Learning guide
A practical Toronto startup learning path organized around the decisions a new founder needs to make in the first 90 days.
Days 1–30 · Customer learning
Use this suggested schedule to apply the idea-validation workshops. Adjust the pace to the people you need to reach and the experiment you are running.
Write your first customer/problem assumption, identify the buyer and user, and list the alternatives they use today.
Output: a customer description, assumption list and people to contact.
Speak with people in that group about recent experiences, current workarounds and the cost of the problem. Compare their answers and record disagreements.
Output: interview notes and the strongest recurring problem.
Choose one important assumption, write a test card and run a limited experiment. Use an interview, prototype, landing page or pilot that fits the question.
Output: a defined test, its measures and the observed results.
Compare the result with the decision you set in advance. Update the customer, offer or business-model assumptions and choose the next test.
Output: a learning note and a specific next step.
TorontoStarts · February 2023
This workshop explains business-model and value-proposition canvases, then separates desirability, feasibility and financial viability. It walks through test cards, learning cards and experiments such as customer interviews, prototypes and landing pages, followed by founder questions.
Watch on YouTubeContinue the first-month validation work above. The quantities are suggested practice targets, not benchmarks or proof that a business is viable. If an earlier test fails, repeat it before increasing spending.
| Week | Work to do | Evidence to keep | Decision at the end |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5: Define the offer | Choose one customer segment, outcome and small paid offer. Revisit five interviews | A one-page offer, excluded scope and the customer's current alternative | Is the offer tied to a problem buyers already act on? |
| 6: Test price | Ask five qualified prospects to consider a priced offer, with the same scope | Offers made, objections and paid commitments separated from interest | Keep, revise or retest price and scope |
| 7: Deliver a pilot | Deliver the smallest useful result to one or two customers, where feasible | Time spent, direct cost, outcome and permission to use feedback | Can you deliver the promised result without hidden work? |
| 8: Choose one sales channel | Try a bounded outreach or partner test; record the denominator | Contacts, replies, qualified meetings, offers and sales by date | Repeat the channel or change the message/customer |
| 9: Model cash | Build a 13-week cash forecast with receivables and payment dates | Opening cash, expected collections, bills, taxes and downside case | What must change before the lowest cash point? |
| 10: Set operating basics | Review contracts, delivery responsibilities, bookkeeping and relevant legal requirements | Ownership of each task, records folder and unresolved questions | Which specialist question must be resolved before the next sale? |
| 11: Choose support and capital | Tie your constraint to a coach, program or funding route; check eligibility | One milestone budget and a short list of relevant options | Is capital needed now, and what evidence would it fund? |
| 12: Review and plan | Compare outcomes with assumptions; stop work that produced no useful signal | A one-page review and next-quarter goal with owner, budget and date | Continue, narrow, change or pause the offer |
Use a 30-minute weekly review: what did customers do, what did we spend, what remains uncertain and what is the next test? Keep sales, learning and cash measures separate. Ten interviews are learning activity; two paid pilots are commercial evidence; neither alone proves repeatable demand.
For a founder working part-time, keep the sequence and extend the calendar. For regulated products, insert the required safety and legal work before taking payments or running a pilot. The plan should fit the business you can responsibly operate.
Days 31–60 · Offer, pricing and first sales
Use the next month to test how the business earns money. This suggested sequence connects your customer interviews with an offer, a price and a way to reach buyers. Adjust the pace to your sales cycle.
Identify the user, buyer, offer, revenue method and delivery costs. Choose the riskiest assumption to test.
Output: a one-page model and a specific customer test.
Open the lesson and recordingsCompare costs, alternatives and customer value. Present a small, clearly scoped offer to prospective buyers and record decisions and objections.
Output: a price-test sheet and evidence of buying interest.
Open the lesson and recordingsChoose one reachable audience and one channel. Set the message, next step, budget and review date before launching.
Output: a launch plan and a record of qualified conversations.
Open the lesson and recordingsAgree the next action with each prospect. Track decisions, deliver the promises you make and examine unsuccessful conversations.
Output: a working sales record and a change to test next.
Open the lesson and recordingsTorontoStarts · January 2024
The Startup Coach reviews customer dissatisfaction, weaker engagement, stalled traction, market changes and competitive pressure as reasons to revisit a business model. Use the signs to choose a specific assumption to test before making a larger change.
Watch on YouTubeTorontoStarts · November 2017
In one minute, the Startup Coach challenges founders to seek customers and feedback before spending months building. The clip discusses prepayment and testing which benefit would make the offer useful enough to buy.
Watch on YouTubeTorontoStarts · January 2024
A concise pricing checklist: understand production and overhead costs, research alternatives, explain customer value and adjust as you learn. Use it before putting a price on your first offer.
Watch on YouTubeTorontoStarts · January 2024
Five acquisition foundations: a specific target audience, an accessible online presence, a clear value proposition, useful content and referrals. Apply them to one reachable customer group before expanding your marketing.
Watch on YouTubeDays 61–90 · Review and repeat
Compare the enquiries, qualified conversations, purchases and delivery costs from your first tests. Review who bought, why others declined and whether the work left enough margin to continue. Keep the customer’s next step visible and set aside time each week to follow up.
Use the scalable-business-model lesson to examine acquisition effort and delivery capacity. If results suggest a change, name the part of the model you will adjust and run a limited test. Choose the next quarter’s milestone using what customers actually did.
Use the sales strategy and call-review workshops13 listings
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Upskilling Program for Inclusive Excellence
Start with the next decision, not a generic startup curriculum. In the first 90 days, most founders benefit from learning how to speak with customers, test an offer, see basic cash flow and choose a realistic next milestone. The right course, mentor or coach is the one that helps you make that decision with better evidence.
Usually not. A short amount of customer learning can make the later course more specific and useful. Take a course first when it directly unlocks a necessary action or skill.
Coaching can fit a decision, accountability problem or situation that depends on your specific context. A course is often better when you need a repeatable foundation or a defined skill.