A new course has been launched by Scotland’s national education programme for tech startups and founders – to take them to the ‘next level’.
Startup Next Steps will be delivered by the Techscaler network, where founders and senior team members will learn how to plan, lead and grow their technology companies.
The course, running from 12 September to 28 November, is designed to push companies on from the earlier stages of customer acquisition and product launch.
It aims to bridge the gap between the launch and early stage, and the scaling phase of the startup journey.
That is a critical phase which Mark Logan, Scotland’s chief entrepreneur, identified as requiring increased support in his Scottish Technology Ecosystem Review (STER) in 2020.
The 12-week course will take place in-person and virtually across Techscaler’s regional hubs in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Stirling, Dundee, Aberdeen, and Inverness, and applications for spots on the course remain open.
Startup Next Steps will include workshops from industry experts and tech founders and early employees, with learnings and playbooks from both UK and international tech companies.
Shona Marsh, VP of programmes at CodeBase, who are delivering the Techscaler programme, said: “In STER, Mark Logan shared how there are two reasons that startups fail. Either the startup’s product or service doesn’t fit the intended market, or it does fit but the organisation isn’t capable of supporting and driving growth.
“As part of Startup Next Steps, we’ll be giving founders and their teams the tools needed to determine a strong plan towards and beyond product-market fit . Supporting high potential companies across Scotland, the overall aim is to reduce the number of technology startups that fall at the early hurdles by helping them to cultivate a learning mindset, adopt proven playbooks, and progress beyond the initial stages of market exploration to secure market share.”
Techscaler member Richie Wan, founder of RefermyJobs, said: “RefermyJobs had a beta product with some initial users and the Techscaler Startup First Steps course really helped us iron out the finer details of the early stage startup journey. Our focus now turns to customer acquisition and market positioning. We are looking forward to joining the first Next Steps cohort as it aligns perfectly with our current growth stage and are excited to work with the Techscaler team again.”
Course participant Andrew Williams, CEO of Fyne Labs, said: “Startup First Steps was a turning point for Fyne Labs, helping us to realise the right market alignment and strategy for excellent early stage product exploration. The energy and experience of their presenters was hugely valuable and I think everyone left feeling more positive about their ability to deliver on their company vision. Since completing the programme we have made great progress in finding product market fit and are very excited to scale our MVP through the Next Steps course.”
In May, Techscaler launched its Startup First Steps course, intended for earlier stage founders, while the scaleup partnership announced with Silicon Valley-based Reforge in March is aimed at later stage founders and executives.
To find out more and apply for Startup Next Steps: https://www.techscaler.co.uk/education/startup-next-steps