VentureVilla Accelerator Mastermind Moderator
Led a cohort of German startups through a 14-week program of intensive mastermind sessions , focused on helping founders develop their ventures and their selves.
VentureVilla Accelerator
VentureVilla is a startup hub and accelerator, based in Hannover, Germany. It is supported by the city, regional, and state government, and they run a 100-Day Accelerator Program that supports, develops and promotes startups in the local ecoysystem.
What They Needed
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VentureVilla was looking for a facilitator for their Mastermind Sessions: weekly virtual mentoring sessions in parallel with their 100-Day Accelerator Program. Typically, their program had a focus on the Hannover region, but this particular batch had a high amount of participants from around Germany, including Hamburg and Berlin.
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VentureVilla was seeking a profile with direct experience in entrepreneurship, as well as experience on the mentorship and facilitation side. The combination of first-hand experience as a founder, along with the years of experience with accelerators, and working as a startup consultant & mentor proved to be invaluable.
How We Collaborated
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There were 14 consecutive Mastermind Sessions, which took place virtually via Miro and video conference calls, lasting 2 hours per session. There were four startups in my batch, and each week I took them through a different entrepreneurship topic, providing personalized insights and feedbacks to each specific startup, and to the group altogether. Each session was very inclusive, hands-on and dynamic, allowing for flexibility to adapt the session based on their needs.
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As Mastermind Moderator, I led the startups through a development program during these sessions. I would present challenges to do in between sessions, and we would address their progress on these challenges and topics in each subsequent session, while also supporting them in the next topic to help them with their startup. We covered a range of topics including USP & Value Proposition, Brand Claim & Positioning, Product/Market Fit, Business Model, Operations, Marketing, and Investment.
The Results
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The startups in my batch displayed measurable, tangible growth throughout the program. All startups in the batch entered the market, and obtained customers. At least one startup successfully raised capital, and at least one startup is profitable. My input was well received, both in the practical implementation, as well as the enthusiasm and appreciation for my personalized care I gave to each entrepreneur.
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Building startups is incredible hard and high risk, but at the minimum the byproduct of the Mastermind Sessions was a display of gratitude for the learnings during the program. The knowledge they gained serves as a foundation for their venture, or any future venture on their entrepreneurial journey. This helped them make less mistakes, and ultimately gave them a better chance a success, faster.
Niklas Engemann | Program & Partnerships Manager @ VentureVilla Accelerator
