MSc: Unit-economics For IT startups
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Unit-economics for IT startups: metrics-based decision making
- Course name: Unit-economics for IT startups: metrics-based decision making
- Code discipline:
- Subject area:
Short Description
This course covers the following concepts: Product metrics; Data-driven decision making; Unit economics and cohorts analysis; Metrics collection automation tools; Product’s backlog planning.
Prerequisites
Prerequisite subjects
Prerequisite topics
Course Topics
| Section | Topics within the section |
|---|---|
| Metrics, unit economics, cohort analysis |
|
| Metrics collection automation tools |
|
| Hypotheses, management reports and forecasting |
|
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
What is the main purpose of this course?
The main purpose of this course is to teach students to collect the product data, analyze it and make metrics-based decisions. Students will learn the tools for gathering and analyzing data and get the practice of applying this knowledge in simulated practical classes as well as in their research projects.
ILOs defined at three levels
Level 1: What concepts should a student know/remember/explain?
By the end of the course, the students should be able to ...
- Metrics and indicators required to assess the effectiveness of a product;
- Tools for collecting and analyzing product metrics and indicators;
- Decision making methods based on the analysis of a product metrics and indicators;
Level 2: What basic practical skills should a student be able to perform?
By the end of the course, the students should be able to ...
- Ability to measure and manage economic efficiency of a business;
- Creating data acquisition models for analyzing products metrics;
- Calculating unit economics;
- Ability to use a cohort analysis of user behavior;
- Ability to specify key and secondary indicators for the business and work with them in dynamics;
- Ability to make metric-based decisions;
Level 3: What complex comprehensive skills should a student be able to apply in real-life scenarios?
By the end of the course, the students should be able to ...
- Calculating and analyzing product metrics;
- Identifying growth drivers - levers of influence over the product economic success of the product;
- Defining a business unit for calculating indicators and a sales funnel;
- Researching the client's traffic funnel, identifying weak points in it and the ways to eliminate them;
- Identifying business bottlenecks based on key product metrics;
- Presenting the results of business research;
Grading
Course grading range
| Grade | Range | Description of performance |
|---|---|---|
| A. Excellent | 85-100 | - |
| B. Good | 75-85 | - |
| C. Satisfactory | 60-74 | - |
| D. Poor | 0-59 | - |
Course activities and grading breakdown
| Activity Type | Percentage of the overall course grade |
|---|---|
| Weekly student reports | 20 |
| Lab №1 | 10 |
| Team brainstorm | 20 |
| Lab №2 | 20 |
| Final presentation | 30 |
Recommendations for students on how to succeed in the course
Resources, literature and reference materials
Open access resources
- Textbook: McClure D. Startup metrics for pirates. Slideshare. net. 2007 Aug.
- Textbook:Maurya A. Scaling lean: Mastering the key metrics for startup growth. Penguin; 2016 Jun 14.
- Textbook: Croll A, Yoskovitz B. Lean analytics: Use data to build a better startup faster. " O'Reilly Media, Inc."; 2013 Apr 15.
- Textbook: Бланк Стив Стартап: Настольная книга основателя / Бланк Стив, Дорф Боб. — Москва : Альпина Паблишер, 2019. — 623 c. — ISBN 978-5-9614-1983-2. — Текст : электронный // Электронно-библиотечная система IPR BOOKS : [сайт]. — URL: http://www.iprbookshop.ru/82518.html (дата обращения: 01.07.2021). — Режим доступа: для авторизир. Пользователей
- Textbook: Masters B, Thiel P. Zero to one: notes on start ups, or how to build the future. Random House; 2014 Sep 18.
Closed access resources
Software and tools used within the course
Teaching Methodology: Methods, techniques, & activities
Activities and Teaching Methods
| Learning Activities | Section 1 | Section 2 | Section 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homework and group projects | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Discussions | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Formative Assessment and Course Activities
Ongoing performance assessment
Section 1
| Activity Type | Content | Is Graded? |
|---|---|---|
| Question | Unit economics - what it is and how to calculate it; | 1 |
| Question | Basic metrics - CAC/ARPU/ARPPU/LTV; | 1 |
| Question | Single customer economy, AARRR model; | 1 |
| Question | ROI/ROMI; | 1 |
| Question | Cohorts and cohorts analysis; | 1 |
| Question | Unit economics - what it is and how to calculate it; | 0 |
| Question | Basic metrics - CAC/ARPU/ARPPU/LTV; | 0 |
| Question | Single customer economy, AARRR model; | 0 |
| Question | ROI/ROMI; | 0 |
| Question | Cohorts and cohorts analysis; | 0 |
Section 2
| Activity Type | Content | Is Graded? |
|---|---|---|
| Question | Select an appropriate methodology and data collection method for product analytics of the research project or simulated product; | 1 |
| Question | Automatic services for collecting product metrics (online analytics tools Google and Yandex); | 0 |
| Question | Manual data collection techniques (Python, Google dashboards, power BI/Tableau); | 0 |
Section 3
| Activity Type | Content | Is Graded? |
|---|---|---|
| Question | Forecast the product evolution and identify growth drivers; | 1 |
| Question | Make a few hypotheses for the product improvement, fix the changes in the forecasting of product metrics. | 1 |
| Question | Behavioral cohorts; | 0 |
| Question | DAU/MAU, stickyness; | 0 |
| Question | North star metric - how to work with it? | 0 |
| Question | Forecasting; | 0 |
| Question | Budgeting; | 0 |
| Question | Product planning and prioritizing; | 0 |
Final assessment
Section 1
- What type of metrics does exist? Which of them are the most important and why?
- How to calculate marketing cost effectiveness in the product metrics analysis?
- What is the main idea of the cohorts? When it is needed to make cohort analysis?
- Calculation of the unite economics for the student's choice product;
Section 2
- Describe the analytic model of the data collection method for product analytics of the research project or simulated product;
- Which data should be collected and for which metrics are going to be used?
Section 3
- Prepare the proposals and a rationale for a list of proposed product solutions in order of priority that are recommended for implementation.
The retake exam
Section 1
Section 2
Section 3