Want to kick-start your startup in 3 months with expert help? Want to be flexible and keep all the equity? The TechMeetups Guru Program is for you!
THE GURU PROGRAM OVERVIEW
Attend in London and get:
- 10 Guru Workshop Sessions on Tuesday evenings (each workshop is usually priced £75).
- 12 One-to-one Mentoring Sessions on Thursday Evenings.
- 3 Presentations at Guru Mentoring Camps. Practice your pitch in front of experts.
- 30+ Mentors around the world to advise you and grow your network.
- Online course materials you can refer to and keep.
Completing the Guru Program and being judges “Customer Ready” or “Investment Ready” lets you:
Present at Big Business meets Startup, November 2013
Get training from our B2B sales Gurus and pitch to buyers at the UK’s top tier companies.
Present at the TechMeetups Investor Day, December 2013
Get training from our Raising Finance Guru and pitch to Angel Investors and VCs.
Attend remotely, anywhere in the world and get:
- 10 Guru Workshop Sessions online to view whenever you want.
- 30+ Remote mentors around the world to advise you and grow your network.
- Online course materials you can refer to and keep.
How it works
- We take absolutely no equity in your company.
- Learn from serial entrepreneurs and domain experts. Keep those contacts for life.
- Work with any number of mentors you want.
- Think some of the mentors can add value to your business? You’re free to work with them more closely on terms which suit you both.
- Get early access to Angels and VCs who watch your progress during the Program.
Any questions? Contact us or read on for more information…
WHAT DOES THE TECHMEETUPS GURU PROGRAM TEACH STARTUPS?
The Program is delivered over 12 weeks and covers key areas that a startup Founder should be familiar with. It includes group mentoring as well as an opportunity for our startups to present to the TechMeetups community on Graduation to gain early adopters and user feedback.
Week 0: Pre-session Mentoring Camp, Networking and Introduction to the Program (September 2013)
This session is not obligatory for all startups to attend, but it is highly recommended!
Week 1: Business Models, Real World Problems & Solutions (Sessions: 17 September 2013)
Session Gurus:
Andrey Kessel; Investor, Entrepreneur, high-tech startup specialist, TexDrive & ATZ Management
Andrey will talk about the “mental models” or essential ways of thinking about the putting together and evolving technology start-ups that he has developed over the years spent in the venture industry. He will also present some successful and not so successful real life examples from his operational and investment life that included 15 Board roles, involvement with over 100 companies, 3 IPOs/listings, multiple exits, 9 completed M&A and over 50 financing transactions on different sides of the negotiating table.
Week 2: Incorporation, Legal, and Patents (Sessions: 24 September 2013)
Week 3: Co-founding, hiring, firing, outsourcing and online freelancers (Sessions: 1 October 2013)
Session Gurus:
Steffen Hedebrand, Client Marketing Manager, Elance
“Bootstrap Your Startup with Online Freelancers”
Through this presentation the audience will get a taste of what the concept of online work is, how they can take advantage of it when building and running their startup, which typical issues online freelancers solve for entrepreneurs, the process of hiring and managing online freelancers and a case study of a hybrid organization combining online and on-site staff.
Richard Cummings, Human Relations Consultant, HR Insight
Lukas Biewald, CEO & Founder, CrowdFlower
Week 4: Low Risk, High Reward Marketing and PR for startups (Sessions: 8 October 2013)
Session Gurus:
Rik Willard, President & CEO, Rule7Media
Week 5: Sales, Partnerships, Alliances & Affiliates (Sessions: 15 October 2013)
Session Gurus:
Scott Schnaars, GM – EMEA, Badgeville
Week 6: Starting Lean, Scaling and Thinking Big (Sessions: 22 October 2013)
Session Gurus:
Adam Baker, Founder, Blottr
Andreas Bauer, Managing Director, four40 Ventures
Mark Peter Davis, CEO at Kohort, Venture Partner at High Peaks Venture Capital
Week 7: UX/UI, Design and Branding (Sessions: 29 October 2013)
Session Gurus:
Karl Saynor, User Experience Entrepreneur, Usability Savvy
Rui Barroca, Mobile User Experience Designer Consultant, MobOn
Week 8: Company Structure, Legal, Business & Financial Planning (Sessions: 5 November 2013)
Session Gurus:
Jeffreys Henry LLP
Simon Halberstam, Partner & Andrew Solomon, Solicitor, Kingsley Napley LLP
“The Importance of Patents and Intellectual Property Rights for Competitive Advantage”
Week 9: 100 minds are better than 1 (Sessions: 12 November 2013)
Week 10: Show me the money - startup finance (Sessions: 26 November 2013)
Session Gurus:
Matt Rothman, Managing Partner, Hemisphere Capital
Alan Wallace, Senior Investment Director, Octupus Ventures
Mark Peter Davis, CEO at Kohort, Venture Partner at High Peaks Venture Capital
Week 11: Development Platforms & Technologies (Sessions: November 2013)
Session Gurus:
Denis Margolin, VP of Mobile, DataArt
Dr. Nic Williams, VP of Developer Evangelism,
Week 12: Graduation Guru Mentoring Camp & Meet The Community (Sessions: November 2013)
Graduating startups will have the opportunity to present at the TechMeetups Investor Day in December 2013. Startups proceeding through to Investor Day will receive full support in preparing their pitch and practice sessions in front of seasoned Investors.
MENTORS YOU’LL ALSO HAVE ACCESS TO DURING THE PROGRAM
Alan Walker, VP, Head of Financial Services, CapGemini
Alexander Shelkovnikov, Mobile Strategy Lead, Deloitte Digital
Colin Hayhurst, CEO, GoScale
Iris Ben-David, Startup Founder & Mentor
James Sullivan, General Counsel
John Grobstein, Angel Investor
Lee Arthur, Director, Business Development, Dow Jones
Maggie Buggie, VP Digital Transformation, CapGemini
Marc Taverner, GM, Bluesphere Solutions
Nigel Walker, Access to Finance, Technology Strategy Board
Rick Freeman, Director of Innovation, CapGemini
Romain Eude, CTO, my-wardrobe.com
Stefano Tresca, Director, iSeed
WEEKLY STRUCTURE OF THE TECHMEETUPS GURU PROGRAM
Guru Teaching Sessions
These sessions will run 6-9pm on Tuesdays (London Time)
Each week there will be 3-4 sessions delivered by our Session Leaders, plus a time slot for startups and Gurus to conduct short face-to-face advice sessions with startups. Follow-up tasks will also be set by our Gurus to help startups action techniques learned each week, helping Founders implement best practices in their startup.
Guru Twitter Chats
These sessions will run 7-8pm on Wednesdays (London Time) on Twitter, which anyone can join
Guru Thursdays: Informal advice and networking sessions
These sessions will run 6-9pm on Thursdays (London Time)
Gurus and startups will have an equipped space where they can meet informally to discuss specific issues. Gurus will confirm their availability for any week so that startups are aware who they can meet with by attending on any given evening.
Guru Mentoring Camps
These sessions will run 6-9pm on Tuesdays (London Time) in weeks 0, 7 & 12.
Startups will have three opportunities to pitch our Gurus and receive feedback on their progress as they go through the program.
If you’d like to find out more about the program or enquire about becoming one of our Gurus, please email us at guru@techmeetups.com
