Welcome to the FAST Program!

We’re excited to start this journey with you. You’ll learn useful skills and ideas to help your startup grow through fun workshops and teamwork.

In this session, we’ll set the stage for your startup journey, giving you a clear understanding of how the program works, what’s expected of you, and what you need to do to get started. This will ensure you’re fully prepared for the upcoming activities and workshops.

• SPRINT Consortium Overview
• Program Structure, Workshops, and Coaching
• Startup Founders Networking
• Grant Components and disbursement process
• Monthly reporting metrics and grant requirements by Adia
• Setting up bank details and team access on Lesgo platform

• Lesgo Platform Guide
• Reporting Metrics Overview
• Grant Components Checklist
• Reporting Process

Ideation is the cornerstone of every startup. It empowers you as a founder to identify genuine problems worth solving and validate your ideas before progressing, ensuring a strong foundation for your business.

Key presentations for understanding and applying the concepts:

• Finding Ideas
• Idea Valuation
• Design Thinking

Case studies and stories to give you rich context and deeper insights:

• The Birth of Design Thinking

You and your team will evaluate the resources, why they're important, and when to use them:

• Interview Guide
• Idea Validation Framework - Article and Online Tool

• Number of validated customer problems/ideas
• Insights gathered from customer interviews
• Early stage prototypes or sketches

Understanding your target customers is essential for developing products that meet their specific needs. This section helps you define your customer base and create a deep understanding of their preferences and behaviors.

• Customer Discovery
• Empathy Mapping
• Customer Persona

• Empathy Map Canvas - PDF
• Empathy Map Canvas - Miro: Online Tool
• Customer development by Steve Blank - PPT
• Persona Canvas - How to make better decisions

• Completed detailed customer personas
• Insights gathered from empathy maps

Understanding the broader market landscape is crucial for positioning your product effectively. This section focuses on analyzing market trends, potential, and competition.

• Value Proposition
• Market Potential Analysis (TAM, SAM, SOM)
• Competitive Landscape Evaluation

• Strategic Analysis Tools - PDF
• Market Research Tools and Databases

• Market research report with key insights
• TAM, SAM, SOM analysis with quantified market size
• Completed SWOT analysis for understanding competition

Value

Prototyping brings your ideas to life, enabling you to test assumptions before fully developing a product. This process helps you save time and resources while ensuring that your solution meets real customer needs.

• User Testing
• Building MVP
• Rapid Design
• Pivot & Discover

• Figma
• Adobe XD
• Lean Canvas
• User Testing Platforms
• Rapid Prototyping Tools

• MVP ready for user testing
• Number of user feedback cycles
• Product iterations made based on testing data

The founding team is vital to your startup's success. As founders, it's essential to align on your vision, leverage each other's skills, and clearly define roles to work cohesively and propel the startup forward.

• Importance of a complementary team
• Role clarity and responsibility distribution
• Founder resilience and navigating uncertainty
• Leadership and team dynamics

• Team Canvas
• Founder Alignment Framework
• Role Definition Tools
• Leadership Assessment Tools

• Defined roles and responsibilities among founders
• Founder alignment on mission and vision
• Team resilience plan for handling conflicts or challenges

Financial management is crucial for driving growth and scaling operations. It involves planning, organizing, directing, and controlling financial activities to ensure your startup is sustainable and profitable. As founders, it’s important to understand various funding options and investment strategies available, ensuring you secure the appropriate type of funding at the right stage of your startup journey.

• Types of funding (bootstrapping, venture capital, angel investors)
• Preparing a financial model and projections
• Crafting a compelling pitch for investors
• Building relationships with investors

• Financial Modeling Tools
• Pitch Deck Templates
• Investment Readiness Checklist
• Investor Databases

• Completed financial projections
• Investment-ready pitch deck
• Number of investor meetings or conversations initiated

Execution transforms ideas into tangible results. For founders, this means effectively scaling your business, acquiring customers, and managing growth to ensure long-term success.

• Designing and refining a business model
• Creating a go-to-market strategy
• Managing sales funnels and customer acquisition
• Scaling operations while maintaining quality

• Business Model Canvas
• Go-To-Market Plan Templates
• CRM Tools
• Sales Funnel Management Tools

• Clear and actionable go-to-market plan
• Defined customer acquisition strategy
• Initial sales and customer traction