StartupOS Curriculum

Module 1 — Founder & Product Leadership

Goal: Ground founders in the mindset, roles, and responsibilities of running a startup’s product and company.

  • What is a founder vs. a product manager

  • Product leadership fundamentals

  • Vision setting & communication (vision → strategy → execution)

  • Founder as CEO of the product and business

  • Startup vs. corporate product roles

  • Founders’ unique challenges: risk, ambiguity, and decision gravity

  • Interactive exercises: founder self-audit and role scenarios

Why this matters: Founders must wear multiple hats — product visionary, executor, team leader, and strategy owner.

Module 2 — Problem Discovery & Opportunity Validation

Goal: Teach founders how to validate that their idea is truly a business opportunity.

  • Market assessment fundamentals (idea → opportunity)

  • Customer discovery & hypothesis validation

  • Lean Startup thinking & Customer Development (get outside the building!)

  • Problem interviews, surveys, and empathy mapping

  • Competitive analysis with business model lens

  • Defining use cases & value propositions

Founder-centric twist: Focus on business viability alongside product validation.

Module 3 — Strategy & Business Model Design

Goal: Shift from “build first” to strategic planning and business model thinking.

  • Product vision → Startup strategy alignment

  • Business model canvas & lean planning

  • Market Opportunity Navigator + prioritization frameworks

  • Go/No-Go gates for early product decisions

  • Revenue models, pricing strategy, unit economics

Founder-centric twist: Inject business model design into product planning.

Module 4 — Building an MVP That Matters

Goal: Focus on rapid, validated product development — not polishing features.

  • MVP design principles (less is more)

  • Agile product execution tailored for startups

  • Prototyping & rapid feedback loops

  • Definition of Done vs Definition of Love

  • Release cadence for early stage startups

Founder-centric twist: Prioritize validated usefulness over completeness.

Module 5 — Go-to-Market & Growth Execution

Goal: Equip founders to successfully launch, learn, and scale in real markets.

  • Building a startup GTM strategy

  • Channel strategy + early customer acquisition

  • Metrics that matter for startups (not vanity metrics)

  • Pricing models that sell early

  • Sales & partnerships for startup growth

  • Feedback loops post-launch

Founder-centric twist: Execution tied to revenue + learning cycles.

Module 6 — Financing, Metrics & Fundraising

Goal: Cover the key business and growth skills founders need beyond product.

  • Startup KPIs tied to growth & retention

  • Fundraising fundamentals (seed → series A)

  • Metrics that investors actually care about

  • Investor pitch deck essentials

Founder-centric twist: Blend product success metrics with business performance indicators.

Bonus Modules

To make this practical for a founder — especially one without a dedicated team:

✔ Team & Culture Building for Startups

  • Hiring your first PM/design/engineering

  • Defining roles & leadership processes

✔ Founder Resilience & Decision Making

  • Decision frameworks under uncertainty

  • Avoiding common startup traps

✔ Founder Workshops

  • Investor pitch simulation

  • Customer discovery playbook drills