Whether you want to find out if your idea is ripe yet, if you yourself have what it takes to become an entrepreneur or if you just want to expand your network in the Dutch startup world, StartupLeap is right place to start your journey. Our goal is to stimulate the healthy development of innovative new businesses country wide. We couldn’t do this alone, which is why we’re teaming up with some of the most
prominent names from Dutch entrepreneurship. As a graduate of our program, you can be sure you’re motivated enough to become a future entrepreneur and our partners will be there to welcome you afterwards, provide you with the support you need to bring your idea to market and make sure you’re having a good time along the way!
Weekly Structure
Every week consists of the following elements:
Knowledge
Videos and article with a step-by-step explanations of how to start a company.
Expert Sessions
Insightful & interactive talks held by experts from Dutch entrepreneurship.
Progress Sessions
A weekly online session with a group of peers, that is undergoing the same journey.
Weekly Activity
Both individual exercises, and to complete online together with peers.
Topics that will be discussed
When you apply to the programs of any incubator in the Netherlands, they will ask you to deliver a one-pager. We will help you build a solid document and provide you with valuable feedback.
Modern startups focus on solving problems. But how do you find the right problem to solve? And how do you identify for whom this problem is worth solving?
What is an MVP (minimal viable product), and why do you need it? A deep dive into why you shouldn't release a full suite of features from day 1 and how you can start validating assumptions without spending a ton of money.
For B2B startups: How do you talk to your first customers and how do you convince them? Where do you find them and who is the right person within an organization? For B2C startups: where do you find your initial users? And why you shouldn't launch with a big bang.
How do you know what to ask for your service or product when you have no idea how much people are willing to spend? And how should you charge your customers? And for what specifically? Or when?
How to tell a compelling story. Be ready to convince a potential customer, investor or partner. Anytime, anywhere.
Schedule
When, How and What?
Find the detailed schedule of our previous program below.
Pre-Program
Selection Process
Apply before the deadline. Wait a bit. We’ll let you know as soon as we’re ready to welcome you. Scalable tech start-up ideas have priority but showing a high degree of motivation is just as good.
Week 0Â
Kick-off
There’s no events happening in Week 0. Still, we send a couple of informational videos your way and (very important) an entrepreneurial test. This will be your first step to understanding and developing the characteristics of an entrepreneur.
Week 1
The Basics
The 1st week’s topics are “How to evaluate your startup idea”, “How to build a business model canvas” & “One-Pager structure”.
Week 2
The Customer is King
The 2nd week will be all about your customers. Discover who your customers are and how to learn from them.
Some people think that building a startup is about developing a great product, however, the most experienced founders only talk about how valuable their customers are.
Week 3
All Parts Must Work Together
Week 3 is about building your first minimum viable product and the importance of a strong founding team.
Week 4
Selling Your Idea
Finally, we touch on building your One Pager and show you how to successfully pitch your idea.
Epilogue
What you take home at the end
At the end of StartupLeap, you take home a lot of knowledge, the ability to pitch your idea on any given occasion, a well structured One Pager document and your personal entrepreneurial profile. The One Pager you must write yourself, while the entrepreneur profile we generate for you based on your performance throughout these four weeks. Both of these documents will give you a great advantage when applying to most Dutch incubators’ programs.
Help
Frequently asked questions
The more effort you put in, the more you will take out. Watching the lectures, attending the weekly progress session and participating in the feedback rounds, combined, take around 4/5 hour per week.
StartupLeap focuses on moving your startup from an ideation phase to a validation phase. We do this for tech startups, think marketplaces, SaaS, e-commerce, and much more. Currently, we are open to all founders working on an idea or at the first stage of your startup.
No, this program is for the highly motivated founders. Therefore, if you miss two meetings or two assignments you're no longer part of the program. This means some founders will not finish this program.
Subscription types
Are you ready to join?
Enough talk. Let’s make your dream come true! Apply below:
Startup
- Speaker events
- Video lectures
- Community of startups & industry experts
- 4 peer-review rounds
- Business One Pager
- Entrepreneurial psychological profile