This year I have taken on the running of the Startup Leadership Program chapter in Lisbon for its second year of operation. We are just four modules in and I have to confess I love it!
The whole spirit of the SLP is about helping first time founders to have a more rounded view of the skills they need to make a success of their startup journey. It's like an Executive MBA over 15 modules.
The hardest bit about the format is the commitment in terms of time. We run a module every two weeks on a Monday evening from 7pm through to 10pm, with people arriving from 6:30pm and invariably discussions or mentoring go on through to 10:30/11:00. As a family guy this is not easy for me, and I recognise not always easy for the attendees on the course either. Our choice to be there is therefore all the more strengthened!
So far we have 16 people on the cohort, all first time founders with two not for profits in the mix. This is more than double the attendees from last year so it's trending in the right direction, probably reflective of how Lisbon is growing as a startup city and that year one added good value to those that took part.
SLP is a not for profit. It means all the fees go into running the program. There is no equity exchanged either. We pick up some sponsorship for the food, drinks and venue. (thank you for that Startup Lisboa, Compal and Dominos) and use some of the money to send people onto pitch competitions or visit other chapters. None of the team that run things locally receive payment.
At its heart the course aims to inspire people to change the world - to build startups that deliver real value to humanity as well as financially.
The founder - Anupendra - is a great guy and very inspirational too. Based in Boston he has managed to create the global organisation that runs across 27 cities as a side endeavour to his day job as a corporate VC.
So, why do I love it so much? Well experiences like this Monday really make it.
We took a subject like termsheets which can be quite hard for first time founders (and experienced ones too). The class CEO (one of the cohort) had spent a lot of time learning about the subject and preparing to share the knowledge with the group. We had four wonderful mentors who volunteered their time to come and help out - bringing real life legal, accounting and entrepreneurial experience to share with the group. Their interactions were also fantastic. Of course there was the cohort who all turned up fresh and ready to go at the end of their days and made it so much fun. They got out what they put in!
And now to the real kicker -> the reason I love it so much ... at 10:30pm when everyone had finished chatting and exchanging ideas I managed to get them out of the building and there on the street as I got into my uber to go home was a group of about 10/12 working out where they could go next to hang out and continue their exchange. One member of the group was an SLP alumni who was visiting from India and came by to say hello. He instantly found a new family to welcome him to Lisbon and the entire group was full of energy for their startup journeys and also for each other.
Wonderful! What's not to love about that!
Already looking forward to the 12th December! If you are interested come along to check things out. It would be great to have you there particularly if you are an alum visiting from out of town.
S.
