MASTER Risk Model - Learning Resources - Abilities

Which area or field do you primarily work in?

Strategic Planning

Write a one-sentence version of your strategy, state your vision, edge, and growth path.

List your top 3 priorities, do they push your long-term vision or just daily firefighting?

Review last year’s pitch deck, highlight what still applies and what needs a full rewrite.

Compare your strategy with a competitor’s, what’s your unique edge in this market?

Identify one project that doesn’t fit your vision, pause, pivot, or kill it today.

Sketch a simple pyramid: vision > goals > actions, fill it in for your startup.

Operational Execution

Identify one blocked task in your launch, clarify the owner and unblock it today.

Review your to-do list, highlight 3 tasks that move growth, and do them first.

Create a repeatable checklist for onboarding users, cut rework and missed steps.

Apply the 80/20 rule, focus on the 20% of work that drives 80% of traction.

Block 15 minutes daily to review progress, consistency builds more than big bursts.

Align your calendar with your priorities, block time for founder work, not just calls.

Performance Monitoring

Choose one traction metric that matters for investors, track and review it weekly.

Build a simple spreadsheet dashboard to visualize your top 3 startup KPIs.

Add one line to team updates: “What did we progress this week?”

Review your OKRs, highlight one that lacks a clear success measure.

Send a one-page update to advisors summarizing this week’s traction and outcomes.

Create a visual tracker for one big initiative, update it in every team sync.

Market Analysis

Google your top 3 rivals, note how they pitch and what their customers engage with most.

Review user feedback or reviews, note which problems or needs surface most often.

Identify one key industry trend in 6 months, what opportunity or threat does it create?

Use Google Trends on your core term, see what’s rising or falling in relevance.

Refresh your user personas with data from your most recent customers.

List the top 5 buying criteria your customers use, validate them with recent chats.

Branding and Positioning

Rewrite your one-line pitch, make it punchy, bold, and outcome-focused for users.

List 3 unique parts of your offer, check if your homepage highlights them clearly.

Update your LinkedIn headline, make it reflect your startup’s sharpest value proposition.

Compare your tone across web, deck, and socials, are you consistent and bold?

Ask a peer to describe your brand in 5 words, does it match your intent?

Add one emotional story to your pitch deck, make it resonate, not just inform.

Digital Marketing Strategy

Identify your highest-yield digital channel, launch one new piece of content this week.

Set one clear digital goal (e.g., signups, leads, reach) and define how you’ll track it.

Review your analytics dashboard, spot one surprising insight you hadn’t noticed before.

Test a new call-to-action on your site, track any change in clicks or conversions.

Check your email open rate, tweak the next subject line for a sharper hook.

Optimize your social bio or link-in-bio, align it with your active campaign goal.

Negotiation Skills

Write down your ideal, target, and walk-away terms for an upcoming investor or partner deal.

Identify one phrase you use in investor talks that weakens you, replace it with firmer wording.

Review your last negotiation email, did you anchor strongly? If not, revise and resend it.

Watch a 5-minute clip on silence, use it in your next investor or client conversation.

Draft one strong question to uncover what matters most to an investor or partner.

Practice stating your deal terms confidently, say them aloud once daily this week.

Customer Relationship Management

Identify your top 5 early adopters, send a check-in message not tied to a current sale.

Add one personal detail to each top client record, make it visible in your CRM.

Set reminders for follow-ups after 30 and 90 days with new customers.

Pick one dormant customer, send a short message to reignite the relationship.

Ask one client how they use your product now, capture insights for follow-up value.

Share one free, helpful resource with a client, not tied to your product.

Sales Strategy and Planning

Define your top 3 revenue targets for this quarter, link each to a clear sales activity.

Review your funnel, identify one bottleneck and test a small experiment to fix it.

Identify one weak customer segment, adjust messaging and run a quick micro-test.

Block 30 minutes weekly to review sales vs plan, make it a recurring event.

Create or update your ICP (ideal customer profile), base it on real data, not guesses.

Sketch your lead-to-close journey, note where drop-offs happen and why.

Talent Acquisition and Recruitment

Review one current job ad, rewrite the opening to highlight vision, purpose, and impact.

Reconnect with one promising past candidate, send a message to re-engage interest.

Post a short “why join us” video from a founder or team member’s voice.

Add one inclusive language check to your job ads or hiring posts.

Identify your top 3 referral sources, reconnect and activate them this week.

Create or update an interview scorecard with the 3 must-have founder traits.

Performance Management

Choose one team KPI, define what “great results” look like and share it with the group.

Review your feedback form, cut one vague or redundant question today.

Send one direct, specific recognition message to a teammate for recent work.

Identify one KPI that misaligns with value creation, flag it for revision.

Schedule your next check-in to focus on coaching and growth, not just updates.

Add quarterly reflections to your performance cycle, not just yearly reviews.

Learning and Development

Ask one team member: “What’s one skill you’d like to grow to help the startup succeed?”

Add one quick learning link (podcast, article, tool) to your next team meeting agenda.

Identify one recurring skill gap, suggest a quick resource to help address it.

Create a shared Slack space where the team can post and share learning content.

Turn your latest win or failure into a short “what we learned” team moment.

Promote one training resource this week, share it with a personal endorsement.

Financial Analysis and Budgeting

Review one department’s spend, flag any costs that don’t align with growth priorities.

Set up a simple finance dashboard with 3–5 KPIs your founders can track easily.

Block 30 minutes this week to reconcile actual vs forecast for one key project.

Identify one expense category that overruns, check if forecasts or assumptions were flawed.

Add a 5-minute “budget check” to your next founder sync, make it routine.

Watch a short clip on zero-based budgeting, note one idea to apply quickly.

Risk Management

Identify one financial risk in your roadmap, write it down and share with co-founders.

Review insurance or fallback plans, note any gaps for startup operations or assets.

Flag your top 3 financial risks, rank them by likelihood and impact on growth.

Add a “risk check” item to your next planning session, force proactive discussion.

Write down 3 small failures, did any warn of a bigger risk you overlooked?

Skim an industry report, what external risks or signals could affect your runway?

Capital Allocation

List your top 3 active initiatives, rank them by ROI, not just urgency or hype.

Identify one area you’re overspending without clear traction, flag it for review.

Check if budget allocations match growth goals, flag one mismatch for discussion.

Review one financial decision, did it balance growth potential with sustainability?

Sketch a pie chart of your time use, are you spending enough on growth priorities?

Estimate upside of shifting 10% of spend to your fastest-growth channel.

Supply Chain Management

Sketch your supply chain in 5 steps, spot one fragile link and flag it today.

Check if top suppliers meet lead times and quality, note any red flags to act on.

Draft a one-page summary of stock vs demand, flag one misalignment today.

Ask suppliers if alternatives exist for 2 key inputs, document findings clearly.

Review last quarter’s bottlenecks, what root causes slowed you most?

List your top 3 inventory items, check if they match current demand trends.

Lean and Agile Methodologies

Set up a Kanban board for your sprint, track flow and highlight anything stalled.

Run a 15-minute standup focused on blockers, track recurring issues slowing delivery.

Spot one recurring step that adds no value, suggest removing or automating it.

Pilot a one-week sprint: plan, build, review, track focus and output gains.

Map one workflow in 5 steps, cut any redundancy or unclear stage.

Pick one project, shorten planning time and test faster execution without losing quality.

Quality Assurance

Create a checklist for one repeated process, use it to avoid mistakes this week.

Pick one quality metric (bugs, churn, complaints) and track it daily this week.

Run a 15-minute quality check on your last release, note even minor flaws.

Review one investor deck or client email, check for clarity and accuracy before sending.

Identify a step that often needs rework, define a clear rule to prevent it.

Ask a peer to review one deliverable, see what they catch that you missed.

IT Systems Management

Document one manual IT process slowing your product, note how you could automate or streamline it.

Set a calendar alert for system updates, avoid skipping critical patches during busy launch weeks.

Review system logs for the past week, flag errors or unexplained slowdowns to address.

Create one IT vendor list with renewal dates, avoid missing payments or service cuts.

Identify one repeated user complaint, propose a small fix you can test quickly.

Run a 10-minute IT health check, log results to spot recurring issues.

Cybersecurity

Update all system passwords with founders and activate two-factor authentication for admin tools.

Enable automatic updates on all devices, lower your exposure to common startup cyber threats.

Run a free phishing quiz for your team, see where awareness needs improvement.

Review last login activity, flag anything unusual or risky for your startup’s accounts.

Enable encryption for stored files, protect sensitive customer or investor data.

Write a checklist of must-do steps during a cyber attack.

Software Development and Integration

Add automated testing to one core feature, ensure stability before showing it to investors.

Refactor a small block of legacy code this week, make it cleaner and easier for new hires.

Document one API or module, make it clearer for teammates or external developers.

Check your version control system, review commits for clarity and documentation.

Write a shared integration checklist, use it for smooth code merges.

Add a code linter or formatter, boost coding consistency.

Customer Experience Management

Send a quick follow-up to a new user, thank them and ask for one short piece of feedback.

Review top three complaints from users, spot recurring patterns across cases.

Add a single satisfaction question to your feedback form, capture quick sentiment.

Rewrite one customer email to sound warmer, clearer, and more trust-building.

Shadow one customer support call, note tone, speed, and customer reaction.

Map one user journey, spot moments of friction or delight.

Service Recovery and Resolution

Review three recent user complaints, check how fast and how clearly your team responded.

Update a customer email template, make it sound personal, empathetic, and ownership-driven.

Create a short escalation checklist, speed up handovers when issues grow urgent.

Admit a recent mistake publicly with users, show transparency and credibility.

Add an apology step to your automated support flow, humanize even automated replies.

Categorize recurring complaints by cause, not just topic.

CRM Systems

Update a CRM record today with missing key details, latest contact, preferences, or buying stage.

Set a daily reminder to log every meaningful founder–customer interaction in your CRM.

Create a saved view of top 10 active prospects or accounts in your CRM.

Add a CRM field to capture notes on loyalty risks or key success cues.

Review CRM tags, merge or delete duplicates for clarity.

Clean your last 10 CRM entries, make them clear and current.

Regulatory Compliance

Identify one regulation affecting your startup and skim the latest update or guidance on it.

Review a compliance checklist, add one note that makes it more useful for your startup.

Tag one contract for compliance clauses, know which need careful monitoring.

Set a calendar alert to review compliance documents once a month.

Bookmark your regulator’s website, check monthly for sector updates.

Confirm your project meets one key disclosure or safety rule.

Contract Management

Review one contract, highlight renewal dates, penalties, or terms that could surprise you later.

Create a shared folder for contracts, store templates and signed copies in one place.

Ask legal or advisors for your latest contract templates, save them where you can access fast.

Identify the most common clause you negotiate, define your stance in advance.

Confirm who signs off contracts, document the process for clarity.

Set a reminder 30 days before key contracts renew.

Corporate Governance

Sketch your startup’s governance, note who makes which decisions and where accountability sits.

Check if your startup has a code of conduct, note if it feels relevant and updated.

Check if board notes or key decisions are stored in a visible, shareable place.

Read your startup’s ESG statement, note what applies to your operations.

Confirm which governance policies apply, conflicts, ethics, or disclosure.

Check if your governance leaves gaps in oversight.

Innovation and Product Development

Scan your roadmap, highlight one idea where innovation could deliver a faster traction win.

Read a short case study on pivots in your industry, note what drove the change.

Bookmark three sources on startup innovation, newsletters, blogs, or analysts.

Draft a backlog of unmet user needs, base it on feedback and support tickets.

Sketch a “wild idea” feature, free-think how it could disrupt your market.

Ask if your team uses lean canvas or design sprints, note next steps.

Research Methodologies

Review one founder decision, did you base it on data, customer input, or pure instinct?

Review an existing dataset, write down one surprising pattern or question you see.

Skim one research paper, note how the methodology could apply to your space.

List three research methods, exploratory, validation, and user testing, and note examples.

Use a free survey tool to gather quick user feedback this week.

Save one strong research insight that shifted direction.

Intellectual Property Management

Identify one startup asset worth protecting, code, design, brand, or content you’ve created.

Check if contracts mention IP ownership, make sure your startup’s rights are protected.

Learn the difference between copyright, trademark, and patent, write down the basics.

List three startup assets you’d protect if leaked, designs, code, customer data.

Ask a founder peer what IP protection they’ve used, note advice.

Check if your trademarks or IP symbols are updated and visible.

Supplier Relationship Management

List your top three suppliers, note how often you talk about growth, not just transactions.

Review one supplier agreement, highlight obligations that could affect your delivery promises.

Send a thank-you to one supplier, strengthen the relationship with simple recognition.

Identify one key supplier relationship, note the decision makers and their influence.

Add a quick “supplier check-in” to your calendar this month.

Ask suppliers if they can co-innovate or suggest improvements.

Logistics and Distribution

Sketch your delivery chain from supplier to customer, flag one weak or costly step today.

Review top three suppliers’ lead times, see if they align with customer expectations.

List all partners in your delivery chain, circle the most critical ones for your model.

Review your shipping process, check if SLAs are tracked and visible.

Review one late delivery, write down the upstream cause.

Draw a simple distribution flow, share with a peer for input.

Cost Management

Review your three biggest recurring costs, ask if they still fit your growth priorities now.

Identify one tool you pay for but barely use, decide to cancel or maximize it.

Spend 15 minutes scanning last month’s expenses, note any overlooked spend.

Check approval limits, see if they fit your spend size and risks.

Ask finance to share a breakdown of big cost categories.

Flag one manual process, see if you can automate it.

Data Analysis and Visualization

Replace one cluttered investor chart with a clear visual that shows the main growth signal.

Apply conditional formatting to your metrics sheet, spot trends or outliers quickly.

Add a headline and one key insight to every chart you’ll share with investors.

Convert one data table into a simple dashboard, make it pitch-ready.

Pick one KPI and track it daily in a simple chart.

Turn one table into a pie chart, share with investors or team.

Predictive Analytics

Pick one growth metric to forecast, gather historical data points you already track.

Use a simple FORECAST function to project one startup KPI.

Add a trendline to your sales data, see if it matches your growth story.

Note one predictive analytics case in startups, summarize how it worked.

Make a list of predictors that could drive your core KPI.

Run a quick correlation test on two relevant metrics.

Business Intelligence

Review your top three dashboards, check if they really answer the questions founders need.

Pick one BI report, review it weekly to catch trends or red flags early.

Add a one-line “insight highlight” to a BI report you already use.

Explore a BI tool feature you’ve never used, filters, alerts, or drill-downs.

Share one BI report with a mentor, ask if it’s understandable.

Set automated alerts for KPIs crossing thresholds.

Enterprise Risk Management

List your three biggest risks today, rank them by impact and probability in one sentence.

Review your risk register, note one gap or outdated section to update.

Schedule a 15-minute team risk review, focus on fresh risks that emerged this month.

Review last month’s risk incidents, list the root cause for each.

Review one control you own, note gaps and needed steps.

Bookmark one risk-management guide relevant to startups.

Crisis Management

Review your crisis playbook, note missing contacts, channels, or clear owner assignments.

Write down three likely crises, outline the first step you’d take in each.

Schedule a short crisis prep call, check readiness of channels and people.

Confirm emergency communication channels and backup systems.

Test one alert system with a short drill run.

List who must be contacted first in a crisis.

Regulatory Compliance 2

List three regulations that matter to your space, check the most recent guidance this week.

Review your compliance tracker, flag one improvement or update.

Subscribe to a compliance or regulation update list today.

Subscribe to a regulatory newsletter relevant to your startup niche.

Confirm all compliance training is complete for your team.

Review one project for compliance gaps today.

Product Lifecycle Management

List all current features, place each one in idea, growth, or maturity stage.

Review product performance data, compare with typical lifecycle expectations.

Map the main actors in each product lifecycle stage, note gaps in ownership.

Review your roadmap, flag where features hit growth or decline.

Flag one product at risk of decline, brainstorm renewal ideas.

Check lifecycle docs, are milestones and owners clear?

Market and User Research

Review customer feedback, identify three pain points that appear repeatedly.

Draft a three-question survey to test one assumption about your users.

Analyze competitor reviews, note themes customers praise or dislike.

Set up Google Alerts for your sector, track news and user trends.

Do a quick heuristic check of your product’s usability.

Gather five user personas, see how diverse your customers are.

Go-to-Market Strategy

Identify your target segments, list the core pain point for each one clearly.

Review your last launch plan, note one success and one thing to improve.

List your go-to sales and marketing channels for an upcoming launch.

Write a one-sentence value proposition for your core customer.

Analyze one competitor’s launch, what GTM tactic did they use?

Check if your pricing matches competitor value perception.

MASTER Risk Hub