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PROGRAM OVERVIEW

Overview

Talent Kick is a highly selective, cross-university program over 2 to 4 semesters until your graduation that will help you find an interdisciplinary co-founder team and combine your studies with an entrepreneurial journey.

 

The 1st semester is designed around Bootcamps, events, workshops, and coaching which will enable you to form a stable team and a strong bond with your co-founders, develop your leadership skills, get a first direction, and validate your technology/problem space more in-depth. This prepared you to be in the driving seat for your entrepreneurial journey. The most successful students will get initial funding and move to semesters 2 - 4.

 

The 2nd to 4th semesters are focused on building your network, getting valuable input from experienced entrepreneurs, executives, potential customers, investors, and experts to validate your first ideas hands-on, using synergies with your studies, and connecting to further programs and funding sources to prolong your runway.

At the completion of the program the best participants will have...

Ideas validated

Funding secured

Co-founder secured and/or company founded

Immersed in the Swiss and international entrepreneurial ecosystems

Runway extended through other support programs Swiss-wide & from global program partners

SEMESTER 1

During the first program semester, in our hands-on bootcamps and events, you will work on achieving the two Milestones of (1) forming a stable team and (2) convincing a successful entrepreneur as your mentor.  Furthermore, in 5 individual 1:1 coaching sessions that will continue in semester 2 - 4, you will learn to lead yourself, lead others and lead change.

Date for the TK-A24 program

06.02.2025

Introduction

Q&A Session

2 hrs - Online

19.02.2025

Bootcamp 0

Kick-off

7 hrs - in person

Event 1

21.02.2025

Coaching Introduction

2 hrs - online

Bootcamp 1

05.03.2025

What makes a good
entrepreneur?

7 hrs - in person

Event 2

14 - 15.03.2025

Team building

in person

Bootcamp 2

26.03.2025

What makes a
good team?

7 hrs - in person

Workshop 1

02.04.2025

The idea doesn’t
matter

2 hrs - Online

Event 3

09.04.2025

Networking

2 hrs - Online

Bootcamp 3

16.04.2025

Problem deep dive

7 hrs - in person

Milestone 1

30.04.2025

Team formed

Bootcamp 4

21.05.2025

Validation

7 hrs - in person

Workshop 2

04.06.2025

Sales Psychology

2 hrs - Online

Workshop 3 - Part I

11.06.2025

Market opportunity
navigator

2 hrs - Online

Workshop 3 - Part II

18.06.2025

Market opportunity
navigator

2 hrs - Online

Bootcamp 5

02.07.2025

Convince others

7 hrs - in person

Event 4

04.07.2025

Milestone 2 Q&A

2 hrs - Online

Event 5

23.07.2025

Steering committee
& partners pitching

2 hrs - Online

Milestone 2

13.08.2025

Mentor convinced

Workshop 4

20.08.2025

System thinking and the TK Trust Factor

2 hrs - in person

Event 6

27.08.2025

Peer pitching

2 hrs - Online

Event 7

05.09.2025

Strategy board
pitching

2 hrs - Online

Event 7

Sep 2025

Over the first semester you will get the toolsets to...

Build a team

The program will help you find a co-founder with complementary skills. Thanks to the many universities participating in the program you will be able to find people with technical, business, medical, and in various other backgrounds.

This multidisciplinary and in-depth approach will allow you to build a solid team to start your entrepreneurial adventure.

Find a mentor

You will convince an entrepreneurial mentor to help and guide you through the founding journey with their experience. They are founders themselves who went through the journey successfully only a few years ago. An entrepreneurial mentor has...
 

  • 4+ years experience in a startup leadership position

  • Last hands-on experience less than 4 years ago

  • Openness to potentially give seed investment

  • Regular touch-points with you, typically on a weekly basis for the mentor-mentee relationship to be intensified

Develop yourself

Coaches will help you individually on your personal development journey. You will start with a personality test and receive support in overcoming challenges and refining your strengths. You set your goals and schedule your 1:1 sessions individually with your personal coach to ensure the best possible outcome for you.

Get initial funding and validate your idea

After achieving the final milestone and achieving to convince a mentor and our jury, your team will receive the Team Kick award of CHF 5000. This will allow you to validate concrete ideas further, and continue exploring your identified problem space over the remaining semesters.

To benefit best from the 1st semester it is necessary to count approximately 2 to 6 hours of investment per week for program components and additional time invested proactively in growing your own development further.

Semester 1

In these eight months, we were able to adapt our product in a very dynamic way, based on the inputs gained from talks with potential customers and the knowledge provided in the Bootcamps. I think our biggest achievement this year was realizing how central the customer is to find the right solution

SEMESTER 2-4

Receiving the Team Kick you are ready to leave the structured part of the 1st semester and validate real opportunities with your team and mentor. Until you finish your studies we will support you on your individual journey of validating your ideas, gaining experience, using synergies, immersing in the startup ecosystem and getting ready to decide for the entrepreneurial career path at the end of your studies.

 

During this period, your team will grow more independently with your mentor and coach while the Talent Kick team will be there to help you navigate the many options the Swiss startup ecosystem offers.

Over the 2nd to 4th semester you will gain hands-on experience in...

Using master, internship & exchange synergies

Finding programs and funding to prolong your runway

Growing your network 

Collaborating with potential customers, investors, and entrepreneurs

To benefit best from the 2nd to 4th semester you are mainly driving your own development with your mentor and coach. Plan approximately 6 hours per semester for close exchanges with the Talent Kick team to help you with your individual needs in growing your project.

Semester 2 - 4
Graduation

GRADUATION

At the end of the program, you will have laid a stable foundation to confidently decide for an entrepreneurial career path after your studies and become an emerging entrepreneur in Switzerland and beyond.

Talent Kick graduation

Research grants

Accelerator programs

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Founding your company

First investment round

JOIN OUR NEXT BATCH

Apply now to join our Spring 2025 Batch starting in February

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