Entrepreneur Rising: Startup
Over 8 sessions learn the tools and resources and connect with the community you will need to ramp up your business. In highly interactive, facilitated discussions, we'll walk you through the key elements every startup needs. Each participant may also work with a dedicated mentor for up to 2 hours throughout the program as an additional sounding board. The course culminates in an optional pitch session before a panel and audience for feedback and prizes.
Costs:
AED 5,500 General
AED 3,850 for Hubsters, Mompreneur members (30% discount)
AED 3,850 for Early Bird registration (early bird ends 15th June)
Deadline for application and payment to participate: October 1, 2015
What Graduates Say About Entrepreneur Rising
"It was a great course, I am really glad I've done it. I have the canvas to show for it, a pitch I can deliver and financial spreadsheets I am working on. I didn't have these things in September. I moved forward in my business." -- Class: September - December 2014
Program Outline
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October 7, 2015
7:00pm - 10:00pmSession 1 - Introductions, First Pitches, and Your Business Model Canvas
We'll get to know each other and review the framework for the next two months together. Each participant is requested to come prepared with a 2-minute pitch of their businesses to share with the group. We'll wrap up with an overview of the business model canvas as the alternative business plan.
Facilitator: Rachel Griner
Rachel Griner is a strategy and innovation expert based in Dubai. She spent the last arc of her career at Procter & Gamble in the United States. She worked in corporate strategy development and served as an Executive on Loan to a national human rights museum. Rachel earned P&G’s Global Strategy Award for creating a $5Bn growth strategy for Personal Healthcare and scaling the framework across P&G. She also earned P&G’s Odyssey Award for Excellence in Collaboration for a strategic initiative to “Accelerate Asia” as a design hub for the billion-dollar Skin Care business. Rachel was a member of the Design Thinking Leadership Team at P&G, one of the first Fortune 500 companies to adopt Design Thinking. She is a professionally trained Design Thinking facilitator who has led workshops in corporate strategy, product innovation, and organizational design. As an Executive on Loan at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Rachel advanced a $750,000 portfolio of development initiatives in 18 months. "The depth of her strategic thinking, her penchant for action, and her ability to build strong relationships with other people are exceptional," said John Pepper, former P&G CEO and Founding Board Member of the Freedom Center. You can follow her work at inspiredstrategy.blogspot.com.
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October 14
7:00pm - 10:00pmSession 2 - Culture, Vision & Business Models
Whether you're at first day or second year, it's important to know why you're doing what you're doing, what legacy you wish to leave behind of your business, and how you plan to leave it.
Questions to address:
- What are your personal dreams and how does this business fit in?
- What is your business purpose?
- What kind of impact do you wish to make with your business?
- What are the values and culture the business will abide by?
- How will you lead the organisation forward?
Facilitator: Sally Ann Della Casa
Sallyann Della Casa is the Lead Tree Shaker of the Growing Leaders Foundation which delivers leadership and non-cognitive skills to youths and adults in a “learn and teach environment”. She found the courage to leave the corporate world in 2010 to finally pursue her area of gift and talent growing leaders. She has a collection of degrees in law, languages, urban planning and real estate development. She speaks 4 languages fluently and was educated in Trinidad and Tobago, Switzerland, Canada and the USA. In the Middle east region, she has trained Difference Makers at companies/unviersities/schools such as: Mubadala Technologies, DP World, NBAD, Al Futtaim Carillion, ADU University, GEMS schools (both Asian and International), DLA Piper, Nestle Middle east etc. The Foundation is also an Engage partner of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce. Sallyann developed and is the editor of two publications, Lead Up Magazine, focusing on youth leadership and Social Enterprise Hive, the Magazine, focusing on the Social Enterprise movement in the Caribbean which she also curates through her annual event Social Enterprise Hive. Sallyann is about to release her first book “Who will I Become”.
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October 21
7:00pm - 10:00pmFacilitators: Dario De Angles and Sami Khoury
This week we discuss why marketing matters and how you can incorporate good principles into your practice. The first half will discuss how you can use your business purpose, your "why", in your marketing to build a following and culture; the second half will discuss traditional and digital marketing strategy and orient you to the practical, affordable tools for SEO, social media, and non web-based marketing.
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October 28
7:00pm - 10:00pmSession 4 - How to get the most for your social media spend
Facillator: Karuna Advani
This interactive workshop will focus on the dos and don'ts of social media for your business and how to best market your brand via social media. We will go through some of the analytics tools you can use to determine and shape your social media strategy and understand the results they're generating.
Three things you will learn from the workshop:
- Overview of how to use the most important social media platforms
- Key social media metrics to watch out for
- Ways to amplify your brand message online
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November 4
7:00pm - 10:00pmSession 5 - Finance & Accounting
Facillator: Wissam Otaky
Even if you plan to never touch the books, every business owner should know their basics to truly understand the business mechanics. In this session you will be introduced to balance sheets and income statements, tips for business owners should be mindful of and provide you cheat sheets for Financial and Accounting.
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November 11
7:00pm - 10:00pmFacillators: Wissam Otaky and Shridhar Sampath
This week we'll look at your business accounts, we will support you to calculate your break-even number, review accounting best practices for small business owners, and discuss resources available to you to manage your accounting and finance.
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November 18
7:00pm - 10:00pmFacilitators: Salam Saadeh, Chris Thomas and Kaveh Anooshirvani
This week we'll learn and analyze debt, equity, and crowdfunding options as you consider outside investment for your startups. We will discuss the differences between each option and when/how to approach each. The session closes with a Q&A with an investor, and crowd-funding expert to discuss what banks, crowdfunding platforms, and equity investors seek when evaluating investment opportunities.
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November 25
7:00pm - 10:00pmWe'll first learn the tips and tricks, and then dive into it ourselves. Learn how to pitch your business in any situation: a 10 second opportunity, an elevator ride, or a longer presentation. This week prepares you for the finale: a public pitch competition.
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December 16
7:30pm - 9:30pmPitch before an audience and judging panel for feedback and celebration of your hard work the past 2 months. This is a great practice to present your idea and answer questions from the judging panel and audience. You have a chance to win amazing prizes including free licensing for one year and radio advertisement on virgin radio.