Startup SchoolPosted on April 14, 2008
At Montreal Start Up we are happy to sit down with anyone who is thinking of launching a tech business out of Montreal, whether they are looking for funding or not.
Most of the entrepreneurs who come to us are first timers who have an idea or sometimes, a beta product, but are still a long way off from having a fundable business. Accordingly, most of our initial meetings are spent discussing the idea and providing feedback to the entrepreneur. All too often however, a lot of that time is spent discussing really basic stuff. As more and more demands are being placed on our time, it is becoming clear that this approach just won’t scale. We still want to meet with entrepreneurs, but we want that time to be used more effectively.
What I think the local scene needs is its own Startup School, running once or twice a year, to cover the basics. Yes, there is a ton of material in any library or online, but as the old saying goes, “You don’t know what you don’t know!” With experienced entrepreneurs and investors drawing up the curriculum, aspiring founders will at least know what bases they need to cover.
So what do you think? Is this an idea worth pursuing? And if so, do you have any thoughts on the format or curriculum?
13 Comments
Sharing startup knowledge and project feedback by the MSU team makes for a great curriculum!
Looking forward to a sign up page.
I like the idea of a Startup School. You are so right: “You don’t know what you don’t know”, so I’d participate with pleasure!
Super idea. I’d be happy to help also.
I hate to sound pessimistic, but unless you have high profile speakers like Y Combinator’s Startup School to share their stories, there’s little value to it, in my opinion. Startup School is more about success/horror stories, not really Business 101.
Sign me up to teach the “10 things you wished your CTO had told you” for CEOs class, or the “how to understand your non geeky co-founder” for CTOs working in their first startup…
I would certainly go. I was planning to attend the next one by Ycombinator this fall. We are not looking for money, but we could use all the info we can get.
This sounds like a great idea, definitely something I would partake in.
If you need any help organizing such an event, please let me know.
Cheers!
Sounds great, when is the first one?
@Fred: thanks for the offer. Rest assured that I’m going to call you on it
I think this is an excellent idea.
Certainly a great idea worth developing. I know some universities offer programs with a similar objective. I completed the Minor in Technological Entrepreneurship offered to engineering students at McGill and ETS has an incubator (Centech). I don’t know about Polytechnique but I’m pretty sure they have something as well.
Maybe an MSU Startup School could be a second step for students out of these programs?
A great idea - I actually just returned to Vancouver from living Silicon Valley, and I attended both Y Combinator’s Startup School and Guy Kawasaki’s “Art of the Start”.
Would you be interested in joining forces with Bootup Labs to create the curriculum for such a program up here?
I’d love to do this.
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[...] you are an entrepreneur, I am sure you have seen it. Daniel from montrealstartup is wondering about having a startup school in the city, which would cover the basics of a startup: What I think the local scene needs is its own Startup [...]