How to prepare for Bootcamp including preparing you initial pitch

There are two things ways in which we’d like you to prepare for Bootcamp: prepare your startup pitch, and watch the first two lectures from the Stanford course, “How to Start a Startup”. We’ll talk about both these items below.

Watch first two lectures from “How to Start a Startup”

CS183B “How to Start a Startup” is a great course that was run at Stanford University by Y Combinator, an accelerator in the US that has helped start some of the biggest startups in the world, like Dropbox, airbnb and reddit. We will be discussing the first two lectures from this course during Bootcamp, so we ask that you watch the lectures beforehand. Each lecture is around 45 minutes. Although there are many lectures in the course, you only need to watch the first two lectures:
– Lecture 1: “Welcome, and Ideas, Products, Teams and Execution Part I”
– Lecture 2: “Ideas, Products, Teams and Execution Part II”

Prepare your startup pitch

Please prepare a basic 5 minute (maximum) investor pitch. As a starting guide, the presentation slides should include the following:

• Problem (What is the problem your startup / product is solving?)
• Solution (How are you solving this problem?)
• Market size (How big is your potential market?)
• Team (Who is in the team? What are their specialities?)
• Business Model (How will you make money to grow, sustain your business)
• Execution plan (A rough schedule of what your business will do once in Germinate)

Although this is a good starting guide, your pitch will almost certainly change once in Bootcamp, so don’t rely on it too heavily. Keep in mind that the most important aspect of the pitch is your ability to clearly demonstrate and articulate the problem you’re trying to solve. Your pitch does not have to be perfect coming in to Bootcamp, as the feedback you receive in pitching practice, along with watching other people pitch, will give you insight into ways you can improve. We often see a remarkable improvement when comparing the pitch you give on Friday to that of Sunday.

During Bootcamp, you will be practicing your pitch on Friday and Saturday afternoon, and presenting it to judges on Sunday afternoon. A two hour (approximately) pitching session will be run at the same time daily (please consult the Bootcamp schedule for more information). Each startup will have approximately 5 minutes to pitch and 5 minutes to answer questions and ask for feedback. Practice your pitch at least once or twice before you come to Bootcamp so you know you can finish it in 5 minutes – but don’t practice too much, because the pitch will almost certainly change. To help you with your pitch during Bootcamp, there is a pitch tips session that is run on Friday before your first pitch, and we have quick pitch Q&A sessions after your Friday and Saturday pitch sessions. You can also speak with mentors and staff individually during morning tea, afternoon tea or lunch.

We use participation in the whole weekend as part of the training and selection for Germinate. We expect that the core of the team is able to attend all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

If you are unable to attend some of the weekend, a cofounder or another person in your team may be able to attend the session you need to miss. The most important session is the final judging session on Sunday.

If you or a member of your team are unable to attend any of the Bootcamp, unfortunately we are unable to consider you this time around.

Lunch is provided daily. At morning tea and afternoon tea breaks ilab provides coffee, tea, water and fruit. We will review your registration for special food needs and try to cater for those. If you have very particular needs, then our advice is to bring your own food in case we get it wrong.

People wear whatever they like to ilab. You can Google “startup casual dress” if you are still unsure.