LLP@Técnico
Act as an entrepreneur: find and execute a new business opportunity, design a business model and apply agile engineering and customer development – in the real world, not just in the classroom.
What is LLP@Técnico?
LLP@Técnico gives you real-world, hands-on learning on what it’s like to actually start a company. It is not about writing a business plan, and the end result is not a report that no one reads.
This is an experiential program: within the time of a semester, you live the pressures and demands of an early-stage startup and learn how to work as a team to turn an idea into a company.
You will talk to customers, partners and competitors and face the chaos and uncertainty of how a startup really works. You’ll use a business model to think through each part of a company, get out of the classroom to see whether anyone else would want your product, and use agile development to iterate quickly and build something customers would actually use and buy.
How it works
- Get out of the building. Each week your team interviews at least 10 customers, focused on one part of the Business Model Canvas.
- Online lectures. You watch the lectures before class as homework, and class time is used for questions and discussion.
- Flipped classroom. Every week, each team presents what it learned. Instructors, mentors and invited entrepreneurs and investors comment and challenge your findings.
- Teams and mentors. Teams organise themselves, with no formal CEO. Each team gets a mentor, an experienced entrepreneur or investor.
- Your own project. Software, a physical product or a service. Pick something you are passionate about and, ideally, know well.
- Build to learn. Teams create landing pages and prototypes (MVPs) to test their ideas with customers.
Program structure
- Business Model Canvas, customer discovery and opportunity assessment
- Canvas hypotheses
- Value proposition
- Customer segments
- Channels
- Customer relationships: get, keep and grow
- Revenue streams and unit economics
- Partners
- Resources, activities and costs
- Storytelling
- Final lessons learned: a 10-minute presentation and a 3-minute video
Who can attend?
LLP@Técnico is a limited-capacity elective program. It runs as an optional track of the course Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Technology Transfer (EITT), among other entrepreneurship courses at Técnico.
Students from other programs can take it as a free elective, which may need approval from their program coordinator. Contact one of the instructors if you need help.
What students say
“Clear goals, clear tasks and a lot of help from teachers.” – Oleksandr, Ukraine, Spring 2018
“When I saw the slide about the LLP roller coaster I was like, okay, hopefully things will get better, and they did, it was really nice.” – Adam, Hungary, Spring 2018
“I would recommend the model, starting by the format as well as by the experience that you gain by contacting customers and startup problems. This is valuable for life.”
“Hang on! Yes, it is a lot of work, you will be on the spot every week, but in the end you will have a business model that you can be proud of.”
“This course prepares us for the real world.”
Based on the Lean LaunchPad
LLP@Técnico follows the Lean LaunchPad method created by Steve Blank, used by universities and accelerators around the world, including Stanford University and the I-Corps program. Técnico has used it since 2013-2014.
Recommended reading:
- Business Model Generation, Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur (2010)
- The Startup Owner’s Manual, Steve Blank and Bob Dorf (2012)
How the iStartLab helps
LLP@Técnico teams can use the iStartLab spaces and equipment to build their prototypes, with support from our team.