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Startup Forge

Entrepreneurship & Startup

About This Simulation

Startup Forge puts student teams in the founder's seat and moves them through five stages — Ideation, Customer Discovery, MVP & Launch, Pivot or Persevere, and Scale & Pitch — modeled on the real early-stage arc. Each team picks a business type (B2B SaaS, DTC Products, Consumer Mobile, Marketplace, or AI Product) and each stage requires a written deliverable that an LLM Critic grades against a rubric. At Stage 2 teams interview LLM-played customer personas who follow the Mom Test (they won't volunteer "I'd pay" unless the team earns it); at Stage 5 a 3-investor LLM panel — Lead, Junior Analyst, Operating partner — argues over the pitch deck for a term-sheet / send-a-memo / pass verdict. A persistent runway clock ticks across the whole sim: hires bump burn and dilute the cap table, funding rounds inject cash and dilute holders, and when cash hits zero the team enters Death March — the Critic gets stricter, market signals get harsher, and three rescue options (bridge round, hard pivot, fire-sale acquihire) unlock. Scored on four pillars: Product Innovation, Pivot Speed, Investor Confidence, and Runway.

LMSCanvas + LTI 1.3 compatible platforms·SSO + one-click grade publishHow it works

Share this with your team— printable one-pager for a chair or procurement./for-your-team/startup-forge

Learning Objectives

Validate business ideas through customer interviews — turning LLM persona conversations into evidence, not just anecdotes
Write venture-grade deliverables (problem brief, MVP spec, pitch deck) and defend them against Critic pushback
Manage cash runway, burn rate, and cap table under real dilution pressure
Make hiring decisions when every hire burns cash and grants equity
Recognize when to pivot versus persevere — using signals, not gut
Navigate Death March: rescue the company when cash hits zero, or lose it
Pitch persuasively to a 3-investor LLM panel with real, differing objections

Week-by-Week Overview

Stage 1: Ideation

Write the problem statement, customer hypothesis, and TAM/SAM/SOM sizing. First Critic pass grades the framing before anyone touches an MVP.

Stage 2: Customer Discovery

Interview LLM-played customer personas in Persona mode — they argue back, have hidden truths, follow the Mom Test. Save verbatim quotes as evidence in your discovery deliverable.

Stage 3: MVP & Launch

Scope the MVP, decide build-vs-buy, set pricing, and secure a first customer commitment. Hiring, funding rounds, and cap table unlock here — every choice hits your runway.

Stage 4: Pivot or Persevere

A market signal lands (competitor raises, key user churns, regulator letter). Persevere, zoom in on a segment, or pivot to a new model — and defend the call. Death March triggers here for teams whose cash ran out.

Stage 5: Scale & Pitch

Ship the Series A pitch deck. A 3-investor LLM panel — Lead, Junior Analyst, Operating — grills the deck and returns a term-sheet, send-a-memo, or pass verdict. Final grade locks here.