Program
StepFWD is an 8-week pre-accelerator program, aimed at fueling growth for tech companies with diverse teams.
Applications are closed for the 2020 Cohort
Purpose
Our purpose is to educate first-time and early-stage entrepreneurs who want to grow a prototype or idea into a profitable business. The program is powered by TechHub Bucharest, in partnership with Google for Startups.
Focus
We focus on building confidence for first-time founders that can benefit the most from building a relationship with experienced mentors and investors.
Program Schedule
The StepFWD program is structured over a 8 weeks time span. During each week we will have workshops and mentoring sessions
with different topics. All workshops will be delivered by the founders of established startups and
seasoned industry professionals.
Your startup will be paired with a lead mentor that will advise and guide you for the duration of the program.
The schedule below is subject to small changes.
Week 1: Intro
Monday, 10:00 - 15:00
Program Kickoff (Orientation, elevator pitch practice)
Meet the lead mentors
Thursday, 14:30-17:30
Online tools training with PMs
Speed mentoring practice
Roundtable: Meet the StepFWD'19 alumni
Week 2: Legal Mechanics & Customer Development
Monday, 09:30 - 14:00
Workshop: Startup legal mechanics with Tudor Stanciu
Workshop: Customer development with Raluca Apostol and Letiția Ștefan
Thursday, 10:00 - 16:30
Hands on*: Startup legal mechanics
Hands on*: Customer development
All-hands meeting
Week 3: Business Models & Product Development
Monday, 09:30 - 14:00
Workshop: Business models with Mircea Vadan
Workshop: Product development with Monica Obogeanu and Alexandra Anghel
Thursday, 10:00 - 16:30
Hands on*: Business models
Hands on*: Product development
All-hands meeting
Week 4: Sales & Marketing
Monday, 15:30 - 19:00
Workshop: Product marketing with Irina Scarlat and Andra Zaharia
Workshop: Sales / Growth Hacking with Gv Freeman and Ciprian Borodescu
Thursday, 13:00 - 19:30
Hands on*: Product marketing
Hands on*: Sales / Growth Hacking
All-hands meeting
Week 5: Fundraising & Pitching
Monday, 09:30 - 14:00
Workshop: Fundraising with Ciprian Borodescu and Daniel Dragomir
Workshop: How to pitch with Bogdan Apostol and Liviu Cadariu
Thursday, 10:00 - 16:30
Hands on*: Fundraising
Hands on*: How to pitch
All-hands meeting
Week 6: Break & Speed mentoring
Thursday, 10:00 - 18:00
Roundtable: Serial entrepreneurs share their story
Speed mentoring
All-hands meeting
Week 7: Pitch practice & Speed mentoring
Monday, 09:30 - 15:00
Pitch practice: Refine pitch deck with mentors
Pitch practice with the StepFWD team
Thursday, 13:30 - 18:00
Speed mentoring
All-hands meeting
Week 8: Pitch practice & Speed mentoring
Monday, 13:30 - 18:00
Speed mentoring
All-hands meeting
Thursday, 09:30 - 15:00
Pitch practice with mentors
Pitch practice with the StepFWD team
Week 9: DemoDay
Monday, all day
Pitch practice: Final rehearsal
Demo day
* During hands-on meetings, each startup will have a 30-minutes slot for discussing the assignment with the mentors and can also (optionally) listen to feedback give to other startups from their group.
Activities Overview
We designed StepFWD with first-time founders in mind – as a journey that takes you through different areas of expertise which are absolutely required in a start-up.
Workshops
Workshops provide a 360-degree view on topics related to building a startup, such as customer & product development, business models, marketing, sales, startup legal mechanics, fundraising and pitching.
Hands-on Sessions
Mentors give feedback on workshops assignments. Startups will be divided into 2 groups. Each startup will have 30 min to discuss the feedback and can (optionally) listen to feedback given to other startups from their group.
1-on-1 with Lead Mentors
Each Tuesday or Wednesday, startups will meet their designated lead mentor and StepFWD PMs for a 30 min call, to talk about last week's progress and set up the plan for next week.
Pitch Practice
Rehearse and improve your pitch with mentors and the StepFWD team. These sessions will help you achieve the perfect presentation at Demo Day.
Speed Mentoring
Engage with a lot of mentors in a back-to-back meetings format. These meetings are designed to be short and to the point, so you'll have to show your startup's potential in a time-effective manner.
All-hands meetings
All-hands meetings take place with the whole cohort and StepFWD team. During these meetings, everyone will share their highs and lows of the week.
Roundtables
Social activities for building connections with mentors and the StepFWD alumni, in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. Share highs, lows and lessons learned.
Virtual Coffee
We start the week with a 30 min virtual coffee, where all the startups can share their updates for the week and also have some fun!
Demo Day
Mentors, investors, community partners, corporates, press attendees are invited together with the broader community to the final event. Each startup will showcase its product and business in a 5 min pitch.
Demo Day
The program wraps up with Demo Day, an event where the participating teams will showcase their products and businesses in a 5 min pitch.
Applications are closed
Applications for the 2020 Cohort are closed.