Week 7 Day 1 — Ideation & Prioritisation
NST Entrepreneurship · Founder Lab
Week 7 — Day 1
WEEK 7 · DAY 1
IDEATION &
PRIORITISATION
FROM CUSTOMER → CHOICE → TEST
NST ENTREPRENEURSHIP · FOUNDER LAB
WEEK 7 · DAY 1
IDEATION &
PRIORITISATION
FROM CUSTOMER → CHOICE → TEST
NST ENTREPRENEURSHIP · FOUNDER LAB
WHERE ARE WE?
WEEKS 1–2
NOTICE
WEEKS 3–4
TALK + VALIDATE
WEEK 5
FIND THE MARKET
WEEK 6
FIND THE CUSTOMER
WEEK 7
CHOOSE WHAT TO PURSUE
NEXT
TEST IT
Now you have to make decisions.
WHO IS YOUR ICP?
MARKET
Everyone who could plausibly experience the problem
SEGMENT
People sharing meaningful behaviour / context
ICP
The segment we deliberately pursue first
PERSONA
The human pattern we learn through evidence
10-SECOND CHALLENGE: TELL ME YOUR ICP.
LAST WEEK YOU TRIED TO MURDER YOUR ICP.
TO THE OPPORTUNITY.
YOU KNOW WHO.
NOW:
WHAT SHOULD YOU
ACTUALLY PURSUE?
Your next week, ₹1,000 and 20 hours are limited.
₹1,000. 7 DAYS. 20 HOURS.
YOU CAN TEST ONE OPPORTUNITY.
WHY DID YOU PICK IT?
YOU NOW HAVE SOMETHING
MORE DANGEROUS THAN NO IDEA.
OPTIONS.
ONE STRONGER OPPORTUNITY
MULTIPLE POSSIBLE DIRECTIONS
A CUSTOMER BUT AN UNCLEAR SOLUTION
A SOLUTION BUT WEAK EVIDENCE
EVERYONE STILL NEEDS TO CHOOSE WHAT TO TEST NEXT.
YOUR BRAIN IS NOT
A DECISION FRAMEWORK.
BIAS = a mental shortcut that can distort a decision.
RECENCY BIAS
“The last thing I heard feels most important.”
FOUNDER-LOVE BIAS
“I want to build this, therefore it must be right.”
LOUDEST-VOICE BIAS
“Someone strongly believes it.”
STOP ARGUING. SCORE THE BET.
1. Choose 4–6 criteria.
2. Assign weights.
3. Weights total 100%.
4. Score each option 1–5.
5. Multiply.
6. Add.
TOTAL SCORE =
Σ (WEIGHT × SCORE)
CRITERION — What matters?
WEIGHT — How much does it matter?
SCORE — What does the evidence say?
YOUR EVIDENCE DEFENDS THE SCORE.
MATRIX IN ACTION
Which one do you think wins?
| CRITERION (WEIGHT) | HOSTEL FOOD | CAMPUS TRANSIT | STUDY PLANNER |
|---|---|---|---|
| Market size (25%) | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| Founder fit (20%) | 4 | 3 | 5 |
| Pain frequency (25%) | 5 | 3 | 2 |
| Ease to test (15%) | 4 | 3 | 5 |
| Evidence strength (15%) | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| WEIGHTED TOTAL | 4.05 | 3.15 | 2.75 |
WAIT.
WHY IS MARKET SIZE 25%?
WHY IS FOUNDER FIT 20%?
WHO DECIDED THAT?
WE DID.
A MATRIX DOESN'T REMOVE JUDGEMENT.
IT MAKES YOUR JUDGEMENT VISIBLE.
POSSIBLE, NOT MANDATORY:
Pain severity · Frequency · Evidence strength · Reachability · Market potential · Founder fit · Speed to test · Current sacrifice · Ability to pay
TOO MANY OPTIONS? USE A FASTER FILTER.
ICE
IMPACT × CONFIDENCE × EASE
IMPACT — If this works, how much could it matter?
CONFIDENCE — How strongly does evidence support it?
EASE — How quickly and cheaply can we test it?
Impact 7
Confidence 6 · Ease 8
7 × 6 × 8 = 336
ICE MICRO CHALLENGE
LANDING PAGE
Will hostel students join a late-night food waitlist?
IMPACT? CONFIDENCE? EASE?
WHATSAPP FLOW
Will students send an order request?
IMPACT? CONFIDENCE? EASE?
BOOKING PAGE
Will commuters reserve a campus shuttle slot?
IMPACT? CONFIDENCE? EASE?
THE ARGUMENT BEHIND IT IS THE VALUE.
TWO IDEAS SCORE SIMILARLY.
IDEA A
REACHES 30
IDEA B
REACHES 3,000
SAME BET?
RICE = (REACH × IMPACT × CONFIDENCE) ÷ EFFORT
(150 × 2 × 70%) ÷ 3 = 70
REACH
Target users affected
IMPACT
Difference it makes
CONFIDENCE
Evidence strength
EFFORT
Time and resources
WHY DOES EFFORT DIVIDE?
PICK YOUR WEAPON.
12 ROUGH POSSIBILITIES
Need to narrow quickly.
ICE
3 SERIOUS OPPORTUNITIES
Different criteria matter.
DECISION MATRIX
OPTIONS DIFFER IN SCALE
Reach and effort vary massively.
RICE
THE FRAMEWORK DOESN'T DECIDE. YOU DO.
“SIR, WHEN CAN WE
ACTUALLY BUILD SOMETHING?”
NOW.
BUT NOT WHAT YOU THINK.
DON'T BUILD THE STARTUP.
BUILD THE QUESTION.
BUILD ONLY ENOUGH TO GET A BEHAVIOUR.
ONE ASSUMPTION. ONE BEHAVIOUR. ONE SMALLEST TEST.
Fake-door interest tests must be handled clearly and without deception.
MOSCOW — SCOPE THE WINNER.
A plain-English boundary for what matters now.
MUST
Essential for the test to mean anything.
SHOULD
Improves the odds; learning can happen without it.
COULD
Nice to have; actively resist it now.
WON'T
Explicitly out of scope this term.
PRE-COMMIT BEFORE YOU FALL IN LOVE.
BEST CASE
Name the success number.
LIKELY CASE
Your honest evidence-based guess.
WORST CASE
Your walk-away line.
YOU PICKED A FAVOURITE — NOT A TEST.
YOUR STARTUP · YOUR EVIDENCE
PRIORITISATION SPRINT
1 — Write 2–3 real opportunities.
2 — Choose 4–6 criteria; weights total 100%.
3 — Score with evidence; calculate totals.
4 — Sanity-check the top two with ICE or RICE.
5 — Write the assumption and smallest test.
6 — Name MUST, WON'T and your walk-away result.
No full app. Build only the question.
Scan for the
Prioritisation Sprint
worksheet
Team sprint
3 MINUTES PER TEAM · SELECTED TEAMS
DEFEND THE BET.
CLASS: CHALLENGE ONE ASSUMPTION. NOT THE FOUNDER.