Startup Checklist
Do you have a problem worth solving?
Verify the value proposition of the Job to be Done by "walking the pipe" with domain experts you can trust.
Business Records
Starting a business requires on Credit and Credibility to get the snowball rolling
| RECORD - ASSET | TYPE | JTBD |
|---|---|---|
| Business Model Canvas | Diagram | |
| Business Plan | Document | |
| Business Playbook | Document | |
| Legal Documents | Document | |
| Product Roadmap | Diagrams & Checklists | |
| Marketing Strategy | Document | |
| Customer Acquisition | Document | |
| Risk Mitigation | Financial Model | |
| Financial Model | Financial Model | |
| Pitch Deck | App | Sell the story that drives progress |
| Discounted Cash Flow | Financial Model |
Instructions
Create and maintain these documents to ensure a solid foundation for running your startup operations effectively. Remember to regularly review and update these documents as your business evolves.
- Business Principles: Check your understanding of first principles.
- Business Strategy checklist to initiate a new business or a growth project for an exiting business.
- Business Development: Sell your dream then dream up the engineering.
challenges
- Conducting a thorough market analysis.
- Securing the necessary funding or capital to start the business.
- Dealing with the uncertainty and risk that comes with starting a new venture.
- Registering the business and understanding the legal requirements and regulations.
- Setting up initial operations, which can include finding a location, purchasing equipment, or setting up a website.
Process
- Finding a viable business idea
- Validate Assumptions with potential customers
- Build a Team
- Evaluate Business model
- Identify Market Segments
- Identify Customer Profiles
- Model Customer Acquisition Flow
- Validate flow with trial customers
First Principles
- Differentiation: Focus on Point of Difference you can deliver
- Scalability: Platform, Protocols and Onboarding Culture.
- Integration: Augment existing tools and processes in your target industry.
- Performance: Regularly benchmark against competitors.
- Cost Management: Eliminate wasteful processes to optimize expenses.
Pitch Deck
A concise presentation that summarizes your business idea, market opportunity, solution, team, and financial projections. This is crucial for investor communications.
- Develop clear pictures of what Meaningful Progress looks like.
- Capture and align the visions in people's minds to engineer their reality
- Sell the path to progress from the Inside Out.
Build a Standardized Pitch Deck Protocol for Selling/Evaluating Ideas
Business Model Canvas
The business model provides the overarching strategy, while the playbook offers detailed guidelines for day-to-day operations, ensuring consistency and efficiency as you scale. This strategic management tool provides a visual overview of your business model, and helps you articulate how your startup will create, deliver, and capture value.
- Value Creating Activities
- Key Partners
- Resources
- Value Propositions
- Customer Relationships
- Channels
- Customer Segments
- Cost Structure
- Revenue Streams
Business Plan
A comprehensive and realistic document that outlines:
- Business strategy
- Market analysis
- Financial projections
- Long term vision
Build a Team
Build a team of A players you can trust.
| Responsibility | Team (Names) |
|---|---|
| Innovation Lead | |
| Sales & Marketing | |
| Compliance | |
| Legal/Regulatory | |
| Product Engineering | |
| Platform Engineering | |
| Protocol Engineering | |
| AI Engineering |
Validate Assumptions
Primary goals:
- Fast insights Discovery
- Build things customers/market need (Test before build)
- Have the right business model to sustain and grow. Product-market-fit
- Use networks to speed up acquiring customers and revenue generation
- Innovation and user experience embedded the entire time
Market Analysis
| Market Reality | Discovery |
|---|---|
| Total addressable market | |
| Consumer behavior | |
| What does 1% market share look like |
Target Customers
Evaluate businesses within agreed Market Opportunities
| Criteria | Discovery |
|---|---|
| Do they have existing investment | |
| Business problem that can be solved | |
| How equipped are they to solve this problem | |
| Is solving this opportunity beneficial to long term growth | |
| Establishing evaluation criteria | |
| Assist in like-for-like comparison across businesses | |
| Identify scalable/replicable opportunities |
JTBD Stories
Gather JTBD stories to understand the Drive to solve the problem and Demand for a solution.
| Domain Experts | Perspectives |
|---|---|
| Subject Matter Expert / Super User | |
| Technologists, implementing existing solutions | |
| Regulatory, Compliance officer etc | |
| Senior researchers and publishers | |
| Sales & marketing | |
| Business directors |
Product Expectations
What are customers willing to pay for?
- why they are using the solution
- why the solution exists
- what features are invaluable
- what features are missing
Engagement Strategy
Engage with businesses that meet the business opportunities criteria
- Identify core problem/opportunity and their level of commitment to a solution
- Evaluate commercial benefit to both customer business and this business
- Scope out range of opportunities and capabilities the business needs
Legal and Regulatory
Identify any legal, regulatory requirements or considerations
- Country and city specific
- Non-legal but association/network considerations
Business Playbook
This operational manual contains detailed processes, policies, and standard operating procedures (SOPs) for your startup. It should include:
| RECORD | JTBD |
|---|---|
| Company vision, mission, and values | |
| Organizational structure | |
| Employee onboarding procedures | |
| Role-specific responsibilities and processes | |
| Best practices for various business functions | |
| Company policies and guidelines |
Financial Model
Detailed projections of your startup's revenue, expenses, and cash flow. This helps in planning and decision-making.
| RECORD | JTBD |
|---|---|
| Cash Flow | |
| Balance Sheet | |
| Profit and Loss | |
| Transactions |
Legal Documents
These may include:
| RECORD | JTBD |
|---|---|
| Articles of Incorporation | |
| Founders' Agreement | |
| Intellectual Property (IP) assignments | |
| Employee contracts | |
| Non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) |
Product Roadmap
A strategic document outlining the vision, direction, and progress of your product development.
Marketing Plan
A detailed strategy for promoting your product or service, including target audience, messaging, and channels.
Customer Acquisition
A document outlining your strategies for attracting and retaining customers.
Risk Mitigation
An analysis of potential risks to your business and strategies to address them.