Content Library

Welcome to the Startup School Content Library. Browse past sessions by category or scroll down to search our entire library.

Content Categories

Startup Building Blocks

Everything you need to know to get your startup started, from bootstrapping and design thinking to building a lean canvas and opportunity evaluation.

Online Tools & Prototyping

Grow your social media presence, build an online store, learn the basics of code and explore prototyping.

Strategies for Growth

Create a profitable business model and build a community around your company. Learn how to scale your business and adapt to market trends while considering the ethics of your business.

Getting Funded

How to apply for grants, pitch your company, manage investors and maintain basic bookkeeping for your business.

Customer Relationships

Create an online presence, get to know your customers, improve your sales skills and learn the basics of public relations.

Wellness for Entrepreneurs

Learn to be resilient and find balance in the stressful life of entrepreneurship.

Startup Operations

Everything you need to know about startup law, intellectual property and insurance as a new startup.

Building a Team

What to consider when bringing on co-founders and how to manage team dynamics as your startup grows.

Search the entire library below

Searchable tags

Range	Tags
# - B	10 magic slides, 4 word story, A/B testing, Accountability, Agenda, Agile, Analysis, angel investor, Apps, April 1st, ARPU, artificial intelligence, Bootstrapping, border investment, brand essence, brand promise, breakthrough innovation, burn rate, business agreement, business architecture, business development, business due diligence, business ethics, business growth, business model, business model canvas, business models, business plan, buyer persona, buyers journey, buying cycle
C - D	C100, canadian startup, capital efficient, case study, cash flow, CCPC, Coding, cold calling, commitment clarification, Communication, communication agreement, competitive advantage, competitive analysis, Conflict, Content, content marketing resources, convergent thinking, convertible debt, core proposition, core story, cost of customer acquisition (COCA), creative destruction, Crowdfunding, CSS, customer acquisition, customer archetype, customer development, customer journey map, Customer-centric, DAU, deal terms, Deontology, design thinking, disciplined entrepreneurship, disruptive innovation, disruptive technology, Distribution, divergent thinking, double diamond, due diligence
E - I	early users, elevator pitch, emerging technology, Empathy, entrepreneurial method, entrepreneurial mindset, entrepreneurial process, entrepreneurial traits, Equity, equity financing, ethical concerns, ethical theory, exit strategy, exponential benefit, extreme users, facial recognition, Facilitator, fed dev, feddev investing, financing plan, find funding, follow up, founding team, funding resources, Fundraising, giving feedback, good story, google analytics, government funding, government program, growth mindset, healthy conflict, HTML, human rights, hypothesis test, IBI program, ideal customer, ideal headline, Improvisation, incorporate, incremental innovation, inelastic demand, Influencer, Innovation, Insights, Interview, Invest, Investor, Investors, Irap
J - Q	journey map, key message, Laws, Lawyer, Leadership, lean canvas, lean startup, legal due diligence, lifetime customer value, LTV, March 31st, market fit, market gap, market segments, marketing funnel, MAU, media prep, media relations, mindfulness meditation, minimum viable product, mission statement, mock up, mockup tools, Morals, nervous system, neuroscience , North star, November 30th offline sales, Opportunity, opportunity screening, origin story, outbound prospecting, pain point, preferred shares, prefrontal cortex, pro bono, problem solution fit, problem solving, problem-solution fit, product-market fit, Prototype, public relations
R - V	qualitative validation, quantitative validation, receiving feedback, Referral, reliability agreement, reoccuring revenue, Resiliency, risk averse, Runway, sales meeting, screening due diligence, self awareness, SEO, Seungsahn, shared economy,shred credits, social contract, social media, social media audit, social media live, social network, stakeholder theory, Stanford school. story telling, strategic partner, Strategy, Sustainability, Take 5 Executive Meditation, talent triangle, target audience, term sheet, the Ask, third party validation, Trust, unique selling proposition, uniquely remarkable, Utilitarianism, validated learning, value creation, value proposition, VC, venture capitalist, venture capitalists, virtue

Topic	Speaker	Category	Tags
Design Thinking	Steven Gedeon	Getting Started	customer-centric, problem-solving, qualitative research, empathy
Design Thinking	David Senior	Getting Started
Opportunity Evaluation	Rafik Loutfy	Getting Started	opportunity, analysis, product-market fit
Why Should I Choose You	Ian Chamandy and Ken Aber	Getting Started	core proposition, strategic partner, uniquely remarkable, core story, business architecture, unique selling proposition
Business Model and Lean Canvas	Sean Wise	Getting Started	validated learning, business model, lean canvas, creative destruction, hypothesis test, disciplined entrepreneurship, venture capitalists, social contract, inelastic demand, value proposition, ARPU, LTV, A/B testing
Bootstrapping	Michael Carter	Getting Started	bootstrapping, cash flow, business plan, pain point, risk averse, social media, exit strategy, talent triangle, business agreement, capital efficient, reoccuring revenue, burn rate, runway, pro bono, incorporate, minimum viable product
Lean Startup Method	Dave Valliere	Getting Started	competitive advantage, business model canvas, lean startup, opportunity screening, customer acquisition, value proposition, prototype, mock up, investors
101 Ways to Successful Failure	Michael Carter	Getting Started	bootstrapping, funding resources
Opportunity Evaluation	Tarek Sadek	Getting Started	opportunity, analysis, product-market fit
Intro to (fear free) code	Mina Mikhail	Prototypes & Tools	HTML, CSS, coding, apps
Mockups to Launch	Amir Jaffari	Prototypes & Tools	landing page, feedback, mockup, email, tools, facebook group, traffic, minimum viable product, google ads, google trends, facebook ads, payment processor, target audience, google analytics, email list
Content Marketing for the Scrappy Entrepreneur	Braveen Kumar	Prototypes & Tools	content marketing resources, marketing funnel, distribution
Startup Social Media Strategy	Brent Stirling	Prototypes & Tools	SEO, content, market segments, competitive analysis, social media audit
Competitor Analysis	Phil Walsh	Strategy & Growth
The Scalable Office	Rustin Smith	Strategy & Growth
Leveraging outsourcing practices: How can startup businesses leverage outsourcing	Waffa Karkukly	Strategy & Growth
Building a Community Around Your Product/Company	Mike Murchison	Strategy & Growth
Growth Hacking from 10,000 to 100,000	Matt Loszak	Strategy & Growth	social network, social media, business development, influencer, google analytics, DAU, MAU
Growing a Startup to 100M in Revenue in Canada	Yona Schtern	Strategy & Growth
Business Planning	Ken Grant	Strategy & Growth
Building a Community Around Your Product/Company	Khierstyn Ross	Strategy & Growth
Entrepreneurial Ethics	Ann Dulhanty	Strategy & Growth	laws, artificial intelligence, business ethics, facial recognition, morals, human rights, deontology, innovation, ethical theory, emerging technology, virtue, utilitarianism, ethical concerns, business models, stakeholder theory, sustainability
Canadian Financing Landscape	Jeff Dennis	Money	invest, VC, CCPC, lawyer, preferred shares, term sheet, deal terms, equity, competitive advantage, fed dev, competitive advantage, lawyer, border investment, crowdfunding, IBI program, convertible debt, C100, canadian startup, investor, equity financing, border investment
Pitching Investors	Sean Wise	Money	elevator pitch, venture capitalist, business plan, exponential benefit, third party validation, 10 magic slides, the Ask, lean canvas, market fit, problem-solution fit, product market fit
Media Pitch Session	Ian Portsmouth, Diane Buckner, & Rob Gerlsbeck	Money
Startup Accounting 1: Bookkeeping	John Love	Money
First Funding	Alan Lysne	Money
Applying for Government Grants	Jennifer MacInnis	Money	business growth, government funding, feddev investing, irap, government program, november 30th, march 31st, april 1st, shred credits, find funding
Managing Investors	Corey Gross	Money
Public Speaking for Entrepreneurs	Mo Waja	Money	authority, foundation building, awareness building, conversion driving, technical credibility, percieved credibility, marketing mix, visual anchor, narrative arc
Social Media Maximization	Jeremy Shtern	Customers	social media
Innovating in Retail	Liz Evans	Customers
Sales 102: USP and Cold Calling	Jason Silver	Customers	unique selling proposition, cold call, follow up, offline sales, mission statement, sales meeting, customer development, North star, referral, ideal customer
Time to Embrace the Power of Storytelling	Mark Evans	Customers	buyer persona, origin story, story telling, ideal customer, buyers journey, target audience, 4 word story, value proposition
Customer Acquisition and Sales Training	Alyshan Kara & Chris Gray	Customers	outbound prospecting, cold calling, buying cycle
PR Fundamentals for Startups	Deb Belcourt	Customers	brand promise, social media, good story, key message, media relations, communication strategy, public relations, ideal headline, brand essence, social media live, media prep
Business Improvisation for Entrepreneurs	Randy Sabourin	Mindset	improvisation, opportunity, leadership, empathy
Mindfulness Meditation for the Entrepreneurial Mindset	David Schlanger	Mindset	mindfulness meditation, self awareness, growth mindset, entrepreneurial mindset, neuroscience, nervous system, prefrontal cortex, resiliency, Take 5 Executive Meditation
Startup Law: 7 Things to Avoid	Kobi Bessin	Operations	intellectual property, vesting, insurance, incorporate, independent contractor, hybrid approach, investors, fiduciary duty, insurance, disclosure agreement, joint venture, sole proprietor, seed financing
Faultless Due Diligence	Michelle McBane	Operations	angel investor, due diligence, fundraising, term sheet, founding team, financing plan, referral, screening due diligence, business due diligence, legal due diligence
IP Best Practices with Big Impact for your Start-up Business	Maya Medeiros	Operations
Startup Insurance	Jennifer Tywhitt Gory and Chris Gory	Operations	defense costs, CGL policy, retroactive date, commercial insurance, business interruption, legal costs, WSIB, professional liability exclusion, commercial general liability, health insurance, private health services plan, life insurance, healthcare spending account (HSA), first dollar defense (FDD), insurance penalty, retroactive date, property insurance, cyber risk, employee benefits, employee dishonesty
Finding Co-Founders	Eric Rafat	Teams	recruiting, landing page, core team, interview, web application, equity portion, value alignment, Founders Canada, resources, job posting, web developer, mock up
How Not to Kill Your Co-Founders: Strategies and Tools for Successful Teamwork	Lillian Blume	Teams	accountability, trust, reliability agreement, conflict, facilitator, agenda, receiving feedback, mission statement, healthy conflict, giving feedback, commitment clarification, communication agreement
7 Relationship Management Imperatives for Startups	Carol Roberts	Teams
Finding Your Founding Team	Cristian Villamarin	Teams
Side Hustles & Startups: Is Entrepreneurship For You?	Sean Wise	Getting Started	customer segment, side hustle, lean canvas, early adopters, business model, insights, customer discovery, investors, competitive advantage, minimum viable product, scale
Setting Up Shopify + Creating Your First Store	Phill Smith	Prototypes & Tools	pixel, budget, campaign, ad set, impression, traffic, business manager, ad account, primary text, scarcity, custom audience, hot traffic, SMART goal, CPM, cold traffic, scale, hard metrics, soft metrics, CTA, KPI, funnel. warm traffic, home page, benchmark, comparison price, search engines, short tail keywords, conversion API, influencer, value proposition, long tail keywords, PAS formula, AIDA formula, AOV
Digital Marketing Trends & Opportunities	Darrell Keezer	Strategy & Growth	strategy, website, social media, campaign, email, users, organic, referral, landing page, chatbot, conversion rate, budget, API, email list, Facebooks ads, traffic, influencer, task management, video asset, lead funnel, target audience, target market, case study, customer acquisition, inbound marketing, outbound marketing
PR Fundamentals for Startups	Joy Yap	Customers	pitch, story, brand, email, key messages, press, blog, website, social media, interview, target audience, proof points, follow up, influencer, beat, contributed articles, PR goals, supporting visuals, business plan, reporter bradning, call to action, Google analytics, value proposition, bootstrapping
The Science of Influencer Identification and Social Listening	Dr. Jaigris Hodson	Prototypes & Tools	social media, campaign, brand, hashtags, micro influencer, offline influencer, bootstrapping, target market, macro influencer, social media audit, trends, Google analytics, public relations, top users, 3 R's, meso influencer, measurement tools, conversion, target audience, niche market