Tired of all the ineffective innovation training programs and magical thinking methodologies? So were we!
In 2022 we designed our online first program to cut the crap about training tech entrepreneurs giving them all the critical tools without the fluff. Since then, we expanded to institutions and corporate...
After +15 years of training entrepreneurs and C-level executives on how to get innovation done, in 2022, we designed and built our first full-on online training program for startups entering the initial phase of their project. The idea was to remove all unnecessary concepts and ineffective tools out of the way.
Since then, we have developed more programs with the same philosophy to help institutions make sense of the digital economy or corporations reboot their understanding of innovation tools.
Here's more detail about our philosophy and how we designed our Startup Program for maximum impact:
Startup Piloting 101
We take care of the Startup 101 training part so that you can focus on delivering personalized expertise to your tech entrepreneurs.
What are we offering?
A 3-week online training boot camp for B2B startups getting into an incubation program.
The training program is all about what new tech entrepreneurs must digest as soon as possible, which clashes with their typical business experience or academic education.
Startupping is a contact sport, not 3D chess.
What we focus on:
- Debunking entrepreneurial myths and removing all of innovation traps from day one.
- Simple and effective frameworks to drive through complex decision-making.
- Getting innovations in the market, not dreaming about it.
What we don’t care about:
- Big theories, buzzwords, and trendy tools that are ineffective.
- Training entrepreneurs to win pitch competitions.
- Teams that end up just building tech in their garage.
Who is it For?
Incubation programs that want to get beyond the startup learning curve ASAP and get things done!
We have two customers: you and your startups →
- Tech entrepreneurs who launch a startup and wildly overestimate the time they have to make the project stick and get their first sales.
- Incubation programs and tech clusters who want to focus their resources on real coaching and mentoring, not going through the same initial months of entrepreneurial acculturation.
Why online?
Short answer? It's not 2005 anymore!
- To catch up with the culture of tech entrepreneurs and the way they work, think, and process information.
- To extend your influence zone and attract projects outside your usual geographical perimeter.
- To manage an ongoing deal flow of startups that don’t fit neatly into a seasonal batch of applicants.
- To focus your resources and budgets on what matters, and stop wasting time on training that always revolves around the same core principles.
What’s the problem with startups?
Very few startups fail because of complex issues. Year after year, the same issues seem pretty obvious to everyone but never to the entrepreneurs themselves.
So yes, we all know the same core truth: the top priority for tech entrepreneurs is not coding or pitching business plans but getting to the market ASAP. And we know that the first weeks of incubation matter the most. When entrepreneurs can understand and apply the right culture and principles from the get-go, they can easily save six months of painful trials and errors before they finally get their mojo.
However, the Startup 101 trainings are often all over the place and are not very actionable. Everyone is an expert on something they feel is key for the startup and wants to “educate” the teams. Where do we start? Business planning? IP? Growth hacking? Design thinking? It’s a mess.
Not to mention that very few of the so-called experts have any hands-on experience with what a startup is.
As for us, working with hundreds of startups since 2007, we’ve learned the hard way what is key and what is not. Founders don’t need an MBA. They need to cut everything to the bone and focus on the tools and mindset that (a) will get them to the market within six months and (b) will be a scalable foundation moving forward.
How is the training designed?
It's all about reverse pedagogy mode.
Entrepreneurs get a step-by-step guide on each topic, and then they get challenged and directed to apply this to their projects. Each module connects to the other, and before they know it, they get to understand the priorities, how to deal with them, and have a clear 360° vision of their project. Along the way, they get on the same page as your own incubation team, and you don’t waste time digging deeper into the real complex issues on a case-by-case basis.
The program itself is organized in 3 main chapters:
- Design a business model around a product that doesn’t exist yet.
- Grow a scalable culture with a project that might pivot a few times.
- Market and sell an innovation that the market might not yet fully understand.
Each chapter is subdivided into 6 video modules of about 30 min.
Each module introduces a simple and effective tool to move forward while a key principle is laid out (how to get a first price point for your innovation, give clear guiding principles for your team, connect your marketing to your roadmap, etc.).
A quick quiz or formal check is proposed at every step to ensure that participants are on track. At the program's conclusion, each participant will have built a full strategic and operational framework for their startup project. This framework will lead to personal coaching by the incubation team following the project (or us if your hands are full and you want us to help beyond the training).
Each year, when you open the training for the first time, we’ll spend time with your teams to get in sync and ensure they understand what we’re doing with the startups (and what we won’t). This is usually a breeze.