THE 16-WEEK JOURNEY
16 weeks. 16 modules. One venture.
Each module moves your venture through a different founder decision—from problem selection and customers to MVP, market, finance and Demo Day.
Programme phases
- Professional communication and email discipline
- Research discipline and evidence standards
- Founder wellbeing and reflection
- Responsible AI use across modules
Phase 1 of 4: Discover
Discover
Find a problem worth solving and evidence that matters.
01
Founder Mindset & Problem Selection
Move from assumptions to a clearly defined, worthwhile problem and develop the habits needed to test it honestly.
- Founder question
- What problem is worth your time — and how will you test that honestly?
- What you do
- Frame assumptions, choose a problem space and define what evidence would change your mind.
- Artefact or evidence
- Founder thesis and problem statement
- Learning outcome
- Frame problems with evidence, challenge assumptions, and adopt a learning-first founder mindset.
- Assessment focus
- Problem framing, assumptions, evidence, learning mindset
02
Customer Discovery
Identify real users, conduct useful interviews and turn observations into customer insights.
- Founder question
- Who experiences this problem and how do you learn from them without leading the witness?
- What you do
- Plan and run customer conversations; capture pains, behaviours and quotes.
- Artefact or evidence
- Customer interview evidence
- Learning outcome
- Design customer interviews and translate observations into actionable insights.
- Assessment focus
- Interview design, non-leading questions, pain points, evidence
03
Idea Validation
Test the riskiest assumptions with structured experiments before committing to build.
- Founder question
- What is the smallest test that proves or disproves your core assumption?
- What you do
- Design validation experiments, gather structured evidence and decide go, modify or pivot.
- Artefact or evidence
- Validation report and go/modify/pivot decision
- Learning outcome
- Design validation experiments and make evidence-based go, modify or pivot decisions.
- Assessment focus
- Hypothesis design, experiment quality, evidence interpretation, pivot logic
04
Business Model & Value Proposition
Articulate who you serve, the value you create and how the venture might sustain itself.
- Founder question
- Who is this for, why you, and how might it create value?
- What you do
- Define positioning, differentiation and a testable business model canvas.
- Artefact or evidence
- Business model and value proposition
- Learning outcome
- Define a clear value proposition and testable business model for an initial segment.
- Assessment focus
- Value proposition clarity, customer segment, revenue logic, differentiation
Design and build
Turn insight into something people can react to.
05
Market Research & Competition
Understand market size, alternatives, competitors and the segment most worth serving first.
- Founder question
- How big is the opportunity and who else serves this need?
- What you do
- Map alternatives, segment the market and choose where to start.
- Artefact or evidence
- Market and competitor map
- Learning outcome
- Segment markets and analyse competitors to choose a focused starting point.
- Assessment focus
- Segmentation, TAM/SAM/SOM concepts, competitor analysis
06
Wireframing & User Experience
Translate customer needs into a focused user journey and testable wireframe.
- Founder question
- How will someone experience your solution end to end?
- What you do
- Prioritise features, map user journeys and produce wireframes others can react to.
- Artefact or evidence
- User journey and wireframes
- Learning outcome
- Map user journeys and prioritise features into testable wireframes.
- Assessment focus
- User flow, prototyping, prioritisation, usability thinking
07
MVP & Prototyping
Build the smallest useful experiment that tests the riskiest assumption and produces learning.
- Founder question
- What is the smallest useful version you can put in front of users?
- What you do
- Build, ship and gather structured feedback on your proof of concept.
- Artefact or evidence
- MVP or structured proof of concept
- Learning outcome
- Scope an MVP that tests the riskiest assumption with measurable learning.
- Assessment focus
- MVP scope, experiment design, feedback and validation metrics
08
AI for Founders
Use AI responsibly to accelerate research, prototyping and iteration while maintaining founder judgment.
- Founder question
- How can responsible AI accelerate research, prototyping and iteration — without replacing judgment?
- What you do
- Apply AI tools with clear prompts, verification and documentation across build assignments.
- Artefact or evidence
- Responsible AI workflow
- Learning outcome
- Apply AI tools with verification, documentation and ethical boundaries in venture work.
- Assessment focus
- Prompt quality, verification, documentation, responsible use
Find the market
Reach people, learn from traction and keep them coming back.
09
Branding & Storytelling
Create a clear identity and position the venture so the right customer understands why it matters.
- Founder question
- Why should your ideal customer care — and remember you?
- What you do
- Define positioning, narrative and consistent brand signals.
- Artefact or evidence
- Brand positioning and founder story
- Learning outcome
- Define positioning and brand consistency for an ideal customer.
- Assessment focus
- Ideal customer, positioning, differentiation, brand consistency
10
Marketing & Customer Acquisition
Plan measurable campaigns using the right channel, message, audience and conversion goal.
- Founder question
- Which channel and message will you test first?
- What you do
- Plan and run a measurable acquisition experiment.
- Artefact or evidence
- Marketing experiment
- Learning outcome
- Plan channel-appropriate campaigns with clear objectives and measurement.
- Assessment focus
- Channel selection, campaign objectives, content, attribution
11
Sales & Negotiation
Choose practical routes to reach early customers and build a repeatable sales process.
- Founder question
- How will you qualify, convert and learn from early customers?
- What you do
- Build a simple sales motion with outreach, qualification and follow-up discipline.
- Artefact or evidence
- Sales process and early pipeline
- Learning outcome
- Design an early sales motion with outreach, qualification, and conversion steps.
- Assessment focus
- Outreach, qualification, conversion, negotiation basics
12
CRM, Retention & Referrals
Organise customer relationships, improve onboarding and design ethical referral loops.
- Founder question
- How will you onboard users and earn recommendations?
- What you do
- Structure lifecycle stages, retention habits and referral loops.
- Artefact or evidence
- CRM, retention and referral foundations
- Learning outcome
- Structure CRM stages and improve activation, retention, and lifecycle communication.
- Assessment focus
- CRM stages, activation, retention, churn, referral design
Become venture-ready
Finance, governance, funding narrative and Demo Day.
13
Startup Finance & Unit Economics
Build a basic model of revenue, costs, cash needs, runway and the assumptions driving the business.
- Founder question
- Do the numbers work — and what would break them?
- What you do
- Distinguish profit from cash, forecast runway and stress-test assumptions.
- Artefact or evidence
- Unit-economics and cash-flow model
- Learning outcome
- Distinguish P&L from cash flow and forecast runway with scenarios.
- Assessment focus
- P&L vs cash flow, forecasting, runway, unit economics
14
Legal Foundations & Intellectual Property
Recognise essential company, contract, founder, privacy and IP considerations and know when to seek expert advice.
- Founder question
- What legal and IP questions must you answer before you scale?
- What you do
- Identify entity, contract, privacy and IP steps; know when to seek counsel.
- Artefact or evidence
- Legal and IP readiness checklist
- Learning outcome
- Identify when to seek legal advice on entities, contracts, compliance, and IP.
- Assessment focus
- Entities, founder agreements, contracts, compliance and IP basics
15
Fundraising & Investor Relations
Understand what investors evaluate and communicate progress, risks, metrics and the fundraising ask clearly.
- Founder question
- What traction story would a thoughtful investor need to see?
- What you do
- Prepare metrics, risks, updates and a clear fundraising narrative.
- Artefact or evidence
- Investor narrative
- Learning outcome
- Communicate traction, risks, and fundraising needs to investors.
- Assessment focus
- Investor fit, traction, updates, data room, cap table basics
16
Go-to-Market, Pitching & Demo Day
Tell a coherent startup story, demonstrate progress and make a specific ask to the audience.
- Founder question
- What is your evidence-backed story and specific ask?
- What you do
- Structure the pitch, rehearse the demo and present at Demo Day.
- Artefact or evidence
- Investor narrative and pitch deck; Demo Day presentation
- Learning outcome
- Structure a pitch narrative with evidence, demo, and a clear ask.
- Assessment focus
- Narrative, deck structure, evidence, demo and ask
Every module follows the same weekly working rhythm. How each week works