Venture Planning and Validation

This unit guides students from early idea development to a validated, launch-ready business model by covering planning, legal structure, funding, basic finance, marketing, risk management, and testing methods. It builds on initial opportunity identification and prepares learners to create actionable plans and measurable prototypes needed for launching and scaling in subsequent units.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze target customers, market trends, competitive intelligence, value chain elements, and problem-solution fit to refine a business model and value proposition using lean testing methods
• Apply appropriate legal and governance choices by selecting a business form, outlining advisor roles, and specifying intellectual property protection and distribution channels for consumer and industrial markets
• Demonstrate foundational financial planning by constructing basic financial statements, forecasting expenses and cash flow, calculating key financial ratios, and matching early-stage funding options (bootstrapping, friendly money, angel investment) to venture needs
• Evaluate potential business risks, estimate their operational and financial impacts, develop mitigation strategies, and design initial growth and exit approaches consistent with market validation results