MASTER Risk Model - Learning Resources - Abilities

Which area or field do you primarily work in?

Strategic Planning

Ask your advisors: “Which part of my venture strategy needs sharper focus or simplification?”

Share my one-paragraph vision—ask two functional experts what feels missing or unclear today.

Present my primary goal to a collaborator—can they explain how their work connects?

Ask peers broadly: “Which initiative feels most aligned—and which feels off?”

Interview three domain experts: “What do you believe my venture aims for long-term?”

Ask early supporters: “What would success look like if my strategy worked perfectly?”

Operational Execution

Ask a peer founder: “What’s one thing I could ship faster with fewer blockers?”

Share my top task list—ask two operators what feels misplaced or mis-sequenced.

Invite a trusted operator to shadow one workflow—request feedback on clarity and efficiency.

Present my process to a newly onboarded collaborator—where do they feel confused?

Run a cross-discipline peer survey: “Where do I drop the ball most in execution?”

Ask my advisor circle: “Where could follow-through or delivery improve most now?”

Performance Monitoring

Align on what “great traction” means—clarify standards and where I stand today.

Share my traction dashboard with advisors—what’s clear, confusing, or notably missing?

Ask a key supporter: “Which outcomes matter most from my current efforts?”

Present KPIs to an external advisor—do they make sense without added context?

Ask functional experts: “Am I measuring what matters—or merely what’s easy?”

Ask senior advisors: “How confident are we in the data—and why specifically?”

Market Analysis

Ask recent prospects: “What objections or patterns keep appearing during discovery calls?”

Share a short survey: “What almost made you walk away before purchasing?”

Post a poll in a founder group—test one key assumption about my market.

Show my messaging to someone outside my niche—does it feel instantly clear?

Ask a new community member: “Summarize my market—what do you notice I miss?”

Interview a prospect: “What did you learn about the market while choosing me?”

Branding and Positioning

Post my elevator pitch on LinkedIn—ask: “What’s clear and what still feels missing?”

Interview three customers: “What stood out most before deciding to try?”

Ask early users: “What single word best describes your experience with my brand?”

Share my new positioning statement—ask if someone “gets it” in one read.

Ask customers: “If you referred me in one line, what would you actually say?”

Compare my tone to competitors—ask a peer which feels stronger, warmer, or clearer.

Digital Marketing Strategy

Ask my audience: “Which topic should we cover next to help you decide?”

Share two creative assets—ask: “Which grabs attention first, and why specifically?”

Interview a recent lead: “Where did you discover me, and why did you click?”

Present funnel data to a growth peer—what blind spots or gaps do they see?

Gather input on my social presence: “Does it reflect my real brand voice?”

Post a short video on LinkedIn—ask what stood out or still felt unclear.

Negotiation Skills

Invite a mentor to observe one negotiation—what did I miss, and where improve?

Debrief with a colleague after a deal—what would they have done differently?

Interview a seasoned negotiator: “Which habits create outsized results for you consistently?”

Share a deal recap with my mentor—ask for tone and trade-off commentary.

Ask a prospect after a discussion: “What felt unclear or frustrating in my negotiation?”

Present two pitch versions to a peer—ask which feels stronger and why.

Customer Relationship Management

Ask an early customer: “What’s one thing I could do to serve you better?”

Send a two-question survey: “What do you value most?” and “Where can we improve?”

Review my contacts—“Which relationships feel under-engaged, and what small step could help?”

Run a live customer feedback session—gather input on what’s truly working.

Invite a customer to co-create content or review a private beta iteration.

Share a draft proposal with a prospect—confirm alignment to goals and constraints.

Sales Strategy and Planning

Ask an experienced founder: “Which part of my sales plan needs sharpening now?”

Share my quarterly plan with a peer founder—does it feel clear and actionable?

Interview a sales-savvy peer: “Where does my plan help or hinder execution most?”

Present my segment plan to a marketing advisor—are targeting assumptions aligned?

Ask a customer: “What finally convinced you to buy—am I emphasizing that enough?”

Debrief after a missed target—what feedback shapes the next planning cycle?

Talent Acquisition and Recruitment

Ask potential collaborators: “What was the most and least engaging part of your conversation with me?”

Ask an experienced interviewer: “Which trait should I assess better when considering collaborators?”

Share a revised role description for a future collaborator with two founders—what feels generic versus truly inspiring?

Collect feedback: “Which collaborators ramped fastest—and what signals did they share?”

Poll peers: “What should I seek in my next collaborator that I often miss?”

Present my collaborator selection process to a founder friend—ask for blind spots or friction.

Performance Management

Ask peers: “What helped or hurt performance most during this sprint?”

Share my performance framework with collaborators—what feels misaligned or incomplete here?

Interview a top collaborator or mentor: “What feedback made you grow the most recently?”

Invite input on how I address underperformance—am I fair and consistent?

Run a quick survey: “Do you know what ‘good’ looks like in your role?”

Ask a mentor: “What do you wish you knew earlier about leadership?”

Learning and Development

Ask a peer founder: “What learning experience accelerated your growth more than any other?”

Interview a top performer in my network: “Which feedback drove fastest growth?”

Run a survey: “Which learning formats help you most—videos, coaching, or workshops?”

Share my draft L&D plan with peers—ask what they would add or remove.

Get feedback from a recent mentee—what stuck most, and what felt like fluff?

Ask a mentor: “What learning support do founders request most—and why now?”

Financial Analysis and Budgeting

Ask an advisor: “What common mistakes appear in early-stage budget proposals you review?”

Present my budget assumptions to an advisor—what feels solid versus purely hopeful?

Share my cost drivers breakdown with an advisor—invite tough questions and critique.

Ask an advisor: “What makes budget proposals credible, persuasive, and easy to evaluate?”

Ask a peer: “What frustrates you most about my budgeting approach today?”

Discuss a past finance decision with a peer—what risks or gaps do they see?

Risk Management

Ask a mentor: “What financial risk am I underestimating as I approach launch?”

Share a previously missed risk with a mentor—ask how they would have spotted it.

Invite finance-minded peers to review risk assumptions—what would they immediately challenge?

Ask mentors: “Which risks do you expect me to escalate versus resolve quietly?”

Share my top risk concern with a peer—how do they perceive its impact?

Share my “risk radar” with a mentor group—ask what feels missing or overlooked.

Capital Allocation

Ask a mentor: “If reallocating 20% of budget, where would you put it, and why?”

Share my allocation approach with mentors—invite critique and alternative scenarios.

Discuss with a mentor which areas show highest versus lowest ROI right now.

Ask a mentor: “Which areas feel underfunded or overemphasized—why specifically?”

Share current capital constraints with a mentor—how would they reprioritize resources?

Share my allocation plan with a new collaborator—does it feel intuitive immediately?

Supply Chain Management

Ask a fulfillment partner: “Where do you see the biggest inefficiencies in my supply chain?”

Share one logistics step with a partner—invite them to challenge or optimize it.

Interview a warehouse or courier partner—what would they change first and why?

Ask an early user or supplier where supply issues impact satisfaction most severely.

Present my supply-risk map to an advisor—ask what’s realistic versus purely ideal.

Check with a mentor and a supplier how they perceive supply reliability—are assumptions truly aligned?

Lean and Agile Methodologies

Ask three peers what slows them when collaborating with me—look for shared friction points to fix immediately.

Share my workflow map with a peer—ask what they’d cut, streamline, or test.

Present a “version 1” publicly—gather feedback before finalizing the process.

Survey peers on top Agile or Lean tools—adopt one I’m not currently using.

Get feedback on a sprint I led—what helped momentum and what hindered progress?

Ask my advisor how they measure agility—compare with my self-assessment honestly.

Quality Assurance

Ask a collaborator how my handoffs impact quality—what defects or issues they catch often?

Request feedback on clarity and consistency of a recent deliverable I led.

Have a peer re-test my workflow—compare their quality bar with mine.

Interview a QA-minded peer on spotting quality breakdowns earlier in the flow.

Ask my mentor what “excellence” looks like—what standards should I consistently exceed?

Share my QA process with a peer founder—gather insights from a totally fresh view.

IT Systems Management

Ask three beta users which tools slow onboarding most—listen without defending anything.

Present your system roadmap to advisors—collect unmet needs, risks, and founder blind spots.

Gather feedback from early users after changes—mirror their exact words back.

Ask a business stakeholder what reliability truly means for their workflow success.

Run a post-mortem after an outage—capture preventions, detection, and faster rollback.

Share a proposed IT upgrade with peers—invite challenges on risks you might miss.

Cybersecurity

Ask a security mentor one habit to change today for safer founder routines.

Share a time you caused a security scare—ask if others handled similar incidents.

Ask which security training moments were useful—and which felt irrelevant noise.

Ask a non-technical collaborator which security habit is hardest to sustain daily.

Request a quick privacy review from counsel—confirm gaps in founder practices.

Post a practical security tip in a founder community—invite others to contribute their own.

Software Development and Integration

Ask a peer developer where your integration breaks for them—capture exact pain points.

Request a cross-review of your module before merge—clarity, tests, and rollback steps.

Interview a product manager: which integration failures hurt customers the most?

Ask an early-career developer to follow your docs—note every confusing section.

Share a recent refactor—ask engineering peers how they’d approach it differently.

Ask a stakeholder how integration issues affected KPIs—deadlines, churn, or adoption.

Customer Experience Management

Ask support volunteers which moments frustrate trial users most—and why those recur.

Review your latest feedback with design peers—gather insights that sharpen the trial experience.

Hold a five-minute listening session with a support moderator—capture top themes.

Ask a marketer how customer sentiment shifted over six months and why.

Review a heated support thread with a mentor—analyze tone and repair opportunities.

Interview an account lead about habits sustaining long-term customer relationships.

Service Recovery and Resolution

Ask a seasoned founder what calms angry customers fastest during tough situations.

Discuss with a service expert how they de-escalate—what tone reliably restores trust?

Review resolution notes with helpers—what sped recovery, and what slowed it?

Interview someone skilled at reframing complaints—what mindset unlocks empathy?

Share a tough customer interaction—invite honest critique on empathy and ownership.

Co-listen to a support call recording—mark where emotional connection formed or failed.

CRM Systems

Ask a sales advisor which CRM feature saves time—try it on two leads.

Shadow a top seller using CRM live—note shortcuts, fields, and sequencing tactics.

Review others’ CRM notes—what details are most actionable and why specifically?

Ask a seller what annoys them about CRM—and their best workaround.

Share your CRM dashboard—ask what fields or views would increase usefulness.

Request feedback on one CRM note—was it clear, useful, and future-friendly?

Regulatory Compliance

Ask a startup lawyer which pending rule matters most for your specific launch.

Request feedback on your last compliance slip—what process should change immediately?

Compare two organizations’ compliance announcements—borrow the clearer approach.

Interview an operations mentor about tracking evolving rules—what tools help consistency?

Share a compliance decision—ask peers to pressure-test assumptions diplomatically.

Present a draft compliance reminder—ask for edits to tone and clarity.

Contract Management

Ask contract counsel to walk through a redlined template—explain every risky clause.

Share a real counterparty scenario—compare negotiation moves and risk tradeoffs together.

Present a common contract snag—ask peers how they’d resolve it pragmatically.

Ask a client which contract step feels clearest—and which feels murky still.

Request feedback on contract versioning and obligation tracking routines.

Discuss contract version controls with operations-minded peers—what actually works under pressure?

Corporate Governance

Ask an advisor which governance topics founders often misunderstand early.

Discuss with an advisor how you’ll uphold transparency and decision accountability.

Request feedback on a governance decision—was rationale accessible and timely?

Share your decision map—ask if it supports oversight or obscures accountability.

Invite a peer to review your policy affecting governance responsibilities.

Ask other founders how they record decisions—borrow tools that improve governance.

Innovation and Product Development

Ask a product-minded peer to refine your idea—what extension would increase value?

Share a paper prototype across disciplines—invite tough feedback on desirability and feasibility.

Present an early concept to frontline practitioners—collect grounded input.

Join a product demo—offer feedback specifically through an innovation lens.

Discuss constraints with builders—ideate creative workarounds enabling tests sooner.

Ask product mentors which innovation metrics matter most—adoption, retention, or cycle time.

Research Methodologies

Share your research plan with a mentor—what feels thin, biased, or unclear today?

Present raw interview notes to peers—gather reactions before forming interpretations.

Ask a researcher how they scope samples and avoid bias with tiny budgets.

Debrief stakeholders after research—did insights answer the decision they faced?

Share one disproven assumption from research—invite others to surface theirs too.

Ask a research mentor which choices deserved stronger evidence—prioritize those studies.

Intellectual Property Management

Ask counsel what everyday IP risk founders overlook—trademarks, code, or content?

Share your draft protection plan—ask if terms cover priority assets realistically.

Present an IP risk example—ask how others would mitigate earlier and cheaper.

Ask an advisor how they track IP value—what metrics should you monitor?

Share a past missed IP protection—ask how they’d prevent similar oversights.

Invite feedback on recognition for contributors—are protections and credit visible?

Supplier Relationship Management

Ask a key supplier how collaboration could improve—listen, summarize, and confirm expectations.

Invite suppliers to flag delays early—ask how you can enable faster responses.

Send a short vendor survey—rate responsiveness, clarity, and partnership attitudes.

Ask practitioners which suppliers are easy or difficult—and the underlying reasons.

Ask a procurement mentor how they maintain trust with strategic suppliers long-term.

Present one vendor challenge to a peer—compare approaches and outcomes thoughtfully.

Logistics and Distribution

Ask delivery partners which complaints repeat—note patterns affecting loyalty.

Ask a courier or warehouse contact which tweak would improve reliability fastest.

Invite a distributor to review forecasts—encourage early flags and scenario planning.

Share a draft process fix—ask a peer to challenge assumptions and constraints.

Ask logistics contacts how upstream choices constrain them—document impacts for planning.

Interview a customer about delivery expectations—what earns trust or breaks loyalty?

Cost Management

Ask a finance mentor what surprises them most in early-stage spending patterns.

Share a proposed cost cut—ask a peer founder which tradeoff they’d choose differently.

Ask experienced founders which expenses could drop without hurting momentum or quality.

Invite a procurement mentor to unpack terms in one strategic agreement together.

Ask a lean-minded peer to review your workflow—flag waste and waiting time.

Discuss with an advisor how savings trade off against growth and risk-taking.

Data Analysis and Visualization

Ask a data-savvy friend to review your chart—did the core story land?

Share a dashboard snippet—ask what to remove or add to drive decisions.

Compare your visual with a peer’s—why does theirs feel clearer or faster?

Present a visual to a non-data collaborator—can they retell the takeaway accurately?

Ask a decision-maker mentor what makes a report truly decision-ready versus simply informative.

Ask a stakeholder whether your data sped a decision—if not, what blocked it?

Predictive Analytics

Ask a data scientist how they validate scrappy models before live experiments.

Share a forecast with an operator—what action did it enable or still needs?

Ask stakeholders to critique model outputs—usefulness, surprises, and missing signals.

Discuss with a peer how you communicate uncertainty in predictions responsibly.

Present one predictive insight in a group chat—invite critique and boundary conditions.

Interview a practitioner using predictive analytics elsewhere—what lessons transfer now?

Business Intelligence

Ask a business user which BI widget confuses them—observe how they actually use it.

Demo your BI to varied users—collect usability hurdles and navigation issues.

Discuss with analysts whether BI reflects real priorities, not vanity measures.

Present a BI dashboard to senior mentors—invite questions about clarity and value.

Ask experienced operators which KPIs they want surfaced more frequently—and why.

Ask advanced users to demo BI features and shortcuts they rely on.

Enterprise Risk Management

Ask peers how they report risks—what channels, triggers, and thresholds guide escalation?

Share your risk register with mentors—ask where blind spots likely still exist.

Discuss with a risk specialist how appetite is communicated and enforced practically.

Interview an auditor about common early-stage ERM missteps and prevention.

Present a risk scenario to peers—invite differing views on likelihood and impact.

Seek feedback on your risk communication style—clarity, tone, and timeliness.

Crisis Management

Ask trusted contacts how prepared they feel when working with you—what scenarios worry them most?

Ask advisors how they define success during crises—clarify roles and cadence.

Ask a comms mentor how crisis messages could be simpler, faster, and kinder.

Interview a peer on their crisis experience—what would they change next time?

Collect feedback immediately after a drill—what worked and what didn’t clearly?

Share a draft crisis plan with mentors—invite candid critique and concrete edits.

Regulatory Compliance 2

Ask compliance counsel which pitfalls trap new founders—documentation, privacy, or disclosures?

Trade playbooks with another startup—discuss compliance practices actually working today.

Present a compliance topic in a community session—invite questions and capture follow-ups.

Request feedback on a compliance notice you drafted—tone, clarity, and timing.

Ask a peer how they track compliance changes—borrow their reliable sources.

Align with collaborators on compliance tasks—reduce overlap and information silos.

Product Lifecycle Management

Ask sales and support mentors how lifecycle shifts change workload, timing, and messaging.

Share lifecycle milestones with marketing-minded peers—adjust messaging based on stage.

Present lifecycle pains to product mentors—request sequencing guidance.

Interview a founder who sunset a product—what signals triggered the decision?

Get customer feedback on a feature change tied to lifecycle stage progression.

Discuss lifecycle revenue impacts with a finance-savvy mentor—clarify triggers, gates, and forecasts.

Market and User Research

Ask discovery callers what prospects mention most—pains, alternatives, or budget constraints.

Share research takeaways with product and growth peers—request edits to strengthen claims.

Interview a UX researcher on scrappy, effective methods for lean startups today.

Run a peer review of your research plan—sampling, instruments, and ethics.

Ask mentors whether research influenced recent choices—what made it convincing?

Discuss research impacts with product mentors—what actually shifted because of evidence?

Go-to-Market Strategy

Ask marketing and sales mentors what blocks launches most—content gaps, timing, or enablement.

Share your GTM brief with an investor—invite critique on focus and completeness.

Gather prospect feedback on launch messaging—what resonated and what confused?

Interview a former partner about GTM missteps and hard-learned lessons.

Get finance-savvy peers to pressure-test GTM forecasts—revise capacity and spend accordingly.

Ask finance-savvy peers to review GTM budgets—edit sequencing, targets, and resourcing.

MASTER Risk Hub