In entrepreneurship, a great idea is only the beginning. What separates successful ventures from the rest is how ideas are shaped into scalable, resilient businesses. That was the focus of the first session of the 2025 Fall Founder Fundamentals, led by Jasmeet Singh, VC and founder of JMOON. With over a decade of experience building companies, Jasmeet brought a practical lens to innovation. He combined his investor perspective with hands-on startup experience to show how the Business Model Canvas can become a founder’s most powerful tool.
Beyond the Idea: Why and Who Matter Most
Every business starts with identifying a problem and daring to solve it. But before refining products or drafting financial projections, founders must answer two critical questions:
- Why are you building this business? A strong “why” becomes the fuel that sustains founders through inevitable hurdles.
- Who are you building it for? Without clarity on the target customers and their needs, even the best ideas risk falling flat.
This emphasis on founder–market fit goes beyond passion. Jasmeet explained that alignment between the founder’s motivation and the chosen market creates the resilience needed to navigate challenges.
Traditional vs. Innovative Models
Drawing from real-world examples, Jasmeet compared traditional business models (like bakeries or car washes) with innovative ones. Traditional models are stable, tried, and easier to finance, but they leave little room for differentiation. Innovative models, however, thrive on risk-taking, lean teams, and community engagement.
He highlighted strategies such as building in public and leveraging online communities to gather early adopters without heavy costs
The Power of the Business Model Canvas
While traditional business plans can stretch to 40–60 pages, Jasmeet argued that the canvas—a one-page framework—offers flexibility and speed. It allows founders to map out:
- How you will build
- How customers will find you
- What they will pay
- How you will deliver
- Unlike rigid business plans, the canvas can be updated quickly as new experiments and customer insights emerge. “Experiments are better than assumptions,” Jasmeet mentions, urging founders to test hypotheses early rather than relying on guesswork.
From Concept to Market Fit
There is a iterative journey every founder faces:
- Proof of Concept: Early sketches, mockups, or basic models to test if people even care about the idea.
- Prototype: Improved versions tested beyond close networks to gather unbiased feedback.
- Minimum Viable Product (MVP): A lean product that solves the customer’s core problem, even if it lacks bells and whistles.
Reaching product–market fit—where customers consistently buy, use, and recommend the product—is the milestone that validates a venture’s growth potential
About Founder Fundamentals
Founder Fundamentals is a 12-week workshop series hosted by YSpace and Black Enterprenurship Alliance and powered by City of Markham designed to equip you with essential entrepreneurial skills. Attend 9+ workshops to earn a Certificate of Completion and take the first step toward entrepreneurial success!
About the Speaker
Jasmeet Singh was a Serial Entrepreneur and ecosystem builder for the last 10 years in everything related to Hardware and AI, Jasmeet has coached over 200 founders in 13 countries globally with their businesses and technology in the last 3 years. Known by BeardedMaker on social media, he also helps startups get funding from investors in his network.