After a crazy third edition, we can say that we’re über excited with this new edition. It’s been 2 years of amazing things going on and at the heart of it, it’s always been the Startup School and you guys. So we’re ready for more, the Spring 2011 Tetuan Valley Startup School (TVSS) is upon us and we are coming BACK for more in Madrid and Barcelona!
What is the Tetuan Valley Startup School?
It’s an experience that tries to bring to life many of the values of our manifesto. The Tetuan Valley Startup school is a 6 week program for young wanna-be-entrepreneurs who want to experience what is it like to build a startup.
What is exactly this program about?
The course is a 6 week period of training and working on the implementation of an idea. Teams will choose an idea the first day and their goal will be to release a prototype by the end of the program. During each week, we will meet with all teams at our offices in what we like to call, the pizza night. During the weekly meetings, our staff will give a small lecture about how to build startups. These lectures WON’T be technical in nature, but philosophical. Our goal is to communicate principles, not technical knowledge. After the lectures each team will present their achievements of the week, to us and the rest of the teams. They will also review their pitch, to prioritize developments, focus and improve communication skills.
Finally each pizza night we’ll invite a mentor to give advice for 20min. Both, group and personal coaching will be available after that if desired. By the end of the 6 weeks we’ll do a big presentation day where everyone will show their final prototype. We will then choose the best teams and projects as winners and their project will be forwarded to international investors for analysis.
Who is this program for?
This program is oriented nearly exclusively to young people who haven’t experienced a startup. People who don’t know what a startup is, who don’t know that there is life beyond the consultant world or being a government employee. People that are ambitious but don’t know how to project those feelings.
Who is behind this program?
We already wrote about it here, so check it out if you’ve missed it.
Requirements
There are some basic requirements we expect everyone to fulfill.
- Ideas for projects MUST be innovative. This means, we won’t accept already existing ideas. We don’t expect radically new ideas, but we do expect some degree of innovation. For example, Team A: We want to build a social network for my friends. FAIL! Team B: We want to build a system to exchange homework between fellow students. OK!
- Ideas WILL be executed, so pick something that can be done in 6 weeks of work. This doesn’t means that you should choose something that takes 1 weekend to finish and spend the other 5 weeks playing Wii. We want you to be stressed, but know yourself and pick something you can handle without spending 6 weeks with next to no sleep.
- Teams will range from 1 to 3 persons max. (See Recommendations below)
- Physical presence WILL be required (Barcelona or Madrid, Spain), so be sure you can attend the meetups during those 6 week before enrolling.
- Teams will receive grades and are expected to comply with some minimums. If they don’t, those teams wont graduate.
Recommendations
These are some tips we recommend you to follow. They aren’t required but would help you a lot.
- Enroll with a partner. We don’t require you to have a team to enroll in the program, but it’s highly advisable. If you want to participate try bringing a friend or a partner with you to help you with it. Best number is 2 persons per team.
- Good English knowledge, written and spoken. All lectures are normally in Spanish, nevertheless, our goal is to share them internationally, so some materials like slides, videos, etc. WILL be in English and there is no guarantee that lectures wont be done in English from time to time. We won’t force anyone to speak or present in English, but it’s highly advisable. So, beware, this will be a Spanish/English environment. If you don’t feel comfortable with it, think it twice before enrolling.
- This program will require you to work. Homework will be handed and weekly progress WILL be expected. Any team that doesn’t shows progress will be immediately expelled from the program. So, if you really really don’t feel like working, avoid yourself some pain and don’t enroll.
- This program will require you to participate. Constructive criticism is expected from everybody, as well as motivation for other to develop and improve their pitch and demos. If you are reserved we recommend you to leave your shyness out the door.
- This program is aimed to first time entrepreneurs. People that haven’t experienced the startup world or don’t know it. So beware that if you enroll and already know what a startup is, what a VC is, what is a valuation, IPO, etc. you might get really bored. Enroll at your own risk, you’ve been warned.
- Teams aren’t expected to build their companies after the program. Some might, some won’t. It’s not the goal of the program to incubate new companies but to show a new path, a new way of thinking. Teams that want to keep going with their projects will be offered coaching and coworking space in Okuri Spaces. Teams that don’t want to keep going with their projects can quit after the program ends. So there is no permanence contract with the program after it ends, it’s open to the teams to choose. That been said, this year we are running a fully blown accelerator program named Startup Bootcamp Europe, 3 months of mentor driven program with investment. Check it out after the program if you want to keep going.
- I’m not a student anymore, may I participate? Yes, of course, we accept all age ranges, actually we love plural environments, so don’t be shy.
- If you don’t have an idea, start thinking about it. Some teams don’t have a clear idea or an idea at all. This part isn’t critical, we have tons of ideas to give you, but it’s only fair that you guys come out with a neat idea. Our recommendation is that you start thinking about it. Most of the times we say we don’t have an idea because we haven’t really thought about ideas yet, so get working on it!
- It’s highly recommended that teams have at least one technical member on board. Due to previous editions we’ve learnt the hard way that it’s fundamental the technical skills on board if you’re going to make it to the end. So please, enroll with your friendly geek, you’ll need him!
- I already have a working startup, may I apply? It depends, if you aren’t making any money, chances are that the Startup School is for you. It’s not only about the lectures, but about getting in touch with like-minded people that will help you refine your model, UI, pitch, etc. Our experience is that most teams that apply with a startup end up having a blast with the Startup School. Nevertheless, if you feel the Startup School is too small for you, you can always apply for Startup BootCamp Europe, a fully blown 3 month European accelerator program, but be advise that the requirements for Startup Bootcamp are much higher, it’s advise to go through the Startup School first.
Why SHOULD you enroll in the program?
After all the evil warnings and recommendation it’s fair to write WHY should you give it a try.
Attending this program you’ll get in touch with like minded people in the entrepreneurial world, not only locally, but globally. You’ll learn how to do a good Zen presentation, how to pitch investors and how to pitch to other entrepreneurs that can give you advice. You will share experiences with other teams and establish relations with other entrepreneurs from other countries. You will learn the basics any successful startup needs to know, both from an entrepreneur perspective and from an investor perspective. You’ll learn how to take an idea from the abstract world of ideas and execute it, how to plan for it and all the surprises that you’ll find along the way.
If Kendo is the way of the sword… we will teach you the way of the startup. After that, it’s up to you to succeed. You’ll have what you need, the world will be waiting for you to come and take what you fight for!
And always remember:
“If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking.” – Buddhist Saying
Dates
The program is expected to start April 6th (Madrid), April 7th (Barcelona) of 2011 and will end by mid May (10th & 11th), 6 weeks after. Meetups will be schedule every Tuesday afternoon (7pm Barcelona) and Wednesday afternoon (7pm Madrid) during those weeks. Some sporadic extra meetups might be scheduled to assist to entrepreneurial events but won’t be obligatory (although advisable).
NOTE: The first week and due to a crazy agenda, the Barcelona first session will be held on a Thursday (instead of on Tuesday), but it’s an extraordinary case.
Fees and weird contracts claiming your soul
NON, nada, FREE as in beer. So there is no excuse for not attending the program.
Enrollment
If after reading all the above warnings and advice you still feel fit for it, fill in the inscription form here with your information and the information of any of your teammates (please don’t send 3 inscriptions per team member, with one per team is enough). Be also sure you mark which city is the one you’re attending. Inscriptions WILL be closed April 1st but the number of slots are fixed so BE FAST or you’ll end up with no slot.
If you don’t want to attend but know someone that might fit our requirements and might be interested in attending, please send them our way or write us at our Contact form
Any questions or inquires?
Feel free to ask us
• Contact form
• twitter.com/tetuanvalley
