The 4th week of Madeira Startup Retreat is all about RE-building a Solution, for which we challenged our entrepreneurs to do a Solution Sprint (February 3rd, 4th, and 5th), mentored by Diogo Silva – Grassroots Activist – & Julian Harzheim – Founder of NOVA Creative Hub. It was mostly three days of intense work, but also packed with small intermissions that helped keep their energy and spirits up.
The Sprint started on February 3rd, and Immersion was the word of the day. The startups immersed in their Business’s Vision and Model Canvas, all with the purpose of analyzing and identifying where the main issues lie. To help brainstorm possible solutions, the mentors hosted a World Café in which one member of each startup stayed in their work-space while others went from startup to startup listening to the selected issues and providing examples of other businesses solutions. Those who had the same issues could then overcome them with the inspirational ways provided. After this, it was time to think about how to implement the insights into their own business, in an imagination segment combining all that was learned.
The second day (Feb. 4th) was dedicated to Incubating solutions, by grouping together the imagination ideas from the previous day and then defining eight concepts that map out how each possible solution would look and work. The next step was to gather three of those eight concepts and then present them to their fellow entrepreneurs who promptly gave some feedback. The day ended with building test cards that will allow them to better measure the parameters in which they validate their work.
Finally, day three (Feb. 5th) arrived with a promise of Validation. The startups used their test cards to assess how well the solutions they found seemed to solve the identified issues during the morning. In the afternoon was time to present their results to their fellow startups, both to gather some more feedback and make some specific requests for the newfound solutions.
In the end, it was about more than just finding solutions – it was about learning how to identify and break every barrier put in their way.
Besides being Cristiano Ronaldo’s birthday, on wednesday our mentor Julian also celebrated his! A great opportunity to listen to the Happy Birthday song in different languages and to wrap up the sprint.