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ENT 301 · Unit 1 of 6

Opportunity Discovery

Entrepreneurship and New Venture Formation

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Learning objectives

After completing this unit, you will be able to:

  • Apply frameworks from \
  • Apply the frameworks in "Opportunity Discovery" to a real management decision
  • Make progress on your Entrepreneurship and New Venture Formation applied project applied project

Why this matters

Opportunity Discovery is essential to Entrepreneurship and New Venture Formation. Lessons build fluency with anchor-company examples, worked problems, and assessments on the unit page.

Lesson

Unit overview

Complete all 5 lessons in order. Each lesson follows the program authoring standard: conceptual prose, worked examples, practice problems, and managerial judgment prompts. Finish unit exercises and the knowledge check before marking the unit complete.

Connection to applied work

This unit feeds directly into Entrepreneurship and New Venture Formation applied project. As you read, capture notes, examples, and data you can reuse in that deliverable. Strong students finish each unit with a draft section of their project, not just highlights.

Practice

  1. Write a one-page summary of this unit in your own words without looking at the lesson.
  2. Find a real company example (public filing, news article, or personal experience) that illustrates the main concept.
  3. Draft one paragraph recommending an action a manager should take based on this unit.
  4. Add at least three terms from this unit to your course glossary.

Knowledge check

Answer these without notes before marking the unit complete:

  1. What is the central idea of "Opportunity Discovery"?
  2. What mistake do beginners most often make when applying this material?
  3. How does this unit help you complete Entrepreneurship and New Venture Formation applied project?
  4. What is one decision you face this month where this unit applies?

Key takeaways

  • Apply frameworks from \
  • Business concepts only matter when they change a decision.
  • Your ENT 301 assessment (Opportunity discovery, validation, business models, GTM, startup finance, and scaling.) rewards applied understanding, not memorization.

Unit assessment

Complete each section below. Score 80%+ on the quiz to finish this unit's assessment.

40% applied project35% knowledge checks25% reflections

Exercises

Apply what you learned in this unit with structured practice.

ExerciseApplied practice: Opportunity Discovery45 min
Complete a focused practice exercise on **Opportunity Discovery**. 1. Choose a real company, product, or situation you know. 2. Apply one core framework from this unit to analyze it. 3. Write your analysis in 300–500 words with a clear recommendation. 4. Cite at least one credible source.

Deliverable

300–500 word analysis document saved to your portfolio under ENT 301.

Rubric

  • • Framework applied correctly (not just named)
  • • Specific evidence from a real example
  • • Clear recommendation with tradeoffs acknowledged
  • • Professional writing with source citation
ExerciseDrill: Opportunity Discovery30 min
Work through the practice problems in the unit lesson without looking at notes. Then check your work against the lesson and write a short reflection: - What you got right - One mistake you caught - One concept to review before the next unit

Deliverable

Problem solutions + 150-word reflection in your ENT 301 workbook.

Rubric

  • • Attempted all practice items before checking answers
  • • Honest reflection on errors
  • • Identifies a specific review action

Case analysis

Analyze a case using frameworks from this unit.

CaseCase analysis: Opportunity Discovery60 min
Analyze a real business case through the lens of **Opportunity Discovery**. Choose a public company event, HBR-style case, or documented decision. **Deliverable structure:** 1. Situation summary (150 words) 2. Analysis using this unit's frameworks (400 words) 3. Recommendation (150 words) 4. Risks and what would change your mind

Deliverable

2-page case write-up in your portfolio.

Rubric

  • • Case facts are accurate and sourced
  • • Analysis uses unit frameworks explicitly
  • • Recommendation is justified with tradeoffs
  • • Risks are specific, not generic

Knowledge quiz

Check your understanding before marking the unit complete.

1. RelayOps targets 80-to-200 technician residential-heavy HVAC and plumbing firms stuck between ServiceTitan weight and whiteboard chaos. What market failure best justifies a new venture here?

2. Maya Chen managed dispatch at Summit Climate; a generic SaaS team estimates 15-20 extra weeks to reach the same interview depth. At $45,000 monthly burn, what is the approximate runway penalty?

3. After 12 exploratory calls, H1 same-day rebalance shows 9/12 unprompted mentions and 7/12 quantified overtime. H4 unreliable windows shows 6/12 mentions. What is the best promotion read?

4. RelayOps holds $400,000 cash and plans $45,000 monthly net burn with 3 months validate plus 4 months MVP pilots. What is approximate gross runway before revenue?

5. ServiceTitan announces a Lite package for 50-150 technician firms at $65 per tech with 90-day implementation. RelayOps discovery priced $89-$149 per tech. How should Maya classify this for timing analysis?

6. RelayOps H1 scorecard totals 58 against a 52 threshold to enter validation. Pain intensity scores 5 (weight 3). If buyer access drops from 4 to 3, what happens to the weighted total?

7. RelayOps SOM plan targets 11 logos in Phoenix and Dallas at $33,600 ACV (100 techs × $28/month × 12). What is year-one ARR if achieved?

8. An angel asks why RelayOps deserves exploration versus taking jobs at incumbents. Which answer best reflects why new ventures exist in this lesson?

Next unit: Customer Validation →