The Mentor Book

THE
MENTOR
BOOK
A resource kit for Ustvarjalnik/U.School mentors
written by
Matija Goljar
founder of Ustvarjalnik
No reproduction or distribution is allowed without the express permission of Ustvarjalnik/U.School.

DEAR U.SCHOOL / USTVARJALNIK MENTOR
___________________________________________________________
“People are always blaming their circumstances for

what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The
people who get on in this world are the people who get
up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they
can't find them, make them.”
- George Bernard Shaw
For the past eight years we have been helping youngsters make their first steps in
business because of a firm belief that everyone should have the opportunity to
create a life they want.
Our mission was to teach them how to earn a living by doing what they love. If we
could do that, they will figure out the rest. So far, over 4.500 students have taken
part in our program, most of them exceeding our wildest expectations.
This would not be possible without the dedication of our mentors, who have taken
upon themselves to be the positive role models this generation of youngsters needs
to be successful.
Our mentors share a belief in their students' ability to create a world where nobody
is bound by circumstance.
They have the discipline and thoughtfulness required to be role models for a
generation unsure about the future ahead.
They value integrity, resolve and passion - and they are working to pass those values
to others.
And most importantly, they desire to give something back to the community by
helping those who are only starting their careers.
We have no doubt that you share these ideals, and we are proud that you have
joined our movement.
Welcome to the Ustvarjalnik family.

Matija Goljar, founder
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
___________________________________________________________
For the contributions to the content of this mentor book

and the methodologies we use, a sincere thank you to
the people listed below. Without them, it would not be
possible to create it.
BANKS BENITEZ, former head of mentorship, Unreasonable Institute

TEJU RAVILOCHAN, co-founder and CEO, Unreasonable Institute
PASCAL FINETTE, CEO, Singularity University Labs
MIKE RIOSS, founder, 17Triggers
CHIP HEATH, author of Made To Stick
TOM CHI, former head of Google X
ERIC GLUSTROM, founder and president, Watson University
GEORGE DERISO, professor of Entrepreneurship, University of Colorado
JERNEJ PANGERŠIC, head of mentorship, Ustvarjalnik
NIK LORBEG, former head of mentorship, Ustvarjalnik
MARA STEIU, founder and CEO, Lurnia
KARMEN ŠPILJAK, trainer for non-formal education, Slovene youth council
SIMONA MURŠEC, author of training methodologies, Council of Europe
ALJAŽ OSETIČ, head of Mentorship, Ustvarjalnik
TJAŠA BAN, founder and COO, Protocamel
With deep gratitude also to the entire management

team of Ustvarjalnik and the Ustvarjalnik community at
large for the support during the creation of this
document.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
___________________________________________________________
1. About Ustvarjalnik / U.School

A brief introduction to Ustvarjalnik / U.School and the reason this program
has been founded. The values of our community and our mission explained.
2. The goal of the program
Why are we doing this and what do we expect from every mentor in the
program. A list of concrete goals for the mentors and the clubs.
3. The lesson plan
A description of the year-long program with a concrete plan for every lesson
that the mentors will deliver in class together with all the necessary materials.
4. Supporting the young entrepreneurs outside the clubs
An outline of the activities in Ustvarjalnik/U.School that complement the
curriculum: the events and follow-on mentorship.
5. Tips for good mentorship
Some additional materials about mentoring young startup teams and
guidelines to be a great mentor.
6. Maintaining relations with schools and companies
Guidelines how to maintain good relations with the host schools and
companies that finance the clubs.
7. Logistics and reporting
Requirements for the mentors: how to stay in touch with the headquarters
and how to keep us informed about the developments in your club.
PART ONE:
ABOUT
USTVARJALNIK
(or) U.SCHOOL
"We are currently not planning on conquering the

world."
- Sergey Brin
OUR VALUES
___________________________________________________________
Our purpose is to teach high school students how to earn

a living by doing what they love. To achieve this, we
follow a set of seven values:
1. Be laid back.
Mentors, youngsters, guests and everyone else in the Ustvarjalnik/U.School
family are working towards a friendly, open and informal environment. This is
the centerpiece of our community.
2.Be growing.
We are always challenging each other to take on more and more daring
projects, to look for new knowledge and help each other to achieve our
goals. We believe in the success of each other.
3.Be open.
Our activities are available to anyone who would like to jump into the
entrepreneurship world. We willingly share our ideas, knowledge and
experience with everyone.
Our work is transparent and open to all.
4. Be daring.
We know that to succeed, sometimes we must play by our rules. We live in
an ever-changing world that demands from us to be adaptable.
5. Be responsible.
We know that everything we do has consequences. We are always trying to
represent our movement and ourselves in the best way possible.
6. Be humble.
We know that our journey is only at the beginning and that we do not have
all the answers. We are happy to listen to the opinion of others and
constantly work to learn from the feedback we receive.
7. Have impact.
Everything we do must have a positive impact on the world around us. We
are always very strict when it comes to measuring the results of our work and
always try to do this as objectively as possible.
ALWAYS FOCUS ON THE YOUTH
___________________________________________________________
Whatever we do, our work is always dedicated towards the

young adults we try to impact.
Ustvarjalnik/U.School is a social business. Social, because our purpose is creating a
positive impact for the society, not profit. And a business, because the only way we
can create lasting impact if we can finance our programs.
The bigger we get, the larger the pressure to work towards more revenues and
spend more time focusing on income than on impact. This is completely normal, at
the end of the day we must survive.
But despite this it is our philosophy that income comes out of impact, not the other
way around.
There are a lot of things written in the mentor book about things that increase our
profits and streamline our operations and they are important. But the most
important thing is the experience of the students and the impact we can have on
their lives and we should not compromise on that.
WHY WE DO THIS
___________________________________________________________
The young generation in high schools today is not happy. They are afraid of the
future. There is a shortage of jobs and there is a general pessimism in the sociaty.
Despite this ambitious individuals are proving that you can succeed if you have a
clear goal and work hard.
This generation is standing at the edge of a cliff. The world around them is
completely different from the one in which their parents grew up. Success is
determined by completely different things today than in the past. If it was enough to
have knowledge about an area thirty years ago, today you need to create something
new with the knowledge you have in order to be successful. If you could get a job
twenty years ago by simply knowing the right person, today you need to show much
more. If it was enough to invent something ten years ago, today one needs to sell
this invention to prosper.
But if we take a step back, we can see that this generation has some incredible
opportunities. An interconnected world that is made possible by new technology
allows nearly anyone to find his or her place and contribute. It is completely possible
to turn a hobby into a company today and earn a living by doing what you love.
Decades ago the key thing holding the people who want to start a business back was
a lack of capital. Today, things are different. A business can be started with a laptop
and an internet connection. The main thing holding people back today is a lack of
sales knowledge and business skills. This is why most people do not believe they can
start a business.
Those who were fortunate enough to achieve their first success gained an
experience that showed them things can be done. They will be willing to try again
and have the courage to persevere.
The role of U.School/Ustvarjalnik is to help students to take this first step.
The easiest way to achieve this is to create a community of youngsters who are all
working towards their first success. That way they will help each other and offer
support, advice and connections. Our work is therefore dedicated towards creating a
community of individuals that believe they can shape their future by their actions.
If we do this long enough, our family will grow from generation to generation. That
way, we will be able to offer even more support to our youngsters and create a
critical mass that will create a positive change in our society.
THE ORANGE HOODIE
___________________________________________________________
“The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be

kindled.”
- Plutarch
THE MENTOR HOODIE IS THE SYMBOL OF U.SCHOOL/

USTVARJALNIK. IT CELEBRATES THE EFFORTS OF THE
MENTORS WHO ARE INSPIRING OTHERS. IT SIGNIFIES A
COMMITMENT TO LIVE THE VALUES OF OUR MOVEMENT.
The tradition of the orange hoodie started at the first national event of
our programs. 200 students were supposed to gather. We decided that
the mentors should stand out somehow to prevent chaos, and selected
orange hoodies.
In the years to come, the hoodie (and the orange color in general)
became our symbol, something that general public associates with us.
Students looked up to mentors and often asked if they can get the
hoodies. The hoodie became a tradition that connects members of our
community.
Each new mentor will be issued an orange hoodie, as an unofficial

uniform. Nobody else can get it or buy it. Mentors are awarded their
hoodies at the beginning of their mentorship career. International
mentors receive the hoodies at the kickoff event of the year in their
respective countries while mentors from Slovenia receive theirs at the
annual Startup Weekend. Traditionally, the founder awards them
personally.
RULES CONCERNING THE MENTOR HOODIE:
1. The mentor has to wear (or bring, if it is the summer) his/her

hoodie to any Ustvarjalnik/U.School event he/she attends.
2. Only Ustvarjalnik/U.School mentors are allowed to wear the
hoodie.
3. You may not give the hoodie to someone else or sell it.
4. The mentor should never lose their hoodie. Our students have
made several attempts at stealing them. A mentor that looses the
hoodie is not issued a replacement.
PART TWO:
THE GOAL
OF THE PROGRAM
"All the experts are experts on the things that were.

There are no experts on the things that will be. To be a
true expert about the future, vision must replace
experience "
- David Ben Gurion
OUR GOAL DURING THE YEAR
___________________________________________________________
We expect every student that takes part in our program

to get a true taste of turning a hobby or passion into a
business. We hope that if they do this once already while
in high school, they will always be able to do it again.
That way, they will be prepared for the future.
THERE ARE SOME MEASURABLE GOALS FOR EVERY CLUB AND

EVERY STUDENT TO ACCOMPLISH WHILE IN THE PROGRAM:
1. Every entrepreneurship club should develop at least one

business
The only way to learn how to do a business is by actually doing it. The
curriculum is set up to offer students the opportunity to get their hands dirty:
which is not possible if they do not settle on an idea and actually pursue it.
There can be more than one idea per club, of course.
2. Every student should take part in a startup team
Every student should take part in a startup team. Only that way can the
students get the full learning outcome from the clubs. The mentor should
encourage them to take part in a team, or form their own.
3. The teams should earn at least one euro in revenues
We hope the teams will not just theorize about their products but actually
make them happen. This is why we want them to show some traction - actual
pre-orders, revenues or partnership deals. Traction achieved will be the main
judging criteria for the end-of-year competition.
4. Every team should take part in the end-of-year
competition
The end-of-year competition takes place in July. Teams compete for the grand
prize: a study visit to Silicon Valley. The competing teams will present a 4-
minute pitch in English to a panel of experts in the fields of entrepreneurship
and answer their questions.
5. To be eligible to compete, teams must submit their
pitches and one-pagers before the contest
Every team that wants to compete must submit a one-page description of
their project together with their presentation ahead of the contest. A deadline
will be published on the competition website prior to the event.
ADDITIONAL EDUCATIONAL GOALS
___________________________________________________________
The curriculum of the clubs is designed to help students learn how to start a
business, but this is only a vessel for broader learning to happen. The educational
goals we pursue in the clubs are the following:
• Teaching students to be self-starters, so they understand that nothing will

happen without their direct efforts
• Teaching students about the importance of perseverance, as it is impossible
to achieve anything without making an effort
• Teaching students how to think adaptively and find other, novel solutions to
existing problems
• Teaching students to think big, because they can achieve more than they
think, but they will never achieve what they do not attempt
• Teaching students about the resources that are available to them in today's
world like access to information and a globally connected world and
technologies that are free or almost free
• Teaching students proper communication techniques and how to connect
with experts that can help them in their path
• Teaching students to embrace failure and adopt a growth mindset that takes
every experience as an opportunity to learn
• Teaching students to be creative and be able to find opportunities in every
scenario
Our fundamental belief is that despite all the pessimism in the world today, this
generation is still firmly in control of their circumstance, provided that they step up
and work for their goals. The entrepreneurship club is a reminder for the students to
make the most of themselves.
To teach this, we believe students must be taken on a journey where they achieve
their first real business success, as this will give them self-confidence, which is
instrumental for their further efforts, motivating them for next steps, which in turn
builds their grit and perseverance.
Mentors should ensure that students:
• Go through the activities set in the firs section of the curriculum and get
excited about the prospect of turning their passion into a source of income
(in other words, starting a business)
• Start a business that is connected with their hobby or passion, as that will be
the best proof that they are in control of their circumstance
• Achieve a measurable success during the year they spend in the
entrepreneurship club. This can be anything like making a first sale, meeting a
big investor or making a partnership deal. In other words, they should
achieve some sort of validation of their work. This, more than anything else,
will prove to them they are capable of achieving what they desire and will
build their confidence.
BY THE END OF THE YEAR, THE MENTOR SHOULD
ACHIEVE THE FOLLOWING:
___________________________________________________________
 Get every student to write a letter about their ambitions

in the next 10 years
 Get every student to sell something to a random stranger
 Get every student to take part in at least one event either
organized by Ustvarjalnik/U.school or in the
entrepreneurship community
 Get every student to start an idea journal and fill it with
business ideas that are interesting
 Get every student to understand the business canvases -
the path of developing a business idea
 Get every student involved in a startup team and
experience the process of product development
 Get every team connected with an outside mentor and
facilitate the relationship so they stay in touch until the
conclusion of their project
 Teach every student how to get in touch with anyone
they want through email by requesting introductions
 Create a one-pager with the team where they describe
what they are working on
 Learn how to create an effective presentation about their
project
 Bring the entire group to the end-of-year conference and
take part in the competition
 Reflect on the lessons learned and understand what they
have achieved
 Invite the participants to the Ustvarjalnik/U.school
summercamp
PART THREE:
THE
LESSON
PLAN
"Do. Or do not. There is no try."

- Yoda
THE 2019/20 LESSON PLAN OVERVIEW
___________________________________________________________
The purpose of the year is to give the students their first

taste of business and facilitate the process of launching
their very first venture. Thus they will have the skills and
knowledge necessary to do it again later.
SECTION ONE: THE ENTREPRENEURIAL MINDSET

Lesson # Content
1 Introduction of the clubs and the mentor
The mentor introduces him/herself and outlines the expectations for the entire
year. The students discuss what they hope to achieve this year.
2 Club member bonding exercise
An exercise where students share their stories to connect the team and to create a
positive team dynamic and an open space for future work.
3 Leaning into fear
The students go out and try to take a selfie with the Mayor. The reason for this is to
lose their anxieties about approaching people and learning that they can achieve
what they set out to do.
4 Team building exercise
The students do an activity called Mission Impossible, challenging them to work
together, coordinate and communicate effectively as a team. In this lesson they
learn about effective teamwork and clear communication.
5 Just ask!
The students go out of the classroom to try and sell a box of cookies. Through that
they lose their fear of selling to strangers and learn basic principles of persuasion.
6 The Daring Greatly game
A profound activity that challenges the students' fears and prepares them for
failure. By the end of the class the students will accept failure as a normal part of
running a business (and life).
7 Completing the mission
The students will discuss what they have learned in the first section of the
entrepreneurship club and complete it by sending themselves a letter from 10 years
in the future from a position of success. This will help them think about their
personal life goals.
SECTION TWO: EXPLORING BUSINESS
Lesson # Content
8 The world today
The students will examine how the business world works today and do an activity
called Future Mapping where they will try to predict upcoming trends to be able to
prepare for them. The students will also start their own idea books - journals where
they write down their own business ideas.
9 Business models
The students will examine some of the more interesting businesses in existence
today and will do an exercise trying to come up with new ideas of their own based
on the ones they have seen.
10 How things start
The students will have an in-depth look at how major companies start and learn the
basic principle of starting a business of your own: starting small and iterating. They
will do an activity that forces them to adopt an iterative mindset.
SECTION THREE: UNDERSTANDING MONEY AND FINANCE

Lesson # Content
11 Teentrepreneur #1
The students will learn about personal finance management through the use of a
mobile game called Teentrepreneur. They will learn how to manage cash flow.
12 Teentrepreneur #2
The students will continue learning about finance, now putting the knowledge into a
business context. They will learn how to set the price for their work.
SECTION FOUR: IDEA GENERATION

Lesson # Content
13 Problems we can solve
In this lesson the students will go through an activity that will generate a large
number of business ideas. The students will gain an understanding about business
ideas in general and will be able to look for promising ideas connected to their
hobbies.
14 What is a promising idea
The students will examine business ideas they have generated in the past lessons
and will learn how to assess them to see which show enough promise to consider
developing.
15 Deciding on a good idea
The mentor will lead a discussion where the group will select ideas they will work on
and execute during the rest of the year.
SECTION FIVE: WRITING IT OUT AND TESTING IT
Lesson # Content
16 Defining the idea
The students develop their business ideas with the use of a simple business model
canvas asking them about the customer segments they are serving and the
problems they are solving.
17 Will anyone want it
The students go outside the class and talk to potential customers to see if their
business idea makes sense. They learn how to conduct user interviews.
18 Is it worthwhile to pursue this
The students assess the size of the market and do basic unit economics on their
proposed idea to learn if it is something that can be sustainable. They decide to
iterate or persevere with the proposed idea.
19 Rapid prototyping
The students conduct a short activity that teaches them about the iterative mindset.
Afterwards they are challenged to develop a quick and dirty prototype of their
proposed solution and present it to the potential customers. That way they can
confirm if their idea has potential.
20 Product story
Based on the learnings in the interview process the students further develop their
idea by conducting an activity called Product Journey. They create a storyline about
the entire interaction of the user with their proposed solution to define it in detail.
21 Presenting our idea
The students craft a basic pitch about their idea, which will be useful for them as
they will be attracting outside help to actually build the product.
SECTION SIX: PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

Lesson # Content
22 Strategic roadmap
The students need to develop their product, which will take time and a lot of effort.
This is why the mentor works with them to develop a timeline and a roadmap of
next steps for them to follow.
23 Following up
The students will learn how to follow up with the people they have met at the past
events (the startup weekend) so they will stay in touch. By doing this they will learn
how to maintain strong relationships with prospective mentors and supporters from
the startup community.
24 Getting connected with outside mentors
The students will be tasked to get in touch with an expert in the field of their
interest and learn how to connect with them and get introductions. Their task will
be to get in touch with a famous person via email.
SECTION SEVEN: TOPICS NOT IN SEQUENCE
Lesson # Content
25 Guest lecture
This is a lesson that is not bound into the timeline of the year - it is left open for the
mentor to invite an outside guest speaker. The students will get a chance to meet
with an experienced entrepreneur who will share his/her story with them.
26 Open topic for the mentor to prepare
The mentor will have the chance to prepare a topic of his/her interest to the class.
This can be done at any point during the year. Alternatively, this is the time for the
students to visit a local startup company.
SECTION EIGHT: PRESENTING THE STORY

Lesson # Content
27 The story of your venture
The students will work on presenting their startup in the most compelling way
possible by creating a short, up to 5-sentence-long "elevator pitch" about their
venture. This will be useful for communicating to the outside world.
28 Preparing a one-pager
The students will prepare a 1-page overview of their business, which they can share
with their partners, mentors or prospective funders. This will also be published in
our publications and serves as the ticket for the end-of-year competition.
29 Crafting the pitch
The students will create a 4-minute presentation with slides - the pitch. They will
learn about the best way to present their business to investors or partners.
30 Public speaking 101
The mentor will work with the students on their public speaking skills. They will
learn basic tricks to deliver a compelling performance on stage.
SECTION NINE: CONCLUSION OF THE YEAR

Lesson # Content
31 Reflection on what have we learned
In this lesson the students will go through an activity to reflect on the key learnings
of the year and wrap up the experience of the year.
32 Last farewells
The mentor will take the students to drinks to celebrate the end of a successful year.
Together they will take a look at the future ahead.
FACILITATING THE CURRICULUM
___________________________________________________________
Running an interactive class is very different from giving

a lecture or traditional mentorship. It requires a specific
skillset and a different approach
LEARNING BY DOING IS THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY OF

IMPARTING KNOWLEDGE. THE JOB OF A FACILITATOR IS TO
GUIDE THE PARTICIPANTS THROUGH AN EXPERIENCE THAT
WILL LEAVE THEM WITH NEW INSIGHTS.
There are many workshop-type activities prepared for the mentors in

the lesson plan. All of them require from the mentor to be a facilitator
and guide the participants one step at a time through an experience
that will leave them an insight about a particular aspect of business.
Know, that the experiences themselves do not teach anything. Only

when they are put into context, when we ask ourselves "what have we
learned" do we really learn.
It is the job of the facilitator to bring the participants to the desired

insights. The activity should merely be something that kicks off a
discussion about the subject and the students should come to new
realizations and insights based on their real experience.
TIPS FOR GREAT FACILITATION:

• Give very clear instructions. Nothing ruins an activity quicker than
participants not knowing what to do.
• After you gave the instructions, ask everyone questions like "do we
understand each other?" "do you know what you need to do?" "are we
ready?" to make sure everyone is on the same page.
• Explain the reason for this activity. Sometimes participants will feel this is a
game, so you should set the context.
• Be very mindful of time. If you run out of time, the activity will not make
sense. Come prepared with a stopwatch.
• Any activity is worthless without a discussion afterwards, because learning
only happens later
• At the end of the discussion it is the job of the facilitator to wrap things up
and re-state the important learnings. This should be done using the words:
"we have come to a conclusion" - acknowledge that this was a shared
learning experience.
Lesson number: 1 / 32
Curriculum section: Getting to know each other
Topic of the lesson: Introductions and expectations
What is the purpose of this lesson?

What concretely does the mentor want to achieve in this session? What educational outcome is expected?
Introduce the entrepreneurship clubs and the outline of the year, introduce yourself as a mentor,
define expectations of the participants, set goals for the year (we will start our first business and
present it at the end-of-year conference)
What is needed to complete this lesson? Resources, pre-planning, etc...

A checklist of things that a mentor needs to have or prepare before he/she enters the classroom.
Time in this lesson is set aside to fill out the club membership forms. The mentor should come to the
lesson with enough forms for everyone, and collect them afterwards.
The mentor should bring a package of post-it notes (about 5 notes per participant is sufficient)
Outline of the lesson

An outline of the course of the lesson - how to run it and what activities to do.
Step One: The mentor warmly welcomes everyone to the entrepreneurship club. He/she takes the
time to individually say hello to everyone and then asks the class to make themselves comfortable. This
should not look like a regular school class with strict discipline, rather a friendly gathering.
Step Two: The mentor starts with a short introduction of himself/herself. This can be brief, no longer
than 2-3 minutes (a more detailed introduction will happen in lesson 2). Then the mentor distributes
the post it notes and asks for them to write:
• On the first post-it note they should write why are they here
• On the next couple of notes (1-3, as much as they like) they should write what are their
expectations for this club/this year
• On the last note they should write what are their fears/reservations or anxieties
MENTOR NOTE: It is very important that the mentor leads this activity in a very structured way. Do this
one step at a time. You can say something like: "First, take the post-it notes. Now, on the first note,
write why you are here. Everyone done? OK, I will now take this and put it on the whiteboard. On the
second note, write what are your expectations. Yes, you can use more than one note. Done? Cool, I will
take those too and put them on the whiteboard...
After this is complete the group posts these on the whiteboard/wall or appropriate. The mentor briefly
comments on these, and generally uses this as a starter for the explanation of the way the
entrepreneurship clubs will take place during the year.
Step Three: The mentor explains briefly how the year will look like and what is the general agenda.
He/she tells the team that the purpose of the clubs is to give the students a chance to try their hands at
business for the first time. The students will start their first venture, hopefully earn their first revenue
and through that learn a lot of useful skills. The most important things that need to be mentioned are:
• Clubs will convene once per week for 1-2 hours. If there are any issues about timing, they should
be resolved now and then everyone should stick to the agenda.
• A method of direct communication should be agreed upon between the mentor and the
participants (if the school is closed because of a field trip, or if the mentor cannot make it that
week)
• The mentor should take time to outline the year and the curriculum so participants know what
to expect: First two months are set aside for training "soft" skills with practical challenges like
those from the TV show The Apprentice, then we will have a look at the way businesses and
startups work today and start work on our own business ideas. The main part of the
entrepreneurship clubs is the development of the first idea - by actually making a prototype and
trying to achieve first sales. Lastly, the projects will be presented at the end-of-year conference,
which will take place in Ljubljana, Slovenia. A winner will be selected and the winning team will
be awarded by an all-expenses-paid trip to Silicon Valley to see Google, Facebook, Stanford,
Apple and similar companies.
• There will be a startup weekend organized in March when all the clubs will convene to work
together on their prototype and present them to a panel of investors.
• The questions most often asked by the students are: "can we work on our own business idea
here" (YES), and "can we keep the money we earn" (YES).
Step Four: Lastly, all the participants should fill out their sign up sheets and the mentor should collect
those and send them to our office for archive. If students ask if their friends may join, they are very
welcome.
Tips for the mentor

What are the key things you need to be aware of when you are conducting this lesson so it will be successful?
This is the first lesson and it is mostly logistical. The mentor should emphasize that the real work will
start next week.
Students decide whether to take part in an extra-curricular activity based on the first few meetings.
Therefore the mentor must make an extra effort early on to be friendly and present the club in an
engaging way.
The students will enjoy the fact that the sessions are informal. They are used to very stiff discipline in
school and deviating from this standard a bit is highly effective.
Topic of the lesson: Team bonding exercise

To achieve optimal group dynamics, the participants and the mentor should spend some time to get to
know each other. This is particularly important for our clubs, because the participants will work
together to start an actual business.

Colored pens or markers, Post-it notes, sheets of paper (ideally flipchart sheets, but regular paper torn
out of a notebook works well too)

To work effectively together team members need to build relations, show trust, and be open with each
other. To achieve this, we will utilize a method that supports those things through a process of
structured storytelling. Team members answer questions related to their childhood, young adulthood,
and now; then weave them into a story to share with the rest of their team.
Step One: Explain the purpose of the exercise. That trust and openness in teams is important for
effective working relationships. By sharing personal stories we are going to build those relationships.
Let them know that nobody should feel like they have to share anything they don’t want to.
MENTOR NOTE: It is very important to create a safe and inviting space since individuals will share
personal stories. In some cases, individuals may share experiences that generate emotion in themselves
and/or within the group. As a facilitator, remind participants that this is normal and welcome. If
individuals become very emotional, follow-up with them individually after the session.
Step Two: Ask the participants to take three different colors of post-its and a pen. Then to spread out
across the room and find a space where they are comfortable. Explain that there will be three rounds of
questions. Each round will last about 5-7 minutes. They will write down answers to the questions, one
per post-it.
Step Three: The first round is about childhood. Choose one color post-it and write down your
answers. Don’t think too much:
• Think of a situation where you felt happy

• A person that meant a lot to you.
• A situation where you changed; where you got a new view of yourself or of the world.
(Optionally, other similar questions...)
Step Four: The second round is about your young adulthood. Pick a new color of post-it and think
about:
• A passion that fulfilled you.

• A situation or person who made you grow.
• A situation where you were challenged.
Step Five: The final round focused on now. Choose a new color, and write down:
• A driving force in your life at the moment.

• A situation where you learned you have a talent.
• A failure that you learned something from - private, professional or in school.
Step Six: Give the group a few minutes to review their post-its and to organize them on a flip-chart or
their piece of paper however they choose. They can use a marker to add words or symbols. They don’t
have to use all of them, but they should try to make it engaging and visual.
Let them know that they will each have 4 minutes to tell their story.
Step Seven: When everyone is ready or the time is up, gather the group into a horseshoe. Invite the
participants to share their stories at the front, one at a time. If you have time you can invite the group
to ask questions after each story.
MENTOR NOTE: To ease the tension and to set an example, the mentor should share his/her story as
well. That way everyone learns something new about each other.
Tips for the mentor

This exercise serves two purposes: the first is to create a friendly environment within the club, and the
second is for the mentor to learn a lot about the students. Particular attention should be paid to their
skills, accomplishments or passions, because those will serve as the basis for business ideas later.
This lesson is relatively long, especially if you have a lot of participants. Be very mindful of time.
Curriculum section: Soft skills
Topic of the lesson: Leaning into fear

This is the first lesson dealing with soft skills. The major challenge aspiring entrepreneurs need to
overcome is daring to do something that seems scary or impossible. Therefore this lesson is meant to
show that most things are very possible: if you know how to do it.

This lesson takes place outside of the classroom. Some schools might be very conservative about this
and it is a good idea to talk to a teacher or principal beforehand to notify them.

This week's activity is a very traditional lesson that we do in Ustvarjalnik/uSchool: take a selfie with the
mayor.
MENTOR NOTE: This is the first challenge participants will need to overcome. Take the time to explain
why we are doing this and the importance of leaning into fear and motivate them to at least try. Your
goal is that at the end of the lesson students will say: "This was very easy, we only had to try" Everyone
should attempt this and your biggest success will not be if the majority accomplishes the task, but if
everyone tries. Failure is OK, not trying is not. It is the role of the mentor to encourage everyone to at
least try.
Step One: Start by telling the participants the story of Tom Sawyer and the fence. Tom ran away from
home and he needed money. He convinced someone to pay him to paint a fence. Instead of doing this
himself, he pretended in front of his friends that this is the best job in the world, and soon enough,
others wanted to try. He let them only if they paid him for the privilege. He ended up not doing any
work and getting paid twice. This type of ingenuity is sometimes needed; particularly in the world of
startups.
Step Two: Tell the participants that they will now need to show some of Tom Sawyer's skills and
talent. They have one hour, they need to go outside and get a selfie with the Mayor. Reinforce that you
are not kidding: the actual Mayor, right now, without an appointment. They can tell him/her whatever
they wish, and they need to come back before the lesson is out with picture proof that they were there.
If the Mayor is not in the city hall their first option is to try and find him/her, and if that is not practical,
they should take a picture sitting behind his/her desk.
MENTOR NOTE: It might happen that it is not really possible for them to complete this task (for
example your club meeting might take place in the evening when nobody works in City Hall, or you are
located very far away). In this case, replace the task with something else that is equally difficult (but not
impossible). Some examples might be: Get on the air of the local radio station, get a selfie with a police
officer in the local jail, etc...
The task should be something that requires convincing someone to complete it successfully.
Step Three: Emphasize a concrete time limit and tell the students to be safe while outside. Do not go
with them, as that would defeat the purpose of the activity. They need to do this on their own.
Step Four: Once everyone is back, first enthusiastically congratulate them for trying. You need to
convey that you are particularly happy that they tried, and that succeeding is cool, but not crucial. Then
gather the group in an informal circle and ask about their experiences. Some questions to start the
discussion:
• Was this difficult?

• Did you expect it to be so? Did you expect to complete the task?
• What approaches worked? Which did not?
• What can we learn from this experience?
• What lessons from this activity apply in the "real world"?
Wrap up the discussion by saying that it is important to try, and if you do not try, you cannot succeed.
In the next sessions we will often remember this lesson, because starting any business is venturing into
something new and unexplored. It is completely reasonable that we are afraid, but we should lean into
fear and do it anyways. This is how we grow.
MENTOR NOTE: The discussion after the activity is the most important part of the lesson. You as a
mentor need to sum up what has happened and guide the participants to take learnings out of this. It is
not enough just to send them outside, as a teacher you need to show them this has concrete
implications for their lives.
Tips for the mentor

If you want to make things more difficult for the participants you can prohibit them to mention that
they are part of the entrepreneurship club and need to this because it is an assignment.
Additionally, you may prepare more tasks if you have a large group (it gets considerably easier for the
ninth person to get a selfie with the Mayor than the first one.
Be sure to let us know what task you gave your group and how it went so we can include it in the lesson
plan for future years if it was successful.
Curriculum section: Soft skills/Preparation for the scavenger hunt
Topic of the lesson: Preparing for the scavenger hunt
NOTE: THIS LESSON IS DONE IN THE WEEK PRECEEDING THE SCAVENGER HUNT
EVENT. IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE THE FOURTH LESSON. ALTERNATIVELY, IF THE CLUB
WILL NOT PARTICIPATE IN THE SCAVENGER HUNT, ONLY THE SECOND PART OF THE
LESSON CAN BE DONE.

We are emphasizing the importance of soft skills, being able to convince others to do what we want,
overcoming fear and thinking on our feet. The scavenger hunt is an event that gives the participants an
opportunity to try this out in the real world. This lesson prepares them for it and also touches upon
another important aspect: teamwork.

A list of instructions needs to be given to the participants in the class. A template is provided in the
mentor materials, but it needs to be adapted beforehand to fit the size of the group and the setting
where the club takes place. Also, the mentor should bring an egg to class.

This lesson is done in two parts. In part one the mentor will present the scavenger hunt, outline how it
will take place, give all the pertinent information to the participants and register the club to attend. In
part two the participants will take part in a short activity called mission impossible that will teach them
how to work in a team.
The scavenger hunt is an activity that Ustvarjalnik/uSchool does every fall. Members of clubs from all
over the country come together and form one or more teams that compete against each other. The
teams are issued a list of tasks that range from very simple: "get ten business cards" to quite
challenging: "get a celebrity to tweet a picture of themselves holding a sign with your team name." All
the tasks have a points value and the team with the most points wins. The winning team is awarded
with an all-expense-paid study visit to a foreign country to meet with startups there. The purpose of
this is to further motivate the participants to step out of the box and test their perseverance, creative
problem solving, ingenuity and persuasion skills. The mentor should register his/her team to
participate.
Step One: The mentor should present the scavenger hunt to the participants and encourage them to
apply and compete. He/she should emphasize the educational benefit of this and the fun nature of the
event. All information will be posted well ahead of time on our website.
Step Two: The mentor should introduce the topic of this week: teamwork. Most endeavors are only
possible if more people get together and pursue a common goal, but this is not always easy. This is
explored through an activity that will test the participants' ability to cooperate, communicate with one
another and accomplish a difficult task within a limited time frame.
Step Three: The mentor should get the participants in a huddle and explain the rules: This challenge
is called mission impossible. It is a group exercise where the whole club participates together as a team.
You will need to work together to accomplish a set of tasks in 30 minutes. All the tasks need to be
completed successfully if you are to succeed in your mission - missing one means you have failed. The
mentor then asks for silence and reads out the tasks. He/she answers any questions, then puts the list
on the floor/desk and remains quiet until the time runs out. He/she only calls out when 10, 5 or 1
minute remains and counts down the second until time is up.
MENTOR NOTE: A template of the task list is attached to this lesson plan. The mentor should take time
beforehand to adjust it so all tasks are possible at his/her location, and so those that involve multiple
people are appropriate to the size of the group. The template list has been tested with 15 people and a
30-minute time frame. If you have a much smaller group, you need to increase the number of tasks to
account for the team having an easier time coordinating.
Step Four: During the activity the mentor should pay attention to team dynamics, team effectiveness,
who took the lead, who gave suggestions, who was heard, who was not...
Step Five: After the group has finished the activity, the mentor congratulates them for their effort
(and success, if they completed everything) and then invites them to form a huddle and discuss what
happened. Some questions might be:
• What could you have done to improve the teamwork of the group?
• What could you have done to contribute more?
• What are the lessons learned that could be used next time you are in a similar situation?
The mentor should point out what went well and what did not and offer suggestions to improve
teamwork. Mostly this can be done through making sure people communicate clearly, listen to one
another and respect opinions of everyone. The mentor should remind them this is very important in
"real life" and a key thing to remember during the scavenger hunt.
Tips for the mentor

If your team will not participate in the scavenger hunt you can include 4-5 tasks to the scavenger hunt
and increase the time limit for 5 minutes.
It is highly effective to tell the students that this same activity has been done with groups of teachers
and they have usually not completed it in time.
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: TASK LIST TEMPLATE
RULES: You have 30 minutes to complete the tasks listed below. All tasks
need to be completed in order to succeed in this mission.
1. Take a group picture and send it to <your email address>

2. Take a picture of every individual on the team and send it to <your email
address>
3. Make a pile of books in the classroom that is at least 200 cm high.
4. Create an alphabet bag. Take a bag and put things inside that start with
each letter of the alphabet; for example for A find an apple, for B find a ball,
...
5. 7 participants must dance the Macarena for one minute (don't forget to
videotape this)
6. Create living statues with the following motifs:
a. 11 participants re-enacting a famous Formula 1 race
b. 6 participants re-enacting a Justin Bieber concert
c. 9 participants re-enacting the party after the prom
7. Create a human pyramid with at least three stories
8. Together as a team you need to do: 300 push ups, 200 squats, 400 jumping
jacks
9. One participant needs to be carried around the school building without him
or her touching the ground
10. Two participants must kiss (do not forget about photo proof)
11. One female participant must take selfies with at least 10 employees of the
school. One male participant must take selfies with at least ten girls from
this town
12. Film a 2-minute silent movie about Beyonce breaking a fingernail
13. Compile a list of all the colored recipients of the Nobel prize.
14. Create a pile of exactly 51 shoes in the corner of the classroom
15. Create an epic poem in 21 verses announcing your love to a professor in
your school. Present it in style after the event.
16. Take this egg and hard boil it (we will check if it is truly hard inside)
17. 1 minute before the time runs out, the whole team is sitting down in silence
on the floor with their mouths covered by their hands.
MENTOR NOTE: These tasks are deliberately funny - this should be an activity that
is amusing for the high school students because that way they will be much more
motivated. If you are making up your own tasks, stay true to this approach. Be
mindful of cultural differences and adapt the list to fit your cultural situation. The
tasks are set up to challenge the team to coordinate - some demand involvement
from everyone, some can be done alone. Everything must be photographed or on
video - this is also useful for us because we can publish it on our website.
Topic of the lesson: Just ask!

Experience shows one of the biggest challenges for aspiring entrepreneurs is the fear of asking for
something directly - to sell something, to get a resource, to get someone to do them a favor... In this
session, we will break this by pushing participants to start selling cookies.

One box of cookies (10-20 pieces) for every five participants. They should be in separate boxes for the
groups of five. Ideally the boxes and cookies should give an impression they are home-made (even if
they are not), but this is not absolutely essential.

MENTOR NOTE: This is the first "real" entrepreneurial challenge of the year and also a very difficult
one. The mentor should pay extra attention to give the participants the impression he/she has absolute
confidence in them.
This session is very simple: the mentor divides the group in 2-3 teams, gives each team a box of cookies
and instructs them to go out of the building and start selling. They are to come back only when they
have sold all of them. Then a discussion takes place about the experience.
Step One: The mentor announces to the group of participants that real entrepreneurial education
starts at this lesson. Their first task will be relatively simple. They are to go outside and start selling.
Their task will be to sell cookies that he/she has prepared for them.
Step Two: The mentor divides the group into 2-3 teams. This can be done randomly or according to a
system. It usually works well to bring together people that know each other the least. The mentor then
explains that this will be a competition between teams who earns the most money.
MENTOR NOTE: The maximum size of a team is five members. Make sure you have at least two teams
to insure competition
Step Three: The mentor explains the rules: The teams can use any tactic they want and decide the
price of the cookies on their own. They can sell them in bulk or one at a time. They may sell them to
employees in the school or random people outside. They may say that they are selling cookies in
exchange for donations to charity, but in that case, they must forfeit all of the money they have earned
- the mentor will make sure the money will actually go to a good cause. Otherwise they may keep the
money. The teams will have precisely one hour to complete this mission.
Step Four: Give the teams 10 minutes to discuss the strategy they will use. At first, let them do this on
their own, but after a couple of minutes circle around the room and ask the team how they plan to
attempt this and give suggestions accordingly.
Step Five: Draw a table on the whiteboard. Have two columns for each team: How much they expect
to earn and how much they actually earned. The first column is filled before the start, the second when
they return.
Step Six: Send the teams outside and start the timer for 1 hour. Tell them you will deduct 1eur for
every minute they are late.
Step Seven: When the teams arrive, be sure to congratulate them, no matter how much they have
earned. When everyone gets back, ceremoniously count the money earned and announce the winners.
Use this as a start for a discussion. Some questions for the participants:
• Was this hard? Harder than expected?

• What tactic did you use? What worked? What did not?
• Who were the buyers? (very often they have had most success with people they knew from
before)
• Why did people buy from them? Was the cookie (the product) really the main reason?
• Can we use this experience to draw some conclusions about sales strategies?
• What advice would you give to people selling things?
Wrap up this discussion by writing sales advice that the group agreed upon on the whiteboard. Tell
them that sales is one of the most important skills in business and that they should remember the
lessons learned in this session later when they will sell their own products
Tips for the mentor

At the moment the Ustvarjalnik/uSchool record for this task is 303euro earned by a team in Velenje,
Slovenia. This might be mentioned to the students for further motivation.
For added realism the mentor may tell the teams the costs he had with making/buying the cookies. In
this case he/she can tell them that this investment must be repaid from the profits.
Tell the teams that you will report the amount earned to Ustvarjalnik/uSchool HQ. A final tally of the
total money raised and a leaderboard will be published after all the clubs report.
Topic of the lesson: Daring greatly

This lesson deals with embracing and accepting failure. People are afraid to take risks, which is usually
precisely what holds them back. The participants will be challenged to dare greatly.

The mentor should prepare envelopes with instructions for all the participants to take home with. The
worksheets are attached below. One envelope with one worksheet per participant. At least a few
participants should have cell phone cameras.
This is the only activity of the year that cannot be squeezed in a 60-minute timeframe. Coordinate
well in advance with the school and the participants that you will need 90 minutes for this session.

This activity will be in two parts: Part one will be done in class, the second part will be done individually
at home based on the instructions given to the participants at the end of the session.
MENTOR NOTE: This lesson is perhaps the most important of the whole year, therefore very detailed
instructions are provided.
Background: Daring greatly is an activity that has been done all over the world with transformative
results for participants. It can be a very profound activity if it is presented well. We are including it in
our curriculum as the conclusion of our exploration of soft skills and is certainly one of the high points
of the year. The activity was developed by the Transformative Action Institute.
The previous session touched upon the subject of failure to some extent. This lesson is completely
devoted to the concept of "failing forward" - failing but growing because of the experience gained.
- Part One: The Epic Failure Game -
For many students, this is the most fun, powerful, and liberating. It’s all about realizing that failure is
not just normal, it’s something to be welcomed!
Most of us don’t take risks because we are afraid of failure, and afraid of rejection. Ironically the best
way to defeat your fears is to confront them directly.
Step one: The mentor starts by sharing a story:
A man wanted to ask a female acquaintance out on a date, but was too timid and shy. He was afraid that she would reject
him. He was afraid of looking foolish. He was afraid of destroying the friendship. In a nutshell, he was simply afraid of failure.
He went to a psychiatrist who told him that she could help him overcome his fears, but that he would need to do whatever
she said. “Are you really serious about overcoming this problem?” she asked him. “If so, you must follow the advice that I
give you.” He insisted that he would do anything to overcome his fear of failure.
“Then I want you to collect as many rejections as possible in the next month,” the woman said. “I want you to get rejected 75
times in the coming weeks. Your goal is to collect as many failures as possible. I will give you a nice way to approach women
diplomatically and politely, so that you don’t appear like some stalker or psychotic guy. But then your agenda is for the
women to reject you again and again and again.”
Of course, there was rich psychological insight in her advice. First of all, the man would soon learn to overcome his fear of
asking women out. He would get used to the bitter sting of rejection; he would even look forward to it, because, after all, his
goal was precisely to get rejected! Soon it would be much easier for him to ask women out, and he would be immune to the
fear. Second of all, he would find that he wouldn’t get rejected all the time! His fears turned out to be unfounded. Yes, many
women turned him down, but an equal number agreed to have coffee with him and go out on dates. He ended up failing in
his attempts to get rejected! He soon gave up the game, because he had overcome his fear, and had gained much greater
self-confidence.
We are going to have the participants start to overcome their fears and move towards resilience in this
game.
MENTOR NOTE: Obviously you need to take cultural taboos and national norms of etiquette into
consideration when running this activity! This exercise is not supposed to step on any toes. Indeed, it
has only been met with laughter and astonishment wherever we have done it. But please consider your
audience, as we do not want this to be offensive or inappropriate in any way.
Step Two: The mentor should begin by talking about how many people are afraid of rejection, failure,
and disappointment. Relate the story above. Then introduce the game where the only way to succeed
is to fail!
The idea of this game is to help people take lots of risks, letting themselves fail early and often; that's
the quickest way to success. But it's something that most people shy away from. Therefore, this
exercise gets people comfortable with the process of getting out of their comfort zone and allowing
themselves to fail.
Here's the way it works: We will need all the students to go outside, somewhere where there are lots of
people walking around.
Put everyone into groups of 3-4 people. Their goal is to fail as often as they can in 30 minutes. They can
interpret those instructions in any way that they wish.
They just can't do anything that falls into these categories:

• Anything illegal  
• Anything potentially harmful or dangerous to themselves or others!  
• Anything sexual  
• Anything that harasses others  
• Anything culturally offensive  But those are the only rules. Otherwise the goal is simply to
fail.  
MENTOR NOTE: For example, students have asked a stranger to exchange sweaters with them, to sing
the national anthem, to give them 5 euro for charity, to take them for ice cream...
They should count how many times they fail in those 30 minutes - as well as how many times they
actually succeed. (One of the best lessons of this exercise is how hard it is to truly fail. Often when
people take risks, they end up succeeding multiple times.)
They should also take photos or videos of some of their attempts. Fortunately most people have
cameras on their phones. The participants should send you the photos afterwards, or if time permits,
you may choose to take a look at them in class together.
They should try to come up with as many creative failures as possible, but ones where there is a real
risk of rejection.
Step Three: Upon returning to the classroom, start by inviting the teams to share the number of
failures and successes with the rest of the group. You may choose to write the tally on the whiteboard.
Announce the winning group; the one with the most failures.
To get the participants ready for the discussion, ask them what was the most epic fail they have
encountered. This will surely lead to a lively debate. Then you can lead the discussion into another
direction:
• What it felt like to fail again and again and again?

• Did the sting of rejection go away after the first few times?
• Did they get more comfortable with failure?
• Did they start to grow more bold, resilient and self-confident?
One of the most fascinating insights of this game is that most students find it incredibly difficult to fail.
People say yes to them all the time!
Several studies show that people underestimate by as much as 50 percent the willingness of others to
respond to a direct request for help and assistance. Think about it: When somebody asks for your
opinion, you rarely get annoyed. You love to feel valued, like you’re making a difference for others, and
like you are needed and appreciated. A key lesson is that people naturally want to help others.
The point of this whole discussion is not about exploiting others, or about being completely ridiculous
and unreasonable to get what you want! On the contrary, the whole point of this discussion is to show
people that, when they face their fears and ask for support, they often achieve success at a far greater
rate than they could have ever imagined. The next exercise is designed to go into this point more
directly.
- Part Two: The Daring Greatly Game -
In the previous game, participants were taking risks about things that didn’t really matter much to
them. It might have taken courage to approach strangers and ask them to dance, or to ask them for
free food, or to ask for money for a charitable cause. But this was just a baby step. It didn’t really
require them to “dare greatly” to achieve something that really mattered to them.
The title of the game comes from a famous quote (the mentor should write this on the whiteboard
before the students return to class:
“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”
- Robert Kennedy
Step One: The mentor should be aware of the context for this activity in order to present it properly
to the participants:
Most of the time, we run away from the things that we fear. We procrastinate. We avoid the things
that we need to do. We run away from challenges that would take us out of our comfort zone, and
where there is a risk of failure.
In this game, the whole point is to run towards those things we normally avoid. It’s about embracing
fear and uncertainty – and moving towards the things that will make the greatest difference in your life.
Step Two: Ask the participants to list all the most important fears that they could tackle over the next
two weeks. These are the things that, if they succeeded, would lead them to advance significantly in
their personal and professional goals.
Ask the students what great dreams they could risk. What are the things that they had been
procrastinating on? What are the big, hairy, audacious goals they were avoiding for fear of failure?
MENTOR NOTE: Some examples of these might be writing an application for a summer job, researching
options for studying abroad, asking someone out for a date, etc.
The students have 10 minutes to write these up. Ask them to list all the specific small steps they could
take in order to complete this.
To make these more measurable, you may give some additional criteria for the goals and steps, like:
• Can you measure it? In other words, can you actually count how many times you took risks and
failed (or succeeded)?  
• Is it bold? Are you truly taking a risk on something that is meaningful and important to you,
which would help you advance towards your goals, even if you failed? After all, as we’ve
discussed earlier, failure is just a way of getting feedback and learning lessons. If the participants
take a risk and make mistakes, then they learn something valuable. And most importantly, they
will have faced their fears, and overcome them to a small degree. The only real failure is not
trying at all!  
Step Three: Tell the participants that these are going to be the actual steps they are to attempt in the
next week (before the next session of the club)
MENTOR NOTE: Be mindful not to give away that you expect them to actually attempt this before they
start writing the goals down. Let them believe this is merely a mental exercise at first.
Just as in the last game, their goal will be to collect as many failures as possible during that time (but
with the acknowledgement that they would probably end up succeeding far more than they ever
anticipated!)
This strategy is known as making “little bets,” according to the author/entrepreneur Peter Sims, who
has written a fascinating book by the same name. In other words, the participants are just making bets
that their strategies will work. But the only way to find out for sure is to take action!
Over the following week, the participants will all take these risks and measure their progress.
If they could even achieve 10 percent of their daring goals, it would be incredible. This turns out to be a
practical and empowering game. It is more than a game, really. It was about taking action to move
forward.
Step Four: Of course participants often have some practical questions and concerns which you need
to address:
1) Should you take risks if you aren’t ready?
Many people feel like they don’t want to take risks because they wouldn’t be putting their best foot forward. Perhaps they
want to contact a person who might serve as their mentor. But they feel like they need to become more accomplished and
more interesting before they can reach out.
These concerns are certainly valid. But there are a few good responses to this objection:
First of all, we often use this excuse as a reason to procrastinate. People can be so perfectionist that they never take action.
They just spend all their time preparing and getting ready.
Second of all, this hesitation to take a risk can prevent us from learning the key lessons that we need for growth and
progress. The idea is to try something quickly, learn from your mistakes, and quickly improve.
2) Why should we be risking failure? Shouldn’t we be trying to succeed?
Some participants don’t understand the purpose of the two games for this day. They don’t see that “risking failure” (or
“collecting as many failures as possible”) is the same thing as trying to succeed. Some participants even interpret this game
as meaning that they should be completely ridiculous. For example, they go out on the street and ask people for a billion
dollars.
Well, they are certainly going to collect a lot of failures if they do something so absurd. But it’s not really challenging them to
grow. It’s not even really facing their fears of failure. It’s not going to help them to learn. Such crazy requests just get people
to roll their eyes.
If someone sets a goal of failing 100 times with pursuing funders, it’s because they expect that they will have a number of
successes in the process. Even if their average is only 10%, that means that they will succeed ten times for every 90 failures!
But if they don’t try at all, they really fail.
Step Five: Conclude the lesson by giving out envelopes with further instructions. You may choose to
take the extra time to write the names of the participants on each envelope for extra effect. The letter
inside is attached below and needs no further explanation.
MENTOR NOTE: This is the first time you are giving students assignments to take home. As you know,
homework is not something young people enjoy, so you need to be extra mindful to present this
activity in a compelling way. That way you should not have problems with participants not delivering.
This is particularly important to set expectations for later on, when students will actually attempt to
start a business. Without individual work at home, this will never work so it is useful to start now.
Tell the students that the entire next lesson will be dedicated to a detailed debrief of this activity and a
discussion where they will compare the results and celebrate their successes.
Tips for the mentor

This is an activity that should not be rushed. It might be wise to tell the students a week or even two in
advance that it will take a little longer than 1 hour, in which case you should extend this session of the
entrepreneurship club in order to deliver the whole activity. It is particularly important that you start
the Daring Greatly game immediately after the first game to have the most impact.
The “Daring Greatly” Game

“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”
- Robert F. Kennedy
The “Daring Greatly” Game is very simple.
Most of the time, we run away from the things that we fear. We procrastinate. We
avoid the things that we need to do. We run away from challenges that would take us
out of our comfort zone, and where there is a risk of failure.
In this game, the whole point is to run towards those things we normally avoid. It’s
about embracing fear and uncertainty – and moving towards the things that will make
the greatest difference in your life.
Here’s how it works:
Each day, you choose to go after the things that might scare you. You dare greatly to
move towards your dreams. Your goal is to fail as often as possible! After all, it’s about
batting average: If you fail 100 times, the chances are that three positive outcomes
will come out of it:
1. You will also succeed many times  

2. You will start to overcome your fears of failure; you will realize that failure and
 rejection don’t sting as much as you thought they might; in fact, you might
find that you get more energy – and are living life more fully – by tackling your
fears, rather than running away from them!  
3. You will learn many new things that help you grow and develop (i.e., your
experiments in daring greatly will help you improve on your mistakes)  
Before we start, let’s get into a few rules of the game: When we are asking you to dare
greatly, we aren’t telling you to do anything dangerous or potentially harmful to
yourself or others! We don’t want you to do anything illegal, unethical, or harassing
towards others – anything that could deprive other people of their dignity or freedom!
All of your steps should be getting you out of your comfort zone, but they should
mostly be facing internal demons at the stage that is appropriate for you – just outside
your comfort zone. If you attempt something too overwhelming or scary, it could
prove counterproductive. We don’t want you to be risking physical or psychological
harm!
Now let’s talk about scoring. It’s a simple rubric:
For each activity that scares you (taking the first small step), you will measure the
following things on a scale of 1 to 10:
• Importance score - How meaningful and important it is to you; how much it
could potentially help you move towards your most valuable goals and
personal/professional priorities;  
• Boldness score - How much fear it involves; how much you would rather avoid
it and procrastinate on it.  
Then you take action, and multiply the numbers together. Let’s say that you are taking
action towards something incredibly meaningful to you (10 on a scale of 1 to 10); and
it’s something that you have been avoiding and procrastinating on a lot (again, 10 on
a scale of 1 to 10). Then you would multiply 10 by 10 and get a score of 100!  
It’s important to note that the outcomes are irrelevant! You may fail (and may learn
something valuable in the process), or you may actually succeed. But you score points
just for making the effort.  
Of course, the more efforts you make, the more points you will score every day! So
let’s offer an example, just so you can see the game in action:
A random person (named Bob, for the purposes of this example) could be avoiding
and procrastinating on tons of things that he needs to do for his work. So he writes up
the following action steps that he has been fearing:  
ACTION STEP Importance score Boldness score Total score (after

(1-10) (1-10) completing it)
Write an email asking
10 10 100
about a summer job
Step one of writing a
research paper (the
10 10 100
outline and first two
pages)
Contacting a potential
mentor for help with 10 10 100
the project
Going for coffee with
a friend that has been
10 2 20
out of touch for a
while
TOTAL SCORE FOR
320
NOV. 22
 
As you can see, many of these things are very important, but for that very reason, Bob
has been avoiding them! (It’s often true that we fear most the steps that are most
meaningful and important; we are worried about making mistakes and failing!) That’s
why so many of the initial steps get total scores of 100.
There are a few other important notes about this game:

1. This game helps break down overwhelming, scary tasks into small, actionable
steps
One of the reasons why we fear and avoid tasks is because they seem overwhelming.
This game works well because it forces you to break down these seemingly scary tasks
into small action steps.
Usually people have goals that are too abstract or huge, like: “Put together grant
proposal for $250,000.” That is so gigantic and scary that it’s no wonder that we avoid
it.
Instead, it’s better to figure out the one small task that would start out that process.
You want to break it down into baby steps, so that you can get “small wins”
continuously along the way. Every baby step you take can be a success to celebrate!
(And if you fail to make that baby step – if you stumble and fall – you just get up, learn
from your mistakes, and try again!)
2. If you wish, you can add a column to reflect on what you learned from your
mistakes and failures (or celebrating your successes.)
This wouldn’t be included in your score, but it is helpful for your growth and
development. Let’s say for example, that, in the above grid, Bob sends an email for
the summer job, asking her for an interview. And let’s say that he gets rejected does
not get an interview. He still gets 100 points for facing his biggest fears on something
important and valuable. But he can add a column, reflecting on the experience. He
might write, “It wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be. In fact, it felt great to finally
do what I’ve been avoiding for months!"
Your task for this week is to play the Daring Greatly game every day of the week and
bring the final score back to class next week when we will discuss the outcomes.
Have fun!
Topic of the lesson: Completing the mission

This is the last lesson in the section about soft skills. We are wrapping up with a discussion and an
activity to encourage students to finish what they started. This is an ongoing struggle with everyone, so
instead of moralizing about this, we will instead reflect on our personal goals.

An empty sheet of A4 (or letter) paper, some extra pens if people don't have them, an envelope for
every student. Access to speakers (a cell phone is okay, but louder speakers would be far better) and a
15-minute peaceful instrumental track for background music. Bring some sweets (cookies, candy, etc...)

This lesson is a wrap-up of the first two months of the club and the official end of the part of the year
where we do not focus directly on business ideas. First we will celebrate the successes of the Daring
Greatly game then we will do an activity to motivate the participants to accomplish their goals.
Step One: Warmly welcome the participants to this session and start by asking them about their
successes in the last week. No matter what, show that you are happy for them because they have
stepped outside their comfort zone this week and in the previous weeks.
Start the session by inviting the participants to share the stories of the last week. Everyone should have
5 minutes to talk about their successes and failures. The group should applaud every presentation (the
mentor should initiate this).
Step Two: Lead a discussion about what they have learned this week. Some questions you may use
are:
• What was unexpected about this week?

• Did anything change compared to before?
• What are the things you will remember from this week for the future?
Congratulate the group again for the first two months of the clubs and tell them they have learned
several very valuable skills that will be very useful for them in the future, both in the club and later.
Step Three: The last activity of this section is called Letter from the future. Start by inviting the
participants to sit down behind their desks and distribute pieces of letter paper, envelopes and pens.
Tell them, that the final question everyone should be asking is what to do with the skills they just
obtained. Goals and aspirations are important, because they guide you forward. Everyone has surely
been thinking about what is possible and perhaps even dreaming about concrete things they would
hope to do in the future.
MENTOR NOTE: Don't mention that they need to write anything down just yet. The first part of the
activity is merely a mental exercise.
The purpose of this year is to learn how to achieve such goals: how to create a situation where you are
not bound by circumstance, or in more practical terms, how to earn a living by doing what you love. Put
some quiet background music on. Invite the participants to close their eyes. Tell them to imagine their
life precisely ten years from today, if everything went perfectly. Be quiet for a few moments then ask
the following questions:
• It is morning and you have just woken up. What is the first thing you see? Where are you?
Imagine your surroundings, your house, etc...
• What is your day like? Where do you go? What do you do?
• Who are your friends? Who are you colleagues? Who do you spend most time with?
Now invite the participants to open their eyes and write a letter to themselves, as if they were sending
it from that distant perfect future. Tell them that they should start it with the words:
"Hello, this is __________. I am writing from the future telling you everything turned out just the way I
wanted. Let me tell you all about it..."
Step Four: When they are finished, tell them to put the letter in the envelope, write their names on
the outside and give it to the mentor. Tell them you will return this letter to them when you feel this
will be appropriate.
Tips for the mentor

Emphasize that this letter will be secret and that nobody will see the contents.
It is completely up to you when you choose to return it. Most often our students get it back at the end
of the year, but there have been cases when mentors chose to gave it back even five years later at
significant moments for the students' careers.
Curriculum section: Exploring business
Topic of the lesson: Case stories #1: The world today

Today's lesson will explore how the world works today and how it is different from a world 20 years
ago. We will look for key trends and have a stab at predicting the future.

A presentation prepared for this lesson (available in the mentor kit), projector and computer. Colored
pens, post-it notes, A4 paper

The purpose of this session is to create a shared view of the trends in the recent past, present, and
future. It is in two parts. During the first part a short presentation is given about the state of the world
today from a perspective of an entrepreneur. For the second part we conduct an activity. Participants
map key trends from the past year, the current year, and three years ahead. They then review the map,
identify patterns and discuss the relevance of different trends.
Step One: The mentor should start by showing a video about the way business looks like today
(available in the mentor kit). This will kickstart a discussion about what are the possibilities that are
available to the students today.
MENTOR NOTE: It is very beneficial if the mentor also delivers a short talk about business ideas that are
fascinating in his/her opinion.
Then this should be used to begin a discussion on the topic of the future possibilities.
Step Two: Before the workshop make sure that you have a long empty wall with the area in front of it
cleared. Divide the wall roughly into three equal sections with tape.
On three sheets of A4 paper, write with a thick marker last year, this year, and next year to three years
in the future: e.g. 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018.
Stick the years up, one at the top of each section, in chronological order.
MENTOR NOTE: As this is a fast, often loud activity, soft spoken or introverted participants may slip into
the background, especially when the group is large. Be sure to encourage full participation by lifting the
softer voices and encouraging those who have not participated.
Step Three: Give each participant a marker and post-its.

Bring the group to stand in a horseshoe facing the wall. Explain the purpose of the workshop and give
them the following instructions:
We will, as a group, co-create a vision of the future through the lens of the past and the present.
As individuals you will write a significant “thing” (trend, technology, political movement, behavioral
shift, medical development, etc.) on a post-it: one per post-it. Then you’ll walk up to the wall and and
stick it up, reading your post-it out loud so the rest of the group can hear. There’s no need to wait your
turn. As soon as you have one, write it down and stick it up. We’re aiming to fill the wall in the next 15
minutes.
MENTOR NOTE: The focus of the activity can be narrowed to focus on a specific theme or industry, for
instance, only looking at technology trends, or trends in the fashion industry.
Step Four: Start with last year, give them 5 minutes to fill the space with post-its, then move to this
year, and then to the 5 years in the future. Support the group to keep the pace up and encourage
everyone to participate. If you feel the speed is dragging, ask relevant questions or make suggestions to
inspire the group.
Step Five: When the time is up keep the group in front of the wall. Ask them to look at the post-its on
the wall and look for patterns and common themes in each year. If time allows, create subgroups to
sort the trends under each year and prepare a summary of the key patterns.
MENTOR NOTE: It might make sense for you to do steps 2-5 of this activity SILENTLY. That way
everyone will have an easier time making their contributions.
Step Six: Run a group reflection and discussion. Some good prompt questions are:
• How was that exercise?

• What have I learned?
• How do I feel about the past, present, and future?
• What does this mean for my future? The areas that interest me? My job prospects?
Encourage participants to speak from their personal experience, using “I” rather than “we”.
Step Seven: Wrap up the session by sharing some of the key themes that you heard throughout the
discussion. Ask the group how they would like to capture their thoughts and actions to use in the
future.
Step Eight: THE IDEA BOOK - The last step of this lesson introduces a very important concept in the
entrepreneurship clubs that will be an ongoing theme until the very end of the year. The mentor should
ask the students to start writing down/noting all the ideas that they saw and like and the ideas that
they have created.
The mentor should tell the students that when it comes to business ideas, quantity beats quality. There
will be a lot of discussion about good ideas and how to find them later, but that even without any
concrete strategies people are still very good at coming up with new concepts and ideas. Even if they
are crazy, undeveloped or simply bad, it will be extremely useful to have a note of them. Therefore, the
mentor should emphasize that from now on, participants should always carry a notebook or a note-
taking app with them and write down any idea they have immediately. The reasons for this are:
• There is no way the students will remember the ideas afterwards

• The first idea is usually very basic, but if you look at it later with fresh eyes, it is usually very easy
to develop it
• The true benefit of the idea book is once you have a lot of ideas and you can mix and match
them, creating mashups
• Coming back to an idea much later with fresh knowledge and experience and with deeper
understanding of the situation will allow you to re-think it and improve it
• Comparing idea books with other people, particularly those who are interested in the business
sphere is always a great source of viable ideas
The mentor should instruct the students to maintain the idea book at least for the next six
weeks/lessons, but encourage them this becomes an ongoing habit until the end of the club and even
later.
Simply tell the participants that they will need to discipline themselves to write all ideas down, even if
they are stupid, small or impossible. They should always carry a notebook with them or use a note-
taking app on their smartphones.
It will be the job of the participants to try and collect as many ideas as possible into their idea books.
You might even tell them you will award the person with the most ideas in the ideabook with a small
prize.
MENTOR NOTE: The participants should absolutely disregard any issues about practicality of the ideas:
quantity trumps quality.
Doing this for a while trains your mind to be thinking about ideas all the time. Over time, the
participants will start to recognize patterns and become really good at this.
MENTOR NOTE: It is very hard to just create a business idea on the spot, especially if you have a
deadline (you need to start work on the development of the idea next session, or present something at
an event). This is why you should introduce the idea books very soon and return to them whenever you
need to start over (an idea you worked on with your group failed).
Tips for the mentor

This is the first of three lessons dedicated to teaching the background knowledge needed for business
idea generation. The participants need to understand the realities of the business world to be able to
contribute their own ideas. This lesson is very important.
Often participants will be reluctant to share ideas with the rest of the group. This is simply wrong and
comes from a misunderstanding of the realities in business. An idea on its' own is completely worthless
- almost certainly someone else has come up with the same concept. What makes an idea or a business
valuable is the execution. Therefore it makes a lot of sense to discuss it with the rest of the group and
seek as much help and feedback as possible to further develop it. The mentor should take time to
explain this to the participants.
In the next sessions, you should return to the idea books and allow the participants to share interesting
ones with the rest of the group.
Some ideas for you to share with the participants about the new/upcoming technologies:
• Virtual reality
• Drones / quadcopters and other devices that might be autonomous
• Internet of Things (devices that are connected to the internet)
• Machine learning
• Cloud computing
• Wearable technology and computing
• Smart phones getting smarter
• Autonomous driving
• Quantified everything (big data, analytics...)
The trick about new technology is that the future already exists, only it is very expensive. One should
think about the future in the terms of what new innovations can find a use-case that merits their
further development.
Topic of the lesson: Case stories #2: Business models

In this session participants learn about the most common business models and technologies that make
them possible. Then they take their first stab at looking for new ideas.

A presentation prepared for this lesson (available in the mentor kit), projector and computer. Colored
pens, post-it notes, A4 paper

The purpose of this session is to learn about business models. Despite the wide variety of businesses
that exist today, there are surprisingly few business models behind this. More or less everything falls
into the same patterns. The session is in two parts. During the first part a short presentation is given
about the state of the world today from a perspective of an entrepreneur. For the second part we
conduct an activity called Mash-Up.
Mash-up is a collaborative idea generation method in which participants come up with innovative
concepts by combining different elements together. In the previous lesson, participants discussed
various different technologies and trends in different areas. This time we are including various existing
businesses in the mix. In this activity, they rapidly combine elements from those areas to create new,
fun and innovative concepts. Mash-ups demonstrate how fast and easy it can be to come up with
innovative ideas.
Then this should be used to introduce the next activity: the mash-up for new ideas.
Step Two: First brainstorm: Ask the whole group to brainstorm around around the areas of:
• TECHNOLOGIES (e.g. telephone, 3D printing, GPS),

• HUMAN NEEDS (e.g. love, transportation, waking up in the morning), and
• BUSINESS MODELS (e.g. Subscription/SaaS, App Store, AirBnB...).
Spend 3 minutes brainstorming around each area. Have participants write one idea per post-it. Make
the brainstorm active and fast-paced. Have participants call-out each idea as they place it up on the
wall. By the end of the brainstorming there should be three large clusters of post-its on the wall, one
for each area. The more the better!
MENTOR NOTE: The three areas above can be adapted for different contexts. For example SOURCES OF
DATA (e.g. health records, subway timetables, census data) or GLOBAL CHALLENGES (e.g. climate
change, income inequality, obesity) can be added to give another dimension to the exercise.
Organize participants into small groups of 3 - 5. Explain that they will have 12 minutes to come up with
as many mash-up concepts as they can.
A mash-up concept consists of 2 or more elements from the wall combined together to create a new
concept.
For each mash-up that a team creates, they must give the concept a catchy name and capture it on an
A4 paper. The A4 should include: the elements that combine to make the new concept (e.g. iPads +
Doing Laundry + Paypal) and the name of the concept (eg. Launderfy).
MENTOR NOTE: During these 12 minutes, put on upbeat music and encourage the participants to be on
their feet, active, and working quickly. Every few minutes, call out the number of minutes left to
increase the feeling of fast-pace.
Step Three: Presentations: Once the time has elapsed, have each small group present their mash-up
concepts back to the rest of the group. Put up all the ideas on the wall to visually display the volume of
concepts generated.
MENTOR NOTE: Here, emphasize the volume of ideas created in the short amount of time.
Step Four: (Optional) Develop: A final optional step is to have participants choose their favorite
and/or most feasible mash-up concept and develop it further for 30 minutes, exploring the details of
the concept, its functionality and a business model. Each team uses one flipchart paper to visualize the
concept and then present it back to the rest of the group.
Step Five: Debrief the experience, by inviting participants to reflect on questions such as:
• How did it feel to work creatively in this way?

• What was easy about it? What was challenging?
• How did you feel? How did you behave, react, respond?
• What insights or learnings do you have about yourself?
• What insights or learnings do you have about idea development?
• How can you apply your learnings going forward?
Tips for the mentor
The mentor should pay attention to the ideas generated, looking for a viable one that can be developed
further during the year. Remember: it only takes one good idea to move forward and start an exciting
project.
The mentor should include some ideas generated into his/her report after class because the
Ustvarjalnik/uSchool office will compile a list of the ideas generated.
Topic of the lesson: Case stories #3: How things start

During this lesson we will have a look at how some famous companies started and realize that it is not
difficult to begin - there is always a possibility to start somehow.

A presentation prepared for this lesson (available in the mentor kit), projector and computer. Flipchart
paper or access to a large whiteboard, post-its, A4 paper and colored markers. Access to speakers to
play music (if possible)

The purpose of this lesson is to de-mystify the process of starting a company by showing examples of
how famous companies started. The trick is that all of them started small, first focusing on a smaller
problem in a large market then expanding.
Then this should be used to start a discussion on the topic. Some things to mention to the participants:
1. Nearly every business started much smaller and simpler than today. Ebay shares the story that
they used to be a site where enthusiasts exchanged PEZ figures. Zappos was started by a guy
buying shoes in a brick-and-mortar shop and sending them on to customers. Wallmart was a
small family shop. AirBnB was literally a room with air mattresses you could rent. Dropbox was
simply a youtube video demonstrating its' potential functionalities.
2. The best strategy when starting a business is to figure out how can you solve the customer's
problem in the smallest possible way with as little up-front investment as possible.
3. Starting small gives the startup credibility to attract more people, resources and funding later on
and expand much easier.
4. Starting small gives the startup the ability to learn from the first business experiences and adapt
their offering to serve the customers in a much better way.
5. Starting small allows the startup a lot of flexibility. They can adapt to the needs of the
customers.
Step Two: The mentor should conclude the discussion by pointing out that the participants should
also focus on starting small - whatever idea they have, there is always a way to "shrink" it so it
becomes manageable. This is because it is simply too hard to try and build something very big when
you are only starting out and have no capital, no customers and no track record.
Additionally, the mentor should also point out that the majority of business ideas change dramatically
over time. This is of course completely normal, but it also provides some very useful insights:
• We should not be afraid about idea generation - first ideas are nearly always outlandish
• We are not looking for perfect ideas, merely ideas that are good enough to develop further
• The most important factor in determining which idea to pursue is if you like it - that will give
you the perseverance to change it and grow it over a long period of time
Step Three: The mentor should now invite the participants to do a very short activity about ideation.
The purpose of this simple exercise is to demonstrate three key principles useful for creativity and idea
generation: quantity is a condition for quality; building on the ideas of others; the ideas we come up
with are usually all the same. The format is simple, with small groups standing and drawing apples. At
the end of the exercise the whole group reflects and draws out learnings and reflections.
Step Four: Split the participants into groups of 4-6. Draw grids of roughly 30 squares on flipchart
paper, one for each group (you may want to do this in advance of the session).
Step Five: Introduce the exercise to the groups. Explain that it is a simple exercise that will help them
define some principles for creativity and idea generation. It will get them in a mindset of divergent
thinking. And it will be fun. They will work in silence for 10-15 minutes to draw as many different kinds
of apple as they can.
Step Six: They should all take pens/markers, ideally with different colours in each group. Give them
10-15 minutes to fill their grid. Starting in the top-left square, the group members take turns drawing
apples. No apple can be the same. They should be in complete silence. Relaxing background music may
be appropriate.
Stop the exercise when all of the grids and squares are filled, or the time has run out.
Step Seven: Give the groups 2-3 minutes to discuss the experience and draw out learnings and
insights from the exercise. You could ask reflection questions like: How was it to do this exercise? What
can we learn about creativity from this exercise? What are some principles we can draw out from this?
Bring the groups together, collating their grids in one place and standing in a horseshoe around them.
Ask the same questions as in Step six to the whole group and discuss any answers. Be sure to highlight
the commonalities between the groups. As participants share, highlight these key insights: quantity is a
condition for quality; building on the ideas of others; the ideas we come up with are usually all the
same.
MENTOR NOTE: You can use this exercise with something other than apples for more practical
application: e.g., draw 30 logos, write 30 taglines, draw 30 new cars...
Step Eight: To conclude this session, the mentor should instruct all the participants to have a
discussion about the ideas in their idea books. Invite the participants to form a circle and ask everyone
to share the ideas they have in the idea book. Have an open discussion about every one (time
permitting). Some questions to ask about the ideas:
• Could you apply this basic idea to a different market/customer base/geography/industry?

• How would a different technology (from session #8) change/improve the idea?
• How would a different business model (from session #9) change/improve the idea?
• How would you start this? (starting small - from session #10)
The purpose of these questions and this debate in general is to come up with more ideas - we will be
evaluating business ideas only much later.
MENTOR NOTE: Your goal at this stage should be to have at least 15-20 promising business concepts
you can work with and turn into actual businesses in the future. This is a fallback for you as you are
working towards bringing the students to present a viable business at the end-of-year competition. If
their initial concept fails, you will be able to come back to the idea books and simply start over.
Tips for the mentor

The mentor should remind the participants about the idea books in the following lessons. You can
return to them often during the remainder of the year.
If the teams disprove or reject any business concepts they are working on and need a fresh start, the
mentor should get the entire entrepreneurship club together and bring their idea books. Then they
should go through them and brainstorm. Finding the next idea should be easy.

the same questions as in Step six to the whole group and discuss any answers. Be sure to highlight the
commonalities between the groups. As participants share, highlight these key insights: quantity is a
condition for quali


Ask the students what great dreams they could risk. What are the things that they had been
procrastinating on? What are the big, hairy, audacious goals they were avoiding for fear of failure?
MENTOR NOTE: Some examples of these might be writing an application for a summer job, researching
options for studying abroad, asking someone out for a date, etc.
The students have 10 minutes to write these up. Ask them to list all the specific small steps they could
take in order to complete this.
To make these more measurable, you may give some additional criteria for the goals and steps, like:
• Can you measure it? In other words, can you actually count how many times you took risks and
failed (or succeeded)?  
• Is it bold? Are you truly taking a risk on something that is meaningful and important to you,
which would help you advance towards your goals, even if you failed? After all, as we’ve
discussed earlier, failure is just a way of getting feedback and learning lessons. If the participants
take a risk and make mistakes, then they learn something valuable. And most importantly, they
will have faced their fears, and overcome them to a small degree. The only real failure is not
trying at all!  
Step Three: Tell the participants that these are going to be the actual steps they are to attempt in the
next week (before the next session of the club)
MENTOR NOTE: Be mindful not to give away that you expect them to actually attempt this before they
start writing the goals down. Let them believe this is merely a mental exercise at first.
Just as in the last game, their goal will be to collect as many failures as possible during that time (but
with the acknowledgement that they would probably end up succeeding far more than they ever
anticipated!)
This strategy is known as making “little bets,” according to the author/entrepreneur Peter Sims, who
has written a fascinating book by the same name. In other words, the participants are just making bets
that their strategies will work. But the only way to find out for sure is to take action!
how famous companies started. The trick is that all of them started small, first focusing on a smaller
problem in a large market then expanding.
Then this should be used to start a discussion on the topic. Some things to mention to the participants:
Nearly every business started much smaller and simpler than today. Ebay shares the story that they
used to be a site where enthusiasts exchanged PEZ figures. Zappos was started by a guy buying
shoes in a brick-and-mortar shop and sending them on to customers. Wallmart washop. AirBnB was
literally a room with air mattresses you could rent. Dropbox was simply a youtube video
demonstrating its' potential functionalities.
1. The best strategy when starting a business is to figure out how can you solve the customer's
problem in the smallest possible way with as little up-front investment as possible.
2. Starting small gives the startup credibility to attract more people, resources and funding later on
and expand much easier.
3. Starting small gives the startup the ability to learn from the first business experiences and adapt
their offering to serve the customers in a much better way.
4. Starting small allows the startup a lot of flexibility. They can adapt to the needs of the
customers.
Step Two: The mentor should conclude the discussion by pointing out that the participants should
Tips for the mentor

Spend 3 minutes brainstorming around each area. Have participants write one idea per post-it. Make
the brainstorm active and fast-paced. Have participants call-out each idea as they place it up on the
wall. By the end of the brainstorming there should be three large clusters of post-its on the wall, one


Debrief the experience, by inviting participants to reflect on questions such as:
• How did it feel to work creatively in this way?

• What was easy about it? What was challenging?
• How did you feel? How did you behave, react, respond?
• What insights or learnings do you have about yourself?
• What insights or learnings do you have about idea development?
• How can you apply your learnings going forward?

We will, as a group, co-create a vision of the future through the lens of the past and the present.
As individuals you will write a significant “thing” (trend, technology, political movement, behavioral
shift, medical development, etc.) on a post-it: one per post-it. Then you’ll walk up to the wall and and
stick it up, reading your post-it out loud so the rest of the group can hear. There’s no need to wait your
turn. As soon as you have one, write it down and stick it up. We’re aiming to fill the wall in the next 15
minutes.
MENTOR NOTE: The focus of the activity can be narrowed to focus on a specific theme or industry, for
instance, only looking at technology trends, or trends in the fashion industry.
Step Four: Start with last year, give them 5 minutes to fill the space with post-its, then move to this
year, and then to the 5 years in the future. Support the group to keep the pace up and encourage
everyone to participate. If you feel the speed is dragging, ask relevant questions or make suggestions to
inspire the group.
Step Five: When the time is up keep the group in front of the wall. Ask them to look at the post-its on
the wall and look for patterns and common themes in each year. If time allows, create subgroups to
sort the trends under each year and prepare a summary of the key patterns.
MENTOR NOTE: It might make sense for you to do steps 2-5 of this activity SILENTLY. That way
everyone will have an easier time making their contributions.
Step Six: Run a group reflection and discussion. Some good prompt questions are:
• How was that exercise?

• What have I learned?
• How do I feel about the past, present, and future?
• What does this mean for my future? The areas that interest me? My job prospects?
Encourage participants to speak from their personal experience, using “I” rather than “we”.
Step Seven: Wrap up the session by sharing some of the key themes that you heard throughout the
discussion. Ask the group how they would like to capture their thoughts and actions to use in the
future.
Step Eight: THE IDEA BOOK - The last step of this lesson introduces a very important concept in the
entrepreneurship clubs that will be an ongoing theme until the very end of the year. The mentor should
ask the students to start writing down/noting all the ideas that they saw and like and the ideas that
they have created.
The mentor should tell the students that when it comes to business ideas, quantity beats quality. There
will be a lot of discussion about good ideas and how to find them later, but that even without any
concrete strategies people are still very good at coming up with new concepts and ideas. Even if they
are crazy, undeveloped or simply bad, it will be extremely useful to have a note of them. Therefore, the
mentor should emphasize that from now on, participants should always carry a notebook or a note-
taking app with them and write down any idea they have immediately. The reasons for this are:
businesses in the mix. In this activity, they rapidly combine elements from those areas to create new,
fun and innovative concepts. Mash-ups demonstrate how fast and easy it can be to come up with
innovative ideas.
Then this should be used to introduce the next activity: the mash-up for new ideas.
Step Two: First brainstorm: Ask the whole group to brainstorm around around the areas of:
• TECHNOLOGIES (e.g. telephone, 3D printing, GPS),

• HUMAN NEEDS (e.g. love, transportation, waking up in the morning), and
permitting). Some questions to ask about the ideas:
• Could you apply this basic idea to a different market/customer base/geography/industry?

• How would a different technology (from session #8) change/improve the idea?
• How would a different business model (from session #9) change/improve the idea?
• How would you start this? (starting small - from session #10)
during the remainder of the year.
businesses in the mix. In this activity, they rapidly combine elements from those
Tips for the mentor

The trick about new technology is that the future already exists, only it is very expensive. One should
think about the future in the terms of what new innovations can find a use-case that merits their
further development.
Curriculum section: Idea time
Topic of the lesson: Problems we can solve

The purpose of this lesson is for the participants to understand how to look for problems that can be
turned into business opportunities through an activity that will demonstrate the right approach.

A large flipchart paper or a whiteboard. Post-its and multicolored markers for the group.

This activity shows the participants how to come up with concrete ideas that are connected to a
particular situation, field or experience. The purpose of the lesson is threefold: (1) to come up with a lot
of new ideas in one particular field and (2) to learn the general approach to finding new ideas in any
field and (3) to train the general inquisitive mindset of the participants.
In this activity we will be generating new business ideas connected with skiing.
MENTOR NOTE: You can choose a completely different topic, like air travel, school, paying with a credit
card, etc... Just make sure it is something that the participants are familiar with.
Step One: Start by creating an open space in the classroom. Move the chairs away and invite the
participants to get comfortable. The mentor should tell the participants that the purpose of this lesson
is to learn how to generate ideas through searching for problems or pain points.
Generally, whenever you encounter a problem or need that is consistently repeating, you can find a
good business opportunity. We should therefore become good in recognizing them.
Tell the participants that we will be exploring the scenario of a skiing vacation.
Step Two: Start by outlining the scenario: You are going on a week-long skiing vacation abroad with
your friends. You have picked the place and have packed the car. The adventure has started.
Take a long sheet of paper (3-4 meters) or a whiteboard and draw a timeline on it. At the starting point
write: "departure from home" and at the end point write "you have arrived back home."
Step Three: Tell the participants that they should help you fill in more details in the timeline and start
by offering some suggestions like:
• Arrival at the ski resort and unpacking
• Going on the slope on the first day
• Going out on the second night
• Buying food at the resort store every evening
MENTOR NOTE: To make this more relaxed and friendly you may include a humorous suggestion like
"getting lost in the resort while drunk."
Let the participants add as many more as they like. Ask them to create a narrative of the holiday,
including the things that might typically happen to them while at vacation.
Step Four: Tell the participants to take post-its and write all the things that may bother them at any
point in this process. For example, when they are checking in to the lodge, they might have to walk in
the cold to the other side of the resort looking for the reception, or when they are dressing up for the
slopes in the morning their boots are very cold and hard. Instruct them to place the post-its on the
timeline wherever such a situation can occur. Tell them to be inventive, for sure they have experienced
a lot of things that are not ideal.
Step Four: Tell the participants their next task is to try and imagine the skiing trip going horribly
wrong. Distribute post-it notes to the participants and tell them to put a post-it on the timeline
wherever they might imagine that something goes wrong. Write what can go wrong on the post-it. For
example: they might end up at the ski resort and there is no snow. Or someone might break his/her leg.
Step Five: Tell the participants to think of things that are usually missing that would prevent them
having a great experience. For example, it would be really good if the resort would be less crowded, or
it would be great if they would not have to walk for half a kilometer to reach the slopes. Put as many of
these situations on the timeline.
Step Six: Tell the participants to decide on:
• Which of these situations (on the post-its) are the most painful or unpleasant (pick the top 10)
• Which of these situations have the highest chance of actually happening (pick the top 10)
MENTOR NOTE: At this stage, we are merely looking for pain points. The actual idea generation will
come later in the process. Don't tell the participants that the goal of this activity is new ideas, as this
will put pressure on them. Instead just tell them we will be trying to learn as much as possible about
the situation and explore the options.
Step Seven: Tell the participants to look for situations (on the post-its) that are both painful and have
a high chance of happening. Those are the problems that are the most interesting to solve with a
business idea.
Step Eight: Invite the participants to use the entire timeline as a starting point for coming up with
new ideas. As a group, brainstorm possible solutions to all the situations that are both probable and
painful. Write ideas on the whiteboard or on the sheet of paper.
MENTOR NOTE: Remember, quantity beats quality. Anything goes, this is only brainstorming.
After you have covered the most obvious situations on the post-it notes that you have selected as
painful and probable, you can move on to other ones. A compelling idea can come out of those as well.
Step Nine: Tell the participants this exercise is meant to get them thinking about a certain situation
and about ways to improve it. They can use the same strategy when they are coming up with their own
ideas:
1. Map the entire experience

2. Find the pain points
3. Decide which pains are big or frequent
4. Think of ways to solve them
Step Ten: Invite the participants to think about new business ideas using this method of thinking.
Suggest to them it will be by far the easiest if they pick a field that is close to them. They should do this
at home and put fresh ideas in their idea books. Next lesson, you can ask them about this.
MENTOR NOTE: This process works very well when someone tries to find a business opportunity from a
hobby or a passion he or she has. Skiing could be replaced with more or less anything.
Conclude the lesson by congratulating everyone for their contributions and particularly congratulate
the person who contributed the most post-its and the person who gave the most crazy idea of what
could go wrong.
Tips for the mentor

When selecting the field you will explore it is smart to choose something that you are familiar with,
because you will be able to contribute the most. Expect that you will have to get the ball rolling by
offering some suggestions yourself. The participants will follow.
Pick a scenario, not a topic. "Dentist" is bad, while "A trip to the dentist" is good.
Here are some suggestions for topics that you might explore:
• Owning a pet (taking a dog for a walk, grooming your cat, cleaning the cage)
• Finding a job that you like (applying for a job, going to an interview)
• Recycling (taking out the trash, insuring that people separate their waste)
• Searching for something online (finding information about a topic for a paper)
• Quitting smoking
• Getting people together for a party (convincing them to come, preparing everything)
• Traveling (the entire airport experience, picking a cool place to visit)
• Birthday (finding an appropriate gift, remembering dates)
• Studying (preparing for tests, getting class notes)
Think about what topics might be most relevant to your group. If you are in a technical school you
should focus on that. Likewise, if your group has a lot of girls interested in make-up you should find
something that is in that area. Be creative!
Topic of the lesson: What is a promising idea

This lesson has two purposes. The first is to learn how to evaluate a promising business concept and the
second is to brainstorm for some more business ideas to have a large pool to choose from in the next
lesson.

The participants should bring their ideabooks and be ready to discuss them in class.
This lesson can be done outside - by taking your group for a walk (but this is not necessary).

The structure of this lesson is deliberately left up to the mentor's discretion. Perhaps by this point the
group might already have a lot of ideas and the selection can start (so the activity proposed for today
can be done in depth) or the mentor will still need to brainstorm with the participants for quite some
time. It can also happen that the participants have already decided on an idea some time ago. In that
case you may proceed through this activity very quickly and simply move on to the next section in the
lesson plan.
MENTOR NOTE: You should never rush the process of brainstorming for business ideas and looking for
the best one. The lesson plan deliberately leaves a month for the process of picking the most
appropriate idea.
Step One: The mentor should tell the participants that they should have a basic understanding of
what is a promising business idea. It is impossible to figure this out alone in an hour - otherwise
everyone would be a billionaire - but there are certain principles that apply.
The focus of this lesson is to learn how to make a very brief assessment of an idea to decide if it is
worth to test-drive it further (that part of the process will follow in the next sessions).
The mentor should start by inviting the participants to tell what they think are the characteristics by
which we should assess business ideas. They should offer suggestions and the mentor may write them
on the whiteboard. Usually the participants will say something like: "it is profitable," "people want to
buy it," "it is easy to make," etc...
Step Two: The mentor should tell the participants that basically only three questions need to be
answered:
1. Is it desirable? (do people want to buy/use this?)

a. Is this fulfilling a real need or solving a real problem?
b. Are people actually prepared to use this?
c. Can we convince the people to part with their money to use this?
2. Is it viable? (can we build a sustainable business around this?)
a. Can we make a profit selling this?
b. Is this affordable for the people we are trying to serve?
c. Is the market big enough for this?
3. Is it feasible? (do we have the capacity to produce/deliver this?)
a. Does the technology exist to deliver this?
b. Do we ourselves have the capacity or knowledge to deliver this? (it is also acceptable if
we can surround ourselves with people who can help us do this)
c. Are the up-front costs small enough for us to start this?
*the mentor should draw this diagram on the board.
Every business idea should be evaluated by asking these three questions. There is no need to dive much
deeper at this stage - it should be a mental exercise.
The mentor should emphasize this is absolutely not enough to confirm that the idea has potential.
Instead, the purpose of these questions is to search for red flags. What you are hoping to achieve with
these questions is to find points that absolutely disprove an idea. For example, if you see that
technology prevents you to build this, or that start up costs are too high, you should move on to
something else.
Step Three: The mentor should invite the participants to share some ideas from their ideabook and
submit them to this review.
MENTOR NOTE: It is usually a good idea to start this analysis by suggesting an idea of your own - if you
disprove that one first, participants will be much more open to critical assessment of their ideas. At first
it will be difficult for them to be comfortable with destroying their ideas.
Alternatively, the mentor may take the class outside for a short walk and stop in front of shops or other
things (lampposts, billboards, an ice cream stand...) and ask the same questions about
viability/desirability/feasibility. The participants should discuss why is something a good business.
MENTOR NOTE: Try to find a business that is visibly failing. Ask the participants whether it is viability,
desirability or feasibility that is not working. Also, try to find something that is in the public domain, like
a traffic light and ask them about that. You can have a discussion about who is actually the customer
there - the public or the government. This makes the viability/desirability/feasibility discussion much
more complex (and interesting).
Step Four: All the participants' ideas that pass this quick test, meaning that you do not see (yet) a
reason they will not work, can be considered by the group to actually develop in the second part of the
year.
There will surely be disagreement in the group if some idea has merit or not. The mentor should be
happy this happens and use that to discuss that entrepreneurship is not an exact science. The only way
to see if an idea has merit is to test it - something we will learn later. Additionally, an idea can always be
changed or improved. If you see something is not viable/desirable/feasible, there might be another way
to structure the business to make it work.
Step Five: The mentor should tell the participants these questions should be remembered. Whenever
they come up with an idea, they should use them to analyze it. In time, they will become very good at
this.
The mentor should give the participants a task until next week: Go through the ideabook and think
about viability/desirability/feasibility of the ideas they have. There will be a discussion next time to
decide on an idea to actually develop.
Tips for the mentor
Feel free to structure this lesson differently if you want.
You should work towards having at least 10-15 viable ideas within your group at the end of this session.
This will enable you to decide which one to work with and bring to reality.
In case this is difficult and the participants don't have enough ideas, here are some questions you may
ask to start a discussion:
• What hobbies and interests do you have? (hobbies are generally great to start thinking about
business ideas)
• Was there something you always wanted to try but couldn't? (for example: travel around the
world - this opens up a debate how to create a way to pay for your travels through a business
idea)
• Have you seen anything interesting abroad or on TV, online that would be cool to have here?
(copying a concept from abroad is a perfectly good way to start a business)
• Was there anything that you wanted to do when you were a kid? (examples here are building a
treehouse, having your own go-kart, etc...)
• Did any of you ever start a side project or built something? (most good ideas come out of those)
• Did any of you want to start a project but didn't? (this opens up a debate about hobbies - a
great source of ideas)
• What would be cool to have? (general outlandish suggestions are welcome here)
• If you could build anything, really anything, what would you do? (everyone has some cool
passions, but think they are impossible. For example, a team in a school in Slovenia wanted to
send something to space so they built a probe and sent it to the stratosphere)
Actively help the participants through this process. As soon as you have found an area or a hobby, you
can apply the timeline/problem journey method you did in the previous lesson to find pain points
there. If the participants say they want to build X, write X in the solution part of the simple business
model canvas and brainstorm the problem and the customer.
Topic of the lesson: Decision time

This lesson is set aside for the group to decide on which idea(s) to develop into actual businesses until
the end of the year.

The participants should bring their ideabooks.

This lesson is not structured. Instead we are only giving some basic guidelines for helping the teams
come up with a decision to pick the ideas.
MENTOR TIP: Remember that by far the most important factor that influences which idea to choose is
the personal preference of the team members. They should genuinely like what they are setting out to
build - this will make the whole process much easier.
Step One: Bring the participants together in an open and collaborative space. Have everyone sit
around one table and invite them to open their ideabooks and share the ideas they have.
Tell the participants that they must decide during this session on an idea they will pursue for the
remainder of the year.
Step Two: The mentor should frame this discussion as an invitation for them to pick a side project
they will work on during the remainder of the year. That way they will enter into the process relaxed
and without being married to a goal: make money, win the event, start a global company, etc... For the
majority of the students this works best because it tells them this is not high stakes and does not take
much time. For the most ambitious students, or if the group has a really complex idea, this is a different
story, and the mentor should treat this situation accordingly.
MENTOR NOTE: The participants should not be too stressed over this - tell them that we need a
starting point to begin exploring the business world. Ideas will change dramatically, and if it does not
work out, we can immediately throw it out and start anew. The participants should pick something that
will be fun for them to experiment with and they should not be too attached to the outcome.
Guidelines for deciding on the business idea
1. Every member of the club must be involved in a project team. Otherwise they will miss on the
learning outcome. Matchmake the teams so that everyone is included.
2. Ideally you should have 1-2 teams working on ideas. If you have more, this will be much more
difficult for you as a facilitator of this process.
3. Think of team dynamics when the teams are forming. Be prepared to spend time on this as well.
While there is no specific part of the curriculum focused on this topic it is not unimportant. You
should assume the role of a coach for the teams. Take this into consideration when the students
are deciding on which idea to take on - if it is a very ambitious one, you should pay a lot of
attention to team dynamics.
4. Try to have as many different skillsets in every team - the more diverse a team, the better. Make
sure every team has a mix of people that are good in maths, people who are creative, builders...
5. If the group is undecided on the business idea you should guide them towards the idea with the
most business potential.
6. Often times the teams will not be aware if they come up with a really amazing idea with a lot of
potential. If this happens, you should absolutely encourage them to pick that one.
7. Default towards ideas that have the biggest market, then default towards ideas that are the
easiest to develop.
8. Try to avoid ideas that are too difficult to develop or have a too long development cycle.
9. The idea does not need to be a scalable startup. It can be a small business too, there is
absolutely nothing wrong with that.
10. Think ahead of time how you will handle the situation if someone wants to switch teams for
whatever reason (personality differences, lack of work, etc...
MENTOR NOTE: Ask the students about their motivations - they can be very diferent. Some might want
to win the competition, others might want to earn some pocket money, some want to just get some
experience... Think how their ideas fit into this.
Once the ideas are selected, congratulate the participants and tell them that the first half of the
program is complete. They can now call themselves entrepreneurs. Provide some closure for this part
and then tell them that life is about to get very interesting for them. Tell them that next week the real
work will start.
Be sure to report all the ideas to the U.school/Ustvarjalnik office.
Tips for the mentor

You should gently push the group towards selecting as few ideas as possible, as it is much easier for you
to manage the process if you have 2-3 ideas in the club at most. This will also make it easier for the
students as they will have a bigger team to rely on. Try to avoid a situation where students will be
working on an idea that they cannot develop on their own (they want to make an app but they do not
have either a coder in the team or the means to attract a coder on the team). Ignore this if you feel you
can help them find one. Know that even if at first the students will not be too happy with the idea at
hand, afterwards as they invest themselves into it, they begin to really like it.
Curriculum section: Writing it out and testing it
Topic of the lesson: Defining the idea

After selecting a business idea that is promising enough to test-drive it during the club, we need to
define it and understand it completely. This lesson will take the participants through the process of the
first definition of their concept by filling out the simple business model canvas and outlining the go-to-
market strategy.

Printouts of the business model canvases and the go-to-market canvasses for the group

During this lesson the mentor will guide the team(s) to think through their business idea. This might be
something that has been touched upon during the discussion in one of the previous lessons, but this
time it is important for the students to systematically answer all the basic questions about their
proposed project.
MENTOR NOTE: The mentor should be constantly jumping between the role of the "devil's advocate"
(when commenting on the business idea he/she should be very critical), and the role of a friendly guide
(the mentor should be brainstorming together with the students and offering suggestions on how to
make the idea work)
This activity can only start when the participants agree on the business idea they wish to pursue. If this
was not done in the previous lesson, the mentor should first find consensus on an idea. This does not
mean that the idea has to be perfect, on the contrary - the process we will follow is designed for the
idea to change dramatically and often times the most bizzare ideas turn out the best.
MENTOR NOTE: Put the participants at ease. They do not have to come up with a million dollar idea.
Instead they should only find a concept that is worthy of further discussion (a huge difference). Also it is
smart to remind the participants once again that the initial concepts for the biggest and most successful
businesses were usually quite crazy.
Step One: Tell the participants that their first idea may very well be wrong (in fact most of them
are, so there is nothing bad with that). This is why we should go through a process to find out if
the idea has potential. The basic principle of this process is to ask the right questions and be
sure about the answers. The question part is easy, because people who have started a
business before can ask that (and we have some cool worksheets that help). The answers part
can only come from one source: the customers themselves. We need to test our ideas outside
the classroom, by actually talking to them and ultimately selling to them. But this comes later.
First, we need to define our idea.
Step Two: The mentor should introduce the simple business model canvas and invite the participants
to fill it out for their idea. This should be the starting point for the discussion.
1. The basis of every business idea is a need or a problem that exists and isn't solved. The first question one should
ask before starting something new is "what problem are you solving." This forces you not to think only about the
cool product, but also about the concrete market need. This is something that people unfamiliar with business
often overlook.
2. The next step is to ask who is the customer. Here, one needs to be very concrete. The mentor should offer an
example: It is not enough to say "people who do sports." You should say at least "football players." Better yet, you
should say "midfielders."
3. Only in the last step do we talk about our solution. At this point we can explain what we actually propose to build,
but we need to focus on the benefit or value provided for the customer, not merely the features of the product.
The mentor should actively brainstorm with them to improve their concept. Once satisfied, the
participants should fill out their business model canvas.
MENTOR NOTE: Absolutely challenge the participants to clarify how the proposed solution actually
solves the problem. Usually aspiring entrepreneurs get this very wrong and you should not let them get
away with it, because this will dramatically improve their idea.
Step Three: Of course, our idea is worthless unless we are able to get anyone to buy it. Therefore we
must also ask ourselves how are we going to convince random people to actually become our
customers. In other words, we need to figure out how are we going to bring our idea to the market.
MENTOR NOTE: This particular discussion is the reason why entrepreneurs with experience are
mentors. There is no template to do this and you should use your experience to guide the participants'
thinking.
Brainstorm and decide on a way to get people to buy this product or service. Remember: this is not an
exercise with a "right" answer. Instead we are only guessing and deciding on what seems most
reasonable. Take time for this discussion. The goal is merely to come up with one viable strategy,
because that's what we need to take the next step: testing this idea in front of real people. Use the Go-
To-Market Canvas, available to you in the mentor kit, to guide the debate.
Experience in working with people who are developing their very first business idea shows, that this is a
step that is the most counter-intuitive. Most often, people would want to come up with cases and
arguments for as many users using the product as possible. This, of course, means it becomes nearly
impossible to sell the product. It is much easier instead to focus on one particular use-case, one
particular niche, and one particular target market. The mentor should guide the teams through the
process of clarifying their idea.
Note that we do this in the classroom initially, just to have something to work with. In the next sessions,
we will actually validate the assumption by talking to real people. But we need something to work with -
hence the "theoretical" discussion which does not adhere to Lean principles fully.
MENTOR NOTE: Throughout this lesson have in mind that this is not a theoretical exercise to develop a
business plan. This is strategizing to start an actual business. You know how difficult this is, so you
should call out potential problems and dumb the idea down in order to make it actually possible. A
good sentence to always use with the participants is: "We need to actually make this happen in the
next few weeks. Do you think this is possible?"
1. Start with the customer. Instead of asking who are all the people that might buy this, ask what kind of person
would buy this in a heartbeat. This will guide the participants' thinking towards an ideal customer profile, which is
an excellent first step.
2. The participants should be aware that the best business strategy is to simply find as many "ideal" customers as
possible and then find a way to sell to them. In order to do so, the mentor should ask the participants to list 10 real
people that they know, or real people that they know of, who would fit the bill for an "ideal" customer. In order to
force the participants to actually name real people, expect them to provide contact information.
3. The next step then becomes relatively simple. Make an assumption or generalization based on the ten people
about the "archetype" of the "ideal" customers: who are the people that are our ideal market for this particular
idea?
4. Once we know who our target customers are, we can start thinking of ways how to reach them. The best question
to ask is where are these people? What are they doing, what do they have in common?
5. Next question is obvious: "since we have a general idea where these people are, can we think of ways to reach
them?" The key suggestion here is to look for quick, cheap and easy ways to reach them. For example expensive TV
commercials are not really viable at the beginning, so we should be looking at options that are actually available for
us.
6. A good follow up question for this is: "Who can we partner with?"
7. Optionally, we can also talk about expanding this afterwards and actual ways to do it.
Step Four: Now the mentor should conclude the lesson by honestly telling the participants this idea
might very well be wrong. There is literally no way to know at this precise moment if this will work or
not. But we can find out quite easily - if we test this idea with the potential customers and talk to them.
That will be the topic of the next couple of lessons. The mentor should bring the participants to reality
and remind them that they will not become millionaires just yet.
Tips for the mentor

It is okay if there is more than one idea among the participants. You can divide them into groups and
have each group work on one idea. You need at least one.
It is important to finish this lesson with the problem/solution/customer and go-to-market strategy
defined, as this is needed to start the next lesson.
It is absolutely vital that the ideas discussed are things that the participants can realistically start. An
idea that needs a million dollar up front investment might not be the best option for now.
Topic of the lesson: Will anyone want it

With the initial idea drawn out, we need to see if the customers agree with our assumption that we can
make money from it. The topic of this lesson is to go through the process of testing an idea by
interviewing customers.

Understanding the problem and validating the solution canvas for the whole group. Copies of customer
interview script samples for the participants. The mom test script presentation (slides) should be shown
in class or the script should be printed and distributed to participants.

Step One: The mentor should introduce the lesson with something like this: In the previous lesson we
defined our business idea. Now, before we start to build it out, we need to test it to see if it makes
sense to pursue it. The challenge for today will be to talk to people (specifically with the ten people we
listed before as ideal customers) and get their feedback. If the feedback is positive, we will pursue it.
It is generally a good idea to know as much as possible about our customers, because that way we can
adapt our product or service to fit their needs better and to know how exactly can we sell it to them.
We basically need to test if we got the idea right - if people will buy from us.
Step Two: The mentor should distribute the first worksheet: Understanding the problem. He/she
should point out that the very first thing we should discuss is the problem we are solving.
The bigger the problem/need - the better. If the pain is really great, having a successful business is
easy. It is also important to know how often does the problem/need happen. If it is very rare, people
might not be willing to pay for a solution. Sometimes people might not even be aware of a problem
until they hear about your solution or ignore it completely. Other times, people might already have
ways to solve it that are completely satisfactory to them. All this means that they are unwilling to buy
and that our idea needs work. It is also important to know how many people have this problem - if the
group is too small, we cannot make a business from it.
It is okay to do a short brainstorming, but the mentor should insist that any such activity is basically
guesswork. It is extremely likely that we will get something wrong (this is the reason why so many ideas
fail and why innovation is hard)
Step Three: The mentor should tell a story. An aspiring entrepreneur got an idea for an iPad
cookbook. Because he knows he needs information about the customers he starts interviewing them.
Knowing that his mom cooks and should therefore need cookbooks, he proceeds to have the following
conversation.
The mentor should now show the transcript of the conversation (copied below - the source for this is
Rob Fitzpatrick's book THE MOM TEST):
Son: “Mom, mom, I have an idea for a business — can I run it by you?”
Mom: “Of course, dear.”
Son: “You like your iPad, right? You use it a lot?”
Mom: “Yes
Son: “Okay, so would you ever buy an app which was like a cookbook for your iPad?”
Mom: “Hmmm.”
Son: “And it only costs $40 — that’s cheaper than those hardcovers on your shelf.”
Mom: “Well...”
Son: “And you can share recipes with your friends, and there’s an iPhone app which is your shopping list. And videos of that
celebrity chef you love.”
Mom: “Oh, well yes honey, that sounds amazing. And you’re right, $40 is a good deal. Will it have pictures of the recipes?”
Son: “Yes, definitely. Thanks mom — love you!”
Mom: “Won’t you have some lasagna?”
The mentor should now ask: "So what just happened?"
The truth is this conversation is hopelessly misleading. If we go out to people and ask: "what do you
think about this idea" there is very little chance this will be useful. There are several factors in play:
• People do not like to be discouraging or hurt others' feelings (especially those close to you). This
is why they will usually say that the idea is great.
• People will start giving advice, which is sometimes okay, but realistically they do not have a
crystal ball (just like we don't)
• People might honestly say that they like it and will buy it, but this is a promise that is really easy
to make.
Therefore usually only one thing happens. The entrepreneur is hopelessly misled and gets a false
positive.
Step Four: The mentor should now show the same conversation, only annotated with the real, honest
thoughts:
Son: “Mom, mom, I have an idea for a business — can I run it by you?”
I am about to expose my ego — please don’t hurt my feelings.
Mom: “Of course, dear.”
You are my only son and I am ready to lie to protect you.
Son: “You like your iPad, right? You use it a lot?”
Mom: “Yes.”
You led me to this answer, so here you go.
Son: “Okay, so would you ever buy an app which was like a cookbook for your iPad?”
I am optimistically asking a hypothetical question and you know what I want you to say.
Mom: “Hmmm.”
As if I need another cookbook at my age.
Son: “And it only costs $40 — that’s cheaper than those hardcovers on your shelf.”
I’m going to skip that lukewarm signal and tell you more about my great idea.
Mom: “Well...”
Aren’t apps supposed to cost a dollar?
Son: “And you can share recipes with your friends, and there’s an iPhone app which is your shopping list. And videos of that
celebrity chef you love.”
Please just say “yes.” I will not leave you alone until you do.
Mom: “Oh, well yes honey, that sounds amazing. And you’re right, $40 is a good deal. Will it have pictures of the recipes?”
I have rationalized the price outside of a real purchase decision, made a non- committal compliment, and offered a
feature request to appear engaged.
Son: “Yes, definitely. Thanks mom — love you!”
I have completely mis-interpreted this conversation and taken it as validation.
Mom: “Won’t you have some lasagna?”
I am concerned that you won’t be able to afford food soon. Please eat something.
As you can see, we need to be careful about the right approach and we definitely cannot just ask: "what
do you think?" So, how do we do it right?
Step Five: In order to do these interviews right, we should always stick to some rules that prevent our
interviewees to (in good faith) lie to us:
1. Do not talk about your idea. Talk about their life.
2. Ask about specifics in the past instead of generics or opinions about the future.
3. Talk less and listen more.
You should expect the information from the interviewee will usually be worthless if it consists of
compliments, fluff, hypotheticals, the future or ideas.
So here is the same conversation done right (the mentor shows the second script):
Son: “Hey mom, how’s that new iPad treating you?”

Mom: “Oh - I love it! I use it every day.”
Son: “What do you usually do on it?”
Whoops — we asked a generic question, so answer to this probably won’t be terribly valuable.
Mom: “Oh, you know. Read the news, play sudoku, catch up with my friends. The usual.”
Son: “What’s the last thing you did on it?”
Get specific about examples in the past to get real, concrete data.
Mom: “You know your father and I are planning that trip? I was figuring out where we could stay. “ She uses it for both
entertainment and utility, which didn’t come up during the “usually” answer.
Son: “Did you use an app for that?”
A slightly leading question, but sometimes we need to nudge to get to the topic we’re interested in.
Mom: “No, I just used Google. I didn’t know there was an app. What’s it called?”
Younger folks use the App Store as a search engine, whereas your mom waits for a specific recommendation. If that’s true
more broadly, finding a reliable marketing channel outside the App Store is going to be crucial.
Son: “Where did you find out about the other ones you use?”
Dig into interesting and unexpected answers to understand the behaviors and motivations behind them.
Mom: “The Sunday paper has a section on the apps of the week.”
You can’t remember the last time you cracked open a paper, but it sounds like traditional PR might be a viable option for
reaching customers like your mom.
Son: “Makes sense. Hey, by the way, I saw a couple new cookbooks on the shelf — where did those come from?”
Business ideas usually have several failure points. Here it’s both the medium of an iPad app and the content of a
cookbook.
Mom: “They’re one of those things you just end up getting at Christmas. I think Marcy gave me that one. Haven’t even
opened it. As if I need another lasagna recipe at my age!”
Aha! This answer is gold dust for 3 reasons: 1. Old people don’t need another generic set of recipes. 2. The gift market
may be strong . 3. Younger cooks may be a better customer segment since they don’t yet know the basics.
Son: “What’s the last cookbook you did buy for yourself?”
Attack generic answers like “I don’t buy cookbooks” by asking for specific examples.
Mom: “Now that you mention it, I bought a vegan cookbook about 3 months ago. Your father is trying to eat healthier and
thought my veggies could benefit from a pinch more zazz.”
More gold: experienced chefs may still buy specialized or niche cookbooks.
Such a conversation is immensely valuable for the entrepreneur because it gives clear ideas how to
make his/her idea work. This is an exercise of asking the right questions. It will take some practice to
get good at it, but just following the general rules mentioned above will give really good results.
Step Six: Only after we have understood and validated the problem can we talk about the solution.
Again, the mentor should distribute a canvas - validating the solution:
The trick for testing our first idea is to first confirm that there is a problem in the first place, making our
solution useful. Since we were already able to confirm that, we can now focus on finding out how best
to solve it. First, we need to know what else is out there. Presumably we have already done some
initial research so we think we are somewhat innovative. It is important to know now if people are
actively seeking a solution for this. If yes, this is goldmine as they will be only too happy to try our
solution if we can deliver it to them. If not, then we need to find out how to convince them to try/buy
our solution. If there are other solutions out there, then we need to find out if there are any flaws
with them or if we can offer a significantly better deal. Note that our solution needs to be perceived
as superior in the eyes of random customers, which usually means we can offer something extra others
don't. We need to validate that this particular feature is really so important in the customers' eyes
they will come to us.
Step Seven: Now is the time to get out of the building. The mentor should instruct the participants to
conduct four interviews: Two on the problem and two on the solution. They should make detailed
notes and come to next week's session ready to share the learnings with the group.
Tips for the mentor

It is absolutely crucial to go out and conduct these interviews. If the mentor feels the group is not
motivated enough to do them during the course of the week, they should do them immediately in class
over the phone to get the ball rolling.
Topic of the lesson: Is it worthwhile to pursue this

Another aspect of every business idea must be considered. Is this financially viable? A simple
calculation must be made before further inquiry into this project and then we can decide whether to
actually commit to it.

This lesson should start with the presentations of the teams' learnings from last week. It is therefore
important for the mentor to check on the performance, acknowledge them if they have completed the
task and have a conversation with the group if they have not.
Market size worksheets and financial planning worksheets for the participants. Access to computers
with internet.

Step One: The mentor should start by asking each project team to talk briefly about their interview
experience. In particular, the mentor should be asking:
• Who did they talk to?

• How did the conversation go?
• What was their initial idea? Did that change during the conversation?
• What did they learn?
• What is the go-to-market strategy now?
• Is the problem big enough?
• Are there enough customers with this problem?
• How did they feel during the experience?
MENTOR NOTE: The mentor should really congratulate the teams that did the assignment. It is very
difficult to put your heart on the line and ask strangers about your idea.
Mention to them that a lot of further testing will be required to develop the idea, but that for now this
is good enough to take the next step.
Step Two: The mentor should now tell the participants that they need to prove this idea is viable from
a financial perspective. Hopefully they have been able to validate that customers exist and can estimate
what is the target market - to which group of people they want to sell.
The mentor should distribute the market size canvas:
Three things need to be considered at this point in time.
1. How many people have this problem. This gives an estimate of the biggest potential size of the
proposed business. It is not likely the company will grow to be this big, but it cannot be bigger
than that. This is important for potential investors - if the market is not big enough, they will not
invest.
2. How many people can buy our solution. For example, if we are building an alarm clock app for
the iPhone, the total size of market is everyone who needs to wake up on time in the morning,
but only iPhone users can use our solution and that again limits the size of our business.
3. How many people can be reached. Maybe we are a company that only operates in one country.
So someone with the problem we are solving, that lives on the other side of the world is not our
target customer (yet). This figure is important for us, because it limits our near-term revenue
potential.
Of course it is practically impossible to reach 100% market share even with the smallest figure. Usually
their market share is far, far smaller.
Step Three: The mentor should instruct the participants to estimate these numbers by going online,
doing research, asking people in the industry, etc... Give 30 minutes for this activity.
MENTOR NOTE: The mentor should help with suggestions how to estimate these market sizes. At this
point it is not necessary to be absolutely precise. We should simply get an estimate.
Step Four: The mentor should introduce the financial planning worksheet and invite the participants
to fill it out.
This is a simple worksheet that runs through the basic economics of the company. The mentor should
help the teams because for most of them this will be the first time they are seeing such a document.
Start with the left side of the sheet and do boxes 1 - 3 first.
MENTOR NOTE: Usually the participants forget about costs here. Be sure to remind them to include
everything and emphasize how dangerous it is to be wrong with this calculation.
The mentor should have a conversation with them about pricing. Several factors are important when
deciding upon a price:
• How much do people pay for similar products?

• How much money does your customer segment have?
• How much does it cost to deliver the service?
• How much do you need to earn?
• How much do you want to earn?
Then the mentor should briefly explain the break-even point calculation - deducting the variable costs
from the price of the unit, and then calculating how many units need to be sold in order to break even.
This is the opportunity for an honest discussion. Will it be possible to sell X units to break even? Will it
be possible to deliver? Will the profit be large enough to justify the risk of the up-front investment?
Lastly, the mentor should guide the participants through the reality check question box. It is
deliberately ambiguous and the mentor should leave up to the participants to interpret those questions
(what does rich mean) as they want.
Step Five: The mentor should invite the participants to compare these reality check figures with the
estimated size of the market. An honest discussion should be held to see if this idea is reasonable.
MENTOR NOTE: The mentor should play devil's advocate here. Solving a problem that is too small is
one of the most common mistakes of entrepreneurs.
Tips for the mentor

It is very possible that these exercises will disprove a business idea. This is fine. If that happens, just
have a brainstorming session how to change/improve this idea or revert back to the business model
canvas and repeat the whole process with a fresh idea.
There is ample time to repeat this process a couple of times (after knowing the procedure the
participants will be able to go through it much faster and will be able to validate ideas on their own at
home). The startup weekend will also be an opportunity for them to further iterate.
The mentor should mention that this process is generic for every single business idea. In the future the
participants will probably not use the worksheet, but will be asking the same questions and thinking
about the same things. This is the important learning that we want to convey. s
Topic of the lesson: Rapid prototyping

We need to further test our idea and gather more data. To speed up this process we will develop the
first prototype (the first iteration) of the proposed solution.

The mentor should have a sense of what kind of products the participants are attempting to build.
He/she should prepare ahead of class by bringing appropriate materials for prototyping to this session.
If for example the teams are building an app, paper, scissors and markers are enough, because they will
create a paper prototype. In other cases, the team should set up a simple landing page to get pre-
orders or write a sales letter they can use to approach people.

Step One: The mentor should start the lesson by telling the participants that the final confirmation of
a business idea is if somebody actually tries to pay for it. So the challenge for this session is to prepare
all the resources necessary to get a pre-order, download, sign-up or similar from a customer.
Of course this is not realistic if we only approach the customers and talk to them. Probably we will need
to show them something. For example:
• A paper mockup for an app (that will prompt the user to leave their details to be notified when
it is available - which is a good sign of customer validation)
• A sales letter and proposal for a service the team is trying to do (if someone asks them for a
meeting or actually wants to pay for it, this is a great sign)
• A landing page with a sign-up form (if many people sign up, this shows potential)
MENTOR NOTE: This should never be a complex thing. Instead, it should be just good enough to start a
real conversation with the customer. Getting rejected is just as good as getting an order, because the
team can always ask why and get really valuable feedback.
Step Two: The mentor should present the Rapid Prototyping presentation which is included in the
mentor kit and share the stories of Google Glass and Zappos.
first prototype of Google Glass
Step Three: The participants should build their prototype. The mentor gives them precisely 45
minutes for this. The time constraint is there because it forces the participants to keep the prototypes
simple and not over-engineer the solution. The mentor should actively help during this process.
MENTOR NOTE: Done is better than perfect!
Step Four: The participants should now spend a week to try and close a sale. They may reach out to the
remaining six "ideal" customers from two weeks ago or find other "ideal" customers. Attempting to sell
is the best way to get further insight about the customers and ways to sell.
The mentor should give advice and concrete suggestions for this, but as no two teams would have the
same needs, this is something that cannot be put into the lesson plan. It is the role of the mentor to use
his/her business experience to support them.
Tips for the mentor

It is very likely that the participants will get rejected a couple of times. The mentor should therefore pay
extra attention to motivation and encouragement. He/she should remind the students of the lessons in
the first weeks: selling cookies, daring greatly... They should enter every sales conversation with a goal
to fail greatly and learn from it. Their advantage is that they have every right to change their idea and
iterate to make it better. If they keep at it long enough, they will surely be successful.
Topic of the lesson: Product story

After extensive user interviewing we need to put everything together and define our product. This is a
key step that will help us understand what do we need to build.

Multicolored markers, Post-it notes, printouts of the customer journey map for the participants.

The best way to define a business idea is to draw out the entire storyline of the interaction between the
customer and our product in the form of a storyboard (or comicbook). The entire session is dedicated
to this exercise.
MENTOR NOTE: This exercise looks very simple, but is actually quite challenging. The reason for doing
this is to make sure the students have really thought about everything for their idea. If they are able to
complete it, this shows they have everything thought-out and are ready for the actual building of the
product/service.
Step One: The mentor should start by summarizing what has been done so far:
• Team(s) decided on the ideas they want to pursue,

• They thought about the problem they are solving and their customers,
• They went outside and talked to people to gain an insight into what they really want,
• They learned from those interviews and improved on the idea,
• They considered the size of the opportunity and defined their business model,
• Perhaps they completely changed their idea on the way.
All this means they know a great deal about their market. As the last stepping stone before actually
building it out, we will do an exercise called customer journey mapping.
Step Two: We will imagine a timeline that starts with a customer that has the problem/need we are
able to solve with our product, but who does not know that we exist, and ends with that same person
being a satisfied paying, returning customer. In other words, we need to show a realistic chain of events
that tells us how the customer finds out about the product, uses it, and solves the problem he/she has.
The mentor should distribute the customer journey worksheets to the participants, along with post-its
and markers. The instructions he/she will give to them are the following: "Imagine you are a
screenwriter or a comic book maker. You need to draw out the entire story of your customer
interaction with as many details as you can. Think about a perfect interaction - one that ends with
satisfaction on both sides. Make sure you show concretely how you are solving the problem for the
customer, how he/she is paying for it... "
Step Three: The project teams should draw the storyboard with post-it notes. Give a full hour for this
activity.
MENTOR NOTE: Actively help the participants through this process with your suggestions. Tell them
they will be successful if they will show this storyboard to a random person and he/she will be able to
understand the entire interaction without any further explanation.
Tips for the mentor

You should be reminding the participants both about creating a really great customer experience and
about making sure they keep their costs low and their operations as small as possible.
The most common outcome of this exercise is participants finding out about a lot of things they have
not considered yet. This is exactly what we want to achieve.
Curriculum section: Writing it out and testing it / startup weekend prep
Topic of the lesson: Preparations for the startup weekend
NOTE: THIS LESSON IS DONE IN THE WEEK PRECEEDING THE STARTUP WEEKEND
EVENT. IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE THE FOURTH LESSON. ALTERNATIVELY, IF THE CLUB
WILL NOT PARTICIPATE IN THE STARTUP WEEKEND, ONLY THE SECOND PART OF THE
LESSON CAN BE DONE.

This lesson is dedicated to two things: (1) Crafting a 1-minute pitch for our idea that can be used at the
startup weekend (and elsewhere) and (2) A mid-year review and quick evaluation of the
entrepreneurship club.

All the filled-out canvases from the previous sessions for the pitch creation. The video from last year's
startup weekend.

This lesson will be done in two parts: The first part will focus on preparing for the upcoming startup
weekend (mainly crafting the one minute pitch), while the second part will be dedicated to a mid-year
reflection.
- Part One -
The upcoming startup weekend is one of the major highlights of the year. Traditionally all participants
really enjoy it and get very motivated to pursue their projects. We want to get all the participants of our
clubs to attend.
Step One: The mentor should start by inviting the participants to attend (they have hopefully applied
already, but this is another opportunity to convince those that might still be undecided. Then, the
mentor should briefly explain what the startup weekend is and why it is important:
• This is a gathering of all the members of the clubs from many countries
• This will be an exercise in true startup building: 3 days to take their ideas on the market and
develop the product
• The teams will get to present their projects to a panel of investors who might choose to support
it
• It will be no sleep, all action for 3 days and nights straight. This is often how startup life looks
like.
• There will be a lot of like-minded people there and a good chance to get to know them
• There will be a large number of mentors to help you out
Then, the mentor should show the video from last year's event (available on uSchool/Ustvarjalnik
website)
Step Two: The mentor should then tell the participants what to expect from the event:
• This is an opportunity to build the product out with the help of mentors and students from
other clubs. We will invite a lot of programmers, designers and other techie people who will
assist you to deliver a prototype.
• There will be a presentation in front of investors at the end. This will be the first opportunity to
get in touch with them and impress them.
• The panel will select winners at the end with prizes awarded.
• In order to bring their idea to the event, they will need to present their idea with a 1-minute
pitch at the very beginning of the event. Other participants at the event will do the same and
then teams will be formed with people (other participants that did not pitch the idea) joining
the teams they like and need their help.
• It is possible to join another team at the event and/or come without a pitch or not part of a
project team. So everyone should come, even if there are people who are not part of a project
team.
Step Three: The mentor should then ask the participants about their expectations. If they are
ambitious, they should begin to plan what they will do at the event. If they will be building a prototype
they should consider arranging they will have the supplies necessary to work at the event.
Step Four: The mentor should work with the teams to craft the pitches. The pitch should take the
form described below and last one minute.
1. Problem (What is the need for the product? Who has this need?)
This is usually told through a story that explains the ideal customer's problem.
2. Solution (What concretely do we propose to build?)
This should be a clear, simple and concise explanation of your product that everyone can
understand.
3. How you propose to make money (What is the business model)
This should be no more than a sentence: clarification what the revenue stream is.
4. Who do you need (An invitation for other participants to join)
A concrete ask for designers, coders, techies, etc...
MENTOR NOTE: The students will surely be apprehensive - how to explain all this in under a minute?
The answer is that if you are able to explain it in a couple of sentences, you definitely understand it.
Give an example if necessary.
Take as long as you need to craft the pitch. Be sure to write it down.
Step Five: The last step is to decide who will present it on stage and have a few rehearsals. Give some
pointers about body language and delivery. The most important things to point out:
• Prepare well in advance. This is by far the most important factor for the quality of the pitch
• Talk into the microphone and have it close to the mouth
• Show some passion (but don't overkill it)
• Smile, have a confident pose and keep eye contact with the audience
MENTOR NOTE: Mention to the students the more compelling the pitch, the bigger the chance they will
get a great team.
- Part Two -
In this part we will do a mid-year checkup, evaluation and reflection. This serves the mentor to get
feedback and the students to give suggestions on improvements and tell what they want to hear next.
Background: The purpose of reflecting as a team is for members to express thoughts, feelings and
opinions about a shared experience, to build openness and trust in the team, and to draw out key
learnings and insights to take forward into subsequent experiences. Team members generally sit in a
circle, reflecting first as individuals, sharing those reflections with the group, then discussing the
insights and potential actions to take out of the session.
Step One: You will invite the participants to discuss the first half of the program in a moment, but you
should start by giving some guidelines for the session. Participants should speak from their individual
perspective (“I-statements”) , they should avoid generalizations like “everybody” and “some people”,
and they should practice active listening when others are speaking.
Step Two: Introduce the following reflection questions. Write them on the whiteboard, so the
questions are easily visible:
• What happened during the experience?

• How did I feel and what were my reactions?
• What insights or conclusions can I draw from the experience?
• What actions can I take based on what I learned?
Step Three: Ask the team members to reflect on the questions, individually and in silence, writing on
post-its for about 5 minutes. Put some gentle music on if appropriate.
Step Four: Bring the full group back to the circle. Invite team members to share their reflections one-
by-one, either going round the circle or randomly. Encourage them to go deeper into thoughts and
feelings, not just read out what they have on their post-its.
Step Five: When the time is up or it feels like the right time to end, close the session. Thank the team
members for their engagement and participation.
MENTOR NOTE: Write a short summary of the reflection session and send it to the HQ where we will
gather all the mentor feedback and look through it.
Tips for the mentor

The school has already received an official invitation to attend the presentations on the last day of the
startup weekend, but it is highly recommended for the mentor to visit the school management and
invite them personally to the weekend. The mentor should say that the participants are doing great and
will present a fantastic product with a chance for a good result.
Curriculum section: Product development
Topic of the lesson: Strategic roadmap

After the startup weekend and/or after two months of idea development we now have a clear concept
of what business project we want to pursue. This will take a lot of work and we need to organize. The
purpose of this session is to create a strategic plan for the next couple of months.

Worksheets Strategic roadmap #1 and #2 for the participants

Step One: First the mentor should spend some time to reflect on the experiences of the startup
weekend (if the team participated). Acknowledge the successes, congratulate the team for their efforts
and tell them this is just the beginning.
Step Two: Tell the participants they should continue working on their project and try and get to the
first sale (or if they are more ambitious even further). This is the main point of the entrepreneurship
clubs: that we do not stay at the idea stage but actually make some money, do some good, bring a
product to market or complete a project. Then, that will be presented at the end-of-year conference
and competition.
Step Three: In order to do this, we need to organize ourselves. Tell the project teams that they will
need to create a concrete plan of action until the end of the year.
The participants should start from the end: Project presentations will take place at the end-of-year
conference on June 1st. Until then, they should show some traction by:
• finishing their prototype or

• bringing their product to market or
• getting pre-orders or sign-ups or
• securing partnership deals or
• generating revenue
Give the teams 15 minutes to reach a consensus on their goals. Help them out and offer suggestions.
When the time is out, the teams should write their goals down on a piece of paper.
Step Four: The mentor should distribute the first worksheet for creating the strategic roadmap.
In order to achieve the goals they have mentioned before, clearly a lot of things must be done. Start by
inviting the participants to list all the tasks that need to be done. List all the tasks on post-it notes. Take
about 20 minutes for this.
MENTOR NOTE: This is an area where your business experience is very valuable for the teams. They will
definitely forget some tasks and go into too much detail at others. It is your job to think about
priorities.
After this is done, ask the teams to rearrange the post-its in a chronological order. Again, discuss
strategy. Try to find the easiest and cheapest way to reach your goals.
Step Five: The last task is to write out the strategic plan and assign dates to the tasks. Use the second
worksheet for strategic planning.
MENTOR NOTE: You must help the teams by giving your opinion on how much time a particular task
will take and how soon can they make it happen. Remember that these are students who have other
school commitments and they are not yet 100% dedicated to this business (at least not all of them).
Therefore guide them towards a reasonable plan with a realistic timeline.
Once this is complete, the team should strategize on who will do what, how they will communicate and
similar issues. The mentor should help them by offering suggestions.
MENTOR NOTE: Expect the teams to have a lot of trouble coordinating and communicating. You should
be the one that holds the team accountable to the completion of tasks on the timeline for the first
couple of weeks. This is not hand-holding: very few participants have been in a position where they are
self organizing such a complex project and this is hard to just learn on your own and do it right on the
first try. It is usually a good idea to also talk about who is responsible for each task.
List major milestones like completion of the prototype, getting a partnership deal done, etc. and
assigning dates. Think about what are the most essential ones that you need to hit before the
conference. Tell the students that from now on, at the beginning of every session, there will be a check
in on the state of development and that the club meetings are now going to be mostly dedicated to
help them develop their business. Tell them you will hold them accountable.
Tips for the mentor

From this point onward you should be available to the teams for advice on their business. Treat them as
any other entrepreneur who turns to you for help and advice. Start every club from now on by inquiring
about their business.
Topic of the lesson: Following up

During this session we will teach the project teams how to follow up with a contact and get a meeting.
We will learn how to send emails to busy people and try this out with contacts from the startup
weekend.

Access to computers (laptops, tablets, etc.) to write emails. Improvise. Use the school library if
necessary. A projector to show the scripts is great (if this is not possible, print them out)

FROM THE PREVIOUS LESSON:

Every lesson from now on should start with a check-in about the progress of the teams. About 30
minutes should be spent on that.
MENTOR NOTE: During the check in the mentor focuses on (1) asking them what have they done since
the last time on their project (2) congratulating them on the achievements, however small (3) asking
about what they will do next and talking to them about this (4) asking them how the mentor can help,
and (5) monitoring their progress in comparison to the strategic plan. Additionally, this is a good
opportunity to tie in the lesson from this session into their current needs.
Step One: The mentor tells the students that we will be sending everyone we met and liked or were
useful from us a friendly follow-up email to remain in contact. This is advantageous for many reasons:
they can be useful mentors, potential investors, could provide further introductions...
Step Two: The mentor should tell the students how important it is to follow up if they want to remain
in touch with busy people.
Consider this: A busy person can easily have 10 meetings per day every day. On top of that, there are
countless things on his/her mind at any given time: issues at work, at home...
You should not expect to be remembered by some investor you met at an event some months ago. If
you want to take advantage of an acquaintance, you must remain in touch by sending a follow up
and then updating him/her.
Since we already know their attention span is limited, we should make an effort to follow up as soon as
possible for the biggest effect.
Additionally, we need to learn how to write an email to a busy person. There are some rules we should
always adhere to:
1. Subject lines matter. Be specific and descriptive.

Bad: Advice for sales. Good: Our startup X is seeking sales advice (we met at startup weekend)
2. First, explain who you are so they get the context.
Assume they forgot about you even if you saw them last week. They had a million meetings in
between.
3. Provide a concrete reason why you are contacting that person
The other party needs to understand why they are being contacted in the first place. If you can
provide some value to the other party you should mention that.
4. Limit your entire email to 5 sentences maximum.
Anything longer will not be read. Seriously.
5. Make your ask explicit.
Don't be vague. The only way to get the other party to respond is to make it as easy as possible
for them by providing a clear next step they can take.
6. Respond immediately.
Show that you are on top of things. This is the only way to be taken seriously.
Step Three: The mentor should instruct the participants to spend the next hour following up with the
contacts they have met. The only reason they may give for reaching out may be common courtesy
(thanking them for their help at the startup weekend), or to seek more help.
MENTOR NOTE: This is double effective for us because this practically ensures all the mentors receiving
many thank you notes, which they will like and will be more likely to return next year.
Here are some example emails:

__________________________________
Hello, Mentor!
I am sending a short note to thank you for taking the time talking to us at the Startup Weekend. As you know, we
are working on XYZ (Description is strictly limited to one sentence). Our team really liked your advice and we will be
sticking to it.
(Providing context)
I would really value your advice and am hoping you will be willing to answer my questions in the future. Would you
mind if I keep you updated about our progress in the future by sending you an occasional email?
(Concrete ask)
Regards,
Founder
(The email is under five sentences)
__________________________________
Doing this opens the door for us, because the mentor will always be able to respond to this email
thread and will remember the context. Additionally, we have gotten permission for future asks and
have established a relationship.
If you are asking for advice, there are two options. For short advice you may simply write:
__________________________________
Hello, Investor!
Allow me to reach out to you with a 30-second question.

(Set the context - the recipient now knows what is expected of him/her)
To give you some context I am the founder of startup X that does XYZ: We've met at the Startup Weekend event last
month.
(Provide information who you are, remind the recipient about the connection you have)
Since I know you are an expert in the field, I was hoping you could answer a question for me.
(explain why you are reaching out to that person)
What technology do you use for XY? We are struggling with our current option and are unsure how to proceed.
(THIS LINE IS SENT IN BOLD TO THE RECIPIENT)
Thanks for taking the time,

Founder
(Under five sentences)
__________________________________
For a more in-depth problem, you should simply ask for a meeting:
__________________________________
Hello, Mentor!
I am Tim, founder of startup X, we do XYZ. We've met at the Startup Weekend event last month where you already
helped our team with a lot of useful advice on sales.
(Provides context)
As you remember, we started putting together our sales website and are now doing final touches.
(Gives an update on the team, showing traction and thus credibility)
We want to make it really good and we are hoping you could help. Would you be open to a meeting with us for
about an hour sometimes next week to have a look at it and giving us feedback?
(Simple and polite ask)
I understand you are busy and will be happy to adjust to your schedule. Ideally, we could have a conversation
sometimes next week, before we launch the site.
(It is always important to clearly set the next step, which in the case of asking for a meeting is scheduling. Don't
waste two emails by first asking for the meeting and only then suggesting dates. Do this immediately, but leave
options to the other party's schedule)
Thank you,
Founder
__________________________________
Whenever you are asking for a meeting you should be very clear what do you want it to be about. Just
saying "we should have coffee to talk and see if we can work something out" is considered rude and
disrespectful of the other party's time.
As long as you can provide context and show that the other party can genuinely help (i.e. the meeting is
not pointless), and if you can show that you are respectful of time, there is very little chance you will
get rejected.
The task, again, is to send emails to the mentors, investors or other people that attended the Startup
weekend. The mentor is available to help.
The goal is to get the participants connected with mentors. This is very important for their future
development, because it will give them contacts that may be useful in the future.
MENTOR NOTE: This is a great time to remind your participants about the importance and power of
always saying "thank you." Tell them this is something you expect them to do.
In the next session, we will build on this knowledge and reach out to some more people.
Tips for the mentor

Email etiquette is one of the most important skills the young people can have. You should mention the
students how useful it is to know how to communicate over email professionally.
Most of the people don't do this at all, so this is the simplest and easiest way to stand out from the
crowd.
The same approach works for job interviews or any other kind of communication.
Topic of the lesson: Getting contacts

During this lesson we will learn how to get in touch with people we have not met before.

Access to computers (laptops, tablets, etc.) to write emails. Improvise. Use the school library if
necessary. A projector to show the scripts is great (if this is not possible, print them out)


Background: This session will address 3 issues: (1) What to do if nobody responds? (2) How to get in
touch with people that we haven't met before? (3) How do we convince them to help?
MENTOR NOTE: We are assuming that there is no need to teach how to find someone's email in this
day and age - this lesson deals only with the content of the communication.
Step One: The mentor should reiterate how important it is to get in touch with people that can help.
This time we will be dealing with two situations that usually happen and can discourage entrepreneurs
from further contact.
Step Two: The mentor starts by asking the participants a question: Why would someone not respond
to you?
The mentor should tell the students people really want to help, particularly in business where there is a
friendly agreement to mentor younger entrepreneurs. Therefore a lot of people are already
predisposed to help. So it should be no problem...
But, unfortunately many of our emails still get ignored. One might think this is because people don't
care, but it is not so. Consider this:
• Busy people usually get about 50 emails every day. Investors or bigshots usually get about 500.
• Most of these emails are pointless
• These busy people have to do actual work, not just answer emails the whole day
• The reason they did not respond is because they either (a) did not read the email because it was
too long (b) ignored the email completely (c) did not understand the email (d) wanted to
respond, put it off until later and then forgot about it (e) did not want to respond.
That means people probably ignored our email without thought, not rejected it. Therefore you should
try again. The best way to do this is to send the other party a friendly nudge. Be humble, polite, but
persistent. Balance that off with cheek or light humor.
For example:
__________________________________
Hello, Investor!
I just thought I'd reach out to you and see if you have been able to have a look at your calendar. I've asked to meet
with you sometime next week (see original email below).
Consider this only a friendly nudge, I do appreciate your time.
Regards,
Founder
__________________________________
This can be done relatively quickly: 2-4 days is completely normal. Be sure to be extra polite in your
next emails:
__________________________________
Hello, Investor!
I am reaching out to you again in regard to the meeting I was hoping to get with you. You see, I would like advice
about raising our next round (I've attached the original email below for your convenience).
I hope I do not come off as rude, but we value persistence in our team. :)
Of course, I am happy to completely adjust to your schedule.
Looking forward to hearing from you,

Founder
__________________________________
Sometimes it might take 5-6 emails to get a response. As long as you are always extra polite and
friendly, there should be no problem with sending this many messages. These can be about a week
apart.
__________________________________
Hello, Investor!
Apologies for sounding like a broken record, but I am really hoping you would be able to find a time to meet with
me. I completely understand if you are busy and cannot make it. No is my second favorite answer as it gives me
clarity.
Thank you for your time,

Founder
__________________________________
If you are persistent enough, there is very little chance you will be refused.
However, this takes time and may still not be effective enough for people who get hundreds of emails
every day. But there are certain emails that even the busiest people always read. Emails from friends,
family or people they know very well and respect.
So the best solution is to get one of their friends, business partners or other acquaintances to introduce
you. We will be dealing with this next.
Step Three: The introduction is a very useful tool in life. With it, you can get in touch with more or less
anyone in the world.
MENTOR NOTE: You may tell the story about the six degrees of separation (Research shows that all the
people on Earth are only 6 introductions away from you right now)
There is a proper introduction etiquette and a useful trick that we need to learn. There is almost no
chance someone will refuse you an introduction if you:
• provide context and explain why you want to meet and show it is not a waste of time to the
other party
• do all the work instead of the person making the introduction
Here is how to do it.
Let’s use this scenario: Joe the Founder is asking Mark the Advisor to give him an introduction to
Suzanne the Investor.
First you need to ask Mark to make the intro by writing him a short email:
__________________________________
Hello, Mark!
Last time we spoke you mentioned you can connect me to Suzanne. I would like to reach out to her to see if our
company might be a fit for their portfolio. I think we stand a good chance getting her fund on board.
Let me know if you are open to it,

Joe
__________________________________
Mark just agreed to make the introduction on your behalf. Joe should make it super easy for Mark to
send the intro:
__________________________________
Thanks, Mark!
I'll send you a fresh email now that you can forward on.
Joe
__________________________________
And then Joe should send a brand new email which includes everything he wants Suzanne to see:
__________________________________
Mark,
Thanks so much for offering to introduce me to Suzanne the Investor.
I want to tell her about my new startup Instacolor. It’s Instagram meets Color but for videos. We have amazing
traction growing 20 percent month over month for the past four months. We are currently doing 50,000 uploads a
day and we’re raising a seed round.
Best,
Joe the Founder
Recent Press: Techcrunch, PandoDaily, The Next Web

__________________________________
The reason you send a fresh email is that you want Mark the Advisor to be able to forward it from his
mobile phone without having to delete all the content from your previous conversation. This also gives
you a chance to succinctly describe your startup exactly the way you want it to be heard. As always, you
should obey the Emailing Busy People rules and make sure that your email is super short, very clear and
makes a specific ask.
Step Three: The group should now take some time to think who might be an useful contact for them
and commit to getting an intro and a meeting with that person. Take 30 minutes for this and write the
actual email.
MENTOR NOTE: there should be loads of relevant people that can help - the team is in the middle of
building their product and will definitely need support. You should help them figure out whom they
need.
Step Four: Now what happens after the introduction is made?
Mark The Advisor will send a short email to both Suzanne the Investor and Joe the Founder and say:
__________________________________
Suzanne,
please meet Joe and vice versa. You guys will enjoy chatting.
Best,
Mark
__________________________________
At which point, Joe should respond and move Mark the Advisor to BCC and say:
__________________________________
Thanks Mark (moved to bcc).
Suzanne, great to meet you. Are you available to Skype sometime in the next two weeks?
I can adjust to your schedule if you would not mind sending a few options.
Best,
Joe
__________________________________
More information about this topic can be found in this fantastic article on relationship building by the
Unreasonable Institute: http://unreasonable.is/build-strong-friends/
MENTOR NOTE: You should make sure the participants read this article. You may print it and bring it to
the session or email it to them, but insist they read it because it is very useful.
Step Five: In the beginning we said that busy people can forget about their interactions very quickly.
This is why we need to update them regularly about our progress.
The mentor should instruct the project teams to start managing a list of potential partners, mentors,
co-conspirators, investors or any other people that might be of use to you. The purpose of this list is to
send the people on it regular updates on your progress.
This list should consist of the following information:
• Name, surname of the person

• Company and position
• Email address
• How and where did you get in touch
As you will meet people at events (and follow up with them), you should include them on the update
list. As this grows in time, it will become a really important asset.
You should aim to send an update to everyone once every three weeks to a month. Note that this is a
general guideline, a lot of people choose to send updates much less often while others send updates
for every major milestone.
An update might look something like this:

__________________________________
Friends, mentors, funders,
I am sending you a short update what was happening at Startup X in the last month.
Startup X's mission is to XYZ by offering ABC to OPQ.

We are still working on our prototype but are in the final stages now. The new materials work great and our
technical team believes we are at about 80%. Here is the link to some pictures: bit.ly/somelink
Things that are going well:

- Got in touch with another supplier for the device. Will be having a call with them next week, things look promising
- We were shortlisted to pitch at the Startup Meetup next week where we will meet a lot of potential funders
Things that are not going great:

- We will need to vacate the current workshop as it will be renovated and closed for a month. This will delay our
progress.
- One of our suppliers from China stopped responding to our emails and this is a nuisance because we sent them all
the plans.
Things you can do to help:

- We need a new workshop. As we are a young startup we cannot afford rent. If anyone has room for a small team
of three, a workdesk and some shelves, and is willing to let us use it, we would really appreciate it!
Best,
Mark
__________________________________
The strategy here is to give a realistic insight into your progress. Mentors and other people can only
help you if they know what is going on. Additionally it is very useful to include a "how you can help"
section, because as soon as you have more than a few people on the update list, it will be really easy
to get support. If you keep doing this, you will leave a great impression.
Tips for the mentor

In past years we often challenged our participants to get in touch with a famous person over Skype with
excellent results. If you are feeling ambitious, you should definitely try this.
Ustvarjalnik/uSchool has a lot of connections all over the world and within our country. We are also
very open to making introductions (of course, if you make it easy for us).
Curriculum section: Not in sequence
Topic of the lesson: Guest lecture
THE OUT OF SEQUENCE SESSIONS SERVE THREE PURPOSES: (1) TO ALLOW TIME FOR
THE MENTOR TO INCLUDE TOPICS OF HIS/HER CHOICE, (2) TO GIVE TIME FOR VISITS
OF GUESTS IN THE CLUB OR SPONSOR CHALLENGES, AND (3) TO SERVE AS A BUFFER
IF SOME SESSIONS ARE MISSED DURING THE YEAR.
THESE SESSIONS MAY TAKE PLACE AT ANY TIME DURING THE YEAR.

It provides a great added value if the participants of the club are visited by a speaker. This can be a local
entrepreneur that shares his/her story or someone who may help the teams with concrete business
advice and act as a mentor.

It is the job of the mentor to secure a guest speaker. The Ustvarjalnik/uSchool office can make
introductions or even invite the speaker on the mentor's behalf, but it should be the mentor to
coordinate everything and set the session up. This should be done well in advance.


minutes should be spent on that, and this time the guest should participate in the discussion.
MENTOR NOTE: The check-in should only be done if you are already developing the product.
Step One: The speaker gives a talk or is interviewed. This may also be done before the project check-
in. Be sure to leave a lot of time for Q&A.
Tips for the mentor

When inviting a guest speaker to the club the mentor should arrange the following: (1) notify the school
if they wish to attend, (2) arrange for snacks and water, (3) inform the participants beforehand so they
can prepare questions.
Curriculum section: Not in sequence
Topic of the lesson: Open topic
THE OUT OF SEQUENCE SESSIONS SERVE THREE PURPOSES: (1) TO ALLOW TIME FOR
THE MENTOR TO INCLUDE TOPICS OF HIS/HER CHOICE, (2) TO GIVE TIME FOR VISITS
OF GUESTS IN THE CLUB OR SPONSOR CHALLENGES, AND (3) TO SERVE AS A BUFFER
IF SOME SESSIONS ARE MISSED DURING THE YEAR.
THESE SESSIONS MAY TAKE PLACE AT ANY TIME DURING THE YEAR

This session is deliberately left open for the mentor to use as he/she sees fit. Perhaps to share some
knowledge that he/she feels is important, or to go out for a visit to a company, or to bring another
speaker.
This is the lesson during which we do the sponsor challenge: Some companies sponsor
entrepreneurship clubs and in return the students work on their business challenge.

If your club is sponsored the office will cooperate with you well in advance to set everything up.


minutes should be spent on that, and this time the guest should participate in the discussion.
MENTOR NOTE: The check-in should only be done if you are already developing the product.
Step One: This lesson is open for the mentor so no lesson plan is provided.
Tips for the mentor

Be sure to share the lesson plan, materials and reflections of your open lessons. If they are well
received and interesting, other mentors may replicate them or we might include them in the curriculum
for next year.
Curriculum section: Presenting the story
Topic of the lesson: The story of your venture

Firstly, this session is the last one where time is formally set aside for working on the prototypes. This is
the main focus. Additionally, in this session every project team will craft a short blurb to describe their
business.

Whiteboard and markers


Step One: This session should be dedicated to the mentor working with the teams to fully develop the
prototype so it is ready to be presented to the customers. Only one short activity is included at the end.
Step Two: To better communicate, have an easier time writing emails and be able to explain what you
do in a couple of sentences, we should create a 3 sentence high concept pitch of what we do. This will
be particularly useful when we will be trying to get people to buy or when we will approach partners
and funders.
An example of this is Ustvarjalnik/uSchool's high concept pitch.
Ustvarjalnik runs a network of after-school entrepreneurship clubs in high schools where students learn
how to earn a living by doing what they love.
Note that this is not a tagline (a marketing statement). The purpose of the high-concept pitch is to
explain concisely what you do. Compare Ustvarjalnik's pitch to the tagline:
Use your skills to pay your bills.
(We use this jokingly within our community)
Note also that the pitch can easily be expanded:
Ustvarjalnik runs a network of after-school entrepreneurship clubs in high schools where students learn
how to earn a living by doing what they love. We do this by:
1.: a year-long curriculum during which students meet once a week with their mentors and develop
their first business,
2.: individual mentorship for aspiring entrepreneurs,
3.: events and gatherings where students can meet others and help each other on their journey.
MENTOR NOTE: Creating this clear description is also useful for clarity within the team. It will be much
easier to decide what to do once the "official story" of the project has been clearly defined.
Step Three: The mentor should work with the participants to create these statements because they
will be useful in the next sessions. No matter if the statements are already done or if the team has not
been able to put them on paper, the mentor should invite the participants to think them over until next
week when they will be needed.
Tips for the mentor

This is the last opportunity for the team to change the name, because next time we will work on the 1-
page description that will be sent to potential partners or investors.
Topic of the lesson: Preparing a 1-pager

The teams will prepare a 1-page description of what they do, their business model and their traction so
far. This can then be used to communicate with prospective partners or investors.

At least one computer per project team to start writing the 1-pager, whiteboard and markers. The 1-
pager template for the participants. All the canvases and worksheets about the ideas being
developed.

Step One: The mentor should start by pointing out that this is the first session of the last section of
the program: communication. We have touched upon this already last time when we brainstormed
about the short description of our ventures. This time, we will dive deep and prepare the most
important document in the life of a young company: the one-pager.
First, some background. If we are to convince somebody to either mentor us, partner with us, work for
us or give us money, we need to do a couple of things:
• Successfully explain the problem we are solving and who are we solving it for
• Explain our solution in a simple and compelling way that everyone understands
• Prove that we are serious by showing traction (things we have built, progress we have made,
sales we have closed...)
• Show we are capable of doing this by providing details on the team behind this.
Out of these, traction is by far the most important one.
Step Two: The mentor should distribute the template for the one-pager. He/she should clarify all the
content.
MENTOR NOTE: Insist that this document actually fits one page. This is a great exercise in learning what
is most important.
The mentor should ask the teams to have a look at the canvases they have made. All the information
needed for the one pager is available there.
This is the template of a 1-pager:

Step Three: The mentor should invite the teams to start writing it out. He/she should actively help
during the process. Leave 45 minutes for this.
Step Four: The mentor should congratulate the teams on their progress. Then he/she should explain
the importance and usefulness of the one-pager:
• This is the form in which the investors expect information on startups to come
• Whenever someone asks you for more information about your startup, you can send them this
and save time
• This is excellent to send to potential mentors, partners or media
• With the one pager attached to an email it is very easy to get introductions and meetings
• With only slight changes this can become marketing material
• These texts are more than enough content to create a website
• This can be an outline for the pitch
• This will be put on Ustvarjalnik/uSchool's website
• This will be included in the information packet for all the participants of the conference
MENTOR NOTE: If the teams were unable to complete the one pager, they should finish at home and
bring it to the next session.
Step Five: The teams should be encouraged to start sending this document to everyone they have
been working with.
Tips for the mentor

The mentor must collect the one-pagers after this session and send them to Ustvarjalnik/uSchool
offices where they will be collected, put on the website and presented at the conference.
A completed one pager is the team's ticket for the end-of-year conference.
Topic of the lesson: Crafting the pitch

During this session the team(s) will create a pitch and learn about the best way to communicate their
ideas to the public at large.

Post it notes, markers, projector, a computer with Powerpoint and access to the web. An example pitch
that can be accessed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DdZzImmZZc
Canvases and one pagers from the teams - they will be necessary to prepare the pitch content.

The main goal of this session is to help the teams create a storyline for the pitch that they can then
polish at home and present it to the mentor a week later. The mentor should show the teams how a
pitch is structured, what are the absolutely essential content blocks in the pitch and give an example.
MENTOR NOTE: At the end-of-year conference and competition, teams are expected to present a 4-
minute pitch, followed by another 4 minutes of questions from a panel. The panelists will be investors
and experienced entrepreneurs from the region.
Step One: The mentor should first tell the students that the pitch is not the most important thing in
the world and certainly not the make-or-break part of the startup journey. It is good to have it so you
can present your idea at an event and have something to show, but it will not instantly give you an
investment. It is mainly a conversation (or relationship) starter.
There are some basic principles behind every pitch and certain elements that need to be explained
when you are presenting your startup on stage. These may vary slightly from business to business, but
in general you must always mention the following:
1. The problem you are solving: An explanation of the pain points or the things that you see are
missing, as well as the customer segment(s) to which this applies.
2. Your product or service: A detailed and concise explanation of what you have built, together
with the most important features and benefits for the customers. These should directly answer
the problems you have outlined previously. If the team has developed a product or a
prototype, they absolutely must show it in the pitch. This is by far the best proof of their
worth and will definitely leave the most positive impression.
3. How you make money: A description of your business model and revenue streams, as well as
pricing (if applicable). This must be as simple to understand as possible.
4. How big is the opportunity: You should address the size of the market as this shows how
significant this business opportunity is. The bigger the better, obviously. You should make an
effort to show references for this - you cannot just make up a number.
5. The go-to-market strategy: You should mention how are you going to get the customers to buy
- this can be a description of the marketing strategy, the story you will tell them or an outline of
your distribution channels.
6. Financial expectations: This does not need to be super-detailed, but the information provided
in the pitch should be enough for the listener to get the basic idea how much money can be
made from this. Alternatively, if you are building a social venture, you should talk about the
impact potential of this.
7. Traction: You must mention your achievements so far. This is the most important way to gain
credibility. Numbers of sales, pre-sales, partnership deals, sign-ups, anything and everything
that can be used to show you have achieved some progress already should be mentioned.
8. Next steps: You should mention what you are about to do next and the vision you are after. This
should be realistic but ambitious.
9. The team: You should mention who your team is (and who your advisors are, if applicable) and
present it in the best possible way. What the audience will be most keen to hear is if the team
can deliver the product on its' own.
The mentor should write these bullet points on the whiteboard (suggestion: ask the participants what
information must be in the pitch and only then write things down as they call them out)
MENTOR NOTE: It is not necessary for the teams to use this precise order and focus on all 9 points
equally. But it is important that all of these are at least mentioned.
Step Two: The mentor should explain that the best pitches have a unified narrative, a storyline that is
easy for the audience to follow and understand. This is what we will try to achieve today.
The first thing the participants should be made aware is that the pitch structure is always the same:
1. We need to explain what we are doing in such a way that everyone will understand it
completely (this is done by explaining the problem and the solution)
Here we need to focus on brevity and clarity
2. We need to offer as much arguments as possible that this business and this team is doing great
and should be supported (this is done by providing all additional information)
Here we need to focus on choosing the best arguments and answering all the key questions
With this in mind, we can start creating the actual content of the pitch.
Step Three: Looking back at the bullet points on the whiteboard, we can very quickly realize that we
have the majority of the information needed to answer them already prepared in the one pager and in
the canvases that we filled out in previous lessons. This should be used as the starting point for the
creation of the narrative.
Step Four: The mentor should tell the participants that he/she will show them an example of a really
good pitch. The entrepreneur pitching is a 20-year-old student who is solving the problem of his peers
not knowing what is happening in the evening and where to go out - he has developed an app that
suggests users where to go partying. This is a very typical idea that does not stand out in any way, but
the pitch makes it exceptional. The mentor shows the participants the example pitch (NATIVE).
MENTOR NOTE: This pitch was recorded on the 2015 demo day of the TechStars Boulder accelerator.
The company has since failed.
The key lessons of this pitch are:
• The idea itself is nothing special, there are millions like it out there.
• The story at the beginning of the pitch provides the context for this app and makes us believe it
is a great idea. This is not because of the app, but because of the way it was presented.
• You have the right to present/frame your business in whatever way you like, so you should find
the best way of presenting it by defining the problem-solution in such a way that the audience
will believe this is a promising business.
• The entire pitch makes sense because it is basically a story. Every detail logically follows the
previous one.
• All the key elements listed before are mentioned. Nothing is missing.
• The slides are very simple, and the focus is on the entrepreneur and his story (as it should be).
Step Five: The mentor should now invite the teams to work together and prepare the pitch. They
should loosely follow this structure:
1. Introduction story: A description of the current situation or the problem/need that exists today.
The pitch should mention the key pain point and provide the context so the listeners will
understand why the proposed solution is significant in the eyes of the customers. This may be
further emphasized with numbers (market size, etc...). The goal of this is to get agreement that
our product is needed before you actually explain what it is. That way they are predisposed to
like it.
2. The solution: After the listeners are aware of the problem or the need that calls for our product,
we can explain what it is. The goal here is to clearly and simply tell the listeners what it does and
how it works. This should be done without using any jargon, complicated words or technical
explanation. You need to make sure that absolutely everyone in the room can understand what
you are proposing to build. If you have a demo or can show the product, you should definitely
do it here.
3. The business case: After the listeners know what you are doing, you need to outline the
business case for your company. This means explaining:
a. The customer segments - who is going to buy this
b. The business model - how are you going to make money
c. The go-to-market strategy - how are you going to get people to buy
d. The market size - how much money you think you will make
There is no set structure for this, try to create a storyline that makes sense while making sure
everything is mentioned. Some of these things might have already been mentioned before so
you can skip them in this section.
4. Evidence: After talking about the business behind the product it is time to show that this is
actually real and working. List any proof you can think of in terms of traction (sales results, pre-
sales, number of visitors on the website,...) and present this in the most compelling way possible
without lying.
5. The team: Show who the team is and that the team is capable of delivering this. Also mention
any notable advisors and mentors if appropriate.
6. Next steps and vision: Outline the next steps and show a narrative where you will take over the
world. This is the conclusion of the pitch and you need to end strong.
7. Optional - call to action: If you seek something specific (investment, etc...) you should mention
this at the end of the pitch. The best way to do this is to conclude with a strong call to action, for
example: "talk to us after the show if you are interested in..."
The mentor should instruct the participants to take post-it notes and imagine they are Powerpoint
slides. They should try and create a pitch narrative using them. The mentor should actively help the
teams to create the pitch narrative, focusing the most on the introduction story, because it is the most
important part of the pitch and one that most entrepreneurs get wrong.
Step Six: Once the draft of the pitch is complete, the mentor should instruct the participants to create
the actual slides at home and bring them to the next session when you will work on the delivery.
MENTOR NOTE: A good resource for presentation design is the blog Presentation Zen.
Tips for the mentor

The pitch at the end-of-year conference will be 4 minutes long, with another 4 minutes for questions
from the panel. The teams may use props, as long as they notify the organizers in advance. The slides
should be submitted to the organizers in advance (the mentors will be notified about all the deadlines).
The pitches will be in English. Only one person may present. The panel of investors will be instructed to
be very strict, just like in any other investment pitch scenario.
Topic of the lesson: Public speaking 101

This lesson is dedicated to practicing the pitch that will be delivered at the competition. Typical
questions that panelists ask will also be discussed.

Computer and projector, optionally a presentation remote. Students should bring their presentations to
the session. An example video of a good speaker to show in class:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6kOQZq6yGg

In this session the main focus of the mentor should be on preparing the teams for the pitch at the end-
of-year competition. In the previous session the participants have learned how to prepare a pitch and
at home prepared the presentations. This time, they will work with the mentor to polish the delivery.
There are no specific instructions that we can provide for this lesson as the needs of the teams will vary
depending on the different projects, so we can only provide a general outline of what the mentor
should do.
MENTOR NOTE: Traditionally it is the CEO or the team leader that pitches the business in front of
investors, but the teams are free to choose whoever they feel will best represent them. One thing to
point out to them is that we will only allow one person per team to present. This is because of technical
issues, but also because that is much more credible.
Step One: Invite the individual pitching to present the presentation in front of everyone else. Tell him
or her to stand up and deliver it to the best of his/her abilities.
Your job as the mentor is to point out things that could be done better or issues that need to be
resolved. There is a lot of things that you should pay attention to, but our suggestion is to first only
focus on the content. Experience suggests this is by far the most efficient way to get the teams up to
speed.
You should pay attention to the pitch and make sure the narrative makes sense, that all the information
that needs to be in the pitch is there, and only then move on to the style (improving the wording and
suggesting more effective phrases).
Step Two: Ask the participants for help in offering suggestions on improving the content of the pitch.
These should be noted down.
Have the presenter do the pitch a couple of times to improve.
MENTOR NOTE: Have a member of the group measure the duration of the pitch with a stopwatch.
Step Three: After you are satisfied with the content, you can move on to the delivery. Some tips you
can give to the presenter (and to the group at large) are:
• Practice a lot. This is by far the most effective piece of advice you can give to a speaker. If you
are prepared enough, everything will be much easier. Make sure the presenter spends at least a
couple of days preparing for the pitch. This is particularly important because it is very possible
this will be the first time he/she will present in a foreign language.
• Make pauses while you speak as this gives your talk a more dynamic feeling. In particular you
should do this when you want to emphasize something or after mentioning something
important to give the audience time to digest that bit of information.
• Project confidence with your body language while you are talking. The audience feels much
better when they listen to a speaker that looks confident.
Step Four: Show the participants a video from Ed Tate, the world champion in public speaking and ask
them what does he do to grab the audience's attention. Point out the tone of his voice, his facial
expressions, his body language, his movement on stage...
MENTOR NOTE: It can never be said too many times: the more someone practices, the better his or her
performance on stage will be. Encourage the students to really practice a lot.
Step Five: Tell the participants that in addition to a pitch, they need to prepare themselves for the
questions from the panelists.
As the teams will be very different, we cannot possibly list all the questions they will get asked, but the
mentor should have a pretty good idea what are the questions an investor or an experienced
entrepreneur would ask the team. The mentor should ask these questions and help them prepare
appropriate answers.
Some general questions that the mentor can use as an example might be:
• What are you working on?

• How does it work?
• Someone else just showed us this idea, do you have anything else?
• How far along are you?
• Who are your users and why are they using this?
• What do people do to solve this today and why are you better?
• How are you going to get demand?
• What are your backgrounds?
• How did your team meet?
• How big could this business be? How much could you make in 1 year?
• What is your biggest objection from users?
• Why now?
• How did you start working on this idea?
• Do you have any domain expertise?
• Why are you the right team?
• What are the economics of the business?
• When do you become profitable?
• How will you take over the world with this idea?
• If I gave you 120k right now, what would you spend it on?
• What is the equity split? If uneven, tell me why.
• Where will you be by the end of next year?
• If you fail, what will the reason be?
• What is your burn rate?
• Why aren't you progressing faster?
• Who are you most afraid of?
• What is the cost for acquiring a new customer?
• What is your biggest weakness as a team?
• What are you doing to mitigate this weakness now?
• 6 months from now, what will be your biggest problem?
• What has the feedback been from users so far?
These may sound very difficult, but are actually precisely the questions that need to be asked at a stage
when the team is deciding if they will seriously commit time into their project.
MENTOR NOTE: The source of these questions is YCombinator. They use them in their interview
process.
Tips for the mentor

The mentor should notify the school or other outside mentors about the teams' pitches. Teachers
should be invited to also help with the presentations and listen to the students as they are practicing -
the more audience they have, the better feedback they will receive.
The best pitches have a really strong narrative to them. They are shaped in a story, instead of just
categorically listing the facts about the venture. The mentor should help the participants with this.
Curriculum section: Reflection and evaluation
Topic of the lesson: What have we learned?

This session is a reflection of the whole year. The activity done this week serves as a wrap-up and
evaluation of what the participants have accomplished at the club.

Multicolored markers, several large papers (a roll or flipchart papers), Post-it notes, Access to a speaker
and music (a cell phone is OK). Print out evaluation forms that the HQ will prepare for you and have one
form for every participant. If anyone is missing at this lesson, give extra forms to students or school
representatives. Evaluation is one of the most important parts of our work as it allows us to improve,
therefore make extra effort to get feedback from the students that have not been present at every
lesson. Additionally, the HQ will prepare another evaluation form for the school that we also need
filled out. Bring a copy of that form and leave it at the school.

The main purpose of this activity is to remind and reflect on what group members or participants have
been through and to create a collective experience and shared story. Every individual will gain a shared
idea of what the group has been through together. This exercise reinforces learnings, celebrates
highlights and creates closure.
Step One: Prepare by rolling out a long piece of paper (5-10 meters) on the floor or on a wall. Draw a
timeline representing the entire year of the entrepreneurship club. Include dates and a few key events
(you can decide which, for example the startup weekend), but not more.
Step Two: Ask participants to draw in elements of their experiences. They can include their highlights
and lowlights of the journey, as well as insights, emotional highs and lows, challenges, successes,
frustrations, stories and surprises, situations, learnings, and anything else that meant something.
Put on music while participants to this. Give enough time that the paper becomes as full as possible
(about 15 minutes, depending on the size of the group and length of the timeline)
Step Three: After the map has been created, ask participants to walk around the map, reflecting in
silence on the experiences they have shared. Ask them to begin thinking about the most important
moments for them, individually. Give about 5 minutes for this step.
Step Four: Finally, have participants sit or stand around the map in a circle. Then, one-by-one,
participants place a Post-it note at the moment that has been the most important to them. After
placing the Post-it, they briefly describe the moment and its significance. Continue until all participants
have placed a Post-it and shared their story.
Encourage a discussion about the year with additional questions like:
• What have you learned this year?

• What will be different after this year?
• What will be your next steps after this
Invite everyone to participate in this discussion. Tell them that this is not the "official" end as everyone
will still meet at the end-of-year conference.
Step Five: Ask the participants to fill out the evaluation form for the club that has been prepared for
this. Tell them that we will use their anonymous feedback to improve our programs in the future.
MENTOR NOTE: Take the remaining time to work on the group's project for the end-of-year
conference. This is still very much a priority and you should be available for them and encourage them
to be ready to present there.
Step Six: Take pictures of the timeline and send them to the HQ.
Tips for the mentor

Mention to the participants that they can already register for the end-of-year conference and make
sure that they all come to the event; not only to present their project and compete but to see what
everyone else has been up to and to hear the speakers and meet interesting people.
Past experience shows that participants really enjoyed the conference and that it was a profound
learning experience for them. Take extra effort to encourage everyone to come.
Report to the HQ how many participants are already registered.

Curriculum section: Last farewells
Topic of the lesson: The last lesson

This should be a wrap-up and a friendly farewell from the clubs (but hopefully not from uSchool). The
mentor should thank the participants for the journey and invite them to stay connected

The mentor should distribute diplomas for participation in the club (those will be prepared and
distributed by the HQ)
The mentor should take the participants out for a drink.

For the last lesson we will not provide a detailed outline. Instead, we merely list suggestions for what
the mentor should do during this lesson. This should be an open and friendly conversation; an informal
celebration of the end of a journey (and the start of the next one).
The mentor should emphasize that he/she will still be available to them and share contact information
again (probably that has been done before already).
• We encourage the mentor to prepare before hand a personal letter for every member of the
club where he/she compliments every participant for his/her achievements. This should be
given to them together with the diplomas.
• The mentor should give out diplomas for participation in the club, mentioning to the students
that this document can be used to improve job prospects for the participants.
MENTOR NOTE: This should be done ceremoniously - the mentor should invite every participant to
stand up and receive the diploma from him/her with everyone else applauding. You should take the
effort to create closure.
• The mentor should invite the participants that are young enough to join the club again next year
(we modify the curriculum every year, and it will also be an opportunity to work on a new idea).
• The mentor should absolutely encourage the teams to continue work on their projects. The
entire organization of uSchool and the mentor team will be happy to continue to help them on
their business endeavors.
• The mentor should invite the participants to visit the HQ or some of our events - there is always
something going on and they should be checking the website and our social media profiles.
• The mentor should also invite the participants to attend the traditional summer camp that takes
place in the last weeks of August at the seaside. Between 50 and 100 youngsters usually attend.
More information can be found on the website.
• Lastly, the mentor should invite the participants for drinks/coffee/ice cream/beer. The details of
this are left to the discretion of the mentor.
MENTOR NOTE: A great deal of participants ask about becoming mentors themselves. This is always a
good sign as it shows that you have done a great job. Tell the participants that mentors should have at
least some business experience and should complete high school first. Then, prospective mentors are
invited to an annual mentor training where they are certified and can begin work. A lot of participants
also express a wish to volunteer or work for uSchool/Ustvarjalnik. You should absolutely thank
everyone who expresses such a wish and offer to make an intro to anyone working in the HQ.
Ustvarjalnik/uSchool hosts interns every summer and offer several volunteer opportunities. Those
interested should consult our website.
We encourage every mentor to take a group picture at the last session and write a short reflection
about the year. This is something that serves as a memento, but it is also useful as a testimonial for
our website.
Tips for the mentor

This is a great time to return the letters from the future to the participants. They wrote them during
lesson #7.
The mentor should insist on everyone coming to our end-of-year conference.
The mentor should make an effort to meet with the school administration when he/she visits for the
last time. He/she should thank them for hosting the club and spend some time talking to the staff
and describing what has been happening at the meetings. This is very important for our school
relations and improves our chances of having the club there again next year.
PART FOUR:
SUPPORTING
ENTREPRENEURS
OUTSIDE THE CLUBS
"Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed
by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did
do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe
harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore,
Dream, Discover."
- Mark Twain
ENTREPRENEURSHIP CLUBS: A FIRST STEP
___________________________________________________________
The experience in the entrepreneurship club is vital to

get the students interested in business and learn the
basic principles. But it is impossible to start a business in
32 weekly sessions of 90 minutes. The real work starts
only later. The role of the mentor is to motivate the
students to continue on the path they started.
THE ENTREPRENEURSHIP CLUB IS ONLY THE FIRST STEP. THE

MENTOR SHOULD RESOURCE AND SUPPORT THE STUDENTS
SO THEY CAN MAKE THE NEXT STEPS ON THEIR OWN.
In order for the students to become self-directed learners, the following should
happen:
 The students should be self-motivated to research business topics on their

own when they get home
 The students should know where to start this research - which websites,
what blogs, etc...
 The students should be helped by the mentor to decide on a viable business
idea to pursue as this is something that is usually most difficult part for a
beginner
 The students should be given a lot of positive assurance and moral support
by the mentor that their idea shows promise and that it makes sense to work
on it (after they achieve first success, this becomes less important, but at the
beginning, it is absolutely crucial)
 The students should be connected to outside mentors and experts in their
relevant fields which will offer further support and guidance
 The students should know how to get in touch with a potential partner and
get a meeting. For this to happen, they need to be helped with the creation
of a short written description of what they do.
 The students should know what business events are happening in their
communities and how to connect with the business ecosystem at large
 The mentor should help the students create a realistic timeline and hold
them accountable to it
 The mentor should motivate the students to take part in the competition and
tell them they have a shot at a good result
AFTER THE CLUBS
___________________________________________________________
The mentors should make sure the students take full

advantage of the additional services that Ustvarjalnik/
U.school offers for them. These are:
1. Follow-on mentorship by expert entrepreneurs

Ustvarjalnik operates a wide network of domain experts and senior
entrepreneurs that are very happy to support young teams taking their first
steps in business. These connections help the students develop their ideas and
improve them dramatically. Often, they result in lasting relationships.
2. Events and competitions for young startups
From the Startup Weekend every winter, to the end-of-year conference every
summer, and a lot of educational events throughout the year, the students
have a chance to meet peers who are at the same stage of their business
careers.
3. Support for development of the most promising ideas
Often times students will need to connect with suppliers or companies
specializing in their fields to develop their products. Other times they will need
a place to work from or capital to start their ventures.
THE MENTORS SHOULD ONLY RESOURCE THE YOUNG

ENTREPRENEURS, NOT DO THE WORK INSTEAD OF THEM. THE
MENTORS SHOULD:
 Help the students present their projects in a compelling way and

teach them how to send a short, effective email or get in touch to
the relevant people in the right way
 Help the students by getting them in touch with the right people,
offering introductions as needed and facilitating these
relationships at first
 Work with the students to prepare a one-page-description of
their business, this should then be sent to the headquarters
where additional intros can be made
 Teach the students proper business etiquette and being mindful
of the time of the experts
 Make sure every team is connected with the relevant people that
could help them make the next step on their business journey
PART FIVE:
BEING A
GREAT MENTOR
"A person who never made a mistake never tried

anything new."
- Albert Einstein
HOW TO BE A GREAT MENTOR
___________________________________________________________
Advice is like snow; the softer it falls, the longer it dwells

upon, and the deeper it sinks into the mind
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge

THE USTVARJALNIK MENTORSHIP PHILOSOPHY: THE BEST
MENTOR LIGHTS A SPARK IN THE STUDENT'S EYES
Step One: Don't panic, you know enough
If you think who is the better basketball player, Michael Jordan or his coach Phil
Jackson, the answer is very obvious. Still, the coach can teach the player a lot of
things. Don't worry if you don't have all the answers or are not a rockstar CEO - that
is not your job. Your job is to be the person who guides an upcoming entrepreneur
through his or her next steps. So literally the only thing you should know is the next
couple of steps. In fact, we see that the best mentors are not those whose minds are
boggled with all the details and complications that come from running a complex
business, but someone who can still appreciate the humble beginnings - because
that is precisely where he/she is right now.
Step Two: Believe in the youngsters
Your only obligation is to truly believe in the potential and the capability of the
youngsters you are dealing with. They do not see the potential and capabilities they
have, so you need to show them. Build their confidence! Take them on a journey and
let them gain their first experience - that is something they will always be able to fall
back on.
Step Three: Guide the process of discovery
Your job is to be a curator of experiences. The youngsters are able to learn a lot, but
do not yet know what is truly important. Take them one step at a time and show
them the basic principles first and let them explore the details later, when they need
them. Do not go too deep at first as that will only overcomplicate matters.
Remember that it is always better to feel and experience something than to learn
about it - first show, then explain.
Step Four: Follow a path
Business is hard. Really hard. But the students should not know this at first, as it
would destroy the motivation. Start by guiding the students to their first success and
build their naive hype and joy. Let them believe they can do this. Then, when they
start facing real roadblocks, take the time and explain the reality: that persistence
trumps talent and that hard work is usually the only right answer. Remember that
your goal is to show them the way, how to start a business. Sometimes they will
decide this is not for them, which is completely okay. But no matter what, they will
learn the process and will be prepared for the future.
Step Five: Build self-confidence before you start talking about

ideas
Usually the thing, which prevents us from following our dreams is our own head. We
do not believe we are capable, so we do not even try. Your first job as a mentor is to
build the students' self-confidence. Only then you can start talking about ideas,
businesses and other things. That way there will be no internal filter.
Step Six: Create an open space
You should strive to create an open, accepting environment. The entrepreneurship

club is a place where ideas can be shared freely and students do not judge each
other. The students must know that they can confide in the mentor and that the
team will help each other to success. It is important to spread this ideal to everyone
attending the club.
Step Seven: Be strict
It is not your job to always say the students are great and their ideas are wonderful.
On the contrary, you must be very strict when it comes to judging the students'
efforts: the market will not be any kinder towards them. The key is to be demanding
but also to tell them that you know they are capable of many things. The same thing
applies to business ideas and decisions. Don't let them follow an idea that is doomed
for failure, instead guide them towards success.
Step Eight: A good mentor asks the right questions
The best way to balance being supportive and being strict is by adopting the socratic
method of asking questions. That way you will guide their thinking so they come up
with their own answers and learnings. They should think for themselves instead of
waiting for you to think instead of them.
Step Nine: Keep the motivation strong
One year is a lot of time in the life of a high school student. Additionally, starting a
business is a long and difficult process. Very probably, this will be the first time for
most of your students that they have committed so much time in one single project.
It is your job to provide the motivation and hype. The best way to do this is to show
you are genuinely interested in the students' projects and accomplishments, and are
keeping them accountable to the timeline they have set. You should celebrate their
successes with them and comfort them when they failed at something.
Step Ten: You are not alone, connect with other mentors
It is normal that you will face many difficulties while mentoring. Sometimes your
students will ask questions you cannot answer. Sometimes they will know more
about a technical field than you. Remember that there are many other mentors in
the same situation, so you should connect with them and help each other. You
should also know that the entire community is here to help. Those students that
show the most promise should definitely be introduced to the mentors in the
headquarters, so they can be given extra support.
Bonus: Remember you are a role model
Students will get their first view into the business world through you. Whatever you
do, they will consider the norm, because you are their mentor. This is both a blessing
and a curse, so be responsible.
Act in the same way you would

want the entire business world to
act in ten years time.
That is exactly what is going to happen if we all do a good job =)
SET VERY AMBITIOUS GOALS
___________________________________________________________
"Aim for the moon. If you miss, you will land among
stars."
- W. Clement Stone
STUDENTS ARE CAPABLE OF MUCH BIGGER THINGS THAN

THEY IMAGINE. IT IS THE GOAL OF THE MENTOR TO PROVIDE
INSPIRATION AND SUPPORT ALONG THE WAY.
In the past we have seen that our students have completed extremely
ambitious projects. Entrepreneurship does not have age limits and we
should dare to pick up ambitious projects and be unreasonable about
our goals.
The students are not aware what are their capabilities. Usually they are
much, much higher than they think. A big part of this program is helping
them see that they are capable and giving them the confidence to start.
When deciding on an idea and setting your goals early on, you should
show ambition and provide the hype. The entrepreneurship club is a
perfect environment for the students to make a huge leap forward.
MENTOR WHIPLASH
___________________________________________________________
What to do if ten really smart people give you ten totally

different pieces of advice?
ONE OF THE MOST COMMON SITUATIONS THAT HAPPENS

WHEN YOU PUT A YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR IN THE SAME
ROOM WITH EXPERIENCED MENTORS IS TOTAL CONFUSION
ON THE PART OF THE YOUNGSTER
Ask 10 people for advice on your idea and you’ll get 10 different prescriptions.
Which one do you follow?
We see this all the time at some of the world’s top accelerators, and with our
students as well. The problem is even further exacerbated at events because the
teams have access to lots of really successful entrepreneurs in a short amount of
time.
These seasoned entrepreneurs are paying it forward by volunteering their time. A

commendable gesture but one that often leaves the startups more confused. When
faced with conflicting advice, which one is the entrepreneur supposed to follow: The
one that comes from the mentor who made the most money, or the one that makes
the most sense?
UNCERTAINTY + CONFLICTING ADVICE = CHAOS
The mentors should be aware this is bound to happen to their teams and should
prepare them for it.
Of course, in our view, the mentor's job is NOT giving prescriptions, but rather an
honest diagnosis on top risks, but that is only one side of the story. The other side is
that we need to tell the young entrepreneurs they should use their common sense
and believe in themselves. They have been living, breathing and sleeping their
product for months, while the advisor or mentor has spent a couple of minutes with
them. They are the domain experts and they should trust their instincts to make the
right decision.
It is the entrepreneur's job to prioritize pieces of advice and test them through small,
fast, additive experiments. It is also the entrepreneur’s job to double down on the
best advice (and advisors) and ignore the rest.
(A version of this article was published by Ash Maurya on his blog. To view the original go to
www.ashmaurya.com/advisor-whiplash)
PERSONAL MENTORSHIP
___________________________________________________________
“What is a teacher? I'll tell you: it isn't someone who

teaches something, but someone who inspires the
student to give of her best in order to discover what she
already knows.”
- Paolo Coelho
PERHAPS THE BIGGEST IMPACT HAPPENS WHEN THE

MENTOR INVESTS TIME TO KNOW THE STUDENTS ON A
PERSONAL LEVEL AND COACHES THEM TO SUCCESS
To support students we should be mentors, we should be older brothers

and sisters, we should be friends, and sometimes we may even act as
parents. For all of these, the domain of coaching can offer some very
useful insights.
This will be a short overview of some tried-and-tested coaching

techniques, which was taken from the Coach.me knowledge files and
adapted to fit the high school context.
THE MOMENTUM FRAMEWORK
Usually the biggest issues students need support with are:
• Settling on a goal or finding a purpose

• Personal discipline to execute it
The basic principle of coaching is to coach the habit first, and then to
coach for growth later. This pattern of habit-first coaching is the best fit
for all your general interactions with the students - in the clubs or
outside.
This is called the Momentum Framework. Use this as a foundation that

you can tweak when students are asking you for advice or you feel you
need to give them support.
Once a week, at the clubs, you can't do the same deep-dive discussion
that you'd do in person. Focus on immediate action instead. This builds
trust and opens the door for continuous assessment and ongoing re-
evaluation.
Using the framework, you cycle a student through four phases. Most
ambitious mentors can streamline this practice so that students are
spending as much time making progress as possible. Often that means
transitioning from Phase 1 (Assessment) to Phase 2 (Habituation) in just
2 or 3 messages. But we are getting ahead of ourselves...
Phase 1: Assessment. What is their goal?

Start with Assessment. What is the person's larger goal and why? What
do they expect from their mentor? You need this assessment in order to
identify an initial practice and to be able to personalize your coaching.
Phase 2: Habituation. Build the Habit.

Use the assessment to move on to Habituation. Find a regular practice
that supports your student's larger goal. Focus on building consistency.
MENTOR NOTE: A very good exercise is to invite the students to send you daily
update emails with the subject line: "What I have accomplished today." This is a
polite invitation that you sell to the students by saying "this is something to build
consistency.
What's important is that every day you do something for your project. So this email
is mainly to make you feel a little bad before you go to sleep, so in the worst case,
you think of something really small to do and do that for 10 minutes before you go
to sleep. It's not much, but at least it's some small progress."
You can also say that this is a perfect way for you to stay informed so you can help
the student better and encourage him/her to write any questions in that email too.
Several of our students have been doing this for over a year and we saw great
results.
Phase 3: Growth. Build Skills & Increase Difficulty.

Once there is consistency, you can work on growth. You can expand the
difficulty of the practice, build skills, identify and solve challenges,
and/or introduce optimizations.
Phase 4: Graduation. Celebrate and Revise the Goal Based on
Milestones.
You and your student should look for graduation milestones where you
can re-assess and restart the momentum cycle based on what you have
learned together. Don't forget to celebrate the success too!
This is something that builds motivation and gives clarity of vision to our
students. The competition at the end of the year is designed to provide
a milestone on a bigger scale and just such a graduation moment.
Let's look at some example scripts for each phase.
PHASE ONE: ASSESMENT
At the beginning of your relationship, you'll want to get to know your

students by asking questions in order to perform a simple assessment.
Typically, this assessment comes in the form of a set of one to five short
questions.
The right questions will:
1. Reveal the bigger picture. When you know why the student has joined
a club and how they expect it to change their life, you have more
context for how to adjust and personalize your mentorship during the
rest of the year.
2. Identify blockers. You'll know the obstacles to expect and be able to

coach towards removing them.
3. Identify your student's expectations. Some personas need to be

mentored with different techniques, including setting clear
expectations. You'll learn to spot these situations and correct
expectations right away. Nothing ruins attendance of the clubs faster
than mismatched expectations.
Here are a few typical questions the coaches use to kick off the process:
1. What goal do you want to achieve and why?

2. What would your life be like if you achieved this goal?
3. Describe your perfect day.
4. Describe your typical (not perfect) day. What's stopping you from
achieving your goal?
5. How do you hope my coaching will help you? If you've been coached
before, do you have any preferences about how I should coach you?
In these conversations, after the students answer your questions, it is

crucial that you summarize and repeat back your student's goal so that
they know you are paying attention. (Many students think that their job
is to provide expert advice, but most often it's to be an expert listener)
PHASE TWO: HABITUATION. BUILD THE HABIT.
Momentum only works if the student has identified a daily practice.
Some people call this Baby Steps or Tiny Habits. We call it a minimum
daily practice.
Coaches encourage clients in this direction by asking them to pick a

specific goal when they hire their coach.
In most cases, you should be able to identify and jump right to a regular
practice. If your student wants to run a marathon, then they need to
build the habit of running. Often, your student will even suggest a first
step—but be on the lookout for a practice that's too big. When this
happens you can reframe the habit as something much smaller.
Below is an example of a coach's response to a client who had the goal

to finish their dissertation. They thought they were struggling with
procrastination and stated that they "just can't focus on writing for 8
hours at a time."
This is what I'm hearing. You want to write every day in order to make
faster progress on your dissertation. When you try to spend 8 hours
writing, you feel like you mostly end up procrastinating. Is that right?
So, the way I work is to use a momentum-based methodology. The idea

is to focus on consistency first so that we can build momentum. And then
once there is consistency, we can work on quality and quantity. In your
case, that second phase would include assessing how much time you
spend writing, how you feel about the quality of the writing, and
(maybe) how many words did you write. But for now, let's just work on
consistency.
For tomorrow, what do you think about really focusing on sitting down
and getting right to work? Can you time yourself and tell me how long it
takes between the time you sit down at your desk and the time you've
finished writing your first sentence?
Notice how this response also makes great use of active listening
techniques (the first paragraph), using exact words and phrases from
the client's last message.
Once you've identified a minimum daily practice, you need to make sure
that practice is truly consistent.
Most of the time you will have more than enough ideas how to support
the students to achieve their goals. Apart from this, there are several
strategies and scripts available online for building habits. You don't need
to memorize them—you just need to know that they exist.
Here is the link to the coaching strategies github:

https://github.com/coachdotme/digitalcoaching/wiki
Goal definition: try the anchoring and goal statement exercises in order
to clarify the how and when of the habit.
Habit building basics: habits work best when you scope them down to a
minimum daily practice, anchor them to existing habits, and treat
different contexts (work, home, travel) as separate habits.
Environmental design: one-time decisions that make the habit easier to

achieve.
Accountability and positive reinforcement: these strategies help

reinforce and motivate your client until their habit is consistent.
If the student already has the habit, then it should take 1 to 2 days for
you to verify that.
If the student is starting from scratch, then it will take 1 to 2 weeks for
the habit to take hold. They don't have a permanent habit at two weeks,
but they'll have enough consistency to move on to the next phase.
PHASE THREE: GROWTH
Once you have consistency, you can work on helping the student
increase their skills to handle greater difficulty. If they're just working on
a habit, then you'll work on making the habit permanent. But usually the
goal also has a skill or volume component.
There are a variety of things coaches do here and a lot of them are
specific to the goal that they are trying to achieve. A running coach
might work the client through a progressively harder training load. A
productivity coach might help their client identify patterns and design
processes for handling them—for example, how to quickly process
expense reports.
These are the main tactics:
1. Spotlighting questions: you can help the students plan, examine and
optimize their own goal. In this mode, you use questions to spotlight
areas for improvement and the student provides the answers.
2. Skill progression: this is where you can use your expertise to improve
the student's performance one element at a time.
This phase can go on indefinitely, especially if your student is leaning on

you for accountability. However, it's always better to be on the lookout
for a milestone where you can claim success and then start a new trip
through the Momentum Cycle.
PHASE FOUR: GRADUATION
When your student has completed a goal or an important task or

milestone, you should work with them through a graduation step with
the goal of revising, re-evaluating or truly graduating.
These are the main potential outcomes:
1. Go through the Momentum Cycle again, starting with a re-assessment

to see how to be even better. For example, you could train for one
client meeting, consider that a graduation moment, and then reassess in
order to do even better next time.
2. Move to an adjacent goal and start the Momentum Cycle for that
goal. For example, a productivity coach working on prioritization might
follow up with Inbox Zero.
3. Go into maintenance mode. In this period, 90% of your value will be

in holding the student accountable. Occasionally you may spot room for
improvements, but mostly you'll just be an external source of
motivation.
ACTIVE LISTENING
This is perhaps the most important fundamental skill for coaching and it
applies to mentorship in many ways.
New mentors are the most likely to overlook this skill. Don't think that
your job is to simply tell someone what to do. It's not. We can't stress
that enough.
Mentorship is a collaboration. Your ability to be a good listener is a

prerequisite for engaging your student.
Active listening lets your student know that they're being heard and that
they're not just getting boilerplate copy-and-paste from you.
It's especially important to connect the dots between what the student
is telling you and what you're advising them to do.
Active listening can be as simple as just repeating back what you’ve

heard. This really important, even if it seems repetitive since their
response happened only moments ago.
By repeating what you've said to the student, they feel heard.
You create three problems in your relationship with your student if you
don't use active listening strategies.
1. You will give incorrect advice without realizing it. This is because you
literally didn't hear your student's problems (because you’re not making
listening a priority) or because your student doesn’t think you’re
listening (so they don’t feel like it’s worth correcting you).
2. Your student will put less effort into their answers to your questions
because they don’t feel like that effort will be acknowledged.
3. Your student will lose trust in your advice because they don’t feel that
they were heard.
You probably already think you are a good listener, but do your
students?
Repeating back to someone is the minimum level of active listening. If

you want a way to improve this skill fast, look for keywords that they
use and reuse them in your reply.
What would be the most appropriate response to the following

statement:
Hi mentor, you know, I want to find a way to control my fears of

public speaking. For example, sometimes when I'm talking, I start
to think about my audience watching me, rather than just
focusing in on my talk. This comes up in school too, especially when I
am called on.
An answer might look like this:
I'm hearing that you want to be able to focus and have control
over your mind in situations when people are watching you like when
you have to speak publicly. If we can reduce fear and anxiety in
those situations, then you'll be able to improve your performance.
This method is a variation on a technique from NLP (Neuro Linguistic

Programming) called "keyword backtracking".
That’s a fancy way to say that active listening involves noting important
keywords that your student uses and then repeating those keywords
back to them. It is very effective in creating a trusting relationship.
PART SIX:
RELATIONS
WITH OUR
PARTNERS
"I've learned that people will forget what you said,

people will forget what you did, but people will never
forget how you made them feel."
- Maya Angelou
OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH SCHOOLS
___________________________________________________________
The mentor is our ambassador and represents the whole

movement - to the students, to the parents, to the
students and to the schools. Here are some guidelines
for you to follow when you interact with them.
IF THE SCHOOLS ARE NOT SATISFIED WITH OUR WORK, THERE
WILL BE NO ENTREPRENEURSHIP CLUBS IN THE YEARS TO
COME
The schools are one of our most important partners and we must make sure they
have a positive experience with the entire U.School/Ustvarjalnik family. We have
prepared some basic guidelines for you to follow to make sure our relationship with
them is fruitful.
The first thing to remember about working with schools is that they have a final say
whether to accept our program there, and in many cases are also paying for the
program.
Before the start of the year the headquarters or the country managers approach
schools and invite them to host the program. They usually meet with the principals
and the decision makers there and sign a contract to host the clubs there. Every
school appoints a contact person that is responsible for the communication between
us and the school. This person is also your primary point of contact when working in
a school. You will be given all the contact information before the start of the year.
The headquarters and/or the regional manager will be making sure that the school is
informed about the developments in U.School/Ustvarjalnik. They will:
• send the schools a monthly newsletter with the developments in the

movement, as well as a brief overview of what has been going on in the
entrepreneurship club in that school
• invite the school officials to every event that we organize, in particular the
conference which takes place at the end of the year
• notify the school about the student teams and the projects they are working
on at least once during the year
It will be your task as the mentor to prepare the content for these updates. We
expect from you to do the following:
• Take pictures during the entrepreneurship clubs and share those, as well as
any interesting developments with us either through email or any other
means of communication.
• Once a month, prepare a short update on what has been going on in the club
you are running and send it to us. This will then be redacted and sent to the
schools.
• When the students prepare their one-pagers, send them to us as soon as
possible, and we will share those with the school officials.
Additionally, there are some extra things that every mentor can do to ensure our
program is well received in the school:
• The mentors should strive to maintain excellent relationships with the

schools they are working at. This generally means adhering to the common
business etiquette while communicating with them.
• When you visit the school for the club meeting, you should try to be a few
minutes early and pop in to say hello to the school administrators or even
the principal (if possible). This informal part of the relationship is key to
make things easier for us.
• Whenever a club meeting is cancelled, you should always inform the school
coordinator, no matter what the reason. If someone will be replacing you for
the meeting, you should also let them know.
• Whenever you bring a guest to the meeting, you should notify the school in
advance. Very often they will want to meet him/her or even organize some
more students to come and join that particular meeting. This should
definitely be encouraged.
• Remember that we do not have the capacity to do these kinds of meetings
with all the schools, so your contribution to maintaining relationships is
absolutely crucial.
If the school is satisfied with the club, this means that we can
do it again next year, which means we can impact more
students and you can continue as a mentor there.
The exact same rules apply if the club is sponsored by a local company. In that case,
you as a mentor will be introduced to our contact person in the company and we
will be asking you to introduce yourself to them and send them monthly updates
about the developments in the club (we will help you with the contents of those).
NOTE - THERE ARE A COUPLE OF MAILING LISTS WE

MAINTAIN:
• A monthly update list to the schools hosting our clubs

• A monthly update list to the companies financing our work
• A monthly update list to the parents of our students
• A monthly update list to our students
• A monthly investor update list for funders of our international program
Remember that we need content for all of those - this is the reason we are relying
on you to send us your monthly updates with stories from the clubs.
THE MONTHLY UPDATE

___________________________________________________________
We do not prescribe a formal way the update should look like. We expect you to
prepare a 1/2 page long overview on what has been going on in your club in which
you mention the following:
• A short overview of the topics that you covered this month

• Reflections of what has been going on in the club and what were the key
takeaways from the students this month
• A list of ideas the students are working on
• Interesting stories or anecdotes from the club
• An update on the progress of the young teams working on business ideas
• Any notable media you gained on a local level (this happens quite often)
It would be very helpful if you could also include a picture or two.
If you are running more than one club, please prepare separate reports for each
one.
CLUB DESCRIPTION FOR OUR WEBSITE

___________________________________________________________
We also ask all the mentors to take a group picture with the class and send that over
together with a 5-sentence description of the entrepreneurship club they are
running. This, together with the picture of the mentor and a short bio, will be put on
our website. The reason for this is to present the entire movement in one place.
SOCIAL MEDIA
___________________________________________________________
We maintain social media profiles on most major networks, but our primary
communication platform is Facebook. At the beginning of the year, the mentor
should invite all the participants to "like" Ustvarjalnik/U.School on Facebook and
invite them to contribute to the content there. We will publish all interesting
developments in the clubs there.
PART SEVEN:
LOGISTICS
AND
REPORTING
"It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do

not stop."
- Confucius
HOW TO STAY IN TOUCH WITH HQ
___________________________________________________________
Despite the fact that our clubs are running in many different countries
sometimes even thousands of kilometers away, we still hope to be in
frequent communication. There are some communication channels we
have set up for the mentors to use.
1. Slack
Slack is an amazing communications tool for teams to interact. It is essentially
an online private chat room. We will be posting all key updates there and are
hoping you will take an active part in the discussion. In case you can't make it
to a meeting of the club next week or if you need help - Slack is where you can
reach out to us and to other mentors. Every mentor will be given access to
Slack at the beginning of the year.
2. The curriculum knowledge base - Ariadna
Ariadna is the central mentor website that is accessible only to the
U.School/Ustvarjalnik mentors. The most up-to-date curriculum is published
there, as well as some additional features:
a. Links to additional resources for the topic of the
week (youtube videos, blogposts...)
Next to every lesson plan mentors can publish articles or other
interesting materials that can be shown to the class or the mentor can
use to prepare for that particular lesson.
b. A discussion board for mentors to share reflections
and suggestions to improve the curriculum
A commenting system is set up for the mentors to let the others know
if they made any changes to the curriculum, if they noticed things that
could be improved or just general suggestions for the others about the
way to handle that particular lesson.
c. Archive of all mentor updates that we send to you
These are mainly special reminders like dates of the upcoming events
or key pieces of information that the entire mentor team should be
aware of.
3. Ustvarjalnik/U.School Facebook page
We encourage all of the mentors to take an active part in the discussion on
our Facebook page - this is also our primary means of communication with
the students and we are working hard to keep it as active as possible.
4. Email, phone or other means of communication
We encourage all the mentors to stay in constant touch with us. We will be
happy to respond to every email and answer every call to help you bring a
better program to our students.
REPORTING ABOUT THE CLUBS
___________________________________________________________
Reporting is very important for us because it enables us to know what is

happening around the entire Ustvarjalnik/U.School community. We
expect the mentors to do the following:
 REPORT THE ATTENDANCE AND SUMMARY IMMEDIATELY

AFTER EACH SESSION OF THE CLUBS
This is extremely important for us as it allows us to measure attendance and
keep statistics, which are needed for our reports to funders and supporters.
We have set up a very simple CRM reporting system that you can access via
web or mobile. It allows you to:
o Mark attendance by simply clicking on the students that participated
at the meeting that week
o Mark off the topic of the curriculum you covered at that particular
week
o Write a 2-sentence summary of the developments of the clubs
 SEND A MONTHLY REPORT ABOUT THE HAPPENINGS AT THEIR
ENTREPRENEURSHIP CLUB
An unstructured report with a photo and an overview of the happenings in
the clubs. This is sent forward to the schools, the funders and sometimes to
the parents of the clubs to keep them informed about the developments.
 SEND US A NOTICE WHENEVER A NEW TEAM IS FORMED OR A
NEW IDEA IS FOUND THAT THE STUDENTS DECIDE TO
IMPLEMENT
One of the most important goals of the entrepreneurship clubs is to get
students to start working on their projects. We want to know about the ideas
they are working on, because this is an indicator of the success of our
program, and because this enables us to help you connect the teams to
relevant outside mentors.
 SEND US ALL ONE-PAGERS OF THE TEAMS YOU ARE MENTORING
These documents may be published on our website and are needed to
register to the end-of-year competition. They can also be shared with
prospective investors that might be interested in the work of the students.
 ENCOURAGE THE TEAMS TO INCLUDE THE HEADQUARTERS INTO
THE UPDATES THEY ARE SENDING
One of the assignments in the curriculum is for the teams that are working on
their businesses to send us their investor/mentor updates. We are always
happy to see those because they show the progress they are making.
 SEND US AN END-OF-YEAR SUMMARY WITH THEIR REFLECTIONS
ABOUT THE CLUBS AND THEIR EXPERIENCE
We are always happy to use these as testimonials. We also expect this will be
a way for you to give us feedback about your experience during the year.
PAYMENTS
___________________________________________________________
We know that the work you do as a mentor is far more valuable than
the stipend you are receiving. Nevertheless we hope you are doing this
because you believe in the mission of Ustvarjalnik/U.School and not for
the monetary compensation. We are deeply appreciative.
At the beginning of the year, you will discuss the way you wish to be
paid (either by contract, by invoice or through PayPal) and send your
bank details to the headquarters.
The payment will be made at the end of each month after we have
received your short weekly club attendance report and the longer
monthly report. If these are not submitted by the end of the month, we
will regretfully have to hold the payment back until next month.
IMPORTANT DATES TO CONSIDER:
• The weekly club attendance reports are expected to be done on

the same day of the club meeting
• The monthly reports are due on the last day of the month
• The payments will be made on the 15th of each month for the
previous month
Several mentors choose to donate their stipends back to

Ustvarjalnik/U.School in order for them to be used for the progress of
our mission. If this is something you are considering, you should get in
touch with our headquarters.

The Mentor Book

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THE

No reproduction or distribution is allowed without the express permission of Ustvarjalnik/U.School.

“People are always blaming their circumstances for

Welcome to the Ustvarjalnik family.

For the contributions to the content of this mentor book

BANKS BENITEZ, former head of mentorship, Unreasonable Institute

With deep gratitude also to the entire management

1. About Ustvarjalnik / U.School

"We are currently not planning on conquering the

Our purpose is to teach high school students how to earn

Whatever we do, our work is always dedicated towards the

The role of U.School/Ustvarjalnik is to help students to take this first step.

“The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be

THE MENTOR HOODIE IS THE SYMBOL OF U.SCHOOL/

Each new mentor will be issued an orange hoodie, as an unofficial

RULES CONCERNING THE MENTOR HOODIE:

1. The mentor has to wear (or bring, if it is the summer) his/her

"All the experts are experts on the things that were.

We expect every student that takes part in our program

THERE ARE SOME MEASURABLE GOALS FOR EVERY CLUB AND

1. Every entrepreneurship club should develop at least one

• Teaching students to be self-starters, so they understand that nothing will

Mentors should ensure that students:

 Get every student to write a letter about their ambitions

"Do. Or do not. There is no try."

The purpose of the year is to give the students their first

SECTION ONE: THE ENTREPRENEURIAL MINDSET

SECTION THREE: UNDERSTANDING MONEY AND FINANCE

SECTION FOUR: IDEA GENERATION

SECTION SIX: PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

SECTION EIGHT: PRESENTING THE STORY

SECTION NINE: CONCLUSION OF THE YEAR

Running an interactive class is very different from giving

LEARNING BY DOING IS THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY OF

There are many workshop-type activities prepared for the mentors in

Know, that the experiences themselves do not teach anything. Only

It is the job of the facilitator to bring the participants to the desired

TIPS FOR GREAT FACILITATION:

What is the purpose of this lesson?

What is needed to complete this lesson? Resources, pre-planning, etc...

Outline of the lesson

Tips for the mentor

What is the purpose of this lesson?

What is needed to complete this lesson? Resources, pre-planning, etc...

Outline of the lesson

• Think of a situation where you felt happy

• A passion that fulfilled you.

• A driving force in your life at the moment.

Tips for the mentor

What is the purpose of this lesson?

What is needed to complete this lesson? Resources, pre-planning, etc...

Outline of the lesson

• Was this difficult?

Tips for the mentor

What is the purpose of this lesson?

What is needed to complete this lesson? Resources, pre-planning, etc...

Outline of the lesson

Tips for the mentor

1. Take a group picture and send it to <your email address>

What is the purpose of this lesson?

What is needed to complete this lesson? Resources, pre-planning, etc...

Outline of the lesson

• Was this hard? Harder than expected?

Tips for the mentor

What is the purpose of this lesson?

What is needed to complete this lesson? Resources, pre-planning, etc...

Outline of the lesson

1. You will also succeed many times  