सSaral Shiksha Yojna
Courses/Technology Product Entrepreneurship

Technology Product Entrepreneurship

CS9.424
Ramesh Loganathan + Prakash Yalla•Monsoon 2025-26•4 credits
Sample Papers/TPE practice paper · Paper 1

TPE practice paper · Paper 1

Duration: 120 min • Max marks: 100

Section A — MCQs (10 × 1 = 10 marks)

10 marks
  1. 1.** Who designed the Oxygen Test? (a) Steve Blank (b) Clayton Christensen (c) Janet Kraus (d) Alex Osterwalder1 m
  2. 2.** Approximately what percentage of seed-stage startups advance to Series A? (a) 2.5% (b) 7.5% (c) 12% (d) 25%1 m
  3. 3.** "Phone + Camera" is an example of which Idea Hexagon move? (a) Generalize (b) Fusion (c) Find the Nails (d) Add an Adjective1 m
  4. 4.** Eventbrite's per-ticket service fee on paid events was: (a) 1.5% + $0.49 (b) 2.5% + $0.99 (c) 3% + $1.50 (d) 5% flat1 m
  5. 5.** Which of these is in the *Customer Profile* side of a VPC? (a) Pain Relievers (b) Gain Creators (c) Products & Services (d) Customer Jobs1 m
  6. 6.** In the Aha! Grid, a competitor with low benefits but high price falls under: (a) Leaders (b) Contenders (c) Challengers (d) Laggards1 m
  7. 7.** The catalysing event that made conversational AI broadly usable, per Gartner's 3C framework, was: (a) Mobile phones (b) Cloud (c) ChatGPT (d) 5G1 m
  8. 8.** The Rolocule game that won the People's Choice at IMGA 2012 was: (a) Super Badminton (b) Touch Squash (c) Flick Tennis (d) Bowling Central1 m
  9. 9.** "Skilled workforce" sits in which USP defensibility tier? (a) Cannot be imitated (b) Difficult to imitate (c) Can be imitated at a cost (d) Easy to imitate1 m
  10. 10.** Steve Blank's first step in Customer Development is: (a) Customer Validation (b) Customer Creation (c) Customer Discovery (d) Company Building1 m

Section B — MSQs (5 × 2 = 10 marks)

10 marks
  1. 1.** Which of the following are blocks of the Business Model Canvas? *(Select all that apply)* (a) Key Resources (b) Channels (c) Cost Structure (d) Risk Register (e) Customer Segments2 m
  2. 2.** Which of these are dimensions of the Idea Hexagon? (a) Generalize (b) Find the Nails (c) Iterate (d) Do the Opposite (e) Disrupt2 m
  3. 3.** Which sub-criteria belong to the **Customer Filter** in the Five Filters? (a) Customer Loyalty (b) Healthy Margins (c) Segmentable Market (d) Inherent Story (e) Customer Accessibility2 m
  4. 4.** Which of these were debated as Eventbrite's "comparables" for valuation? (a) Social media companies (b) Banks (c) Primary ticketing companies (d) High-growth transactional tech businesses (e) Airlines2 m
  5. 5.** Which roles appear in the "Stakeholder Ecosystem beyond the End User"? (a) Decision Maker (b) Influencer (c) Janitor (d) Evaluator (e) Auditor2 m

Section C — Short answer (6 × 5 = 30 marks)

30 marks
  1. 1.** Name the three categories of the Oxygen Test and give one example for each.5 m
  2. 2.** List the four steps of Steve Blank's Customer Development process and state where a pivot typically happens.5 m
  3. 3.** State the BMC viability equation and explain what each side represents.5 m
  4. 4.** What is an "earlyvangelist," and why does the course consider finding them critical?5 m
  5. 5.** Describe the Aha! Grid's two axes and label all four quadrants.5 m
  6. 6.** What were the two main reasons Dance Party failed for Rolocule?5 m

Section D — Descriptive (3 × 10 = 30 marks)

30 marks
  1. 1.** Explain the six dimensions of the Idea Hexagon. For each, give the formula and one example.10 m
  2. 2.** Apply the Five Filters to evaluate a hypothetical deeptech startup: "an AI-based early-detection system for diabetic retinopathy, sold to tier-2 city eye clinics in India." Score each filter qualitatively and conclude whether the idea is high-potential.10 m
  3. 3.** Profile the "Sams" and "Marys" segments in the SparkPlace case. Summarise each character's recommendation (Andrew/Vikram, Josh, Jane, Serge, Dirk). Then state Roger Martin's and Mike Volpe's positions and the strategic reasoning behind each.10 m

Section E — Long analytical (1 × 20 = 20 marks)

20 marks
  1. 1.** You are a TPE founder pitching a deeptech venture to an investor jury next week. Walk through the *full structure* of your pitch, naming the framework you would use at each stage from problem articulation through the final ask. Reference Phase 1 → Phase 4 frameworks explicitly. End with a sample "specific ask" sentence in the style the deck recommends. ---20 m
  2. 2.** (c) Janet Kraus (HBS Senior Lecturer)20 m
  3. 3.** (b) 7.5%20 m
  4. 4.** (b) Fusion (X+Y — two dissimilar concepts combined)20 m
  5. 5.** (b) 2.5% + $0.99 per ticket20 m
  6. 6.** (d) Customer Jobs (the circle holds Jobs/Pains/Gains)20 m
  7. 7.** (c) Challengers (vulnerable — paying more for less)20 m
  8. 8.** (c) ChatGPT20 m
  9. 9.** (c) Flick Tennis (IMGA 2012, Barcelona)20 m
  10. 10.** (c) Can be imitated at a cost20 m
  11. 11.** (c) Customer Discovery20 m
  12. 12.** (a), (b), (c), (e) — *Risk Register is not a BMC block*20 m
  13. 13.** (a), (b), (d) — *Iterate and Disrupt are not dimensions*20 m
  14. 14.** (a), (c), (e) — *Margins is Economic Filter; Inherent Story is Product Filter*20 m
  15. 15.** (a), (c), (d) — Social media (Facebook/LinkedIn), Ticketing (Ticketmaster), Transactional tech (Airbnb/Uber/Etsy)20 m
  16. 16.** (a), (b), (d) — Decision Maker, Influencer, Evaluator (also Buyer, Manager, Operator/End User, CFO)20 m
  17. 17.** **Oxygen** = must-have, mission-critical (Salesforce, water/electricity utilities). **Aspirin** = nice-to-have, eases pain (coffee, productivity apps). **Jewelry** = luxury/emotional, not vital (video games, designer accessories). Useful as a "finger-in-the-air" check before deeper analysis.20 m
  18. 18.** **Customer Discovery → Customer Validation → Customer Creation → Company Building.** The *pivot* loops back from Validation to Discovery if hypotheses fail (the Pivot Rule: "if you can't find customers, you haven't validated your model").20 m
  19. 19.** **Right-side Revenue Streams > Left-side Cost Structure?** The right side captures revenue earned from customer segments via the value proposition delivered through channels and relationships. The left side captures the cost of running the engine — key partners, activities, and resources. If revenues exceed costs at scale, the model is viable.20 m
  20. 20.** An earlyvangelist is an early adopter who is *also* an evangelist for the product — they not only buy but actively recommend and defend. They matter because (i) they provide proof that a passionate user base exists, (ii) they drive low-CAC word-of-mouth growth, and (iii) finding even a small group of them is what marks the end of Customer Validation.20 m
  21. 21.** Y-axis = **Benefits** (low to high); X-axis = **Price** (low to high). Quadrants: **Leaders** (high benefits, high price), **Contenders** (high benefits, low price), **Challengers** (low benefits, high price — vulnerable), **Laggards** (low benefits, low price).20 m
  22. 22.** (i) The in-game playlist was limited because **music producers charged very high royalties**, hurting the experience; and (ii) **Apple TV sales did not pick up as anticipated**, so the addressable market for a Rolomotion-only game collapsed.20 m
  23. 23.** 1. **Generalize (X^d):** apply the concept to another dimension/domain. *Data → Text → Audio → Images → Video.* 2. **Fusion (X+Y):** combine the idea with a dissimilar concept. *Phone + Camera.* 3. **Find the Nails (X↑):** start with a solution (hammer), find all the problems (nails) it can solve. *New material invented → enumerate all applications.* 4. **Find the Hammers (X↓):** start with a problem (nail), find all possible solutions (hammers). *Last-mile delivery → drones, robots, gig workers.* 5. **Add an Adjective (X++):** modify the core idea with a trend descriptor. *Banking → Mobile Banking, AI-powered Banking.* 6. **Do the Opposite (X̄):** invert the core premise. *People come to office → office comes to people (remote work).*20 m
  24. 24.** *(Sample evaluation.)* - **Customer Filter:** Eye clinics are clearly identifiable; diabetic retinopathy screening is a meaningful, urgent problem; market is segmentable by city and clinic size; clinics are accessible via medical associations; loyalty depends on diagnostic accuracy. *Score: Strong.* - **Product/Service Filter:** Tight niche (retina-screening AI); lean MVP viable using existing fundus camera footage; team-to-market fit depends on healthcare experience; inherent story (preventing blindness) is highly shareable. *Score: Strong.* - **Economic Filter:** Per-screen pricing or annual licence can deliver healthy margins; cash flow needs are modest if SaaS; reimbursement and regulatory cycles are a constraint. *Score: Moderate.* - **Timing Filter:** Diabetes burden in India is rising sharply (secular trend); recent enabler = high-accuracy CNN models on consumer GPUs. *Score: Strong.* - **Competition Filter:** Some incumbents (Forus, Remidio, Google's ARDA) exist but tier-2 clinic distribution is uncrowded; team fitness depends on clinical partnerships. *Score: Moderate.* - **Conclusion:** Strong candidate idea — 3 strong filters + 2 moderate. Build the lean MVP, focus the beachhead on a single tier-2 city's diabetic-care network.20 m
  25. 25.** *Sams* = small businesses, <20 employees; ~$1K acquisition cost; ~$10K lifetime profit; **$5 profit per $1 of marketing**; market ~1.3M; lower stickiness. *Marys* = medium businesses, 20–100 employees; ~$5K acquisition; **$50K lifetime profit**; $2 profit per $1 marketing; market <500K; higher stickiness, pay more, larger budgets. - **Andrew & Vikram (Sales/Analytics):** target Sams — higher marketing ROI, larger market. - **Josh (Marketing):** target Marys — higher lifetime profitability. - **Jane (CEO):** leans Sams initially (more potential, scale) but acknowledges Marys' loyalty. - **Serge (Lead Dev):** Marys — they use more features, more interesting to design for; but says the call is business team's. - **Dirk (Board):** make inroads into both. - **Roger Martin (Rotman):** **Both** — the segments aren't truly distinct; whoever wins one will adapt to the adjacent one (R&D investment carries over). Penetrating both now is the right strategic choice. - **Mike Volpe (HubSpot CMO):** **Marys first** — three lifetime-value levers (price, cancellation, upgrade rate) all favor Marys. HubSpot then resold the existing Mary-built product to Sams via indirect channels (marketing agencies). Result: 3× LTV, 3× profit/customer, 2× Sams profitability.20 m
  26. 26.** *(Sample answer structure.)* 1. **Opening — Problem Articulation (Phase 2):** Use the 5 Ws + magnitude/frequency/trend. State the problem as an **Oxygen-level** need (Janet Kraus). *Example:* "100M Indians have diabetes; 20% will develop retinopathy; 70% of cases are detected too late." 2. **Customer & Stakeholder Map (Phase 2):** Identify the user, buyer, decision-maker, influencer, evaluator beyond the end user. 3. **Solution & Value (Phase 3):** Present the **Value Proposition Canvas** — match Pain Relievers and Gain Creators against customer Jobs/Pains/Gains. 4. **Evidence of PMF (Phase 3):** Customer Development results — number of earlyvangelists, pilot conversions, NPS, churn. 5. **Business Model (Phase 4):** Walk the **BMC** front-stage (Segments → Relationships → Channels → VP) then back-stage (Partners/Activities/Resources) then financial blocks (Costs/Revenue). State the viability equation. 6. **Market Strategy (Phase 4):** Show the **STP** chosen segment, plot competitors on the **Aha! Grid**, identify whitespace, and define your **USP** in a Tier-1 or Tier-2 defensibility category (patent, brand, network, proprietary data). 7. **Lifecycle Position:** State current stage (pre-seed / seed / early) and prerequisites for the next one. 8. **The Ask (Act III — Close):** Be specific and tie capital to milestones. Convey momentum without bluffing. - *Sample ask:* "We are raising **₹2 Crore for 18 months of runway to reach ₹1 Cr ARR**, by closing 30 paying clinics in Hyderabad and securing CDSCO approval for our screening device." --- ---20 m

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