1 min lesson
Take-home: cost-attribution model
Explain the practical point behind "Set a 4-hour timer and open a blank spreadsheet."
Step 1 of 3
Set a 4-hour timer and open a blank spreadsheet. The prompt: attribute Cursor's inference spend across features, then recommend where to cut 15% of COGS without wrecking the product. This is the round the whole loop is built around. The posting behind this track asked for someone who can build the model and read the dashboard themselves rather than summarize someone else's.
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Full explanation
The Cursor TPM Loop at a Glance
Interactive diagram. Step through it with the Next and Previous controls below, or Tab to a region to read its detail.
This capstone simulates the four hardest middle stages: take-home, systems, execution and values. Step through to see what each one is actually grading. Stages and timings are a modeled senior-TPM loop built from the archived Infrastructure TPM posting, not Cursor's published process. Confirm your real loop with the recruiter.
The deliverable is two artifacts that travel together: a cost model with every assumption visible and a one-page recommendation a founder could act on without a follow-up call. The model proves you can do the math. The page proves you can make a call.