Create STEP - Sustainable Team Entrepreneurship Program

Purpose and goal

Well-functioning startup teams move faster from idea to commercialization and attract venture capital more readily. It’s of interest to the innovation system to support this development. The team development program STEP is based on research and startup specific conditions. It forms new structures which can be disseminated within the innovation support system. Through research collaboration, STEP has strengthened the knowledge regarding startup teams and the national collaboration within the innovation support system. It also reached international publication via IASP.

Expected results and effects

A customized team development program, based on research, and adapted for startups has been developed. Two aspects indicate that STEP has had a positive effect; subjective assessment of the programs effect on success and participant satisfaction. Though the research project that ran alongside the STEP has not yet yielded published research output, the subjective evaluations of participants indicate that STEP is a feasible program to aid new ventures in business incubators. The research output will validate this indication. Twenty organizations have shown interest in STEP.

Planned approach and implementation

The goal of the program is to provide knowledge and insight of how the team can create the conditions for a well-functioning and high-performing startup team. The concept of the program is blended learning. Through need-based digital tools and a customized process based on research; the teams work on self-awareness, team insight and peer-to-peer learning events focusing on themes important for start-ups. The use of tools developed to meet the specific needs for the teams, have been utilized for tailor-made team development workshops that focus on the prioritized pains of each team.