Learn @ Lunch Pre-Startup Skills
Workshop Topics & Schedule
Our Learn @ Lunch workshop series on pre-startup skills provides a crash course in technological entrepreneurship & innovation. Each workshop (with the exception of workshop #3) allows McGill student participants to receive CCR recognition under the personal and professional development section. You will learn how to select and use the design thinking and lean startup methodologies for enhancing innovation and discover the needs of potential customers. You will also learn about intellectual property, how to analyze competition, and the resources and tools available to you through the McGill's libraries for patent searching and market research. Select one workshop or all, you decide which topic or topics are of interest!
In-person Workshops - Winter 2023
Workshop #1 – Technological Innovation and Entrepreneurship 101
Mar. 7th, 1:00 - 2:00 pm, in-person @ FDA 3
Workshop #1 – Technological Innovation and Entrepreneurship 101This workshop will provide an overview of what technological innovation is and what entrepreneurship is, as well an overview of the Entrepreneurial Mindset, the Lean Launchpad methodology, the Business Model Canvas and the Lean Canvas.
Workshop #2 - Design Thinking Methodology
Mar. 14th, 1:00 - 2:00 pm, in-person @ FDA 3
Workshop #2 - Design Thinking MethodologyThe learning objective of this workshop is to understand the fundamentals of the Design Thinking Methodology and how it promotes innovation.
Workshop #3 – *NEW* Introduction to Industry Analysis
Mar. 21st, 1:00 - 2:00 pm, in-person @ FDA 3
Workshop #3 – *NEW* Introduction to Industry Analysis
This workshop will introduce the fundamental tool of Industry Analysis which companies use for strategy development. For startups, understanding the industry is a critical step in determining market entry and market positioning. The Five Forces Framework will be presented and applied to during an exercise.
Workshop #4 - Market Research and Analysis of Competition
Mar. 28th, 1:00 - 2:00 pm, in-person @ FDA 3
Workshop #4 - Market Research and Analysis of CompetitionThis workshop will provide an overview of the different types of market research, how to analyze the competition, and the resources available at McGill to perform market research. Our market research librarian Amanda Wheatley will walk us through some of those resources using a new market research canvas tool.
Workshop #5 - Foundations of IP and Patent Searching
Apr. 4th, 1:00 - 2:00 pm, in-person @ FDA 3
Workshop #5 - Foundations of IP and Patent Searching This workshop will demystify and explain the various form of intellectual property (IP), namely, patents, industrial designs, copyright, trademarks, and trade secrets. We will then do some actual patent searching with our librarian April Colosimo using the DERWENT worldwide patent database.
Workshop #6 –Customer Discovery
Apr. 11th, 1:00 - 2:00 pm, in-person @ FDA 3
This workshop will provide an overview on the customer discovery process and then delve deeper into how to conduct customer interviews and how to iterate on your business model canvas.
