Econ 125 Fall 2024 Final Collaborative Study Guide

Format? The final will be a closed note, timed exam and will be approximately 50 multiple-choice questions.

When/Where? The test will be administered in Genome 100 from 4-7 pm on December 12th.

What’s covered? Review content in Virtual Sessions, slides from classes, and notes you have taken in class, speakers - majority will be from the second half of the semester, but there will be some questions on content covered the first half

The professors/TAs will not be monitoring or adding to this document. This is your opportunity to collaborate with your colleagues and peers to prepare for the midterm.

This is an old quizlet but might be helpful! https://quizlet.com/781219333/unc-econ-125-final-flash-cards/?i=5b5h3y&x=1jqt

DO WE NEED TO WATCH THE VIDEOS IN THE MODULES? WILL THAT BE TESTED?

POST MIDTERM MATERIALS

What was the initial idea for Twitter (formerly known as Odeo)?

Why is product-market fit critical for startups? 80% of start-ups fail bc they don’t have this

Q About using AI to build our models–

b

What is unique about the lean canvas model?

Unique Value Proposition

Customer Segments

Costs

Revenue Streams

FINANCIAL MODEL– TOP DOWN VS. BOTTOM UP

Top-Down:

Starts broad, then narrows down (e.g.,

estimate the total market size and determine the share

you’ll capture). It’s often based on assumptions about the

overall market.

Bottom-Up:

Starts with specific details and builds up to

an overall figure (e.g., start with initial customers and

their spending to estimate growth). It relies more on

detailed, specific data and realistic projections

ART OF THE PITCH

ETHICS WITH KUNDRO- What does this mean what is it from?

Can someone please add notes for this

Added all VS + lecture below VS for midterm

UNIQUE VALUE PROPOSITION

PRODUCT MARKET FIT

PIVOTING FOCUS

FORMS OF INVESTMENT // INITIAL CAPITAL “Financing Your Venture”

Bootstrapping

• Bootstrapping is a situation where an entrepreneur starts a company with little capital, relying on money other than outside investment

  • Helps the entrepreneur stay scrappy and realize talents they didn’t know they had

  • Maintain control of a company until you find the right partner

1ST MIDTERM REVIEW MATERIALS

Quizlet with Concept Flashcard and Questions:

https://quizlet.com/955075965/econ125-midterm-flash-cards/?i=islyb&x=1jqt

WHAT IS A CONVERSATION PARTNER?

Someone who advocates for you but is not financially tied to the project - help identify pain points and ask difficult questions about the project, the timings and effectiveness of results.

Virtual Session Notes (There’s no VS 9 or 14):

VS #1:

• “We are all Entrepreneurs…” Forbes Articles:

  • entrepreneurial: thinking and doing something that has not been done before in order to achieve a desirable goal or outcome

  • Acts of entrepreneurship don’t have to be related to starting a company

  • thinking/acting innovatively → embodies spirit of entrepreneurship

• Entrepreneurial knowledge: The courage to act on opportunities under varying conditions of unknownness.

VS #2:

• Druckers Model → 7 areas of opportunity/innovation:

  • 1. the unexpected/ by chance

    • categorizes into unexpected success, unexpected failure or unexpected outside event

  • 2. incongruities

    • “things that don’t make sense”

    • opportunity arises in fixing problems in processes → parts of process that are confusing and don’t make sense

    • gap between expectations and reality

  • 3. process needs

    • there’s opportunity in providing a missing link in a process

  • 4. industry market structure

    • take advantage of changes in the market

  • 5. demographics - outside. For example, a rising elderly population in the US.

  • 6. changes in perception - outside. Smoking is a good example, cigarettes didn’t change but the general perception shifting to a more negative one was a change.

  • 7. new knowledge - outside. Usually involves a very big change but is rare to come by.

• Outside areas of Druker’s model are more risky

• innovation requires focus and reframing

VS #3:

• “Entrepreneurship is a Roller Coaster” article:

• Entrepreneurship is an emotional roller coaster: Entrepreneurs often experience extreme highs and lows throughout their journey.

• Recognize the emotional stages: Entrepreneurs can go from initial optimism to facing a crisis of meaning, followed by recovery.

• Manage your mindset: Knowing the emotional cycle allows entrepreneurs to prepare mentally for inevitable lows.

• Perseverance is key: It's important to stay focused on long-term goals despite short-term struggles.

• Surround yourself with support: Having a supportive team or network can help you navigate through tough times.

• Learn from setbacks: Instead of viewing failures negatively, treat them as learning experiences to improve and grow.

Stay grounded during highs: When experiencing success, keep grounded to avoid complacency and maintain momentum

• The Transition curve:

  • stage 1 - uninformed optimism:

    • beginning stage where you’re excited and optimistic → don’t make big decisions

  • stage 2: informed pessimism:

    • new information comes to light that makes you come to negative realizations

      • ie: realizing you don’t have a proper budget

  • stage 3: crisis of meaning:

    • panicking and unable to do anything

  • stage 4: crash and burn:

    • lowest point, not everyone gets here

    • either file for bankruptcy and lose leadership role

  • stage 5: informed optimism:

    • final stage → feel energized and optimistic based on information

    • if you rush into it too fast you could crash again

• “5 Emerging Entrepreneurship Trends” Forbes articles:

  • 1. Social entrepreneurs: people who create businesses with social or environmental issues in mind

  • 2. Scalable or startup entrepreneurs: people who find a gap in the market and fill it

    • niche and disrupt norms

  • 3. Small business owners: people who plan to make a living/support their family with their business

    • ie: nail salons, small stores

    • avoid risk, slow growth

  • 4. large business entrepreneurs: people who expand their business model to create an empire

  • 5. Innovative entrepreneurs: people are creative problems-solvers, bring new products or ideas to the market

    • also referred as disruptors

  • Emerging business types:

    • globalized business

    • Freelance business services

    • mission-based companies

    • subscription-based business

    • social commerce (commerce through social media)

    • hyperlocal specialty shops

• “10 Startup Trends” article:

  • 1. Generative AI

  • 2. Agriculture and Technology

  • 3. Climate tech is going down

  • 4. Startups related to EV car infrastructure

  • 5. Drug discovery startups

  • 6. Funding for metaverse startups are going down

  • 7. satellite startups dominate space tech

  • 8. drone-related startups on the rise

  • 9. diversity in startups is increasing however → there’s a discrepancy in funding based on demographics

  • 10. startups are hunting alternative financing sources

VS #4:

• mostly about speaker bios and their companies…. (Do you think we will get quizzed on this) NO

VS #5:

• “What Google Learned… to Build the Perfect Team” NYT article:

  • project Aristotle: project undertaken by google to find what makes a team successful

    • found that psychological safety is the most important aspect of a team → trusting and feeling secure with your team

    • communication is key too

    • establishing group norms helps

    • all team members should be dependable

• psychological safety: feeling safe to take interpersonal risks in a group setting, speak up and agree/disagree without fear of repercussions

• Stages of Teams (Tuckman’s Model):

  • 1.Forming: members are positive and polite, group gets to meet each other first

  • 2. Storming: people push against boundaries, tension and struggle are present

  • 3. Norming: compromises take place and groups works together better

    • tolerate aspects of other members

    • a lot of overlap between storming and norming

    • all members take responsibility and have the ambition to work towards the goal

  • 4. Performing:

    • with group norms and roles established, members are comfortable with each other and can perform,

    • can communicate negative aspects comfortably

• high performing teams are likely to have to cycle through different stages

• team charter: way of a team to get alignment on the goal and purpose of the work they do

  • outlines agreements and guidelines on how team will work together

VS #6:

• Empathy Interview Techniques:

  • get people who are in the average and extremes → get more unique perspective

  • immerse: experience what the user experiences

  • observe: view users and their behaviors

  • engage: interact w/ and interview users through schedules

  • don’t ask yes or no questions

  • ask questions that trigger emotions

  • create comfortable atmosphere

• In order to empathize you need to:

  • Immerse

  • Observe

  • engage

VS #7:

• Design thinking core principles:

  • focus on human values

  • showing not telling

  • biased toward action

  • learning mindset

• Design thinking process:

  • Empathize: observe and understand users’ needs and problems

  • Define: analyze your observations and gain insights

  • Ideate: think of creative solutions to each aspect of the problem

  • Prototype: develop something tangible to show people

  • Test: get feedback from people on your assumptions and hypothesis

  • Implement: understand the feasibility of your idea and create a viable business model

  • EDIPTI

    • Iterate and refine

• Pediatric MRI example:

  • Doug Dietz : worked for general electric and oversaw the development of an MRI

  • noticed a girl at a hospital one day scared of the MRI

    • didn’t take into account this perspective when developing the MRI

  • displays that it’s important to take into account the user

  • Doug implemented design thinking process to make a better MRI

    • empathize: team talked to children and parents about their experience

    • define: defined the problem is that children get anxiety from MRI scans

      • found that kids like stuff that’s fun themed

    • ideate: wanted to turn MRI into an adventure

      • wanted to create an underwater adventure

    • prototype: put an aquarium picture on an existing MRI machine

    • test: were trying to test how kids would react

    • implement: developed product and it was successful

      • saw good results in kids being willing to go into MRI

• Design thinking is a process AND a mindset

VS #8:

• Empathy Maps can:

  • Remove bias from our designs and align the team on a single, shared understanding of the user

  • Discover weaknesses in our research

  • Uncover user needs that the user themselves may not even be aware of

  • Understand what drives users' behaviors

  • Guide us towards meaningful innovation

• Elements of an Empathy Map:

  • User: who are the people or segment/group of people you are designing for?

  • See: what does the environment look like around them? What do they see others saying or doing? What are they watching or reading?

  • Think and Feel: What emotions do you sense or are they articulating? What do you think they are thinking about? What are their motivations, goals, needs, or desires? What does this tell you about their beliefs?

  • Hear: what are they hearing from people around them that they interact with? What are they hearing second hand?

  • Say and Do: What are they actually saying and doing? What are actual statements that have been made or actions that you have observed?

  • Pain: What are they running from? What do they want to avoid? What are their fears, frustrations or anxieties?

  • Gain: What are they running to? What do they want to get? What are their wants, needs, hopes, and dreams?

• Building an Empathy Map

  • Large circle in the middle, divide the top into 4 sections, and at the bottom do two separate sections

  • Each team member will write on sticky notes what they think the target person experiences in each section

  • Ask questions of each other, discuss

  • Last, review any Aha's

  • Iterate and improve throughout the process

• Point of View:

  • Once you have developed the empathy map, the next step is to take what you uncovered and develop a Point of View (POV) and a Design Challenge Statement

  • Developing a POV is an iterative process. It includes the following steps:

  1. Define your user: define the type of person you are designing for–your user. In this case, you are using the empathy map you developed to help you to understand and clarify your insights about the user

  2. Select the most essential needs, which are the most important to fulfill

  3. Express Key Insights: Work to express the key insights developed through the synthesis of your gathered information

• Design Challenge Statement:

  • Once you have developed your POV, step back and get clear about the design challenge you are seeking to solve. Use the following to help guide your thinking:

    • __________ is a challenge for ______ because ___________

• How Might We HMW Statements

  • The goal is to lay the groundwork for the problem

  • Do NOT go into this with preconceived solutions, you must ideate

  • Seek to have HMW questions have a narrow enough frame to start the brainstorm but also find wild ideas

Reading

- Define and frame your design challenge by creating your point of view and ask “how might we”

o Your POV should never contain any specific solution, nor should it contain any indications to how to fulfill your users’ needs in the service, experience, or product you’re designing

o Your POV should be a guiding statement that focuses on specific users, and insights and needs that you uncovered during the empathize mode

o A good POV will allow you to ideate and solve your design challenge in a goal-oriented manner in which you keep a focus on your users, their needs and your insights about them.

VS #10:

• “Creativity is a Process…” Article:

  • general trend is creativity decreases with age

  • societal pressures make people less creative as they grow older

  • roadblocks to creativity:

    • judgment

    • doing convergent and divergent thinking at the same time

    • stress

    • trauma

    • self-criticism

    • censorship

  • convergent thinking: where we judge ideas, criticize them, refine them

  • divergent ideas: prefrontal cortex (deals with critical thinking)

  • tips to be more creative

    • let your mind wander

    • create a judgment-free zone

    • find the right environment

    • generate a lot of idea (quantity over quality)

• “What is Brainstorming…” Article:

  • brainstorming: method to generate ideas and solve clearly defined design problems

  • 8 rules of brainstorming:

    • set a time limit

    • begin with a target problem/brief

    • refrain from judgment/criticism

    • encourage weird and wacky ideas

    • aim for quantity > quality

    • build on others’ ideas

    • stay visual (ie: diagrams)

    • allow one conversation at a time

  • stay on topic with the brainstorming → target the problem

  • harness synergy

  • can utilize AI and GPTs for brainstorming

• Design Kit:

  • Brainstorm rules:

    • defer judgment

    • encourage wild ideas

    • build on others’ ideas

    • stay focused on the topic

    • one conversation at a time

    • be visual

    • go for quantity

VS #11:

• prototype: anything a user can interact with

  • could be a wall of post-its, gadgets, role play activities, storyboards etc…

  • not a very sophisticated refined product

• why prototype:

  • ideate and problem-solve

  • to communicate better

  • start a conversation → prototype serves as a centered conversation piece

  • fail quickly and cheaply

  • test possibilities without committing too hard

• how do you prototype:

  • start building even if you don’t know what you’re doing

  • don’t spend too long on one prototype (don’t get emotionally attached)

  • identify what’s being tested w/ each prototype

  • build with the user in mind

Common prototypes

• Model

  • Put together simple three-dimensional representation of your idea

  • Use paper, cardboard, pipe cleaners, fabric and whatever else you can find

• Role-play

  • Act out the experience of your idea

  • Try on the roles of the people that are part of the situation and uncover questions they might ask

  • Consider making simple uniforms and assembling simple props to help users experience your product or service as real

• Story

  • Tell the story of your idea from the future

  • Describe what the experience would be like

  • Write a newspaper article reporting about your idea

  • Write a job description

  • The purpose is to have people experience your idea as if it were real and then respond

• Mock-up

  • Build mock-ups of digital tools or websites with simple sketches of screens on paper

  • Paste the paper mock-up on an actual computer screen or mobile phone when demonstrating it

• Diagram

  • Imagine you are going door-to-door and showing potential customers what your idea or potential service is

  • Map out the structure, journey or process of your idea in a way that will be easy for potential customer to understand

• Advertisement

  • Create a fake advertisement that promotes the best parts of your idea

  • Have fun with it

  • change the tone of the advertisement to appeal to different users

• “Prototyping: The Design Process….”:

  • no great idea is born in a vacuum, bc great ideas aren’t visible from the start, and new great ideas come to life when mixed with existing ideas

  • prototyping’s first priority is fully understanding the problem you wish to solve

  • prototypes should be lost cost and fidelity at earlier stages

  • MVP is a later stage prototype

  • prototypes are tools to help you prove a concept, MVP’s help you refine it

  • process of developing fail-proof ideas with prototyping:

    • 1. determine what to prototype

    • 2. make it real → actually make the prototype

    • 3. get feedback

    • 4. iterate and repeat

  • examples of prototypes:

    • storyboard, role play, bodystorm, game/simulation, physical survey, concept art, non-working model or working model, wireframe, mock-up, video/film

• “Prototype… Common Pitfalls” Article:

  • there’s 6 common pitfalls in prototyping:

    • 1. diving into the first good idea

      • explore a range of approaches instead

    • 2. falling in love with your prototype

      • investment bias/endowment effect: emotional attachment to an object because you’re it’s owner/creator

      • counteract by starting with cheap and fast prototypes

    • 3. wasting time explaining and pitching

      • have bias towards action instead (show not tell)

    • 4. prototyping without a purpose:

      • have a question of test in mind for each prototype iteration

    • 5. feeling discouraged with failed prototypes:

      • reframe from the idea of failure → prototypes are meant to not work , they’re a learning exp-[-e33erience

    • 6. seeing prototypes as a waste of time

      • adopt a long-term view instead and be patient when prototyping

• Tim Brown Video:

  • failure is valuable because you can learn from it

VS #12:

• Test: process where you solicit feedback from target users about the product you created

  • trying to validate and invalidate assumptions about users

  • not asking whether or not people like product

  • not trying to sell your product

  • can help reevaluate your product

• Question should be open ended and not yes or no

• Ideal to test in pairs

• Capture what you learned right after the test

• Rule of Thumb: always prototype as if you know you’re right, but test as if you know you’re wrong

• “Testing Your Prototype…” Article:

  • 6 best practice tips to gather feedback on your prototypes:

    • think of how to solicit feedback

      • consider testing multiple versions of your prototype

      • use I Like, I Wish, What if method to get honest feedback

    • test your prototype on the right people:

      • test on the target user

      • also test extreme users to get unique feedback

    • ask the right questions

    • be neutral when you present

      • don’t try to sell the idea

      • don’t try to defend your prototype from negative feedback

    • adapt while you test

      • shifting focus during testing

    • let your participant contribute ideas

  • 3 methods to maximize what you learn from tests:

    • use a feedback capture grid

      • grid that takes into account likes, criticisms, questions and ideas

      • can split it into 4 quadrants

    • use the I Like, I Wish, What If method

    • Sharing inspiring stories

      • share stories within your team after testing

      • this can help generate ideas because you resonate with ideas and feelings

  • Build, Gather Feedback, Iterate

• Good to test with extreme users because they can be very vocal and give interesting insights

VS #13:

• purpose of feedback is to improve

• design sprint story:

  • worked with 4 teams in a design sprint that were all diverse

  • all teams were committed

  • 3 of the teams implemented strategies and worked well

  • one of the team didn’t work well together because they hit roadblocks and shut down

    • talked between each others backs and formed allies

    • 2 of the members carried the load of the work

      • other members didn’t like the others’ work

    • their work was not good

    • team had a conversation and reflected on themselves which let them work better together

• Giving/receiving feedback:

  • keep a positive mindset

  • don’t view it as a personal attack

  • majority of people aren’t surprised by negative feedback they receive → don't be nervous to give it

• Giving Feedback:

  • include self-disclosure

    • explain the impact of another person on you

  • explain how teammate’s behavior impacts the team

  • should not be condemnation or criticism

  • acknowledge their strengths as well as opportunities for improvement

    • praise is important

  • be genuine

  • be useful → give tips on how to correct and improve on the negative feedback given

  • check your biases

  • be specific

• Receiving feedback:

  • be calm (take a breath)

  • be an active listener

  • ask clarifying questions

  • show appreciation

• Use I like/ I Wish technique

• “Tell It Like It Is…” Article:

  • honesty is key to feedback

  • 1. have the right intent

  • 2. make giving feedback a habit

  • 3. include everyone

    • everyone should be receiving feedback, even higher-ups

  • 4. keep it specific and actionable

    • give tips of improvement when giving negative feedback

• “How to Give Negative Feedback…Without Sounding Like a Jerk” Article

  • don’t try to sugar coat feedback

  • make it about the “what” and not the “who”

    • don’t make it personal

    • about behavior and consequences, not the person

  • give negative feedback in a optimistic and improvement based mindset

  • tailor your feedback to the person you’re giving it to

  • ask for feedback in return

VS #14:

This was a coaching day, doesn’t exist ← In announcements, the Profs indicated that VS#15 is actually VS#14 due to an internal Canvas schedule error.

“Is 15 on the exam??” - they mislabeled class 14 as 15, so yes it is

VS #15:

MVP - learning and validating with the least amount of effort and resources

Ex. Dropbox (email) and Zappos (taking pictures → shipping)

MVPs work to validate learning

Quizlet with Highlighted Terms: ECON 125 FINAL Flashcards | Quizlet

- “Everyone pivots” article

o It’s impossible to know your own blind spots, that is why they are called blind spots

o Conversation partners: advocates for you but not financially tied to the project

§ Ask you the hard questions about what you’re doing, the timing, and the effectiveness of your work and the results

o Pivoting your startup is not quitting

o The gift of letting go of this idea that you have to preserver no matter what

§ It gives you permission to make a different choice

- “Design thinking vs. Lean startup” article

o Aggressive marketing tactics would hook consumers who, faced with few other choices, would respond accordingly

o Traditionally, a business would build a product and hip to find a customer who wants to buy it.

o The lean startup approach is to begin with a minimum viable product, and make small, fast incremental changes to evolve the design after receiving feedback from the users

o Lean startup is about minimizing waste, so you’ll have to say two or three founders working to develop a product. They will work to prove an idea. Hopefully this leads to investment, which will allow them to prove other ideas.

§ Team will grow over time as the product and business develops

o The choice on which approach:

§ Do they want to build the product, test and pivot?

§ Do they want to let the problem take the lead before the product exists

VS #16:

Slides

• Product Market Fit (PMF)

  • Product market fit means being in a good market with a product that can satisfy that market.

  • Simple to understand yet hard to achieve!

  • Make it or break it

  • JIBO example

• How do you measure PMF?

  • Customer Satisfaction and Feedback

    • Net Promoter Score (NPS): "How likely are you to recommend this product to a friend or colleague?" NPS = % promoters - % detractors.

    • Surveys and Customer Interviews: "How would you feel if you could no longer use this product?" ≥ 40% responding with "very disappointed

  • Retention and Usage Metrics

    • Retention Rate: # users who continue to use product over time

    • Churn Rate: # customers lost in a year / # customers at beginning of year

    • Engagement: Time spent on the product and frequency of use

  • Growth Metrics

    • Customer Growth: Rapid customer acquisition

    • Revenue Growth: Consistent and growing revenue streams, especially from repeat customers

  • Market Demand

    • Waitlists or High Demand Indicators: Long waitlists, backorders, or high pre-order numbers

    • Market Penetration: % target market that is using your product

• Why might you not find PMF?

  • Nice to have but not compelling

  • Didn’t meet need of user

  • Before its time

  • Market too small or no market

  • Product doesn’t work

  • Something out of your control

  • Element of marketing was off

    • JIBO case

➔ Design didn’t meet expectations.

➔ Price was too high.

➔ Timing was off.

• How do you find product market fit

  • Understand your target customer

  • Find customer pain points

  • Offer a differentiated solution

  • Describe your value proposition

  • Outline your MVP

  • Build your MVP

  • Test your MVP

  • Upgrade and improve

  • Test your MVP again

• Worst example of product market fit

  • Snap glasses

  • New coke

  • Barnes and noble nook

• Why is product market fit important

  • Avoid startup failure

  • Grow your customers fast

  • Decrease cost per acquisition

  • Boost your profits

• Confirmation bias: the tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one’s existing beliefs or theories

• Endowment effect: Individuals places a higher value on an object that they already own than the value they would put on that same object if they did not own it

• Sunk cost fallacy: the phenomenon whereby a person is reluctant to abandon a strategy or course of action because they have invested heavily in it, even when it is clear that abandonment would be more beneficial

VS #17

• Why develop a strategy: the only other option is to continually out-execute the competition

• Will make you very tired

• Better alternative is to pause and pull back in order to garner your energy, focus your resources, and effectively push forward

• Strategy: carving your position in the environment you find yourself in by identifying and implementing activities that allow you to have a sustainable competitive advantage ; the pause before taking action

  • Ultimately, it is about choosing who your customers will be, who they wont be, and making sure you’ve implemented the strategic activities necessary to attract and keep these customers.

  • Requires you to focus your resources and make hard choices

  • Most entrepreneurs don’t take this pause

  • Suggests that before you get started, you need to pause and think about what you’re going to do

  • Need to create a strategic identity, a position that is defensible and that will protect you without having to consistently run faster

• Porter’s five forces

  • Threat of new entry

    • Examine how easy it would be for your competitors to enter your market

    • Determine how you can erect barriers to make it harder for them to do so

    • If others can easily enter the market and effectively copy you,you’ll find maintaining competitive advantage extremely difficult

    • Barriers to entry:

      • Economies of scale

        • Achieving rapid growth using size to make it hard for others to compete with you

        • ex) amazon

      • Product differentiation

        • Product provides value to customers that is hard to copy

Product functionality

Knowledge required to produce or patent it

Complex process that is difficult to reconstruct

• ex) Ikea

  • Other barriers to entry

    • How do you make your product “sticky” so that its hard to switch to a competitor

    • Can you develop an exclusive distribution channel that’s not available to others

    • Can you develop some favorable cost advantages that are hard to copy

  • Bargaining power of buyers

    • If your principal customers have the upper hand, it may be difficult to forge a sustainable competitive advantage

    • Beware of:

      • A large customer who can dictate the terms

      • A customer whose cost structure is highly dependent on your product or service

      • A customer who views your product or service as a commodity. These customers will often find a substitute or even replicate your product or service themselves

  • Bargaining power of suppliers

    • If your suppliers have the bargaining power to raise the price of your materials you will have very little power over your cost

      • Cant lower prices very far which will lower your strategic option

  • Threat of substitute products or services

    • Substitute products arent the same as your product or service but can perform the same function as yours, it will make it easy for someone to switch

  • Rivalry among existing competitors

    • 4 other competitive forces often converge to fuel rivalry

    • Rivalry itself centers around price

    • Avoid industries where price competitiveness is high because it will limit your ability to develop a distinctive strategy

    • Avoid competitive landscape with numerous competitors all about the same size where the product or service sold is not unique, it is more of a commodity

      • Or if there is not much growth in the industry

• Swot

  • Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats

  • To perform, you want to first consider the information you need

    • Also want to involve the entire team in the process from the beginning to maximise the diversity of views that funnel into your work

  • To begin the process, you'll want to convene your team to independently analyze each of the four elements and create a strategic vision or mission that is consistent with all four

  • Strengths

    • Focus on internal assets that put you in a position of strengths

    • How will your idea solve a problem for your defined customer segment?

    • Internal and helpful

    • ex) apple

  • Weaknesses

    • The more honest you can be with your weaknesses, the more prepared youll be for the inevitable challenges ahead

    • How

      • One technique is too have everyone write down weaknesses anonymously then post them on a board for everyone to see

    • Product or service weakness

      • Does it contain the features and functionality that is expected by your target customers

      • Does it have the ability to exceed the expectation of these customers

      • Does it solve a critical problem or otherwise provide a delightful experience

    • Main weakness is the lack to be honest

    • Internal and harmful

  • Opportunities

    • Everyone on the team will have a host of ideas to make the venture better

      • The hardest part about strategy is not to decide what to do but to decide what not to do

      • To give in will cause you to abandon your strategy and be back to running against other competitors which will eventually cause you to lose to a more agile competitor

      • External and helpful

  • Threats

    • Involves competitors

    • When thinking about competition go back to the customer problem you are trying to solve

      • Competition is any way they are currently solving that problem

        • Direct: from a similar product

        • Indirect: competitor solves the problem in an entirely different way

      • ex) ride sharing

    • Competitive positioning matrix

      • List the credible features and capabilities required to solve customers problem

      • All the competitors on the other access

      • Check the boxes where your enterprise and competitors address the capability or ignore it

  • Developing a strategic position

    • Because there are always trade offs in how you allocate your resources, you have to create a defensible position with a clear focus and consistent vision

      • Use your competitive strengths

        • You want to make sure your position utilizes the competitive strengths your venture already has

      • Address strategic weaknesses

        • You want to make sure your strategy avoids areas in which you have strategic weaknesses, or make sure to incorporate activities to shore up your weaknesses

      • Identify strategic initiatives

        • You should have a set of strategic initiative

No more than four that provide laser focus for your enterprise and create a road map for the specific activities you will undertake

• Monitor initiatives over time

  • You should discuss a means of monitoring each initiative to determine how you are performing over time

  • Ikea example

    • Ikea also designs and manufactures their own furniture and they understand it is a recreational experience and not just a buying opportunity

    • Knows their customers and caters to them by keeping cost low and only having a few employees on the floor

    • To cater to sense of fashion, they create their own furniture

    • They have coffee shops and nurseries that make it an experience

    • Higher end furniture stores would have to take employees away from the floor in order to reduce prices which would take away from sales

    • Ikea is well known and has strong brand recognition

      • Protects from competitors

  • Forbes reading

    • Operational effectiveness: necessary for performance but not sufficient for sustainable profitability

      • Involves practices like benchmarking, outsourcing, and continuous improvements, but does not constitute strategy

    • strategy : differentiation from competitors through unique positioning

      • About choosing a different set of activities to deliver a unique mix of value

    • Dangers of confusing the two

      • Many companies fail to translate operational effectiveness into sustainable profit

      • Overemphasis on operation effectiveness can lead companies away from true competitive advantage

      • Companies might end up in a “race to the bottom” if they focus to much on matching competitors rather than distinguishing themselves

    • The role of positioning:

      • Critical in strategy, its not static but needs to be dynamic and adaptable to changing markets and technologies

      • Effective positioning involves selecting different activities serving few segments, or offering unique services/products

  • “This is how companies can compete in the 2020s” article

    • Defying the average is more important than ever

    • Maintaining outperformance requires continuous reinvention

    • Compete on the rate of learning

    • Build a hybrid learning organization

    • apply the science of change

    • Harness human diversity

    • Pursue social and economic value

VS #18

• Lean canvas intro video

  • Lean canvas: how you can verify your product idea before investing a lot of time and effort

    • Needed to create a project that will be in demand in the fast-changing market

    • Allows start up founders to mitigate the risk and uncertainty associated with a product inception

    • Problem-solution oriented approach and focus on the customers

  • 9 boxes (problem, solution, unique value proposition, key metrics, channels, customer segments, cost structure, revenue streams, unfair advantage)

  • Customer segments

    • Narrow down the customer segment as accurately as possible

    • Separate users and customers

    • Specify the actual people who will be the first to use the raw product and provide feedback

  • Problem

    • Specify customer problems that your product is meant to solve

    • List your closest competitors that are already solving the specified problems

  • Revenue streams

    • List the ways your product will generate revenue from each customer segment

  • Solution

    • Explain what experience the customers are meant to have

  • Unique value proposition

    • Describe the uniqueness of your product and show its key difference from the existing alternative

    • High level concept: Shape a short and easy-to-understand statement about your product

  • Channels

    • Specify communication channels to reach out to your target audience

  • Key metrics

    • Define key tracking metrics to measure the progress of your business

  • Cost structure

    • Fixed and variable costs

    • Can answer questions like “where is the breakeven point”

  • Unfair advantage

    • A special thing about your idea that your competitors are not able to copy or obtain in any possible way

• “Lean canvas - a tool your startup needs instead of a business plan” article

  • Business plan: normally packed with a bunch of information irrelevant to grasp the intricacies of the business

    • Rather ineffective as a tool for analyzing customers’ interests

  • Business model: generally denotes what is needed to monetize an idea; a course of actions aimed at achieving profitability

  • Why use the business model canvas?

    • Value orientation

      • You are able to analyze versatile aspects of your commercial activity

    • Focus

      • The aim is to clear away irrelevant data and focus on essential points that promote the business’s prosperity

    • fast , clear, and flexible

    • Failure-preventative

      • gives you an opportunity to prevent failures based on risk identification

    • Common language

      • The tool has an intuitive nature and creates a common language for all participants and third parties

  • Why use the lean canvas

    • Stay lean

      • It is a time-effective tools, which does not require a great deal of time to fill in

      • The final document is not final because you can and should update it in the case of new input data

    • Fast time-to-market

      • It foresees a quicker idea-to-product transition compared to a regular method

    • Understand your customer

      • Canvas allows you to consider various customer segments to cover a wider range of potential product users

    • Focus on viable metrics

      • Key startup metrics rest on minimum success criteria like conversion rate, number of subscribers, referrals, etc.

• Lecture

  • Problem

    • What specific problem are you seeking to address for your target customer?

  • Solution

    • How are you solving the problem for the customer

  • competitors/substitues

    • What alternative will target customer use or do to solve their pain point

  • UVP

    • Describe this as though a customer is reading it

    • What is unique about your solution?

    • What sets your product or service apart from competitors?

    • How do your offerings address a customers’ pain point and fulfill their needs better than alternatives?

  • Channels

    • How do you reach and interact with customers

    • What are the distribution and communication methods used to make products or services accessible to the target market?

    • They can be physical or digital channels

  • Key metrics

    • What metrics will indicate that customers are “buying” or “using” your product/ service

    • How will you know your venture is successful

  • Cost structure

    • The main costs and expenses involved in operating your venture

      • Production costs, marketing and sales expenses, personnel, rent/overhead, research and development, other relevant financials

    • Variable costs: vary with the amount produced

    • Fixed costs: stay essentially the same regardless of how much production

  • Revenue stream:

    • How will your venture generate cash flow?

    • What revenue sources will attract enough customers to keep the lights on

      • Product sales, subscription models, advertising, licensing, or any other viable revenue generation approaches

VS #20

• “Could your startup idea make money?” article

  • Entrepreneurs often get caught up in tactical questions like funding, digital marketing, and company structure before assessing the fundamental viability of their business idea

  • The primary question should always be whether the business could be financially viable through understanding unit economics

  • Back of the envelope business modeling

    • A simple, preliminary method to quickly evaluate the financial viability of a startup idea

    • Focuses on estimating potential revenue and costs using simplified assumptions

  • Unit economics involves calculating direct revenues and costs associated with a single unit of product or service

    • Key to determining if a business idea can be profitable on a per-unit basis

• Lecture

  • Profit = revenue - costs

  • Assumptions

    • Who are your customers?

      • Top down: how big is the market and what share of the market can you capture during this time frame covered by the model

        • Starts broad, then narrows down

        • Often based on assumptions about the overall market

      • Bottom up: how many customers will you have in the beginning and how will they grow over time?

        • How many customers will you lose over time – what's your retention rate?

        • Starts with specific details and builds up to an overall figure

        • Relies more on detailed, specific data and realistic projections

    • Where is your revenue coming from?

      • How much do your customers or users pay?

      • Is payment one-time or recurring

      • Do you have more than one revenue stream?

      • Are you selling to multiple channels?

    • Revenue (ideas requiring grants/contributions)

      • Who are your donors/contributors

        • How many donors/contributors do you expect over time?

        • What frequency do you expect doantion/contributions

        • How much do you expect from these donors/contributors

    • Cost assumptions

      • variable /direct costs

        • What are the direct costs of producing the good/service (raw materials, packaging)

        • What are the transportation costs of delivering the food/service (shipping, fuel)

        • What are the costs of servicing your customer (customer service, tech support)

      • fixed/overhead costs

        • What do we need to build the business (website, R&D)

        • What do we have to do to operate th ebusiness (physical capital, software)

        • Where will employees work (office or manufacturing space?)

        • How many employees do you need (full time, part time, outsourced)

        • What are the costs of driving customers to buy your product/service (marketing campaigns, promotional events)

    • Big question to constantly ask about assumptions

      • Does it make sense?

      • It is realistic?

      • What are we missing?

      • Does it pass the “sniff” test

    • Burn rate: you will be spending before you prove your idea is viable

    • Runway: you want to know how m uch time you have to prove your idea

VS #21

Will these speakers be on the exam?? yes

• Tim mclaughlin: confounders capital

  • Entrepreneur turned venture capitalist investor working primarily with B2B software startups in North Carolina and across the greater Southeast

  • Serves as board of directors of many of cofounder capital portfolio companies

  • Actively involved in NC IDEA application review process and does many other things to give back to the local triangle ecosystem

• Catie king: stradia partners

  • Catie is currently the co-founder of stradia partners which helps to elevate the AI capacity of businesses to drive revenue and enhance productivity

• Ben redding: nc idea chief financial officer

  • Has worked with great teams as a CFO, in private equity , and for software startups

  • Now the chief financial officer at NC IDEA where he oversees the day-to-day management of the foundations financial activities

  • Manages the NC IDEA ECOSYSTEM grant program

  • Nc ideas mission:

    • Strengthening the economy of NC through a strategic combination of grant programs, deployed directly and through a network of partners

• Liam king: chief of staff at 2ndf

  • Is also a seed grant reviewer with NC IDEA

  • At 2ndf, liam and the team are very focused on the commercialization of ideas coming out of the local university systems and amplifying the outcomes for minorities in technology nationwide

• “Startups need relationships before they ask for money” article

  • Importance of relationships in fundraising

    • Successful fundraising is often more about building relationships than immediate financial transactions

    • Founders should focus on developing connections with potential investors well before they raise capitals

  • Asking for advice, not just money

    • Entrepreneurs can engage potential investors by seeking advice rather than directly soliciting funds

    • This approach garners useful insights and subtly involves the investors in the startup, potentially leading to investment without direct ask

  • Building trust

    • A crucial element in securing investment

    • Investors need to know they can rely on the entrepreneur both personally and professionally

    • Involves being transparent, acknowledging what you dont know, and demonstrating how you plan to address knowledge gaps

  • Practical steps for relationship building

    • Start building relationships with potential investors up to a year in advance of fundraising

    • Utilize mutual connections to establish credibility and trust

    • Engage potential investors through informal discussions about your business, seeking advice on specific challenges

  • Tactics for engaging potential investors

    • Host or attend events and engage with investors on social platforms or through thoughtful correspondence

    • Show genuine interest in feedback and be prepared to discuss your business candidly and knowledgeably

• “Why every startup should bootstrap” article

  • Advantages of bootstrapping

    • Encourages resourcefulness:

      • Forces entrepreneurs to get creative and resourceful, utilizing minimal resources to solve problems

    • Attracts the right talent

      • Draws in individuals who are willing to invest in the vision of the startup and accept lower initial compensation for potentially higher future rewards

    • Maintain control

      • Allows founders to retain control over their company’s direction without the pressure to appease investors

  • Challenges to bootstrapping

    • Financial constraints

      • Limited funds require strict budget management and often mean forgoing traditional marketing or development strategies

    • Slower growth

      • Might result in slower initial growth as the company must rely on internally generated funds

  • Strategy benefits

    • Cultivates problem solving culture

      • Bootstrapping creates a culture that can operate efficiently under constraints, which can be a competitive advantage

    • Enables better future funding

      • By proving the business model and achieving sustainability, bootstrapped companies can secure more favorable investment terms later

• “Startup funding is slowing down…” article

  • Digital transformation

    • The pandemic accelerated digital transformation, boosting tech startups initially due to increased investment

    • High valuations and unrealistic expectations have now led to a market correction

  • Strategies for adapting

    • Leveraging AI and no-code tools

      • These technologies enable rapid prototyping and market validation, helping startups to demonstrate proof of concept and begin building traction early

    • Minimal viable products (MVPs)

      • Startups are encourages to focus on MVPs to test market realities with minimal investment, allowing for agile and responsive product development

  • Advice for startup adaptation

    • Focus on solving real problems using AI and no -code tools to directly meet target market needs

    • Integrate customer feedback continuously to align products closely with customer demands

    • Ensure strategic integration of new technologies into the broader business model to enhance efficiency and reduce time to market

• Lecture

  • Typical sources of funding your startup venture

    • Bootstrapping & family and friends support

    • Pitch competitions & grants

    • accelerators/incubators

    • Crowdfunding platforms

    • Angel groups and other funds

  • Additional sources of support

    • CDFI loans for hard asset startups

    • Government grants & loans for R&D focused startups

    • Local accelerators

    • Local advisory groups

VS #22

• “13 tips on how to deliver a pitch investors simply can’t turn down” article

  • Practice your pitch:

    • Repeated practice is crucial

    • You should be able to deliver your pitch effortlessly and confidently under any circumstance

  • Simplify your message

    • Keep the pitch simple and straightforward to ensure that your audience understands your business quickly and clearly

  • Focus on the problem and solution

    • Clearly define the problem your business intends to solve and how your solution is unique or better than existing ones

  • Highlight your team

    • Emphasize the strengths and capabilities of your team

    • Investors often bet on the team as much as the idea

  • Know your audience

    • Tailor your pitch to fit the interests and backgrounds of the investors

    • Might involve focusing on different aspects of your business depending on their preferences

  • Slow traction

    • Provide evidence of progress, such as customer growth, revenue, or successful case studies, that demonstrate market validation

  • Be prepared to discuss numbers

    • Have a solid understanding of your financials, including revenue, profits, projections, and funding needs

  • Explain market potential

    • Investors want to know about the market opportunity

    • Provide clear data on market size, growth potential, and your strategy to capture market share

  • Discuss competitive advantage

    • Clearly articulate what sets your product or service apart from competitors

  • Communicate your vision

    • Share your long-term vision for the company

    • Investors are looking for businesses that have the potential to scale and achieve significant returns

  • Demonstrate passion and commitment

    • Investors are more likely to back a founder who is committed and passionate about their venture

  • Handle objections gracefully

    • Be prepared for skepticism and tough questions

    • Respond with patience and factual answers

  • Follow-up

    • After the pitch, follow up with a thank you note and reiterate the key points of your presentation

• “Pitch hook ideas that will get your audience’s attention” article

  • Understanding your audience

    • Start by considering the audience’s perspective and background to create a hook that feels personalized and engaging

    • Understanding what would impress the audience helps in crafting an effective opener

  • Creating unique hooks

    • Avoid generic approaches and strive for a hook that is unique to your business

  • Managing attention spans

    • Be aware of the typical attention spans during presentations

    • Use the opening part of your pitch effectively, as it garners the most attention

  • Importance of storytelling

    • Incorporate storytelling to maintain audience engagement

    • Using metaphors and crafting a narrative can significantly enhance the presentation

  • Interactive questions

    • Use rhetorical questions as hooks to provoke though and engage the audience from the start

  • Utilizing humor

    • Appropriately used humor can serve as an effective hook, making the presentation relatable and easing the atmosphere

  • Imaginative “what if” scenarios

    • Employ ‘what if” scenarios to stimulate the audience’s imagination

    • Helps them visualize the possibilities and benefits offered by your business

  • Leveraging hard facts

    • Starting with a compelling fact or historical reference can anchor your presentation and bolter credibility

  • Using quotes

    • Can be powerful openers that set the tone for the presentation and resonate with the audience

  • Considering the entire deck

    • Success of the pitch depends on every part of the presentation

• Lecture

  • Ways to do a hook

    • Make an outrageous or provocative claim

    • Tell a joke

    • Show a video

    • Ask a couple questions

    • Ask a rhetorical questions

    • Show them an object

    • Use a quote

    • Ask “what if..” or “imagine”

    • Tell a story

Class 24 - financial model + pitch practice

• Focus on crafting the ‘story” of your assumptions

• Start with: who is your target customer and how many can you realistically get in year 1

• A business with NO revenue but $100,000 in the bank

  • spending/burning $10,000 per month

  • Runway: 10 months

• Dilutive funding (give up some ownership or equity)

  • Venture capital

  • Angel investment

• Non-dilutive funding (retain full ownership or equity)

  • Grants

  • Crowdfunding

  • Prize money

  • Bootstrapping

Class 25 - ethics

Timothy kundro: assistant professor of organizational behavior at Kenan-flager

• Teaches courses in ethics and organizational behavior

Class 27:

I dont think stuff from this is going to be on exam….

What stuff?^

List of Quiz Questions

(Everyone received different quiz questions, so pasting your questions here with the answer in bold (or pasting a screenshot) is a great way to help others study - separate them by Quiz # and make sure not to post any questions that are already listed) - they said that exact quiz questions will not be on exam but could help to understand concepts

Quiz 1:

Quiz 2:

Which of the following is not an inside source of opportunity?

A. Industry market structure

B. COVID-19

C. The unexpected

D. New knowledge

Which of the following is NOT one of the outside resources for opportunity following Drucker’s model?

A. Changes in Perception

B. Demographics

C. The Unexpected

D. New Knowledge

What is entrepreneurial intelligence?

A. The ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills.

B. The courage to act on opportunities under varying conditions of unknownness.

C. The ability to recognize, manage, and understand our emotions and the emotions of others.

D. No answer text provided.

Drucker’s 7 areas for innovation:

Inside: The unexpected, Incongruities, Industry Market Structure, Process needs

Outside: Demographics, changes in perception, new knowledge (riskiest)

Quiz 3:

Quiz 4:

Quiz 5:

Which of the following did Google's Project Aristotle find to be the most crucial aspect of a successful team:

A. Like-minded individuals

B. Psychological safety

C. Clearly defined team goals

D. Strong communication

Which of the following best describes the Tuckman Model:

A. Even though each stage takes the same amount of time, the forming stage is the most important

B. High-performing teams only go through the storming phase once because they learn to efficiently resolve conflicts early on

C. Once a team gets to the performing stage, they should have relatively few issues because they have worked together for a good bit

D. High performing teams most likely have to circle back to different stages along their journey

Quiz 6:

In choosing subjects for an empathy interview, it is important to focus on extremes, as well as people in the middle on a topic area.

• True

Why is it important to conduct interviews in pairs?

A. To save time and complete interviews more efficiently

B. To provide emotional support and encouragement for interviewees

C. To increase the number of interview questions and speed up the process

D. To capture a deeper understanding with different perspectives and insights

When empathy interviewing, should you interview people with extreme opinions on a product or service? Why or why not?

A. Yes, because they will most likely agree with your idea

B. Yes, because they often have very interesting insights

C. No, because they are outliers

D. No, because they probably won't be your customer

Quiz 7:

When developing a prototype, you should:

A. spend at least 15 minutes explaining your product

B. make a quick prototype for users to experiment with

C. be seeking to get consumers to buy the product

D. make sure you have created a quality design before testing

Which one of the following doesn’t belong to the design thinking process?

A. Empathize

B. Define

C. Ideate

D. Promote

In the pediatric MRI example, what did Doug and his team not consider as fully as they should have in their initial design?

A. how to make a prototype

B. the perspective of the user

C. whether the product they designed could make money

D. what the latest technology was

Quiz 8:

Which of the following is NOT one of the seven components of the empathy map?

A. See

B. Solve

C. Think & Feel

D. Pain

When building an empathy map, team members should:

A. silently input their pieces of information

B. defend and sell their own findings when there are conflicting views based on other team members’ findings

C. discuss and compare their findings with other team members

D. never investigate the cause of customer pain points

In the virtual session, which of the following was NOT cited as one of the key reasons to use Empathy Maps

A. remove bias from our designs

B. align the team on a single, shared understanding of the user

C. synthesizing secondary research about your target user

D. uncover user needs that the user themselves may not even be aware of

Quiz 9:

Quiz 10:

According to the "Design Kit", why is being visual important during brainstorming?

A. Because it helps participants show off their artistic skills

B. Because it can enhance communication and understanding

C. Because it ensures everyone can "speak" at the same time

D. Because having a pre-set visual aid will set important limits on the scope of the creative thinking

According to "Creativity is a Process, Not a Post-It" by Michelle Sucher, why is creativity an ongoing process and not a one-time event?

A. Because it involves waiting for external validation

B Because it only occurs in structured brainstorming sessions that happen often

C. Because it relies on perfection in every attempt

D. Because managing day-to-day tasks limits space for creativity

According to Dr. Land's research, most of us are born with the capacity for genius-level creativity. - True

According to Dr. Land, our proficiency in expressing our creativity gradually drops off as we learn to accept others’ opinions, evaluations, and beliefs.”

Quiz 11:

For purposes of this class, what is NOT considered an early stage prototype?

A. A preliminary hand-written version of a software application

B. A physical model of a product or design

C. A market-ready product

D. A mock-up or representation used for testing

What is not a common prototype?

A. create models

B. role play

C. all of the above are common prototypes

D. mock-up

A prototype is:

A. All of the above

B. Ideally something a user can experience

C. Used as a way to prove, or disprove, fundamental assumptions

D. It could be a wall of post-it notes, a gadget you put together, a role-playing activity, or even a storyboard

Quiz 12:

Should you test your prototype on 'extreme' users?

A. No, they will skew your results

B. No, because they aren't always honest

C. Yes, because extreme users almost always give better input than a regular user

D. Yes, because extreme users can often be more vocal about their like/dislike

According to the article "Test Your Prototypes: How to Gather Feedback and Maximize Learning", which of the following is the behavior you should avoid when presenting your ideas?

A. be ready to change the idea

B. be objective

C. find out what is wrong when receiving negative feedback

D. see if you can sell your idea

According to the article, you should get feedback from internal stakeholders in the early stages of the testing process before you begin testing with users. - False

Prototype as if you know you’re right, but test as if you know you’re wrong

Article info - Think of how to solicit feedback (ask questions based on prototype type), test your prototypes on the right people (find a representative sample), ask the right questions (open ended pros and cons), be neutral when you present your ideas, Adapt while you test, let your participants contribute ideas

tf

Quiz 13:

Which of the following is NOT a direct benefit of Radical Candor?

A. Helps employees build trust in teams

B. Helps organizations attract more customers

C. Helps leaders fire fast

D. Helps those young and inexperienced employees grow

According to the article "How to Give Negative Feedback Without Sounding Like a Jerk", which one of the following is NOT a good tip of giving critical feedback?

A. Ask your employees for feedback in return

B. It is best to use formal reviews to give your feedback

C. Make sure the feedback is about the behavior and the consequences, not about the person

D. Mold the conversation to the other person's style

In the article "How to Give Negative Feedback Without Sounding Like a Jerk" which of the following is NOT mentioned as a reason that negative feedback is necessary?

A. Offering sound negative feedback yields positive results

B. Most team members want to grow and this is only possible with corrections once in a while

C. Employees who get negative feedback are on average likely to work harder to improve it

D. None of the above

Quiz 14:

None (coaching day)

Quiz 15:

What is NOT cited as a benefit of a conversation partner?

A. They are objective and can see your blind spots

B. View them a key source of future funding

C. They can give you a completely different viewpoint

D. They want the best for you, but have no financial stake

Gabby Brink states than an iterative process allows one to:

A. move through concepts more quickly

B. learn if what they have created is being used by people in their lives

C. gain validation along the way

D. all of the above

In the article "Everyone Pivots: The Truth About A Start-up Pivot", what does MVP stand for?

A. Minimal Viable Product

B. Minimal Valuable Product

C. Most Viable Product

D. Most Valuable Product

Based on the article "Everyone Pivots: The Truth About A Startup Pivot," what is the main takeaway regarding startup pivoting?

1. Pivoting is a sign of failure and it happens but try to avoid it

2. Pivoting is a natural and often necessary part of the startup journey

3. Pivoting indicates poor initial planning and strategy execution

4. Pivoting should only be considered as a last resort when all other options have been exhausted

What question should you ask yourself before creating your MVP?

A. How much revenue do I need to generate to make a profit?

B. What will my next pivot be?

C. Where is the best location for my product?

D. What is the value I am offering?

Which of the following is one of the criteria for the Solution Lifecycle Framework?

A. Desirability

B. Feasibility

C. Reliability

D. All of the above

Practice exam:

made into quizlet: https://quizlet.com/955248766/econ-125-practice-exam-flash-cards/?i=4mwko4&x=1jqt

1. **Which of the following best represents the difference between entrepreneurial thinking and traditional business practices?**

- A) Entrepreneurial thinking requires starting a business, while traditional practices do not.

- B) Traditional practices focus on innovation, while entrepreneurial thinking avoids risk.

- C) Entrepreneurial thinking involves innovative solutions to novel problems, whereas traditional practices follow established methods.

- D) Traditional business practices are more focused on short-term financial gain than entrepreneurial thinking.

**Correct Answer:** C) Entrepreneurial thinking involves innovative solutions to novel problems, whereas traditional practices follow established methods.

2. **In Drucker's model, why are 'the unexpected' and 'new knowledge' considered the most impactful yet risky areas for opportunity?**

- A) Both often come from external sources beyond the entrepreneur's control.

- B) They require substantial capital investment.

- C) They can both lead to industry-wide disruption but are difficult to forecast or manage.

- D) Entrepreneurs in these areas rarely achieve long-term success.

**Correct Answer:** C) They can both lead to industry-wide disruption but are difficult to forecast or manage.

3. **How does 'incongruity' in Drucker's innovation model help identify opportunities for improvement in an industry?**

- A) It highlights gaps in technological advancement.

- B) It identifies misalignments between what is happening and what is expected, offering opportunities to resolve inefficiencies.

- C) It focuses on changes in consumer behavior.

- D) It promotes completely new product development.

**Correct Answer:** B) It identifies misalignments between what is happening and what is expected, offering opportunities to resolve inefficiencies.

4. **What is a critical challenge entrepreneurs face during the 'informed pessimism' stage, and how can they best overcome it?**

- A) Overconfidence—by slowing down to gather more data.

- B) Lack of resources—by scaling back initial goals.

- C) Realizing unforeseen obstacles—by adjusting strategies and gaining support.

- D) Losing leadership focus—by delegating tasks early.

**Correct Answer:** C) Realizing unforeseen obstacles—by adjusting strategies and gaining support.

5. **Why is psychological safety considered more important than communication in building high-performing teams, according to Google's Project Aristotle?**

- A) It directly influences team trust and openness to new ideas, which enhances communication organically.

- B) Psychological safety improves individual accountability more than communication.

- C) Communication is less important if a team is highly skilled.

- D) Psychological safety reduces the need for team coordination.

**Correct Answer:** A) It directly influences team trust and openness to new ideas, which enhances communication organically.

6. **During the 'storming' phase of team development, what are the best strategies to resolve conflicts and prevent long-term dysfunction?**

- A) Avoiding conflict and focusing on individual tasks.

- B) Establishing clear group norms and encouraging active listening.

- C) Assigning a team leader to take full control of decisions.

- D) Pushing through conflict without addressing it.

**Correct Answer:** B) Establishing clear group norms and encouraging active listening.

7. **Why is it important to engage users from both the average and extreme ends during empathy interviews in design thinking?**

- A) Extreme users can help validate general assumptions.

- B) Engaging a wider range of users leads to product solutions that only serve the majority.

- C) Average users offer less useful insights than extreme users.

- D) Engaging both extremes and the average helps identify diverse needs and challenges, leading to innovative solutions.

**Correct Answer:** D) Engaging both extremes and the average helps identify diverse needs and challenges, leading to innovative solutions.

8. **What is the primary risk of emphasizing 'showing, not telling' in the design thinking process?**

- A) It can slow down the ideation process.

- B) It may lead to incomplete user understanding if the visual representation is not clear.

- C) It discourages verbal communication within teams.

- D) Prototyping too early can lock a team into a single solution path.

**Correct Answer:** B) It may lead to incomplete user understanding if the visual representation is not clear.

9. **In the design thinking process, what is the most common pitfall of the 'define' stage, and how can it be avoided?**

- A) Focusing too much on technology—by involving the end-user early.

- B) Jumping to solutions—by reframing the problem with a clear problem statement.

- C) Not generating enough ideas—by extending the ideation phase.

- D) Misinterpreting user needs—by conducting more user research.

**Correct Answer:** B) Jumping to solutions—by reframing the problem with a clear problem statement.

10. **Why is it recommended to prototype early, even if the solution is not fully defined?**

- A) It allows designers to test aesthetic elements immediately.

- B) Early prototypes help refine ideas through user feedback, preventing costly development mistakes later.

- C) Early prototyping minimizes the risk of team conflicts.

- D) It ensures that the solution is implemented faster.

**Correct Answer:** B) Early prototypes help refine ideas through user feedback, preventing costly development mistakes later.

11. **Which aspect of Doug Dietz's MRI project best illustrates the role of empathy in design thinking?**

- A) Understanding hospital needs for faster imaging results.

- B) Realizing that children were anxious and addressing this through adventure-themed environments.

- C) Creating a prototype that improved scanning efficiency.

- D) Reducing the overall cost of the MRI machine.

**Correct Answer:** B) Realizing that children were anxious and addressing this through adventure-themed environments.

12. **In the context of innovation, why is divergent thinking critical during the ideation phase of design thinking?**

- A) It allows teams to refine ideas early on.

- B) Divergent thinking generates multiple, creative solutions, enabling teams to explore all possibilities before narrowing down.

- C) It encourages judgment and decision-making in early stages.

- D) It limits wild ideas that might not be feasible.

**Correct Answer:** B) Divergent thinking generates multiple, creative solutions, enabling teams to explore all possibilities before narrowing down.

13. **Why is it important to "defer judgment" during brainstorming sessions?**

- A) It keeps the team focused on a single solution.

- B) Premature evaluation can stifle creativity, limiting the number and diversity of ideas generated.

- C) It eliminates impractical ideas early on.

- D) Deferring judgment forces everyone to agree.

**Correct Answer:** B) Premature evaluation can stifle creativity, limiting the number and diversity of ideas generated.

14. **How does the design thinking approach of rapid prototyping reduce overall development costs in a project?**

A) It avoids expensive development technologies by using simpler tools.

B) Rapid prototyping identifies and corrects flaws early, preventing expensive revisions at later stages.

C) It reduces the need for continuous user feedback.

D) It allows for a final polished product earlier than traditional methods.

**Correct Answer:** B) Rapid prototyping identifies and corrects flaws early, preventing expensive revisions at later stages.

15. **What is the main disadvantage of diving into the first good idea when prototyping?**

- - B) It may prevent exploration of better, more innovative ideas that could emerge later.

- C) It creates emotional attachment to the prototype.

- D) It leads to higher development costs.

**Correct Answer:** B) It may prevent exploration of better, more innovative ideas that could emerge later.

16. **In the design thinking process, what does it mean to build with the user in mind, particularly during the prototyping phase?**

- A) Developing a functional product for immediate use.

- B) Creating a prototype based on user feedback and testing, ensuring that it addresses their needs and preferences.

- C) Building based on team assumptions about user needs.

- D) Designing a solution without real-time feedback.

**Correct Answer:** B) Creating a prototype based on user feedback and testing, ensuring that it addresses their needs and preferences.

17. **Why is it important to avoid getting emotionally attached to a prototype in early stages?**

- A) Attachment leads to less team collaboration.

- B) Emotional attachment may prevent designers from pivoting or iterating on the idea, even when user feedback indicates necessary changes.

- C) It slows down the development process.

- D) Emotional attachment leads to budget constraints.

**Correct Answer:** B) Emotional attachment may prevent designers from pivoting or iterating on the idea, even when user feedback indicates necessary changes.

18. **How can the feedback capture grid method improve the prototype testing process?**

- A) It allows teams to quickly implement user suggestions.

- B) It categorizes user feedback into likes, criticisms, questions, and ideas, providing clear areas for improvement and refinement.

- C) It reduces the number of iterations needed.

- D) It limits testing to a single version of the prototype.

**Correct Answer:** B) It categorizes user feedback into likes, criticisms, questions, and ideas, providing clear areas for improvement and refinement.

19. **In the context of design thinking, why is testing with extreme users valuable?**

- A) Extreme users often provide more vocal, actionable feedback that helps uncover design issues that might not be revealed by average users.

- B) It ensures that mainstream users will accept the product.

- C) Extreme users help minimize the need for further iterations.

- D) Extreme users are easier to test with.

**Correct Answer:** A) Extreme users often provide more vocal, actionable feedback that helps uncover design issues that might not be revealed by average users.

20. **What is a significant challenge of testing multiple versions of a prototype with users?**

- A) Users may become overwhelmed with too many options, leading to diluted feedback.

- B) It is difficult to gather consistent feedback across multiple versions.

- C) It increases the overall development cost.

- D) It slows down the design process significantly.

**Correct Answer:** A) Users may become overwhelmed with too many options, leading to diluted feedback.

21. **Why is creating a minimum viable product (MVP) considered a later-stage prototype?**

- A) It provides the final solution.

- B) An MVP focuses on delivering the core features of a solution after earlier prototypes have refined the concept.

- C) It emphasizes aesthetics over functionality.

- D) It minimizes testing phases.

**Correct Answer:** B) An MVP focuses on delivering the core features of a solution after earlier prototypes have refined the concept.

22. **What role does an empathy map play in the design thinking process?**

- A) It clarifies technical requirements.

- B) It helps teams identify unspoken needs and motivations of users, aligning their understanding of the user’s experience.

- C) It provides a detailed timeline for prototyping.

- D) It prioritizes budget allocation for the design process.

**Correct Answer:** B) It helps teams identify unspoken needs and motivations of users, aligning their understanding of the user’s experience.

23. **What common mistake can occur during the 'see' phase of an empathy map?**

- A) Misinterpreting what users say as more important than what they do.

- B) Focusing too much on the user’s environment and missing underlying emotions.

- C) Over-emphasizing user goals at the expense of product features.

- D) Asking users about their future behaviors rather than their current experiences.

**Correct Answer:** B) Focusing too much on the user’s environment and missing underlying emotions.

24. **How does using the 'How Might We' (HMW) framework guide the brainstorming process without limiting creativity?**

- A) It provides clear solutions immediately.

- B) It frames the problem broadly enough to allow for innovative ideas while still keeping the team focused on the core challenge.

- C) It eliminates any need for ideation after the initial framing.

- D) It limits discussions to existing solutions.

**Correct Answer:** B) It frames the problem broadly enough to allow for innovative ideas while still keeping the team focused on the core challenge.

25. **What is the primary benefit of divergent thinking followed by convergent thinking in the ideation phase?**

- A) It generates a high quantity of ideas and quickly filters out impractical ones, balancing creativity with practicality.

- B) It avoids unnecessary prototyping.

- C) Divergent thinking ensures the solution is technically feasible.

- D) Convergent thinking encourages experimentation.

**Correct Answer:** A) It generates a high quantity of ideas and quickly filters out impractical ones, balancing creativity with practicality.

26. **Why is feedback essential in the prototyping phase, and how should it be approached?**

- A) To validate that the prototype is perfect.

- B) Feedback helps identify flaws and areas of improvement, and it should be approached with an open mindset, aiming to refine rather than defend the prototype.

- C) Feedback ensures that the team is aligned with business goals.

- D) Feedback limits the need for further iterations.

**Correct Answer:** B) Feedback helps identify flaws and areas of improvement, and it should be approached with an open mindset, aiming to refine rather than defend the prototype.

27. **How does the investment bias affect prototype development, and what is the best way to counteract it?**

- A) It leads to financial overspending; the best way to counteract it is by budgeting.

- B) Emotional attachment to a prototype can prevent teams from seeing its flaws—counter this by creating cheap and fast iterations early.

- C) It causes teams to spend too little on prototype development.

- D) It encourages teams to create only one version of a prototype.

**Correct Answer:** B) Emotional attachment to a prototype can prevent teams from seeing its flaws—counter this by creating cheap and fast iterations early.

28. **Why is psychological safety key to a successful design thinking process?**

- A) It ensures the team meets deadlines faster.

- B) It fosters a collaborative environment where team members feel safe to share ideas and take risks without fear of judgment.

- C) It minimizes the need for leadership.

- D) It increases technical expertise.

**Correct Answer:** B) It fosters a collaborative environment where team members feel safe to share ideas and take risks without fear of judgment.

29. **How can team charters prevent teams from stalling during the storming phase of development?**

- A) By avoiding all conflicts.

- B) By creating alignment on goals and guidelines for how the team will work together, team charters reduce ambiguity and provide a framework for resolving disputes.

- C) By assigning individual tasks early.

- D) By limiting feedback during early stages.

**Correct Answer:** B) By creating alignment on goals and guidelines for how the team will work together, team charters reduce ambiguity and provide a framework for resolving disputes.

30. **What role does 'group norms' play in ensuring team performance during the 'performing' stage of development?**

- A) Group norms dictate the speed of work.

- B) They help ensure that each team member understands their role, which fosters cohesion and productivity, allowing the team to work without unnecessary conflicts.

- C) Group norms encourage competition.

- D) They reduce the need for leadership intervention.

**Correct Answer:** B) They help ensure that each team member understands their role, which fosters cohesion and productivity, allowing the team to work without unnecessary conflicts.

31. **What distinguishes 'design thinking' as both a mindset and a process?**

- A) It focuses exclusively on prototyping.

- B) Design thinking emphasizes empathy, creativity, and collaboration, and while it involves structured stages, it requires a flexible mindset to adapt to new insights.

- C) It is primarily concerned with meeting financial goals.

- D) It avoids traditional business practices.

**Correct Answer:** B) Design thinking emphasizes empathy, creativity, and collaboration, and while it involves structured stages, it requires a flexible mindset to adapt to new insights.

32. **Why is it essential for teams to engage in 'role play' or 'storyboarding' during the prototyping phase?**

- A) It replaces physical prototypes.

- B) These methods allow teams to visualize the user experience and identify potential pain points or areas for improvement that might not be evident in a

C) It helps prototyping costs.

- D) It speeds up product development.

**Correct Answer:** B) These methods allow teams to visualize the user experience and identify potential pain points or areas for improvement that might not be evident in static models.

33. **What is the greatest advantage of conducting empathy interviews before prototyping?**

- A) It provides a complete solution to the design challenge.

- B) It offers deep insights into users’ needs, allowing teams to create more user-centered prototypes that address actual pain points.

- C) It limits the need for further testing.

- D) It ensures faster development timelines.

**Correct Answer:** B) It offers deep insights into users’ needs, allowing teams to create more user-centered prototypes that address actual pain points.

34. **Why are teams encouraged to continue iterating on prototypes even after successful tests?**

- A) To further reduce production costs.

- B) User feedback can reveal new opportunities for improvement, and continuous iteration helps refine the solution to best fit user needs.

- C) To reach final perfection.

- D) To avoid spending too much time on product launch.

**Correct Answer:** B) User feedback can reveal new opportunities for improvement, and continuous iteration helps refine the solution to best fit user needs.

35. **Why might rapid prototyping fail to produce the desired outcome, and how can this be avoided?**

- A) Focusing too much on speed can lead to skipping critical steps in user feedback—balancing speed with thorough testing ensures valuable insights are not missed.

- B) It encourages emotional attachment to ideas.

- C) It limits the number of iterations.

- D) It produces higher development costs.

**Correct Answer:** A) Focusing too much on speed can lead to skipping critical steps in user feedback—balancing speed with thorough testing ensures valuable insights are not missed.

36. **In design thinking, what distinguishes the 'define' stage from the 'ideate' stage?**

- A) The define stage focuses on identifying the core problem based on user research, while the ideate stage involves brainstorming solutions to the defined problem.

- B) The ideate stage deals only with technical aspects.

- C) The define stage involves prototyping.

- D) The define stage focuses on aesthetic features of the solution.

**Correct Answer:** A) The define stage

focuses on identifying the core problem based on user research, while the ideate stage involves brainstorming solutions to the defined problem.

37. **What role do 'HMW' (How Might We) questions play in the innovation process?**

- A) They narrow the scope of the problem, guiding brainstorming without leading to preconceived solutions.

- B) They solve all problems before prototyping.

- C) They replace the need for brainstorming sessions.

- D) They focus solely on reducing production costs.

**Correct Answer:** A) They narrow the scope of the problem, guiding brainstorming without leading to preconceived solutions.

38. **Why is divergent thinking paired with convergent thinking in brainstorming?**

- A) It eliminates the need for feedback.

- B) Divergent thinking encourages the generation of many ideas, while convergent thinking helps filter and refine them into feasible solutions.

- C) It speeds up product development.

- D) It eliminates unnecessary ideas early.

**Correct Answer:** B) Divergent thinking encourages the generation of many ideas, while convergent thinking helps filter and refine them into feasible solutions.

39. **Why is it beneficial to involve cross-functional teams during the prototyping phase?**

- A) It speeds up testing.

- B) Different expertise leads to more well-rounded solutions, addressing various aspects of user needs and technical feasibility.

- C) Cross-functional teams reduce testing time.

- D) It eliminates the need for user feedback.

**Correct Answer:** B) Different expertise leads to more well-rounded solutions, addressing various aspects of user needs and technical feasibility.

40. **What is the key distinction between prototyping and MVP development?**

- A) Prototyping is part of the ideation phase, while MVP development focuses on delivering a viable product with core features.

- B) MVP development eliminates the need for prototypes.

- C) Prototyping is only about aesthetics.

- D) MVP development is done before prototyping.

**Correct Answer:** A) Prototyping is part of the ideation phase, while MVP development focuses on delivering a viable product with core features.

41. **How does empathy influence the early stages of design thinking?**

- A) It ensures faster prototyping.

- B) Empathy allows designers to understand users’ needs, frustrations, and desires, leading to more relevant and human-centered solutions.

- C) It eliminates technical challenges.

- D) Empathy speeds up user feedback.

**Correct Answer:** B) Empathy allows designers to understand users’ needs, frustrations, and desires, leading to more relevant and human-centered solutions.

42. **What is a significant challenge of rapid iteration during prototyping?**

- A) It leads to cost overruns.

- B) It can cause teams to overlook deeper, underlying issues that require more time to surface and address.

- C) It eliminates user testing.

- D) Rapid iteration slows down product development.

**Correct Answer:** B) It can cause teams to overlook deeper, underlying issues that require more time to surface and address.

43. **How does prototyping help validate assumptions made during the 'ideate' phase?**

- A) Prototypes provide tangible representations of ideas, allowing teams to gather user feedback and validate or invalidate their assumptions.

- B) Prototypes speed up product launch.

- C) Prototyping reduces the need for ideation.

- D) It eliminates technical errors.

**Correct Answer:** A) Prototypes provide tangible representations of ideas, allowing teams to gather user feedback and validate or invalidate their assumptions.

44. **Why is it important to avoid relying solely on assumptions during the design thinking process?**

- A) Assumptions increase the need for more iterations.

- B) Assumptions can lead to products that do not fully address user needs, which is why continuous user feedback and testing are necessary.

- C) Assumptions speed up the design process.

- D) Assumptions lead to higher development costs.

**Correct Answer:** B) Assumptions can lead to products that do not fully address user needs, which is why continuous user feedback and testing are necessary.

45. **What is a common pitfall in the testing phase of design thinking, and how can it be addressed?**

- A) Testing too many versions—by focusing on a single prototype.

- B) Ignoring negative feedback—by remaining neutral and open to all feedback, both positive and negative, during testing.

- C) Testing with extreme users—by only involving mainstream users.

- D) Limiting feedback to aesthetic issues.

**Correct Answer:** B) Ignoring negative feedback—by remaining neutral and open to all feedback, both positive and negative, during testing.

46. **Why is it recommended to test in pairs during the prototyping phase?**

- A) It speeds up testing.

- B) Testing in pairs allows for better observation and interpretation of user behavior, ensuring no key insights are missed.

- C) It limits user interaction.

- D) Testing in pairs reduces costs.

**Correct Answer:** B) Testing in pairs allows for better observation and interpretation of user behavior, ensuring no key insights are missed.

47. **Why is the 'I Like, I Wish, What If' method particularly useful during prototype testing?**

- A) It provides structured feedback that encourages users to express both positive and critical thoughts, leading to actionable insights.

- B) It eliminates negative feedback.

- C) It limits user interaction.

- D) It focuses solely on technical features.

**Correct Answer:** A) It provides structured feedback that encourages users to express both positive and critical thoughts, leading to actionable insights.

48. **How does prototyping with a bias toward action influence the design process?**

- A) It speeds up product launch.

- B) Prototyping with a bias toward action encourages teams to create tangible solutions quickly, learning through doing rather than waiting for perfect solutions.

- C) It limits testing.

- D) It eliminates the need for ideation.

**Correct Answer:** B) Prototyping with a bias toward action encourages teams to create tangible solutions quickly, learning through doing rather than waiting for perfect solutions.

49. **What is a critical reason for conducting empathy interviews throughout the design process, rather than just at the beginning?**

- A) To validate the product before launch.

- B) User needs and experiences can evolve, and conducting empathy interviews at various stages helps ensure the solution remains relevant and user-centered.

- C) It speeds up testing.

- D) It reduces prototyping costs.

**Correct Answer:** B) User needs and experiences can evolve, and conducting empathy interviews at various stages helps ensure the solution remains relevant and user-centered.

50. **How do group norms established during the 'norming' phase contribute to team performance in later stages?**

- A) They eliminate the need for leadership.

- B) Group norms clarify roles and expectations, leading to smoother collaboration and higher performance in later stages, such as 'performing.'

- C) They speed up product development.x

- D) Group norms focus solely on reducing conflicts.

**Correct Answer:** B) Group norms clarify roles and expectations, leading to smoother collaboration and higher performance in later stages, such as 'performing.'