You work near business decisions
Understand the vocabulary behind pricing, margin, customers, and cash.
Course library
See what you will learn
Understand the business underneath the work.
A daily course for operators and founders who want better business vocabulary and decision judgment without the MBA detour.
Download Cadence free from the App Store, or request free Android testing access.
30 short lessons. Day 1 is ready.
- Best for
- Founder & business
- Prerequisites
- No formal prerequisites
- Course length
- 30 daily lessons
- Lesson pace
- About 10 minutes a day
- Total learning time
- About 5 hours in total
- Access
- Available on the App Store, with early features and Android testing access
Right for now
If any of this sounds familiar, start here.
Every lesson connects to a conversation, decision, or habit you can change between lessons.
You are early in a founder path
Build judgment before the decisions get expensive.
You lead product or operations
Connect the work to value, economics, and operating constraints.
You want practical fluency
Learn concepts through decisions, not definitions alone.
Inside the course
Your first three days are already mapped.
The course follows a daily sequence, so the next practical move is waiting when you come back.
Customer value
Know what outcome the business promises.
Pricing judgment
Connect alternatives, willingness to pay, and packaging.
Money basics
Read margin, cash timing, and runway with less confusion.
Operating rhythm
Use metrics and reviews to steer the work.
Course preview
30 short lessons
Business Fundamentals for Founders
Day 1
Know What a Business Actually Sells
Identify the customer, the problem, and the value exchange in one idea.
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Day 2
Find Pain Worth Building a Company On
Spot which customer pains are serious enough to deserve a company.
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Day 3
Tell the Buyer From the User
Separate the buyer, user, and influencer in a startup scenario.
Course arc
From vague intention to repeatable moves.
Cadence turns the course into a returnable habit: short lesson, quick check, review, and the next useful step.
01 / 04Start with value
Know what the customer pays to change.
Understand demand
Read pain, alternatives, and buying behavior.
Read the economics
Connect price, cost, and cash.
Operate the system
Use rhythm and metrics to improve decisions.
Full syllabus
30 lessons, arranged as one clear path.
Build practical business literacy across customers, positioning, revenue, margins, cash, distribution, retention, operations, and funding. By the end, you can pressure-test how a startup wins customers, delivers value, and stays alive long enough to learn.
Module 01
Startup Value Basics
Define customers, pain, and value so the company idea has a clear economic purpose.
- Day 1 Know What a Business Actually Sells
- Day 2 Find Pain Worth Building a Company On
- Day 3 Tell the Buyer From the User
- Day 4 Write a Promise Customers Get Instantly
- Day 5 Sketch How the Idea Makes Money
Module 02
Market and Positioning
Identify target segments, competitors, and a defensible position for an early startup.
- Day 6 Size the Opportunity Honestly
- Day 7 Test Whether the Problem Is Real
- Day 8 Map Who You're Really Up Against
- Day 9 Pick a Wedge That's Easy to Grasp
- Day 10 Checkpoint: Is Your Market Map Coherent?
Module 03
Revenue and Unit Economics
Work through pricing, costs, margin, and break-even math for a simple business model.
- Day 11 Price to the Value You Create
- Day 12 Find the Costs That Decide Profit
- Day 13 Do the Unit Economics Math
- Day 14 Find Your Break-Even and Runway
- Day 15 Checkpoint: Do the Numbers Hold?
Module 04
Go to Market and Retain Customers
Connect distribution, sales, activation, retention, and delivery to the economics of the business.
- Day 16 Get the Product to Customers Reliably
- Day 17 Choose a Path to Customers
- Day 18 Map the Sales Funnel
- Day 19 Read Retention Before Growth
- Day 20 Build a Driver Tree
Module 05
Cash, Operations, and Funding
Connect financial statements, cash timing, operating bottlenecks, financing, dilution, and risk to founder decisions.
- Day 21 Read the Three Financial Statements
- Day 22 Follow Cash Through the Business
- Day 23 Fix the Operating Bottleneck
- Day 24 Compare Funding and Dilution
- Day 25 Map Legal, Governance, and Operating Risk
Module 06
Integrated Founder Decisions
Stress-test how market, go-to-market, economics, operations, cash, and risk fit together.
- Day 26 Trace One Business End to End
- Day 27 Stress-Test Go-to-Market Economics
- Day 28 Run a Cash and Capacity Stress Test
- Day 29 Draft the Founder Fundamentals Brief
- Day 30 Choose the Next Business Test
How learning works
Read, listen, check your understanding, then keep going.
Short daily lessons
Each lesson is designed around about 10 minutes of focused learning.
Reading and audio
Read the lesson or play its audio when listening fits your day better.
Checks when useful
Lessons can use quizzes, written responses, or guided practice. A lesson can also teach without adding a forced exercise.
Progress and support
Track completed lessons, keep a streak, set reminders, and ask the in-lesson coach for help.
Know the limits. Cadence supports guided self-learning. It does not award an accredited degree or professional certificate, and important AI-generated claims should be checked against reliable sources.
Free to read first
Guides on the same skill.
No sign-up needed.
Course questions
What to know before you start.
Who is Business Fundamentals for Founders for?
Every lesson connects to a conversation, decision, or habit you can change between lessons. It is listed in the founder & business part of the Cadence course library.
Do I need any prior experience?
No formal prerequisites are required. The course is designed for guided self-learning, and it is most useful when you bring a real situation or goal to the lessons.
How long does the course take?
Business Fundamentals for Founders contains 30 lessons designed around 10 minutes each. You open lessons in sequence and can move at your own pace.
What is the learning format?
Lessons can be read or played as audio. The course includes quizzes or practical checks where the lesson calls for them, plus progress tracking and Ask Coach inside lessons.
Does this course award a certificate or degree?
No. Cadence is for practical self-learning and does not award accredited degrees or professional certification.
Start today
Day 1: Know What a Business Actually Sells
Get access and choose Business Fundamentals for Founders. Your first practical move is ready when you open the app.
Download Cadence free from the App Store, or request free Android testing access.