Entrepreneurship Bootcamps

Paul Kewene-HiteAffiliate Professor of EntrepreneurshipExecutive Director, Maag International Entrepreneurship Centre

• The word Bootcamp comes from the military for a focused period of time when a “regular person” is put through a rigorous training program to make them a soldier ready for combat.

• INSEAD has developed a master class that takes experienced business professionals and in 48 hours of intensive learning turns them into entrepreneurs ready to launch new ventures. We call it the "INSEAD Entrepreneurship Bootcamp”.

• More than 500 MBA students and 200 Alumni have already taken the INSEAD Entrepreneurship Bootcamp. We are deploying the bootcamp throughout the INSEAD community to empower our alumni to become entrepreneurs or to develop the design of their next venture.

What is a Bootcamp?

• The Startup takes place over 48 hours straight.

• Taught to MBAs (P1/2s) in France and Singapore.

• Also taught to Alumni and others around the world.

• To date: UK, Germany, Canada (The Bahamas), France, Singapore.

• More planned in Portugal/Spain, USA and the list is growing.

• 23 startup bootcamps since October 2009 for over 750 attendees launching 14 new ventures and counting.

INSEAD Bootcamp: The Startup

• The Startup schedule:

• Maximum number of attendees: 34

• Starting at 19.30 (7:30pm) on the first night, we begin by discussing the simplest part of creating a startup: the idea. After discussing ideas, deliberately, as a group, attendees self organize into teams of no fewer than 2 and no more than 4.

• Ordinarily going to bed by 02.00 (2am) work starts at 09.00 (9am) sharp the next morning. We begin an hour by hour construction of each new venture.

• At the start of each hour, teams report on progress and give/receive feedback from the group.

INSEAD Bootcamp: The Startup

• The Startup schedule:

• At the end of the first full day of work, structured teaching ends at 22.00 (10pm) but work ordinarily continues until after midnight.

• Structured work begins again at 09.00 (9am) the next morning.

• At 13.30 (1:30pm) all teams begin practicing their pitches in front of each other facilitated by the bootcamp leader.

INSEAD Bootcamp: The Startup

• At 15.30 (3:30PM) two or three qualified/active investors enter the room to listen to all team members and all teams present their new ventures.

• After three elimination rounds to select the best venture/presentation, the investors then give feedback to all teams about what worked and what didn’t, why they progressed in elimination rounds or did not progress.

• Some feedback:

• "The bootcamp alone is worth my whole INSEAD tuition fee.”

• "Very compact -> Excellent value per hour”

• "The bootcamp was not a role-play with fictional projects but under real life conditions, with real life problems, projects and investors. The jumps from task to task were small but the sum of them was tremendous.”

• "I wanted to thank you very much for an inspirational weekend. I learned a lot, but most of all, the environment reignited my desire to do something about ‘it’. I have always been a frustrated employee, but my problem has always been a lack of ideas. I need a kind of incubator, where a seed can grow. I got that this weekend. And it’s the reason I came to INSEAD.”

• "Very valuable experience. Amazing progress in just one weekend. Really impressive that you are actually pitching to real VCs. A truly great teacher. This is the kind of barrier breaking experience that I came to INSEAD for.”

INSEAD Bootcamp: The Startup

• "The Bootcamp has empowered me to stop killing my ideas when I see their risks. It took going through the full exercise of Bootcamp to appreciate that we can talk ourselves out of anything, and that no idea is ever ‘perfect’. As long as there is uncertainty in the world, the best approach will be a structured but adaptive one that addresses these risks head-on. Paul does a tremendous job in creating that structure, in forcing us to take the risks head-on and decide what we'll do with them.”

• "The format of 48 hours from idea to pitch was great proof that a small, dedicated team can make huge strides in short amount of time. Also, learning the language of VCs and how they think about and structure deals was hugely helpful.

• "Amazing faculty sharing invaluable experience, sharp content, tremendous learning in such a short period of time, realistic context. Huge POSITIVE pressure that pushes your limits up, up, up.”

• “It tore down many of the psychological barriers to launching a start-up, I now think that most participants believe that they have what it takes to start a company, whereas as they were probably not so sure before the bootcamp. The bootcamp provided a very methodical and structured framework to launching a company, which I believe is a very powerful and reassuring tool. Ever since of the bootcamp, I have been thinking non-stop of what kind of venture to start! I would recommend it to anyone who wants to start their won business but doesn't know how.”

INSEAD Bootcamp: The Startup

• "I attended the bootcamp weekend to refresh my memories of the startup phase, and to spend time with other aspiring entrepreneurs. I had recently sold a business that I started out of INSEAD and was considering starting another. If you have a venture idea that you want to qualify, or a qualified one that you want to raise money for, or even if you plan to run your own business one day and want to spend some time thinking about the steps to realising your plan, you should attend the startup bootcamp.”

• “What I found most valuable: The dedication, knowledge and experience of bootcamp leadership. The passion of the participants. The build-up of the programme, culminating in enthusiastic interaction with great VC guys. The strong INSEAD feel whilst still being open to people from the outside. It was like being back in Fontainebleau.”

• “Three key points - Firstly the course structure was intense and quite comprehensive. Secondly, the professor related the content of discussions to his personal business experiences and moderated brilliantly a very interactive session. Lastly the bootcamp stretched me to my limits and has given me many different perspectives from which to appreciate better the value of other courses at INSEAD.”

INSEAD Bootcamp: The Startup