The Discovery Foundation Tech Growth Strategies Course
josh | articles28 Jun 2010
Last Wednesday was the celebration of the end of a fantastic course–the Discovery Foundation Technology Growth Strategies course. The only criteria for admission was, coincidentally, a rather new tech company :)
There I am in the photo at the course completion event. It consisted of a series of workshops and webinars to help new tech companies like CatStatic Interactive, providing guidance and advice from various experts in their own field of business. Over a duration of 6 weeks, 66 hours of workshops and webinars later, lasting relationships and business connections were formed that extended outside of the classrooms. Some of these have evolved into win-win collaborative projects between CatStatic Interactive and other entrepreneurs at the course. Coupled with the knowledge and inspiration imparted to us by the instructors, the experience was simply gold.
Some of the topics that were covered during the course included:
- Target Market Research
- Strategic Growth Development
- Financing the Business
- Financial Forecasting and Cash Flow
- Product Development Strategies
- Business to Business Marketing Strategies
- Intellectual Property
- Presentation Skills and Sales Techniques Scott Armstrong, Director of the Peter Thomson Centre for Venture Development at BCIT School of Business, organized the course – assembling the instructors, recruiting the students and having the course filled up and ready to go in a very limited amount of time. Mark Betteridge, Executive Director and CEO of the Discovery Foundation, funded the course. The mission of the Discovery Foundation aims at “Facilitating Success in the Technology Industry”. They do this by renting out incubation spaces for tech companies and encouraging the creation of business relationships between them. Including a large fitness facility, full scale cafeteria and a proximity to the downtown area, it’s a very tempting place for any new tech company to be.