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Paris School of EntrepreneurshipApplied Entrepreneurial Thinking · Short Intensive Program
Session 01 / 04
Pre-Session Prep0%

Session 1 —
Entrepreneurial Thinking

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1
Session 01 · Pre-Session Brief
Entrepreneurial Thinking & Business Model Design
Before We Begin

Your prep brief

This brief was sent 24 hours before your session. Read it once and sit with the three questions below — you do not need to write anything. Thinking in advance makes the first 90 minutes significantly more productive.

90 minDeep Work Block 1Concept + Application
75 minDeep Work Block 2Guided Build + Iteration
45 minSynthesis + OutputDeliverable + Test
Three Questions to Sit With

Do not write answers. Just think. Let these questions work on you before you arrive.

Prep Question 01
What is your venture actually doing — not what it is, but what it does for someone?
Think about the action your venture enables in someone's life. Not the category. Not the product. The specific thing a person can do or feel differently because of it.
Prep Question 02
Who specifically is the first person who would pay for this — and why would they pay for it today, not in six months?
Not a demographic. A person. Someone you could actually call or email. And the urgency matters — what is happening in their life right now that makes this timely?
Prep Question 03
What is the single biggest assumption your venture is built on — and how do you know it is true?
Every business model has one load-bearing assumption. If it is wrong, the rest collapses. What is yours? And what evidence do you actually have for it?
What We Will Build Today
01Your entrepreneurial thinking profile — understanding how you naturally think, decide, and create as a founder, and what that means for how you build.
02PSE Business Model Canvas v1 — a complete one-page architecture of your venture across nine dimensions, built and stress-tested in the session.
03Advantage Stack Map — your three-layer competitive edge mapped across skill, network, and market position.
Model Clarity · Thinking Check 1 of 3
Block 1 Complete

Model Clarity Check

Three questions to confirm the Block 1 concepts have landed and how you are applying them to your specific venture. Answer honestly — these are diagnostics, not tests.

Check 1 · Question 01
Entrepreneurial thinking is primarily about…
Having a great idea before anyone else does
Creating and capturing value in a way that is systematic, not accidental
Core definition
Working harder than everyone else in the market
Taking calculated risks with other people's capital
Check 1 · Question 02
In your venture, value creation is best described as…
Apply the concept to your specific situation — not the general definition.
The revenue my venture generates from customers
The problem I solve and the genuine difference it makes in someone's situation
Correct distinction
The market size my venture is targeting
The investment I have attracted from backers
Check 1 · Question 03
Describe in one or two sentences what your venture creates value for someone and how it captures some of that value as revenue.
This is the most important thing you need to be able to say clearly. If it is not clear yet, write what you have — that is the most useful answer.
0 / 400
Block 1 · Thinking Check Score
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Deliverable 1A · PSE Business Model Canvas
Block 2

Your Business Model

Click each block to fill it in. Use the guided prompts — they are designed to help you write something specific and honest rather than something aspirational and vague.

Canvas completion
0 / 9
Key Partners
Key Partners
Click to fill in
Key Activities
Click to fill in
Value Proposition
Click to fill in
Customer Relationships
Click to fill in
Customer Segments
Click to fill in
Key Resources
Click to fill in
Channels
Click to fill in
Cost Structure
Click to fill in
Revenue Streams
Click to fill in
Canvas Application · Thinking Check 2 of 3
Block 2 Complete

Canvas Thinking Check

Four questions applying the Business Model Canvas to your specific venture. The goal is to surface the assumptions that most need testing before Session 2.

Check 2 · Question 01
Which block of your Business Model Canvas is currently built on the thinnest evidence?
Customer Segments — I am not yet certain who this is really for
Value Proposition — I believe in it but have not confirmed others feel the same urgency
Revenue Streams — I am not yet confident in what to charge or how
Key Partners — I am assuming relationships that I have not yet secured
Check 2 · Question 02
If your Value Proposition turned out to be wrong — if customers do not actually feel the urgency you expect — what would be the first signal you would see?
Be specific. Vague answers here are a warning sign worth discussing in the session.
0 / 400
Check 2 · Question 03
Your business model is primarily…
Product-led — value is delivered through something I build and sell
Service-led — value is delivered through my time, expertise, or relationships
Platform-led — value is created through connecting two or more groups
Hybrid — my model combines two or more of the above
Check 2 · Question 04
What is the one change to your Business Model Canvas that would have the biggest positive impact on the venture's viability — and why?
0 / 500
Block 2 · Thinking Check Score
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Deliverable 1B · Advantage Stack Map
Block 3 — Synthesis

Your Advantage Stack

Your Advantage Stack maps the three layers of competitive edge that protect your venture from being replicated. Fill in each layer honestly — this is not about what you wish were true, but what is genuinely true today.

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Layer 1 — Hardest to replicate
Skill & Knowledge Edge
What you know or can do that took years to develop and cannot be quickly copied
What expertise, craft, or capability have you developed that most people in your space do not have?
How long did it take you to develop this — and could someone replicate it in under 2 years?
0 / 500
2
Layer 2 — Relationship capital
Network & Access Edge
Who you know, who knows you, and what doors open for you that do not open for others
Who are the 3–5 people in your network who would make an immediate, material difference to this venture if you called them today?
0 / 500
3
Layer 3 — Market position
Position & Timing Edge
Why this market, why now, and why you are better positioned than anyone else to win it
What is changing in this market right now that creates a window of opportunity that did not exist 3 years ago?
0 / 500
Business Model Synthesis · End of Session
Session 1 Complete

Business Model Synthesis

Five questions that pull everything from today into a coherent statement. This is your end-of-session diagnostic — the most important thinking check of the day.

Synthesis · Question 01
In two sentences — no more — explain your business model clearly enough that someone who has never heard of it can immediately understand how it creates and captures value.
0 / 400
Synthesis · Question 02
Which of your Advantage Stack layers is currently your strongest — and which is your most significant gap?
Strongest: Skill · Biggest gap: Network
Strongest: Skill · Biggest gap: Market Position
Strongest: Network · Biggest gap: Skill
Strongest: Network · Biggest gap: Market Position
Strongest: Market Position · Biggest gap: Skill
Strongest: Market Position · Biggest gap: Network
Synthesis · Question 03
What is the single most important assumption in your business model that you need to test before Session 2 — and how will you test it?
0 / 500
Synthesis · Question 04
Compared to where you were this morning, your understanding of your venture's business model is…
Significantly clearer — I have moved from intuition to structure
Somewhat clearer — I have made progress but there is still significant fog
About the same — I need to do more work between sessions
More uncertain than before — but the right kind of uncertain: I see what I do not yet know
Synthesis · Question 05
What is the one thing from today's session that you want to make sure you do not forget before Session 2?
0 / 400
Session 1 · Overall Synthesis Score
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Post-Session

Session 1 Reading List

Four carefully chosen texts that deepen and extend what you built today. You do not need to read all four before Session 2 — but you should read at least one. The article takes 15 minutes and is the minimum.

01
Business Model Generation
Alexander Osterwalder & Yves Pigneur
Why it matters for Session 1

This is the direct intellectual source of the PSE Canvas you built today. Reading the first three chapters now — after having built your own canvas — will show you the depth beneath the nine blocks and surface refinements you can make before Session 2.

02
Zero to One
Peter Thiel
Why it matters for Session 1

Thiel's thinking is the intellectual backbone of the Advantage Stack you built in Block 3. Read chapters 3 and 5 after completing your stack today.

03
The Lean Startup
Eric Ries
Why it matters for Session 1

After building your PSE Canvas today, the instinct this book trains is to immediately ask: which of these nine blocks is an assumption, and how could I test it this week?

04
"What Makes an Entrepreneur?"
Harvard Business Review · Article · 15 min read
Why it matters for Session 1

Read this tonight. It is 15 minutes and will change how you interpret what happened in Block 1 of today's session.

Session 1 Complete

Your work from today has been saved to your programme record. Below is a summary of what you have built and what comes next before Session 2.

Your Session 1 Deliverables
PSE Business Model Canvas v1
Your complete nine-block venture architecture — built, reviewed, and saved.
Advantage Stack Map
Your three-layer competitive edge — skill, network, and market position.
3 Thinking Checks Completed
Model Clarity, Canvas Application, and Business Model Synthesis — all saved to your programme record.
Before Session 2
Your pre-work for the next session. These are not optional — Session 2 is built directly on what you bring back.
Have 3 real customer conversations. Not surveys. Not friends. Real potential customers.
Refine your Value Proposition block. Take what you wrote today and make it one sentence sharper.
Read at least one book from the Session 1 reading list. The HBR article is the minimum.