Explorers
Explorers is our offerings open to all. We have workshops, courses, events and inspirational talks available for you.
How it works
Explorers is for all startups or individuals curious to learn more – regardless of your affiliation with Aarhus University.
Sign up for individual workshops below or check out all our open events to explore your entrepreneurial potential.
Available workshops and grants
Talk to your customers
In the beginning of a startup process, you have many assumptions about your product, your customers and your market. In order to move forward it is important you get a clear understanding of your potential customers and their needs.
In this 2-workshop you will work on validating the assumptions about your business idea by talking to your customers. We will discuss concrete tools on how to approach your potential customers, stakeholders and potential partners, and you will make your own plan for who to contact, how and why.
YOU WILL GET
- Tools to collect useful feedback on your business idea
- A plan for how to contact potential customers, stakeholders, partners etc.
- Feedback on your plan
WHEN: Session 1: September 14, 9.00-11.00 & Session 2: September 17, 9.00-11.00.
PLACE: Conference Room, The Kitchen
LANGUAGE: English
Brand Building
Building a business is not just a product race, but just as much a race to communicate why our customers need our products. In essence the road to success has two parallel tracks:
1. Invent stuff worth talking about
2. Tell stories about what you invented
In this 2-part workshop you will work on creating an identity that captures the strongholds and ambitions of your startup to deliver the business strategy in a precise and compelling way. A way that aligns your business and connects with your audience on an emotional level.
YOU WILL GET
- The tools to start building your own brand identity
- The first draft of your own brand strategy
- Feedback on your draft
WHEN: Session 1: October 26 9.00-11.00 & Session 2: October 29, 9.00-11.00.
PLACE: Conference Room, The Kitchen
LANGUAGE: English
Value Proposition
Your value proposition is one of the most fundamental building blocks of your startup. Working with your value proposition helps you identify what problem you are trying to solve for your customers, and how your solution creates value.
In this 2-part workshop you will work on defining your value proposition and use concrete tools that help you identify the needs and problems of your customers.
YOU WILL GET
- The tools to work on defining your Value Proposition
- An understanding of the importance of having a Value Proposition
- Feedback on your Value Proposition
WHEN: Session 1: September 28, 9.00-11.00 & Session 2: October 1, 9.00-11.00
PLACE: Conference Room, The Kitchen
LANGUAGE: English
Creating a Team
TBA
WHEN: Session 1: November 16, 09.00-11.00 & Session 2: November 19 2021, 09.00-11.00.
PLACE: Conference Room, The Kitchen
LANGUAGE: English
Internship Program*
Interning in your own startup is a unique possibility to concentrate on starting or developing your own business, and at the same time use your professional knowledge in practice.
If you intern in your own startup, you will follow The Kitchen’s internship program where you, together with students from the entire university, participate in entrepreneurial workshops, biweekly peer to peer sessions, inspirational talks and networking activities.
Business Modeling
Business modeling helps steer your idea as you start and grow. It is a tool that helps you describe how your idea can create, deliver, and capture value.
In this 2-part workshop you will identify the product or services that you plan to sell and map your potential markets and expenses. We will discuss each section of the 9-component Business Model Canvas and you will work with your own business case. By the end of the workshop you will have the first draft of your BMC with your hypotheses.
YOU WILL GET
- A basic understanding of the Business Model Canvas
- Opportunity to work on your own BMC
- Feedback on the first draft of your BMC
WHEN: Session 1: October 12, 9.00-11.00 & Session 2: October 15 2021, 9.00-11.00.
PLACE: Conference Room, The Kitchen
LANGUAGE: English
Investor Readiness
This workshop looks at investment as a strategic tool that you need to master in order for your startup to have success. Some entrepreneurs are hesitant to bring investors on board their startup. While there are justified reasons for being hesitant, there is no need to be uncertain regarding the process
This workshop will get you on top of the investment process and it will prepare you to take the lead.
The workshop will bring clarification on how far you are from being able to attract investment, what you need to do to get closer to it, and it will help you clarify under which conditions you are willing to bring investors on board.
In the first workshop you are introduced to the investment process, terminology etc. In between the workshops, you will create a short investor pitch. In the follow-up workshop on the following Friday we will discuss and provide feedback in groups.
YOU WILL GET
- An introduction to key investment terminology (Ex. Cap table, pre- post money valuation, seed-money, series A…)
- A plan for the action you need to take in order to move your startup closer to an investment
- An understanding how investors think and act, both before investment and after investment.
- An awareness of potential positive and challenging mechanisms that arises between founder-team, the board, and investors, and how you proactively can work to create the best possible working atmosphere between all parties.
WHEN: Session 1: September 14, 13.00-15.00 & Session 2: September 22, 13.00-15.00
PLACE: Zoom
LANGUAGE: English
Intellectual Property
In this workshop you will learn the following:
- Introduction to intellectual property
- Different types of IP
- Patents: Patentability vs. freedom to operate
- What you can and can’t say in a public setting before you have secured your IP
- When to ask for a non-disclosure agreement
- The University’s role in protecting the IP of staff and researchers
- How to do a preliminary patent search
WHEN: TBA
PLACE: Conference Room, The Kitchen
LANGUAGE: English
Company types & ownership agreements
What are the advantages of an ApS over a one-man business? How do you make an ownership agreement? And what demands can you, as a founding team, make to each other in the agreement? Get the answers and many more on Tuesday November 2, when accountant Joachim Stephansen from Beierholm Revision and lawyer at Hejm Vilsgaard; Hans Henrik Bondegaard takes the stage.
The choice of company type and a good ownership agreement are among the very fundamental elements on which a start-up or spinout is based. At this event you will learn about both. The focus will be on:
- Advantages of ApS vs. one-person business
- what conditions you must be aware of when founding an ApS
- Formal content of the ownership agreement
- The most important elements to include in an ownership agreement
- How to facilitate a good process when making an ownership agreement
PROGRAM:
16.30: Accountant: Joachim Stephansen from Beierholm Revision (Presentation will be in danish)
17.00 Lawyer: Hans Henrik Bondegaard from Hejm Vilsgaard (Presentation will be in english)
17.30: Questions - can be in both danish and english
18:00 Goodbye
INFORMATION
WHEN: November 2, 16.30-18.00
WHERE: The Kitchen, Universitetsbyen 14, 8000 Aarhus
LANGUAGE: English & Danish
EarlyCash Grant*
EarlyCash is a grant for students at Aarhus University who want to take their startup idea one step closer towards a commercial product or service. Students can apply for grants of 15,000 DKK. The grant is targeted early stage startups, who have not received any prior funding.
EarlyCash has four annual deadlines:
- 1 March
- 1 June
- 1 September
- 1 November
Events