Expanded Table of Contents

  • Case study ventures
  • Introduction
  • 1. Value
    • Innovation and entrepreneurship
    • Ethical missions
    • Opportunities and problems
    • Solutions
    • Markets and market segments
    • Niche markets and focus
    • Saying “NO”
    • Market sizing and market windows
    • Value propositions
    • Product-market fit
  • 2. Competitive advantage
    • Sources of innovation opportunity
    • Reliability and safety
    • Proprietary technology and intellectual property
    • Trade secrets, copyright, patents, trademarks
    • Distinctive competence
    • First mover advantage, scale, and barriers to entry
  • 3. Validation
    • Competitive analysis
    • Differentiation and positioning
    • User experience research and tech usability
    • Stakeholders and personas
    • Use cases
    • Market research and ethnographic field research
    • Prototypes and usability research
    • Quality assurance and dogfooding
    • Customer success
  • 4. Identity
    • Strengths, values, goals, founding teams, ethical choices
    • Vision and mission statements
    • Names, mantras, logos, and brands
    • Elevator pitches and pitch decks
  • 5. Business models
    • Business models and the business model canvas
    • Go-to-market plans
    • Products and the minimal viable product
    • Revenue models and pricing
    • The places known as web sites
    • Promotion and internet marketing
    • Virality
    • Treating customers ethically
    • Strategic partnerships
  • 6. Finances
    • Financial statements and key performance indicators
    • Honest financial reporting
    • Financial forecasting models
    • Sources of funds for tech startups
    • Debt and equity financing methods and stages
    • Values, ethics, and your funding partners
    • Growth strategies
    • Exit strategies
  • 7. Team     
    • Leadership
    • Culture
    • Pivoting
    • Management teams
    • Execution and scaling
    • Hiring, diversity, and supervision
    • Fairness and generosity with compensation
    • Boards of Directors
    • University partners and incubators
    • Ethical responsibilities
  • 8. Ethics
    • Ethical corporate behavior
    • Ethical opportunities and challenges
    • Case studies of ethical challenges
  • 9. Principles for success
  • Appendices
  • Elevator pitch, competitive analysis, pitch deck for this book
  • The financial forecasting model rubric
  • Further reading
  • Bibliography
  • Acknowledgements
  • About the author
  • Index