Month 10 · Deep Dive
Startup Handbook
Goes deeper than a normal MBA entrepreneurship elective. Incorporation, equity splits, SAFE notes, cap tables, fundraising, hiring, and scaling, with templates you can use immediately.
Learning objectives
After completing this handbook, you will be able to:
- Validate startup ideas before building and set clear kill criteria
- Choose entity type, founder agreements, and standard vesting
- Read and maintain a cap table through dilution rounds
- Explain SAFE terms and model conversion at the next round
- Run a seed fundraising process and pitch with a tight narrative
- Hire against constraints and structure advisor relationships
- Design GTM experiments with SaaS metrics that matter
- Know when to scale and how to avoid common scaling mistakes
- Understand exit paths and acquisition readiness
Why this matters
The core MBA teaches entrepreneurship frameworks in ENT 301. This handbook goes deeper on founder mechanics: incorporation, equity, SAFEs, cap tables, fundraising process, hiring, GTM metrics, and exits. Use it during Month 10 of the study plan or alongside your own venture.
Unit overview
Eleven lessons. Read in order; later lessons assume earlier ones (especially equity before SAFEs and fundraising).
| # | Lesson | Core idea |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Finding Startup Ideas | Validation, kill criteria, idea generation |
| 2 | Incorporation & Legal Basics | C-Corp, founder agreements, vesting |
| 3 | Equity & Cap Tables | Ownership, dilution, option pool |
| 4 | SAFE Notes | Valuation cap, discount, conversion |
| 5 | Fundraising | Stages, process, what investors evaluate |
| 6 | Pitch Decks | Narrative arc and 10-slide seed deck |
| 7 | Hiring & Advisors | Scorecards, first hires, advisor equity |
| 8 | Go-to-Market & Growth | ICP, channels, SaaS metrics |
| 9 | Scaling & Culture | When to scale, values, common mistakes |
| 10 | Exits | Acquisition, IPO, secondary, readiness |
| 11 | Templates & Frameworks | Canvas, Lean Canvas, OKRs, cap table tools |
Connection to applied work
Month 10 deliverable: business plan draft. Each lesson should add one section: idea validation (L1), legal/equity structure (L2-L4), fundraising narrative (L5-L6), team/GTM plan (L7-L8), scaling thesis (L9), long-term path (L10), appendices from templates (L11).
Practice
- Run five problem interviews using Lesson 1 kill criteria.
- Sketch a pre-seed cap table for a two-founder company with a 15% option pool.
- Model one SAFE conversion at a hypothetical Series A valuation.
- Outline a 10-slide seed deck for an idea you are exploring.
Key takeaways
- Founder success depends on mechanics as much as vision.
- Equity and fundraising literacy prevents expensive mistakes early.
- GTM and metrics discipline starts before product-market fit is obvious.
- Start Lesson 1 from the sidebar when you are ready.