Category Archives: entrepreneurship

Education, entrepreneurship, pitching

Coaching Startups to Pitch – At the Avatech accelerator in Tehran, Iran!

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Avatech – One of the very first tech startup accelerators in Tehran, Iran

Avatech is a 6 months startup accelerator program that provides entrepreneurs with the necessary ingredients to succeed. We provide aspiring entrepreneurs with mentorship, entrepreneurial training, seed funding and a creative workspace for a period of 6 months. We prepare the teams to get in front of more than a hundred accredited investors to expose their product and receive funding to grow their businesses. – Avatech.ir

As you might already know, I was recently invited to Iran to lecture at the QIAU university and facilitate the world’s largest Startup Weekend event.

Additionally, I’m also here to help my friend Sara Usinger, program manager of one of the very first tech startup accelerators in Tehran, Iran named Avatech, coaching their first cohort on how to pitch properly.

UPDATE: Check this video from Avatech out!

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entrepreneurship, Events

Facilitating the world’s largest Startup Weekend Event – In Tehran, Iran!

5x simultaneous Startup Weekends at 5x universities in Tehran, Iran - The world's LARGEST Startup Weekend event!

5x simultaneous Startup Weekends at 5x universities in Tehran, Iran – The world’s LARGEST Startup Weekend event!

I was super humbled and excited to be invited to facilitate the largest of five SIMULTANEOUS Startup Weekends in Tehran, Iran this week at the Shahid Beheshti University. (Read more on the EPIC world record on the UP Global blog).

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And what an incredible weekend (well, in Iran it was technically in the week as Startup Weekends are not held on weekends here for religious reasons) it was!

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Customer Development, Education, entrepreneurship, Lean Startup

Teaching the Lean Launchpad – in Iran!

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So this just happened: I was invited to hold a lecture at the Qazvin Islamic Azad University (QIAU), one of the most successful and private universities in Iran and one of the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the world according to Wikipedia.

After thinking long and hard about what I should focus on at such a fantastic teaching opportunity, I settled on the introductory part of the Lean Launchpad curriculum called “What We Now Know“.  I think it gives the most bang for the bucks – the chance to introduce anybody to what a startup is, what we have been doing wrong in building them, why and what to do instead in a short, comprehensive and actionable lecture.

Me. On stage. In Iran. Below two Ayatollahs. Teaching the Lean Launchpad curriculum. From Stanford and Berkeley, USA.

So, yeah. That’s me. On stage. In Iran. Below two Ayatollahs. Teaching the Lean Launchpad curriculum. From Stanford and Berkeley, USA. With Farsi translator on stage, right.

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