EIA Italy: Highlights from the First Week
Italy’s EIA summer program takes place in Turin, and it began on July 7th. Since then, more than 200 of our participants have been working hard to create startups in just 15 days. Curious to know what happened during the first week? Read up on the progress report below!
Day 0: Meet & Greet
Time to start! Participants had the chance to discover the venue and meet people from all over the world. It’s also the day on which teams were formed and participants got ready to buckle down for the weeks ahead.
Day 0 is also a major practice session for networking and communication. See all pictures here.
Day 1: Team Formation and Ideation
With the teams formed, participants set about identifying empty, yet viable market spaces. These spaces represented the customer needs they would be seeking to address with new startups. After that, all five members of each team brainstormed concrete ways of meeting those needs. Day One was also the participants’ first opportunity to get inspired by keynotes from Anni Sinijärv, CEO of EIA; Rick Rasmussen from UC Berkeley; and Klaus Busse, Head of Design FIAT.
Then, after a long day of work, it was time for some refreshments and a little preliminary networking!
Check all pictures of day 1 here.
Day 2: The Problem-Solution Fit
The goal of Day Two was to find a problem-solution fit. Teams researched industry trends and listed potential competitors. It was also a day to define unique values and any competitive advantages the startups might have.
Matteo Antony Mistretta, Founder & CEO of Ingloriouz Coders; Frederico Mammano, Co-Founder of Teaching Entrepreneurship; and Andrea Roberto Bifulco, Director of Grindr, empowered participants with more keynote speeches.
Pic Gallery here.
Days 3 & 4: Customer Development and Customer & Problem Validation
Thinking about the product-market fit was the main goal of Day Three. To make this happen, participants had to work on the design of their customer persona and prepare an interview that was essential to the next day’s activities.
On the main stage, Peter Sisson, CEO & Founder of Yaza; Diana Dentinger, Entrepreneurial Coach; and Jeffery D. Abbot, General Partner at Wasabi Ventures Global, brought some amazing insights to our participants.
On Day Four, it was time to hit the streets of Turin and talk to at least five potential customers. This was a fun day where everyone got to test their ideas and explore the city.
Check Day 3 and Day 4 galleries.
Day 5: Prototyping & Solution Validation
After Day Four’s customer testing, Day 5 was dedicated to creating a Customer Journey and validating an initial solution using a paper prototype.
Prototyping is an essential stage in the startup design process. To help with this task, teams have a design mentor from Day Five onward.
This is a very exciting day not only for participants but faculty members and mentors; it’s when everyone in the program starts seeing the business ideas coming to life!
On the main stage, participants could attend keynote sessions with Nina Stanley, Chief Creative Officer of MOD; and Ali El Amrani, Founder of Ibitiquar – Innovation Lab.
Pictures of Day 5 here.
Day 6: Digital Prototype & Marketing Strategy
By now, the teams had created paper prototypes and received feedback from mentors and potential customers. On Day Six, it was time to “digitize” and improve the prototypes. These new digital versions were essential to the day’s other priority: Development of marketing strategies.
Participants had the opportunity to attend keynote speeches from Karin Salu, UX Analyst at Nortal; Mari-Liss Karsten, UX/UI Designer at Nortal; and Gilles de Clerk, Founder and Growth Strategist of Ablaze Growth Studio.
Day 6 gallery here.
Day 7: Startup Expo
Day Seven is a big day in the EIA Summer Program: Startup Expo Day! Participants got to pitch their ideas not only to mentors and faculty members but to external visitors.
The teams presented ideas, industry trends, and technical solutions for critical feedback.
Day Seven is also when participants launched their individual websites or landing pages to pull in real customers for their products. Check pictures of day 7 here.
On the first day, participants had only a brief idea of what to do. Day by day, products are becoming a reality. Over the course of the second week, the teams will be taking things to the next level.
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