CLZKS-ELSF: Entrepreneurial Lessons From A Startup Founder

Upon completing the workshop, participant will be able to:

• Understand the differences between market types and how they affect startup strategy.
• Learn about the business model canvas and how it can be used to organize business model hypothesis.
• Understand the importance of a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and its’ role in validating customer problems.
• Discover how sales strategies and marketing collateral are integral to test-selling.
• Navigate the investment funding process, from nailing an elevator pitch to closing a funding round.

• No prerequisites

• New hires or existing employees who are assigned to lead or manage a new business operations segment or pursue any entrepreneurial venture.

• Conduct primary and secondary research to estimate a company’s TAM, SAM and SOM.
• Apply Porter’s 5 Forces, PESTEL and VRIO analysis to evaluate market opportunities and identify the Unique Selling Point of the business.
• Create hypothesis and validate their value propositions through a Minimum Viable Product (MVP).
• Develop strategies to prepare for, and execute test-selling.
• Create and present their business model using an elevator pitch and a pitch deck.
• Use a capitalisation table to calculate the number of shares that investors purchase based on pre- and post-money valuations.
• Match suitable investor profiles for different stages of the startup.
• Distinguish between favourable and non-favourable key clauses in a term sheet.

Module 1:    Discovering a Business Model

• Explore how startup entrepreneurs use the customer discovery process to build and refine their business models using a business model canvas, from assessing market opportunities to developing an Minimum Viable Product (MVP). Participants will also learn how startup entrepreneurs validate their problem and proposed solution, and use that information to pivot or proceed.

Module 2:    Test-Selling

• Participants will learn to create customer profiles and different sales roadmap to understand their sales environment. After that, they will be exposed to the 4Ps of marketing and learn to measure customer demand by developing, testing and optimizing a sales strategy. Finally, they will learn how to evaluate market traction and use the figures to develop a financial plan to determine whether a business should proceed or pivot after test-selling.

Module 3:    Fundraising with a Winning Pitch

• In this module, participants will discover the different types and roles of investors such as angel investors, crowdfunding, and venture capitalists at different life cycle of the startup. They will learn what kind of businesses are most likely to receive investments and the key factors which drives the decision-making process of investors such as the fund utilisation and desired exit strategy. They will learn how to source and create supplementary materials to support both their elevator pitch and main pitch deck.

Module 4:    Valuation and Term Sheets

• Participants will learn how investors generally evaluate the valuation of early-stage startups and the differences between pre-money and post-money valuation. They will learn how to build a capitalisation table and analyze an offer’s economic terms will affect founder equity and future payouts. They will learn to interpret the key clauses of a term sheet, recognize which control terms are likely to be negotiable, and negotiate them to retain as much control as possible.