The Perfect Companion to Our Cohort Programs

Our new workshop series is specifically designed to run alongside and enhance traditional cohort-based programs. These sessions offer the hands-on, timely execution you need to bridge the gap between idea and validate and keep building year-round.

MVP 101: Build to Test

Early-stage founders often struggle to know what to build first. Without clear prioritization, it’s easy to invest time and resources into the wrong things, delaying meaningful learning and traction.

The goal of this session is simple: Turn your idea into something real, without wasting time or money.

What You’ll Learn

  • What to build for your ideal customer and what can wait, building on insights from Discover 101 & 201.
  • How to turn your idea into a testable proof of concept (PoC) that supports early validation.
  • How to leverage simple tools and approaches, including AI and prompting, to move faster and more efficiently.

What You’ll Walk Away With

✔ A clear understanding of the difference between an MVP and a Proof of Concept, and when to use each.

✔ A simple, testable proof of concept that can be immediately used to validate your idea.

✔ A user-centered validation plan that guides your next steps and supports confident decision-making.

📅Wednesday, April 29th, 2026 | 6:00 – 8:00 PM | In-Person at the Platform Innovation Centre

Discover 201: Define Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)

Most founders don’t fail because of their idea → They fail because they build solutions for problems their customers haven't actually identified as priorities.

If you don’t know exactly who your customer is, and who you are as a company, your product, marketing, and sales won’t land.

This workshop helps you fix that.

What You’ll Learn

  • How to differentiate an Early Adopter, an Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) and a User Persona.
  • How to understand your customer’s real motivations and pain points
  • How to align who you are with who you’re trying to reach

What You’ll Walk Away With

A clear and usable Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) hypothesis, focused on early adopters and defining who your customer is, and is not.

✔  A concise problem statement and stronger alignment between your customer, product, and messaging, ensuring a solid foundation for future decisions.

An executable next-step plan to validate your ICP, including a commitment to engage with real customers through targeted interviews.

📅Wednesday, April 22nd, 2026 | 6:00 - 8:00 PM | In-Person at the Platform Innovation Centre

Marketing 101: Messaging That Resonates

You can clearly define your customer — and still struggle to reach them.

Because knowing who they are is only part of the work.

👉 The real challenge is communicating in a way that reflects how they think, what they care about, and how they make decisions.

What You’ll Learn

  • What marketing actually is (and isn’t) in the early stages of building a company
  • How to translate your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) into simple, problem-first messaging
  • How to use lightweight market feedback loops (including AI-supported research) to refine what you say and how you say it

What You’ll Walk Away With

✔ A clear value proposition and core message that feels easy to share

✔ Messaging that reflects both your company values and your customer’s values

✔ The confidence to test and iterate your messaging as your customers evolve

📅Wednesday, May 13th, 2026 | 12:00 - 2:00 PM |Online

These Workshops Are For You If:

  • You have an idea or early product and need clarity on what to build or how to start selling it.
  • You’re actively building (or about to build) and want to avoid wasting time and money on the wrong things
  • You’re feeling stuck — whether that’s overbuilding your product or struggling to get consistent traction
  • You’ve started talking to customers or users but aren’t sure what to do with the feedback
  • You want practical, step-by-step guidance and to leave with something you can actually use right away

Registration & Pricing Options

$25 Non - Members

$25 +gst Single Workshop Seat
Access to any one workshop.

$10 Members

$10 +gst Single Workshop Seat
Access to any one workshop.

Learn more about Platform Membership

Continuous Momentum for Your Founder Journey

Stop guessing and make progress faster.

You can move past the "someday" phase and start making real progress without wasting your limited time or money.

Learn by doing.

These sessions are active working labs where you tackle your real business tasks right then and there.

Leave with a finished business tool.

You won't walk away with just a to-do list; every session ends with a completed task, such as a validated sales script, a product roadmap, or a plan to test your idea with real people.

Get the right help for your specific stage.

Work directly with practitioners who solve real startup problems every day ensuring the content and help you get matches exactly where your business is today.

Additional Workshops Dropping May 2026

The series isgrowing! Be the first to know what is coming next!

You May Also Like:

Discover 101: Is Your Problem Worth Solving?

Knowing your customer enables you to develop products that address their needs, pain points, and preferences, ideally resulting in product-market fit and paying customers!

Platform Pre-Accelerator

A 9-week, in-person pre-accelerator for Calgary tech founders with early traction who want to move beyond theory to structure, accountability, and real execution.
Program Details
Workshop Details
Schedule

Wednesdays | Time of Day & Format Varied (In-person/Online)

Target

Idea to Early Validation

Fees

$25 +gst (Non-members)
$10 +gst (Platform Members)

Location

Varied (In-person/Online)

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