SIGMA Startup Workshop

SIGMA Startup Workshop at the University of Saskatchewan is designed to provide basic knowledge and skills in customer discovery and sales planning for technological focused student founders. Participants will have opportunities to meet likeminded individuals in SIGMA Accelerator. They will also learn how to test the value of their ideas and validate (or invalidate) the problem they are hoping to solve for their target customer.

As teams work to transform their hypotheses into evidence-based insights, they will refine their businesses and may even make a significant pivot on their journey to a more viable and successful startup using a disciplined approach.

The intense and immersive sessions are offered in four days from May 27 to May 30. The workshop is a disciplined first step your Entrepreneurship journey. Teams will have opportunities to join Entrepreneurship Clubs, local incubators and receive further mentorship.

Who it is for

Workshop is open to engineering students in the third and fourth year, as well as graduate students*, who have:

• An idea for a startup

• Passionate about solving the problem with your idea.

• Committed to attending ALL of the workshop sessions.

• No prior business or startup experience is necessary.

*Alumni and students from other colleges can participate in a team that have at least one active engineering student in the third or fourth year of their program, or graduate studies.

**Please note due to space and capacity, we will only open 15 spots to non-SIGMA participaints. Please only reserve a ticket if you are confirmed to join us in person for all the four day sessions.

What you can expect

The USask Startup Workshop offers a systematic approach to conduct Customer Discovery and design a Sales Channel. The workshop will provide you tools from the Lean Startup approach to test the value of your solution with your future customers and by Talking to Them Directly.

Facilitators:

• Tate (Ning) Cao, La Borde Chair in Engineering Entrepreneurship
• Tom Kishchuk, Executive in Residence
• David Yee, Executive in Residence

Schedule

• Day 1
• May 27: 8-8:30am Coffee and Networking
• May 27: 8:30-12pm Introdcution and Work Session on Market
• May 27: 12-12:30pm Lunch and End of Day 1
• Day 2
• May 28: 8-8:30am Coffee and Networking
• May 28: 8:30-11:30am Work Session on Product
• May 28:11:30-12pm Networking and End of Day 2
• Day 3
• May 29: 8-8:30am Coffee and Networking
• May 29: 8:30-11:30am Work Session on Business
• May 29:11:30-12pm Networking and End of Day 3
• Day 4
• May 30: 8-8:30am Coffee and Networking
• May 30: 8:30-11:30am Fireside Chat and Next Steps
• May 29:11:30-12pm Lunch and End of bootcamp