Notes & cheat sheets
Course notes and revision sheets, written to pass on what I learn, simply.
Porter's Five Forces: the grid that shows where the margin goes
A market can grow fast and leave margin for no one. Porter's model exists to show where an industry's profitability is decided, and who captures it.
Startup without the myth: lessons from a founder acquired by Apple
Notes from a no-filter talk by Giuliano Iacobelli, a founder whose startup ended up acquired by Apple: the myth versus reality, build less, always be selling, and raising funds as a full-time job.
The PRD: the document that decides whether your hardware project drifts
The PRD is the contract between the need and engineering. A requirement you can't test is a requirement you'll argue over during validation. How to write one that holds.
Manufacturing in China or Europe: the trade-off we always miss
A 20% cheaper subcontractor in Shenzhen can end up costing you more overall. The China/Europe trade-off is not about comparing prices in a spreadsheet, but about control, intellectual property, and volume.
The big rules of project management, seen by a PM
A project rarely goes off track all at once, it slips: a vague deliverable, an untreated risk, a skipped review. The rules that make a project predictable.
Reshoring electronics production: the real math
The Made in France versus Asia debate is not decided by hourly cost, but by the ability to qualify an industrial base and to automate. What relocalization really requires.
Repairability and CE marking: it's decided at design, not at the end of the project
Discovering during pre-certification that a product does not pass the EMC, means going back to routing. The repairability index is decided when choosing screws and connectors. Compliance is an architectural choice.
A working prototype is 10% of the journey
In hardware, failure rarely occurs in the proof of concept. It occurs when transitioning from prototype to series: EVT, DVT, PVT, and the documentation that makes production reproducible.
The fundamentals of agility: manifesto, principles, Kanban
A revision sheet on the basics of agility: the 2001 Manifesto, its 4 values and 12 principles, the difference between framework and method, and the Kanban board.
Understanding Scrum: roles, artifacts, events
A revision sheet on Scrum: where the word comes from, self-managed teams, sprints and MVP, risk management, roles, artifacts, the five events and planning poker.
Design Thinking: from research to ideation
A revision sheet on Design Thinking: the divergence/convergence rhythm, research techniques, synthesis tools, ideation, and how to connect it to Lean Startup and agility.