m
  2. 2.A startup is about to face a well-funded entrant (a Tata Power-like incumbent). The founder is panicked. Use Phase 4.2 frameworks (AHA Grid + Defensibility + Find-Your-USP Venn + SWOT cross-quadrant) to structure her *defensive response strategy*. Conclude with a one-line message to her board that summarises the defensibility position.20 m

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