Entrepreneurial Mindset & Opportunity Discovery

• Introduction to Entrepreneurship: Types of entrepreneurs, Traits of successful founders, Entrepreneurial vs employee mindset, Opportunity vs necessity-driven entrepreneurship, Case studies of Indian founders
• Activity: Write your personal founder story and vision statement
• Identifying Problems Worth Solving: Problem-first vs idea-first approach, Frustration journaling, Opportunity zones (tech, health, education, etc.), Using trend reports and research, Real-life examples from the market
• Activity: List 5 real-world problems & validate with Google Trends
• Idea Validation Basics: Lean startup philosophy, Idea validation checklist, Talking to early users, Landing page testing, Feedback loop basics
• Activity: Conduct 3 user interviews for problem validation
• Understanding Customer Persona: Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), Demographics vs psychographics, Behavioral triggers, Pain points & desired outcomes, Mapping persona to your solution
• Activity: Create 2 customer personas for your startup idea
• Founding Team & Role Clarity: Solo vs co-founder dynamics, Technical vs non-technical founders, Equity splits, Founder agreement essentials, Aligning vision & values
• Activity: Draft a founder agreement using a template

Business Model Design & Validation

• Business Model Canvas (BMC): 9 building blocks, Revenue, channels, cost structure, Value proposition mapping, Key resources and activities, Partner ecosystems
• Activity: Build a BMC for your startup idea
• Market Research & Opportunity Sizing: Primary & secondary research, TAM, SAM, SOM explained, Competitive landscape, SWOT analysis, Industry trends
• Activity: Conduct a competitor analysis with SWOT
• Customer Journey Mapping: Awareness to advocacy stages, Funnel thinking, Key touchpoints, Retention loops, Lifetime value considerations
• Activity: Map a customer journey for your MVP
• Pricing & Revenue Models: Freemium, subscription, transaction-based, Cost-plus vs value-based pricing, Tiered pricing, Monetization strategy, Case examples
• Activity: Create a 3-tier pricing plan for your offering
• Legal Setup & Compliance: Types of business registration, Startup India benefits, Basic contracts (NDA, MoU), IP protection (trademark, patent), Compliance checklist
• Activity: Draft your startup’s registration plan

MVP Development & Product Strategy

• What is an MVP?: MVP vs MLP vs MAP, Core feature identification, Tools for rapid prototyping, Tech vs no-code MVPs, Build-measure-learn loop
• Activity: Sketch MVP feature list and use MoSCoW prioritization
• User Testing & Feedback Collection: Interview frameworks, NPS surveys, Building a feedback loop, Early adopters vs laggards, Pivot or persevere
• Activity: Create a Typeform survey and collect 10 responses
• Product Roadmap Creation: Vision to features roadmap, Sprints and milestones, Prioritization frameworks, Time-to-market planning, Documentation tools
• Activity: Build a Notion/Trello-based 90-day roadmap
• Tools for Founders: No-code tools (Bubble, Glide, Webflow), Design tools (Figma, Canva), CRM and automation, Analytics tools, Hosting platforms
• Activity: Use Glide to build a working MVP or landing page
• Measuring Product Success: Retention metrics (DAU, MAU), Engagement rate, Product-market fit score, Activation and churn, Customer feedback loops
• Activity: Design a dashboard mockup with key product KPIs

Marketing & Growth for Startups

• Go-To-Market (GTM) Strategy: What is GTM?, Targeting & positioning, Launch checklist, Organic vs paid GTM, Budgeting GTM
• Activity: Create a one-page GTM strategy document
• Early Traction Channels: Email campaigns, Social media hacks, Influencer and referral tactics, Community-led growth, Early adopters playbook
• Activity: Build a 7-day traction plan for launch week
• Content & Branding Strategy: Brand voice & tone, Logo, color palette, fonts, Social content calendar, Blog & thought leadership, SEO basics
• Activity: Design a brand kit and post 1 social teaser
• Performance Marketing: Facebook & Google Ads, ROAS & CAC metrics, Budget planning, Retargeting, A/B testing
• Activity: Draft an ad copy and set mock campaign in Meta Ads Manager
• Growth Hacking & Virality: Viral loops and referral engines, Waitlists and FOMO, Influencer seeding, Landing page optimization, Analytics & tracking
• Activity: Create a referral campaign concept using UpViral or similar

Startup Finance, Funding & Operations

• Startup Financial Basics: Revenue & cost breakdown, Burn rate and runway, CAC vs LTV, Unit economics, Cash flow 101
• Activity: Build a 6-month financial projection sheet
• Fundraising Options & Strategy: Bootstrapping, friends & family, Angel investors vs VCs, Incubators & grants, SAFE, equity, convertible notes, Dilution explained
• Activity: Draft a 10-slide pitch deck for funding
• Investor Pitching & Decks: Storytelling in pitching, Metrics that matter, Pitch structure, Common founder mistakes, Q&A handling
• Activity: Record a 3-minute investor pitch video
• Operational Systems: Hiring & team tools, SOPs for founders, Productivity stack, Vendor & payment management, HR essentials
• Activity: Create one SOP (sales, onboarding, etc.)
• Legal, Compliance & Scaling: Contracts & templates, GST, TDS, compliance tools, Scale-up readiness, Due diligence prep, Scaling checklists
• Activity: Audit your startup for scale readiness using a checklist

Capstone Projects + Investor Pitch Lab