For educators and programme leads

Learning design

The Venture Game is a simulation in book form. The reader plays an Entrepreneur in Residence and makes the decisions a founder actually has to make — under pressure, with incomplete information, and without the luxury of hindsight.

That design is deliberate. Ventures rarely fail for lack of intelligence or ambition; they fail because judgment is exercised badly at moments that only look decisive in retrospect. A branching narrative lets a reader make those calls, live with the consequences, and compare their route with someone else's. This page sets out what each chapter trains and the research it rests on.

A venture builder working through a decision map
From the book — every route is a decision someone has to make

Chapter by chapter

Seven chapters and an epilogue, 79 sections, three possible endings.

Chapter 1 · Sections 1.1–1.10

Into the Unknown — Your Leap of Faith

In the storyThe reader weighs a secure job against the leap, drowns in tabs about accelerators, incubators and venture studios, and takes advice from people who all mean well.
What it trainsDeciding under uncertainty without a complete basis, choosing the right vehicle to build in, and judging whose advice is worth following.
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Chapter 2 · Sections 2.1–2.17

Defining the Problem

In the storyOnboarding as an Entrepreneur in Residence, field validation, the conference hustle — and the Problem-Fit review, where the problem statement either holds or it does not.
What it trainsSeparating an idea from the problem underneath it, writing testable problem statements, and gathering evidence in the field rather than from a screen.
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Chapter 3 · Sections 3.1–3.11

Bringing Ideas to Life

In the storyAn epiphany in Rome, a round called Build or Bluff, and a QR code that reveals whether anyone clicks at all.
What it trainsTesting assumptions early, running fake-door experiments, and putting learning speed ahead of execution quality.
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Chapter 4 · Sections 4.1–4.7

The Co-founder Maze

In the storyFive possible co-founders — Sam, Dan, Rachel, Liam and Sonia — and not one of them is the obvious choice.
What it trainsAssessing founder fit beyond technical skill, and seeing how trust, incentives and role clarity shape where a venture ends up.
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Chapter 5 · Sections 5.1–5.8

From Spark to Structure

In the storyHow Might We, reverse brainstorming, first principles, the post-it duel — and then the harder question of KPIs and vision.
What it trainsHands-on use of ideation frameworks, and a sense of which model suits which kind of problem.
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Chapter 6 · Sections 6.1–6.17

Preparing for the Perfect Pitch

In the storyFrom design choices and proof in motion to the hunt for a champion, lines of alliance, the borderline case, and the budget.
What it trainsSituational awareness of how power, incentives and informal networks decide things inside an organisation — and how to build a business case that survives them.
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Chapter 7 · Sections 7.1–7.8

The Final Hurdle

In the storyThe night before, the war room, three rooms with three very different investors — and finally pitch to pivot or pitch to win.
What it trainsUnderstanding what investors actually weigh, building a narrative that matches their decision logic, and treating the Q&A as a discipline of its own.
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An interactive training universe

The book is the spine of a four-module programme. Each module runs as a two-hour interactive session where participants make the calls, compare the routes they took, and debrief against the research. For executive education the four compress into a single day.

Module 1

Problem extraction and strategic synthesis

From a vague brief to a problem statement that survives a review.

Module 2

Solution ideation and customer traction

Generating options, then proving someone wants one before it gets built.

Module 3

Team setup and pitch preparation

Assembling the team, and building the case the decision will hinge on.

Module 4

Pitch it to win it

The room, the questions, and the decision you have to live with.

Ask about The Venture Game executive training programme

Further reading

Work that did not fit inside a chapter block but is worth following up.

For courses and programmes

Bulk orders for teams, programmes and universities, and the training programme built around the book.

Get in touch Buy the book