Unofficial field guide · Michael Skok’s Startup Secrets
The founder’s playbook, rebuilt as a deck of frameworks you can actually use.
Michael Skok taught a generation of founders at the Harvard i-lab using a stack of unforgettable mnemonics. This guide reorganizes all of it, the frameworks, the ten-stage journey, and the full lectures, into one searchable place. Start with a tool, follow the journey, or learn from the companies.
The Toolkit
Every framework is a memory device. Tap one to see it unpack, then read the workshop and the lecture behind it.
All frameworks →The 4U
Is the problem Unworkable, Unavoidable, Urgent and Underserved?
BLAC & White
Qualify the need: Blatant, Latent, Aspirational or Critical, sitting in White space.
Minimum Viable Segment
The smallest, most homogeneous set of customers with the same need.
Gain / Pain Ratio
Is the gain of adopting at least 10x the pain of switching?
The 3Ds
Evaluate the solution: Discontinuous, Defensible, Disruptive.
Everything a customer needs before they have a compelling reason to buy.
Manage Dependencies, External factors, Burden and Timing, consciously.
Your Capability Of Really Exceptional value: the one thing customers describe you by.
A model that is Repeatable, Scalable, Valuable, Predictable, Disruptive & defensible.
Products that SLIP
Take the friction out: Simple to install, Low-cost to start, Instant value, Play well.
SLIPPERY (full)
The full friction-free product test (SLIP extended) — the precursor to modern PLG.
Package the product so customers pull it toward them.
Deliver a story the audience feels: Stage, Tension, Opportunity, Resolution, Yes.
ABC (story design)
Design your story backwards from the outcome: what must they Act on, Believe, and Care about?
Founder-Market Fit
Why you, uniquely, are the right person to solve this.
See the whole problem before you build the whole product.
The 3 A's
Hire for Aptitude, Ability and Attitude — attitude decides in a startup.
The Journey
Ten stages, in the order Skok teaches them, from a value proposition to going the distance.
Open the journey →- 01 Value Proposition Find a problem worth solving and prove people will buy.
- 02 Business Model Design a customer-centric model that can disrupt and scale.
- 03 Product to Company Build a product that scales into a company, not just a feature.
- 04 Vision, Mission & Culture Create an authentic culture on vision, mission and values.
- 05 Hiring & Team Hire A-players and build a team that compounds.
- 06 Go to Market Turn the product into repeatable, scalable selling.
- 07 Storytelling Make storytelling your superpower with any audience.
- 08 Perfect Your Pitch Get behind the perfect fundraising pitch.
- 09 Funding Strategies Raise the right money at the right time to go the distance.
- 10 Founder Mindset & Mentorship What it takes, and the gift of mutual mentorship.
Learn by example
The same companies recur across frameworks. Follow a story to see the whole playbook in action.
All 56 cases →