This course delves into the exciting world of building product-driven companies with AI as the core technology. Through lectures, discussions, pre-read study materials students will explore the entire product lifecycle, from ideation and market validation to product development, marketing, and scaling. With guidance from our faculty and insights from our network of start-up founders, product leaders, and financiers, students will develop an entrepreneurial mindset and hone the skills they need to build a new venture with potential for growth and funding.
Topics Covered
Part I: Identifying and Developing the Opportunity
Lecture 1: Introduction to AI-First Products
Lecture 2: Market Validation and Opportunity Assessment
Lecture 3: Identifying and Validating Product Ideas
Part II: Building the Product and Company
Lecture 4: Developing the Product
Part III: Growing the Business
Lecture 5: Monetization and Go-To-Market
Lecture 6: Selling and Growing Market Share
Part IV: Financing
Lecture 7: Fundraising I – Founder Considerations
Lecture 8: Fundraising II – Investor Considerations
Part V: Scaling Considerations
Lecture 9: Scaling & Exits
Lecture 10: Responsible AI, Legal and Regulatory Considerations
Lecture 11 (Bonus): Lessons Learned in Building Startups
Part VI: Capstone Project
Profile of the Instructor
Mr Lakshmi Shankar is the former VP of Product Strategy for Google Search and was part of the Google wide AI task force responsible for the response efforts to OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Microsoft’s New Bing, and was the Product lead for the launch of Search Generative Experience, Google first AI offering at I/O 2023. Lakshmi is an engineer and product leader with 20+ years of experience in the technology/ consumer-internet space and has patents, developed products, scaled diverse teams, and built businesses that have created a global impact. He is a graduate of Software Engineering from Imperial College London and a Sloan Fellow from Stanford Graduate School of Business. Lakshmi is passionate about disruptive technologies that have a positive impact on society, and is also a speaker, lecturer, and an investor in this space.
