Aims
This course aims to:
1. Enable Entrepreneurs to Rapidly Validate and Iterate Startup Ideas
• teach you how to test assumptions, validate market demand, and use customer feedback to refine your business ideas using agile methodologies
• focus on lean experimentation, MVP development, and rapid iteration to minimise risk and maximise learning
2. Equip Founders with Agile Business and Product Development Skills
• provide hands-on experience with agile frameworks (e.g., Lean Startup, Scrum, Kanban) to help entrepreneurs build adaptable, customer-centric businesses
• develop practical skills in product design, customer acquisition, financial agility, and team management for early-stage startups
3. Prepare Startups for Scaling While Maintaining Agility
• guide founders on how to grow their businesses while preserving adaptability, innovation, and lean operations
• teach strategies for managing cross-functional teams, securing funding, and implementing scalable business models without losing agility
Content
This practical, hands-on course is designed to help entrepreneurs build, test, and scale their startups using agile methodologies. By focusing on rapid experimentation, iterative product development, and continuous customer feedback, you will gain the skills to reduce risk, accelerate learning, and create a customer-focused business that can adapt to changing market conditions.
Throughout the course, you will learn how to validate your startup ideas quickly, ensuring they address real customer needs before committing significant resources. You will develop a framework to create a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and refine it through structured Build-Measure-Learn cycles, applying agile business frameworks such as Scrum and Kanban to manage workflows, optimise development, and collaborate effectively.
Beyond product development, the course looks at the application of agile marketing, customer acquisition strategies, and financial agility, helping entrepreneurs secure traction and funding. Whether through bootstrapping, venture capital, or other funding sources, you will gain the insights needed to make informed financial decisions. As you create a plan for your startup, you will explore how to scale while maintaining agility, ensuring that leadership, operations, and culture remain adaptable.
The course is structured around interactive workshops and collaborative exercises, providing a highly practical learning experience. By the end, you will leave with a customer-validated concept, a plan for an MVP, and a clear roadmap for growth. This course is ideal for entrepreneurs looking to build resilient, fast-moving startups that thrive in dynamic environments.
Presentation of the course
This course is designed to be highly interactive, combining hands-on learning and collaborative exercises to ensure you can immediately apply agile principles to your startup ideas. Rather than relying on passive lectures, the course emphasises practical application through workshops, partner/group activities, and live feedback sessions.
Each session begins with an introduction to key concepts which is then followed by you engaging in structured, hands-on exercises, such as planning a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), conducting customer interviews, and designing agile development sprints. These activities will simulate real startup challenges and provide opportunities for immediate learning and iteration.
Throughout the course, you will work on your own startup ideas, refining them through guided experimentation and peer feedback. You will be encouraged to apply the Build-Measure-Learn approach in real-time, testing hypotheses, gathering user insights, and adapting your strategies based on feedback. Agile business frameworks will be introduced through interactive sprint planning exercises and iterative problem-solving sessions.
Collaboration is a key aspect of the learning experience. You will work in pairs and small groups to share insights, and engage in peer mentoring, simulating the dynamics of a real startup team.
The course concludes with a Startup Pitch Showcase, where you present your planned MVPs, receive feedback, and outline your growth strategy. By the end of the programme, each entrepreneur will have a customer-tested business idea, a structured roadmap, and the confidence to launch and scale their startup using agile principles.
Course sessions
Session 1: Introduction to Agile Entrepreneurship
• understanding agility in startups vs. traditional business models
• overview of Lean Startup, Scrum, and Kanban
• the role of experimentation, rapid iteration, and learning loops
• exercise: define your startup idea and key assumptions
Session 2: Identifying and Validating Your Idea
• problem validation and customer discovery
• building a hypothesis-driven approach
• how to conduct customer interviews and gather insights
• exercise: crafting a problem statement and value hypothesis
Session 3: Building a Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
• MVP vs. Prototype: what’s the difference?
• types of MVPs: landing pages, smoke tests, concierge MVPs
• the "Build-Measure-Learn" feedback loop
• exercise: designing your first MVP experiment
Session 4: Agile Product Development & Rapid Prototyping
• using Agile principles to develop early-stage products
• introduction to Scrum and Kanban for startups
• sprint planning and execution
• exercise: mapping out a product roadmap for your startup
Session 5: Iteration, Pivoting, and Learning from Failure
• metrics that matter: leading vs. lagging indicators
• identifying when to pivot vs. persevere
• case studies of successful pivots
• exercise: analysing your MVP feedback and adjusting direction
Session 6: Managing Agile Teams and Cross-Functional Collaboration
• the role of a startup founder in an agile team
• building and leading a cross-functional startup team
• implementing stand-ups, retrospectives, and iterative cycles
• exercise: team dynamics simulation (collaborative task)
Session 7: Agile Marketing and Customer Acquisition
• growth hacking and iterative marketing strategies
• A/B testing and conversion optimisation
• using agile marketing techniques to test traction channels
• exercise: creating a lean customer acquisition plan
Session 8: Funding and Financial Agility
• bootstrapping vs. venture capital: which path suits your startup?
• lean financial modelling and budgeting for agility
• pitching and storytelling in an agile way
• exercise: crafting an investor pitch using agile storytelling
Session 9: Scaling While Staying Agile
• overcoming common growing pains
• keeping startup culture agile as the team expands
• systems and automation to support growth
• exercise: mapping out an agile scaling strategy
Session 10: Course Wrap-Up & Pitch Presentations
• reflection: what did you learn about agility in startups?
• showcasing MVP plans and pivots
• final pitch presentations to peers and mentors
• feedback session and next steps
Learning outcomes
You are expected to gain from this series of classroom sessions a greater understanding of the subject and of the core issues and arguments central to the course.
The learning outcomes for this course are:
1. Ability to Validate and Iterate Startup Ideas Rapidly
• you will learn how to test your assumptions, conduct customer discovery, and develop
a validated problem-solution fit using agile methodologies
• you will apply Lean Startup principles to minimise risk, maximise learning, and pivot effectively based on customer feedback
2. Proficiency in Agile Product Development and Business Management
• founders will develop hands-on skills in building and iterating Minimum Viable Products (MVPs), using frameworks like Scrum, Kanban, and Build-Measure-Learn cycles
• you will understand how to manage cross-functional teams, optimise workflows, and maintain agility in product and business development
3. Capability to Scale a Startup While Maintaining Agility
• entrepreneurs will gain growth strategies, including agile marketing, customer acquisition, and financial planning
• you will learn how to scale operations, secure funding, and expand your startup while staying flexible and adaptive to market changes
