The Tech Startup Sprint Series is a comprehensive, project-based course developed for ESTEEM students seeking hands-on entrepreneurship experience. Designed to immerse students in the heart of venture creation, the program takes them through the process of conceiving, designing, and validating innovative business concepts in response to real market needs. The course emphasizes practical fieldwork and an iterative approach to refining product, market, and business model, guiding aspiring founders toward the pivotal milestone of earning their first dollar of revenue.

Through a partnership with Unusual Academy and Unusual Ventures, five student startups were selected to receive mentorship and support from industry experts, including John Vrionis and the Unusual Ventures team. These ventures had the opportunity to work closely with coaches to develop and pressure-test their business plans, product strategies, and go-to-market approaches.

 

My Role

My passion for learning about technology trends and understanding how startups are built led me to get involved with the ESTEEM Graduate Program as a teaching assistant for the Idea Validation course. In this role, I worked closely with student founders on testing assumptions, validating ideas, and shaping early-stage concepts. Based on my skills in product management and B2B SaaS, I was then selected to partner on their year-long Top Gun program, where I coached and guided student-led startups from ideation through product-market fit.

As a startup coach, I brought my B2B SaaS and digital product management experience to guide student founders in shaping their ventures. I worked with teams to:

• Conduct idea validation and early-stage market research

• Interview and select promising startups to receive mentorship and funding

• Help identify and refine product-market fit through customer discovery

• Develop business plans and refine go-to-market strategies

• Define and design MVPs, ensuring feasibility and customer focus

• Drive early marketing and traction efforts, helping validate user demand

• Provide templates for funding and pitching, preparing teams for investor conversations

• Support founders in identifying product-market fit, ensuring alignment between user needs and product features

 

Impact
Through this engagement, I coached founders from idea to execution, ensuring the right teams received mentorship and resources while strengthening their ability to test, iterate, and scale. This process not only prepared startups for investor pitches but also helped them align closely with user needs and market opportunities. One of our edtech startups is available of Playstore has around 1500+ users monthly.

 

Reflection
This role gave me the opportunity to apply my product and startup background to empower new founders, while also sharpening my own ability to evaluate ideas, test assumptions, and mentor teams through the earliest and most critical stages of venture building.