Elite - Professional Training & Development

Organisations and founders rarely lack ideas. They struggle to select the right ones, test them cheaply and turn them into a business. Ideas are judged on enthusiasm rather than evidence. Business plans are written before any customer has been interviewed. Financial projections assume rapid growth without showing how customers will be acquired. Inside large organisations, including government entities and national companies, promising ventures stall because they are managed like routine projects rather than experiments.

This programme follows the venture from idea to strategy. It moves through five stages: generating and selecting opportunities, understanding customers and designing the value proposition, testing assumptions through experiments and prototypes, building a viable business model and financial case, and setting the growth strategy and funding path.

Built on recognised practice. The programme references widely used methods and standards, including design thinking, the Lean Startup approach of build, measure and learn, the Business Model Canvas and Value Proposition Canvas, jobs-to-be-done theory, and the ISO 56000 family of innovation management standards for ventures developed inside established organisations.

Decisions this programme improves. Which opportunities are worth pursuing; what must be true for an idea to succeed and how to test it; when to persevere, pivot or stop; which business model and pricing approach to adopt; and what funding route and growth strategy fit the venture's stage.

How it is delivered. Twenty hours across five sessions, built around one running case: each participant or team develops a venture idea, either a start-up or a new business line inside their organisation, from opportunity statement to business model, experiment plan, simple financial model and a short investor or sponsor pitch.

In-house option. For organisations, the programme can be tailored to your own innovation priorities, governance and funding process, and delivered as a venture-building exercise for internal teams working on real opportunities.

Who Should Attend

Entrepreneurs and founders: people starting or growing a new business

Innovation professionals: innovation managers, corporate venture leads and new business development managers

Managers responsible for launching new products, services or business lines

Public sector officers working on entrepreneurship support, incubation or innovation programmes

Strategy and business planning staff assessing new ventures

Objectives

Apply creative thinking techniques to generate a range of business opportunities

Screen and select opportunities using clear criteria

Identify customer jobs, pains and gains through structured customer interviews

Design a value proposition that fits a defined customer segment

State the key assumptions behind a venture and design low-cost experiments to test them

Build and iterate a business model using the Business Model Canvas

Prepare a simple financial model with unit economics and break-even analysis

Assess competitive position and choose a strategy for market entry and growth

Compare funding options for start-ups and corporate ventures

Deliver a concise, evidence-based pitch to investors or internal sponsors

Course Outline

From Creativity to Opportunity

The entrepreneurial mindset and managing uncertainty
Creative thinking techniques and idea generation
Sources of opportunity: technology, regulation, demographic and social change
Screening and selecting opportunities
Entrepreneurship inside established organisations

Understanding Customers and Designing the Value Proposition

Design thinking: empathise, define, ideate, prototype and test
Jobs-to-be-done and customer interviews
The Value Proposition Canvas
Defining early adopters and target segments
Validating demand before building

Testing Ideas: Experiments and Minimum Viable Products

Identifying the riskiest assumptions
Build, measure and learn cycles
Prototypes, landing pages and minimum viable products
Designing experiments and defining success criteria
Persevere, pivot or stop decisions
Using AI and no-code tools for rapid prototyping: uses and limits

Building a Viable Business Model

The Business Model Canvas and business model patterns
Revenue models and pricing
Unit economics: acquisition cost, lifetime value and contribution
Simple financial models, break-even and cash runway
Protecting ideas: intellectual property basics
Sustainability and social impact in the business model

Strategy, Growth and Funding

Competitive analysis and sources of advantage
Market entry and scaling strategies
Funding options: bootstrapping, grants, angel investment, venture capital and corporate funding
Entrepreneurship support ecosystems in the region
Building the founding team and early governance
Pitching to investors and sponsors

Competencies

Opportunity identification and screening

Design thinking and customer discovery

Value proposition design

Assumption testing and experiment design

Business model design and iteration

Unit economics and start-up financial modelling

Market entry and growth strategy

Venture funding options

Investor and sponsor pitching

Istanbul

Train in Istanbul with access to Elite Academy’s full portfolio of professional programs. In a city known as a major international business crossroads connecting Europe, the Middle East and Asia, organizations and professionals can join upcoming courses or request any program to be arranged locally. Professional training in Istanbul is not limited to a specific group of subjects. Elite Academy makes its complete portfolio available in the city across management, business, technical and industry-focused disciplines. With a major international business crossroads connecting Europe, the Middle East and Asia, Istanbul provides an effective setting for international learning. Use the schedule below to view courses already planned for the destination, or contact our team to request another program and preferred dates in Istanbul, subject to scheduling and delivery requirements.

Mastering Entrepreneurship - From Creativity and Innovation to Business Strategy