internationalization tool kit

Internationalization Program Tool Kit for mLabs and mHubs

Internationalization Program Tool Kit

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Copyright Page 2014 The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank 1818 H Street NW Washington DC 20433 Telephone: 202-473-1000 Internet: www.worldbank.org E-mail: [email protected] All rights reserved 1 2 3 4 09 08 07 06 The findings, interpretations and conclusions expressed herein are entirely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of infoDev, the Donors of infoDev, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/ The World Bank and its affiliated organizations, the Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent. The World Bank cannot guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply on the part of the World Bank any judgment of the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. Rights and Permissions The material in this publication is copyrighted. Copying and/or transmitting portions or all of this work without permission may be a violation of applicable law. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank encourages dissemination of its work and will normally grant permission to reproduce portions of the work promptly. For permission to photocopy or reprint any part of this work, please send a request with complete information to infoDev Communications and Publications Department., 2121 Pennsylvania Avenue NW; Mailstop F 5P-503, Washington, D.C. 20433, USA; telephone: 202-458-4070; www.infodev.org; email: [email protected]. All other queries on rights and licenses, including subsidiary rights, should be addressed to the Office of the Publisher, The World Bank, 1818 H Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20433, USA; fax: 202-522-2422; email: [email protected]. Tool kit created by CRDF Global Entrepreneurship and Innovation Team To cite this publication: CRDF Global, Internationalization Program Tool Kit for mLabs and mHubs. 2014. Washington, D.C.: infoDev / World Bank.


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Contents Overview of the Tool Kit ............................................................................................................................... 4

Internationalization Curriculum .................................................................................................................... 5

Boot Camps and Outreach Events .............................................................................................................. 17

Outreach Event Template Organizing Material .......................................................................................... 26

Interactive Entrepreneurial Activities ......................................................................................................... 27

Online Venture Competitions ..................................................................................................................... 30

Glocal Mentorship....................................................................................................................................... 36

Virtual Trainings and Webinars ................................................................................................................... 39

Media and Social Media .............................................................................................................................. 40

Creating and Managing International Partnerships .................................................................................... 41

Monitoring and Evaluation ......................................................................................................................... 42

Additional Resources for Mobile Developers ............................................................................................. 44


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VentureOutVentureOut was a partnership between infoDev and CRDF Global

to propel expansion-ready mobile app entrepreneurs into international markets.

The VentureOut program focused on giving entrepreneurs the tools, inspiration

and opportunities to take their mobile apps to new markets. The program ran

from August 2013 to January 2014 and has helped hundreds of entrepreneurs

through hands-on training, virtual learning opportunities, mentorship,

international exposure and seed funding. Entrepreneurs came from local

technology community partners located in eight countries: Armenia, Jamaica,

Kenya, Macedonia, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Trinidad and Tobago.

VentureOut Partners

infoDevinfoDev is a global partnership program within The World Bank Group.

Its Mobile Innovation Program supports growth-oriented mobile app businesses

by enabling entrepreneurship, building mobile innovation communities and

researching the app economy of emerging and frontier markets.

www.infodev.org

CRDF GlobalFounded in 1995, CRDF Global is an independent nonprofit

organization that promotes international scientific and technical collaboration

through grants, technical resources, training and services. www.crdfglobal.org

Sponsoring Governments

Canadian International Development AgencyCIDA provided funding to

launch the Entrepreneurship Program for Innovation in the Caribbean (EPIC).

EPIC was created to improve the innovation environment for high-growth

startups in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), and to assist entrepreneurs

on their journey to commercialization. In seven years, the program established

six new incubators in the region.

Ministry for Foreign Affairs of FinlandIn combination with MFA Finland and

Nokia, infoDev launched the Creating Sustainable Businesses in the Knowledge

Economy program, which provided support to a variety of initiatives, including

Mobile Applications Laboratories (mLabs), the Global Forum on Innovation and

Technology Entrepreneurship, the Central Asian Capacity-Building Initiative and

the Open Africa Innovation Summit.


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Overview of the Tool Kit This tool kit was created by CRDF Global in conjunction with the VentureOut program, sponsored by infoDev at the World Bank. The purpose of the VentureOut program was to empower organizations around the world to help their entrepreneurs bring their mobile apps to new markets. The intended audience is global entrepreneurship enabling organizations, which includes incubators, accelerators, mobile development and entrepreneur community groups. The Internationalization Process When mobile app developers decide to expand to global markets, they are deciding to expand their customer base and potentially increase their revenue and profits. However, internationalization is difficult and is not a uniformed process; each company has to make specific decisions regarding their particular situation. Though many companies go through a similar learning process, there is no simple answer for entrepreneurs debating whether internationalization is right for their product, and when and how to expand to global markets. The curriculum in this toolkit is provided to assist entrepreneurs in creating their plans to enter into new markets. Section 1: Internationalization Curriculum and Content The first section of the tool kit covers content, activities and an agenda for a full day of programming that guides entrepreneurs as they develop their apps for multiple markets and bring their apps to new countries. Section 2: Outreach and Awareness Activities

This section of the tool kit offers step-by-step guides for enabling organizations to engage with

entrepreneurs in outreach activities, including startup boot camps, mentorship programs, business

competitions and international web broadcasts. These programs are vehicles that can be used to deliver

knowledge and guidance that will help entrepreneurs achieve professional goals. With the basic

framework, organizers can implement many types of trainings, from introducing internationalization to

improving business planning and forming and managing teams.

Section 3: Monitoring and Evaluation

In the final section, the tool kit shares techniques on how to monitor and evaluate programs, along with

providing some sample surveys. Monitoring and evaluation is important for improving your programs,

and can be collected through soliciting feedback, tracking improvements of the entrepreneurs and

demonstrating your projects results.

Throughout the tool kit are other samples and templates, including sample press releases, social media

posts and email templates. All of this content is yours to use, develop, customize and implement. The

library of documents can be found via DropBox at this link. The documents are also categorized and

introduced in the sections below as they are relevant to specific programs or topics.


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YES Foundation Entrepreneurs in Macedonia participating in VentureOut TechConnect viewing, September 23, 2013

Internationalization Curriculum The goal of the VentureOut Challenge is to provide knowledge and support to entrepreneurs so they can take their ventures to new geographic markets. To help entrepreneurship development organizations achieve this goal, VentureOut is providing the educational tools below to introduce entrepreneurs to the possibility of going global. This section includes a white paper on internationalization trends. Leaders of entrepreneurship development organizations should become familiar with the material before sharing information with entrepreneurs in their network.

Using the Internationalization Material Below, are several tools that can help you introduce internationalization to your entrepreneurial network, guide them to create their own plans for international expansion, and encourage them to succeed.

White Paper: Familiarize yourself with research and trends about internationalization by checking out ideas presented in the white paper.

Internationalization Sessions: Organize an internationalization series of events or day-long event using the internationalization sessions.

Angry Birds Case Study: Check out one case study that is representative of the many that are provided in the complete VentureOut Internationalization Curriculum.

Internationalization Curriculum Links: Here is the complete list to all material and power point presentations that will help you lead the internationalization activities.

White Paper: Internationalization Strategies for Mobile App Startups Written by: Charles Eesley, Assistant Professor of Management Science & Engineering at Stanford Technology Ventures Program and Lijie Zhou, Higher Education Press, Beijing, China


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Regarding beverages, if you can, providing large carafes of coffee and water throughout is the best. Avoid water bottles to try to minimize waste. Encourage people to bring their own water bottles but also provide cups and markers, so people can reuse their cups. In addition to lunch, you should consider investing in food or snacks at the beginning and close of your program. At the beginning, a welcoming snack can boost peoples energy in the morning and carry them over into lunch. At the close of your program, light snacks such as cookies, juice and soda can really help encourage people to network and continue their conversations.

Creating the Budget

Estimating then tracking the expenses Every dollar saved can be put towards the most successful entrepreneurs. It is the organizing teams responsibility to keep track of all event expenses. A planning document containing a formatted budgeting template has been created for you to track all incoming revenue and expenses. This is a simple but effective tool. See here: Budget Sample

What are the main costs? Venue: We strongly encourage finding a donated/sponsored venue for the event. Food and drink: This is difficult, as how much you spend depends on the number of people you

expect to attend. Try your best estimate. Supplies: Think of what youll need, such as nametags, markers, paper, plates, napkins, etc. Marketing materials: Can include printing flyers and paying for advertising. Labor costs: Consider if you will need to pay anyone for their help. Awards for top entrepreneurs: Nice to provide awards, if possible, through your budget.

Promoting the Event

To whom should I reach out? To make sure you are reaching out to the right people, keep the goals of the event in mind: to educate and equip all people who are interested in internationalizing their mobile app. Along with identifying and supporting them through mentorship, opportunities to pitch, and seed funding the top tech entrepreneurs who will apply to VentureOut Challenge. The main groups of people to reach are:

Potential angel investors, speakers and mentors

Press the more the merrier

Entrepreneurs and potential entrepreneurs

Choosing local mentors and speakers You should plan to reach out to your entire current network, but then specifically encourage your star entrepreneurs to apply and attend. In addition, you may want to do open requests for applications,


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partner with other organizations to get the word out, utilize a newspaper ad or more. Good local mentors are experienced entrepreneurs, or subject experts such as developers, designers, marketers, local investors or business executives. Mentors are typically willing to participate when you clearly explain the nature of the event and the purpose and extent of their involvement. There is a template letter to reach out to mentors in the documents listing at the end of this section.

Reaching out to entrepreneurs Email your network The easiest group to reach out to. Send a simple invitation. See this example here. Encourage other organizations to send your invite along Ask related organizations to forward the invitation to their members. The organization leaders should be interested in sending along the message, as they are spreading the opportunities that their members would be interested in. Use Social Media Create a Facebook event page and invite your network to join the event. Encourage all who sign up to also join. Post frequently about the event on Facebook to keep peoples interest up. Use your organizations Twitter account and create a hashtag for the event that you use in all promotional materials. Design Flyers Design a great flier that has two purposes: You can use it online as a PDF, and you can print it and post it where your target audience will see it. You might use a QR code or hashtags at the bottom of the flier with the webpage info. This way people can rip them off find the info online later. Additionally, you can encourage partner organizations and your network to print and post the fliers as well.

Reaching out to the press First, create a PDF press release about your event along with a targeted email. Then, create a list of media contacts. Research the contacts of the best local media companies. The press can publish articles ahead of time that publicize the event. They can also be invited to attend and interview participants, along with writing follow-up articles. To do this, you will need to create an organized spreadsheet of press contacts. Then, you will need to keep track of your correspondence so you can send appropriate reminders to the list. Also, post the press release online so people can download it. A template press release is included at the end of this section.

Outreach event webpage guidelines The organization should create a landing page for the event on their webpage and link to the application page. The page should include:

Description of the outreach event


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Sponsor logos

The bios of the events mentors, speakers, and panelists

Link to online registration page

Communication to speakers and attendees about the event Once youve confirmed your speakers, alerted the press and have registered entrepreneurs, emails

should go out to the applicants at various times. Templates are available in the documents section

below.

Confirmation of registration Automatically set up Eventbrite (or other online event

management platform) to send registration confirmations. In the automatic email, encourage

others to register.

Reminder of location and logistics 3 days, then 1 day, then early on the morning of the first

day. You can also schedule to send these emails automatically through Eventbrite.

Be sure to reach out to speakers and other VIP who may not have signed up via Eventbrite.

Local Sponsorships

How can local sponsorships help? Local cash sponsorships can be used to supplement the award seed grants that will be offered to the top entrepreneurs. Local sponsorships can also be used to find a great donated venue. Additionally, they can be used to receive beverage, snack or meal donations. All of which, lower your event costs and maximize money left in the budget for seed funding. Reaching out for support for this high-profile event could be a touch point to interest and connect with the sponsors that you would like to work with.

Targeting local sponsors List potential sponsors. Think of people and organizations that have previously sponsored events in your community. Types of sponsors to consider include locally based technology companies, local startups, city or national governments and local restaurants.

Setup for the Actual Event The day has arrived. What should you expect and what should you double-check before your guests

arrive? Here are two short lists that will help keep you on track:

Setting up registration At least two people should run the registration table.

An additional volunteer can direct attendees and encourage them to meet other people.

Have a separate table for event goodies.

Have markers and name tags available.


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About 10 minutes before estimated starting, encourage people to find a seat.

Room setup checklist Make sure there is a place to set up snacks. Think about where and how people will eat.

Ensure there will be enough trash cans.

Know how to operate the air conditioner to change the temperature of the room.

Make sure there is Wi-Fi available for all to use. Test the Wi-Fi password and connectivity. Get a

contact number in case the internet stops working.

Check the bathrooms for toilet paper and soap.

Call speakers to confirm that they are on schedule. Do not forget to ask the speakers to show up

15 minutes early.

Create a slide show to project as people arrive. Try to get a working sound system for music.

Volunteers In addition to your core team who will be working together to make sure things run well, here are ideas

for volunteers, who will provide invaluable service:

Setup volunteers (four people). Available before the event and at the beginning

Check in attendees.

Set up name tags and other event material in main hall.

Set up signage so people know where to go.

Social media volunteers (four people). Available throughout the event.

Take pictures.

Tweet.

Assist people when they have logistical questions.

Help prepare for any press conference or reception.


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Outreach Event Template Organizing Material Essential Outreach Event Documents

Boot Camp Time Line

Agenda Template

Possible Event Modules

Venue and Tech Requirements

Event Checklist

Recruitment: Invitations and Outreach

Mentors/Judges

Judge and Mentor Invitation

Confirmation and Expectations

Entrepreneur Invitation

Invitation for Partners to Send

Social Media and Fliers

Event Press Release

Examples of Tweets

Preparing Entrepreneurs for the Event:

Business Model Canvas

Lean Startup Presentation

Printed Materials to Use at the Event

Business Model Canvas Hand out to all attendees.

Mentor Feedback Form Mentor takes notes during the event and gives feedback form to

entrepreneur after mentorship.

End of Boot Camp Survey - Hand out at the event, and also provide link so people can fill out

online.

Certificate Templates Certificates make for a nice closing to a program

Name Tag Template Helpful to have

Table Numbers To mark the tables where mentorship will occur

Pitching Time Sheet To let participants know how much time they have remaining

Post-event Thank You Letters

Mentor and Judges

Entrepreneurs


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Interactive Entrepreneurial Activities During events you host, its best to intersperse lectures and speakers with activities that get entrepreneurs moving, thinking and DOING. Below we have a few ideas to get started.

Role playing: hiring position at your startup Activity: Applying for a position at this startup. Learning Goals: To imagine what it can be like when they are searching for new team members or seeking to work with a startup. Step 1: Find volunteers to play the role of a startup looking to hire and a professional seeking employment.

Step 2: Ask the entrepreneurs to share with the group what their startup is. Ask interviewees to share with the group what their expertise is.

Step 3: Give the context of the two people. Perhaps they met at a conference and talked informally. Now they are having an interview. The interviewee has a skill that is needed by the startup, so they are having this meeting.

Step 4: Cut to the action. Let them role play.

Step 5: Discuss as a class what you have seen. What questions stood out to you? What would you have done differently as an interviewer or interviewee?

Practice customer interviews: Activity: This activity is done on the spot among entrepreneurs at your event. The entrepreneurs take turns serving as potential customers and providing feedback. Learning Goals: For the entrepreneurs to get used to seeking and receiving feedback on a business or business idea and then using that feedback to incorporate changes. To learn the importance of a prototype in working with customers. To improve their product market fit and then try out the market again. To present to the group their knowledge and understand the value of the customer development technique. This activity will likely seem easy when done in the controlled environment and will prepare them to talk to new leads or contacts about their specific product or venture. Step 1: Create a venture idea (or use your venture you already have you may give them the choice if you wish).


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Step 2: Describe your app or venture to potential users. Interview five potential users of their app or venture and seek their feedback. This can be done in pairs with each person sharing their ideas and giving feedback and then finding another person to do the same.

Step 3: Present what you learned from the user that you didnt expect. When in the day would a customer use this app?

Social media campaign master Activity: In 30 minutes, design an experiment around social media for a cause, a fake venture or your actual venture. Make YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, or Tumbler accounts. Craft a marketing campaign to drive traffic to the splash page and leave their email. Manage and monitor this campaign over a week to see how much traction you can create. Learning Goals: Entrepreneurs gain experience in social marketing, monitoring and creating traffic. In the group setting they are able to see which kinds of campaigns gain more followers and begin to think of reasons why that might be. This experience and the observations may influence how entrepreneurs are promoting their apps or products in domestic and eventually international markets. Step 1: Have the entrepreneurs choose their cause or venture they would like to promote. It could be their actual venture or venture idea or a completely un-related venture or cause.

Step 2: Create the campaign. Be on call to help them with a few ideas.

Step 3: Meet one week later to talk about what they have seen and observed. Which kinds of posts gave the most response? Which modes of media were fastest to gain followers? Did the social media followers seem engaged, how can you tell? How many people were able to sign up on your splash page after all? How did the results differ across the different groups, to what can the difference be attributed?

Who will purchase your app? Activity: Users decide which apps they will spend their fake currency on and give reasons why.

Learning Goals: This activity sheds light on who buys a mobile app and why. This allows entrepreneurs to

receive feedback from the group. This feedback may ultimately help entrepreneurs restructure their

app, product or marketing strategy. In the process, entrepreneurs become more accustomed to talking

about their app or product and receiving feedback, a process which many entrepreneurs find initially

very difficult to do.

Step 1: Ideally, if there are sufficient numbers, entrepreneurs and app developers will be assigned to

different groups based on the categories of the mobile apps they work with. For example, utilities,


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productivity, social networking, education, travelling, medical and health. They can also work across

categories.

Step 2: App developers and entrepreneurs have seven minutes to meet with another team and

demonstrate their product or service using PowerPoint, demo video or free download experience.

Step 3: The audience (other teams in the group) will serve as customers, and will be given worksheets

to record their user experience, based on their decision to use $10 out of their individual budget of $50

(virtual dollars) to purchase the app. Rules:

Each participant is given $50 Dollars to spend.

Teams can have 1-3 people.

Each pitch or customer approach costs the team $20. This gets teams familiar with tracking

the costs of acquiring customers relative to the marginal revenue gained from a customer in

testing the business model. It also provides concrete feedback on UI/UX for the team.

Team members may take turns listening to other pitches or giving their own pitches.

Customer Worksheet

1.) On scale of 1 (least seriously) to 10 (most seriously), how seriously are you looking for a solution to

the problem this app will fix?

2.) Have you tried or are you currently trying other apps available to solve this problem? If yes, on scale

of 1-10 how satisfied you are with current solution?

3.) How do you think this app solves the problem? List two features you like and dislike.

4.) On scale of 1 (least likely) to 10 (most likely), how likely is it that you will try this app for free?

5.) On scale of 1 (least likely) to 10 (most likely), how likely is it that you will try this app if it were a paid

download?

Use of case studies Take a look at the three case studies of tech entrepreneurs from Jamaica, Kenya and Belarus that

VentureOut has provided. These case studies can be read during a workshop and then discussed

amongst participants. Ways to discuss it could be:

How does their situation differ from mine? How is it the same?

Which problems are they dealing with that I currently am facing?

What lessons could I learn from their experience?


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Online Venture Competitions Venture competitions bring the entrepreneurial community together for a goal: gaining skills to win the competition to gain access to mentorship, seed funding and other awards. Competitions often encourage entrepreneurs to polish their written communication of their business goals. Additionally, they help entrepreneurs learn and implement lessons to improve their business in general. Local organizations may be interested in encouraging participation in others online business competitions or

in organizing and hosting a competition themselves.

Finding competitions for your entrepreneurs to enter An entrepreneurial organization can benefit from competitions that others are running. Especially if it is

a high-quality competition that offers the organization many learning opportunities and access to new

communities of experts through networking opportunities. Here are a few places where you can learn

about upcoming business plan competitions that may be relevant for your entrepreneurs.

http://studentcompetitions.com

http://www.diasporamarketplace.org/business-plan-competitions

http://www.williamjamesfoundation.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.viewPage&pageId=905

http://www.bizplancompetitions.com

http://www.investorswithoutborders.net/sme-resources/business-competitions

Organizers of VentureOut Challenge with Europe and Central Asia champions Teddy the Guardian in Moldova. November 1, 2013.


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Running your OWN Venture Competition Hosting a business plan competition for your organization is a great undertaking and one that will be

rewarding. In the process, you will need to pull together hundreds of people to help. You will want to

encourage as many entrepreneurs as possible to apply, then recruit as many qualified judges as you can

to rate their submissions. In addition, it is great to activate your network of mentors at this time to

provide support to applicants before the competition and continued mentorship to top entrepreneurs

after the competition is over.

Eight essential steps to take:

1. Choose an online platform to host your competition

An online platform can help you run your business competition and is highly recommended.

Online platforms allow participants to easily apply online and learn competition rules. An online

platform may also keep the submissions organized so you can extract key information and

metrics. Additionally, the platform may give administrators the ability to assign judges and to

monitor progress of application judging.

YouNoodle is an example of an online platform that can perform all of the key functions

mentioned above. There are plenty of online competition platforms you may choose from,

including:

o http://YouNoodle.com o http://www.launcht.com o http://hometownstartups.com o http://www.skipsolabs.com o http://istart.org o www.pitchburner.com

2. Offer awards

The more attractive the prizes in the competition, the more incentive people have to apply.

Competitions should have an array of benefits to offer to all of the participants and specifically

to the top performing applicants. Your organizations partnerships can come in to strengthen

the award offerings. Perhaps you have partners who would like to sponsor a certain prize, such

as a phone or computer, or mentorship or training to individuals in your entrepreneurial

ecosystem. Awards for the competition can include any combinations of:

o Press coverage in local media arrange the coverage ahead of time with media o Access to mentorship program o Cash (if possible) o Feedback from competition judges for all applicants o Physical prizes such as phones, software or other devices from sponsors o Attendance at an upcoming event/s, both local and international


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o Introductions to key investors or accelerators in your region

3. Create a program announcement for the competition

The program announcement is a centralizing document that takes you through all parts of the

competition and includes the rules and regulations. Many pieces of it are essential to put into

each competition. Consider each of the sections below and how you will customize your

competition announcement.

Choose goals for the competition The competition can bring together the entire community by being broadly focused. It can be an event used to motivate and train startup entrepreneurs to professionalize their thinking. It could be a competition aimed to help tech entrepreneurs with a solid product or service who are on the verge of international success.

Create eligibility requirements Target specific types of entrepreneurs in different sectors. For example, idea stage vs. startup stage. Consider any age restrictions, such as students only or experienced professionals. Geographic restrictions: From a certain city, the whole country, an entire region? Additionally, are there specific businesses you do not wish to encourage to apply? If so, you should say so at the outset. For instance, if your incubator focuses on technology businesses, perhaps you do not want to fund retail businesses that do not include a web component.

Provide an FAQ document A good FAQ document will save the organizers of the competition hundreds of hours responding

to emails. With the FAQ document, most questions can be answered ahead of time. As your

competition progresses, you will undoubtedly receive questions that are not available on the

FAQ. You should be prepared to add questions to the FAQ document and regularly update that

document so it becomes a live document that is your helper.

Composition of the submission Here you have a lot of freedom and flexibility to create the prompts that you think will

encourage your participant to produce work that exhibits their company well, requires strategic

thought and will be a useful exercise. Hosting a business plan competition does not necessarily

mean that you should be looking for a business plan. The competition itself can be more flexible.

What is the essence of the application that you want? Perhaps to convey the idea of the

business in question, the track record of success and how others know the business is headed

for greater success. Formal business plans can take dozens of pages but perhaps your

competition is interested in the practical nature of business. We have provided a template on

questions to ask that will form the composition of the business plan submission to get you

started. You are welcome to modify, add or erase sections you do not like.


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Judging criteria The criteria is very important to advance the goals of your competition and motivate the entrepreneurs to focus in certain areas. For each content area of the submission, you should establish how much that section will be worth and what are the points that a judge should look for in order to assign a ranking. There is a template provided at the end of this section for your reference.

Timeline The timeline keeps everyone on track and sets expectations. This will allow the administrator to remember judging deadlines, entrepreneurs to know how much time they have to submit, when they will hear results, and what they should expect to hear in those results. A good idea is to provide an exact closing deadline, including date and hour along with time zone. For example, The competition will close on Thursday, October 23 at 11:59pm EST.

Awards In the program announcement, you also should lay out who gets which awards and how that is determined. Will you have two levels of judging? Will there be prizes for specific categories? How will recipients be notified, along with how and when will they collect their awards?

4. Promote the competition

Create Your Message including designing a logo and tagline for the competition. Also, now is a

good time to create a standard text description of the competition. Put the message on various

platforms you manage such as your organizations website and Facebook group. Create a

Facebook event and template emails to send out.

When conducting outreach start with your own network then each out to other groups and ask

them to share the information with their members as well. During the time of a competition is a

good time to build your network, as you are offering opportunities to the community. When you

offer the opportunity to apply to your competition, you are also giving the partner organizations

the chance to offer value to their members. Make sure they agree to pass on the message. You

can include people who are outside of your area use email, social media, and training webinars

to reach out to centers where your organization is not located.

Email Template: Promote competition via partners

5. Manage applicants

People are applying, but make sure they complete their application. Send periodic reminders via email. Encourage key entrepreneurs in your network to apply and follow up if you do not see


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their names in the list of applicants. Be sure to add all applicants to your organizations mailing list so they receive your updates.

6. Recruit and manage judges

Recruiting the judges. Explain to prospective judges their role and expected time commitment. If your online platform allows for written feedback, strongly encourage or require your judges to provide constructively critical feedback. Template emails are included at the end of this section. Managing the judges. You will need to inform judges when they will be expected to review the submissions and how they will receive the submissions and transmit their ratings. As you are able, be sure to monitor the judges ratings and feedback. This way, you are making sure that they are leaving constructive comments. Make sure to take note of those judges who leave detailed constructive feedback, and invite them to participate in future competitions. Below are a few more tips for the judging process.

Consider the amount of time required from your judges. It takes about 20 minutes to judge one submission, depending on the composition of your contest. A general rule is to assign a maximum of 30 submissions to a judge. It is better if you spread submissions among more judges, because then you can see who is eager to judge quickly and you can assign more companies to those people. Initially, inform the judges of how long they are estimated to spend on each submission, and ask them how many submissions they are willing to take on. Let the judges know there may be chances for them to pick up additional submissions to judge as the judging process continues.

Keep track of the individual judges work plan. Be sure to communicate with each judge to figure out when they plan on finishing the submissions you have assigned to them. Some people will judge quickly, efficiently and be ready to take on more applications. Others will finish only the applications you assign them at the last minute. Take note on a spreadsheet and if you see they are behind schedule, you can write them for a quick

Judges at VentureOut Challenge Moldova, November 1, 2013


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update. Be sure you learn which judges are eager to judge more and you can keep them on hand if some other judges do not finish.

Assign multiple judges to each submission. As a best practice, you should try to assign three different judges to each submission. This is to average the differences in ratings the judges may give to the submissions.

7. Announce the winners and distribute prizes

When the winners are chosen, create media announcements and be sure to send massive amounts of tweets on Twitter (see templates below).

8. Evaluate the participants

Did the applicants find the competition process useful? Ask these questions in a SurveyMonkey or

Google Docs survey:

Which meetings did they attend?

What information did they learn that helped them strengthen their application?

How useful were the meetings in preparing them for the competition? Why?

How much did creating the application help the entrepreneur improve how they communicated or thought about their venture?

How helpful was the feedback received from judges?

How much has participating in the competition helped the entrepreneur feel a greater connection to your entrepreneurship community?

Would the entrepreneur leave any comments or suggestions for the competition organizers?

There is additional information about monitoring and evaluation in a later section in this tool kit.


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Glocal Mentorship Global and local (glocal) mentorship is a key program that an entrepreneurial organization can offer to its membership. However, putting together an efficient mentorship program is a bit of an art and science. We have documents below that will guide you, along with what to expect, and some templates that will help you bring your program into action. The mentorship template that we suggest consists of three hours of mentorship meetings over three months. You may also of course modify. However, we have a timeline below, based on this model.

Dilara Rumstade of Tuning Fork, based in Armenia, receives mentorship from Luca Sale, Blackberry Developer Representative. October 31, 2013.

Month 1: Design the mentorship program During the planning stage, it is important to make decisions that will affect all of the future

communications you will have with mentors and mentees. Decide:

Duration of mentorship and how many hours it will consist of.

Will you pay your mentors and how much?

What are the deadlines for application for the entrepreneurs?

Key number of entrepreneurs mentored.

When to host the mentorship program Often, mentorship works best if it is provided before a

high-stakes competition; and the goal of mentorship is to get the business to be successful, so

the entrepreneur can take advantage of the benefits of the program that are offered to the

winners.

Target number of mentors to engage in the program.

Key deliverables youd like the mentorship to achieve.

Training material and guidance youd like to offer to help participants achieve those goals.


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Ways to measure and report on the growth of entrepreneurs skills in the mentorship program.

The Mentorship Program Description gives you text to begin any program description you will develop.

You may use this text for your website, press releases or informing participants.

Month 2: Recruitment of mentors and mentees It is important to recruit high level, relevant and engaging mentors. Once you have a list of people in

mind, you should reach out to them via phone, in person or email using the method you calculate will

encourage the mentors to participate. Mentorship programs can be a great time to activate people who

really support entrepreneurship, as this gives them a way to really add value to the actions of an

entrepreneur. Additionally, you can consider asking entrepreneur applicants if they already have a

mentor with whom they are working with and if they would like to be a part of this program. This is a

good way to ensure entrepreneurs have a mentor that they have a good working relationship with and

the addition of the mentor to this program gives the entrepreneur a reason and framework to

intensively engage with a mentor.

Email Template: Invitation to Mentor

Mentor Confirmation and Expectations email

Also, it is important to select entrepreneurs who will benefit the most from mentorship, as well as those

who truly are seeking the guidance and will be sure to be proactive and participate in mentorship. For

finding the right entrepreneurs, you may offer mentorship to winners of competitions you host or you

may hold open applications to participate in the mentorship program. If you offer the mentorship to

competition winners, please note that you are offering them the opportunity to APPLY for mentorship.

You should make each entrepreneur apply so that you are sure of their commitment to and desire for

mentorship. Along with ensuring that you have a base of information to share with the mentors in order

to get the mentorship started on a strong foot. Please see a sample application form here: Application

to participate in mentorship program

Month 3: Training of mentees Training the participants before mentorship is important to ensure that they have the skills necessary to

have a successful relationship with their mentors. Training can be as simple as a 1-2 hour meeting with

all participants going over various concerns. Entrepreneur training topics can include:

How to set meetings

Value of being persistent and proactive in the mentorship relationship

Importance of communication with the mentorship program manager

How to create basic documents that the mentor will be able to further assist them with

o Business Model Canvas


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o Pitch deck and oral presentation of the slides

o Elevator pitch

Months 4, 5 and 6: Mentorship and monitoring During this time, it will be up to the entrepreneur and the mentor to schedule meetings. It can be tough

for a program administrator to be sure that mentorship meetings are occurring and that everyone is

participating. In order to mitigate this, you could require entrepreneurs to report via an online platform

when they have finished mentorship meetings.

Email Template: Introducing Mentor to Mentee

Monthly Mentorship Check-in Survey Template

Month 7: Program evaluation As with all programs, evaluation is key. Evaluation helps you to see to what extent program goals were

met, how the program can be improved, to find success stories to share when running future programs

and to get more people involved with your organization.

Template Mentorship Documents Mentorship Program Description (for website, press release, informing participants)

Documents for Mentors

Email Template: Invitation to Mentor

Mentor Confirmation and Expectations Email

Documents for Mentees

Application to Participate in Mentorship Program

Email Template: Introducing Mentor to Mentee

Monitoring and Evaluation surveys related to Mentorship:

Monthly Mentorship Check-in Survey Template

End of program survey for Mentors

End of program survey for Entrepreneurs


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Virtual Trainings and Webinars Virtual trainings and webinars are a great platform to empower your members to access international resources and gain knowledge to propel their venture to the next level. Online chats and webinars often result in entrepreneurs becoming inspired and learning new ideas and tips to start and improve their technology ventures. Individual entrepreneurs and local enabler organizations may participate in videoconferences by watching online, encouraging others to watch and by organizing a viewing site. Hosting a viewing site takes more commitment from the organizers but can create more benefits as well, as there is added value and greater social capital in gathering entrepreneurs together. Many virtual trainings about entrepreneurship can be found by searching online, or through partnerships with organizations and networks you may already have.

Virtual trainings and webinar benefits:

Interact with and learn from successful serial entrepreneurs, investors, or experts of any area of

interest.

Opportunity to send in questions via Twitter or email for an interactive effect.

Get insider perspective on issues global entrepreneurs face.

Become part of the global community furthering entrepreneurial education.

Bring your community together for an exciting international event. While they are together for

the viewing, you can discuss your organizations plans. Use the excitement to further

membership engagement.

Entrepreneurs at mLab South Africa enjoying the VentureOut TechConnect broadcast. Sept. 23, 2013.


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Media and Social Media The press is a friend of entrepreneurial endeavors such as the one your group creates. As such, it is important to build a network of press members, journalists and bloggers who can cover your event. Once you have done that, it is important to involve them in your community, educate them on your activities and help them to cover your event. Below we have a few template articles that you may use to help writing various blog posts, press releases, announcements and articles.

Template Documents for Social Media Outreach How to Write a Press Release A few simple steps for success

Sample Press Release

Sample Tweets

Entrepreneurs at ccHub in Nigeria joining in for TechConnect VentureOut.

September 23, 2013.


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Creating and Managing International Partnerships Local organizations often can benefit from international partnerships. These partnerships can introduce organizations and their membership to international resources, funding, expertise and connections. It is important for a locally-based organization to prove themselves to their international partners and to be successful so they can continue to grow their network and resource base and support entrepreneurship in their regions. Below we offer some tools on seeking, deepening and maintaining relationships with international partner organizations. See the entire PowerPoint on building international partnerships >>

Participants from all around Europe while at VentureOut's meeting in Moldova. October 30, 2013.

An excerpt from the PowerPoint Find the partner: Know the types of organizations to reach out to and where to find and connect with their representatives. Build the relationship: Start with which ever opportunity for collaboration may present itself, as long as it fits your incubators goals. Often small projects are a great way to learn how both organizations work together and to build trust. Understand what types of collaboration is possible through the partnership you are building: Understand how the partner in question gets their funding and how they are structured to offer opportunities. Discuss which opportunities you are interested in signing up for. Be responsive and show mutual value to the international partner: When you have decided to collaborate, work your hardest for a positive outcome. Realize that along the way there may be hiccups but that both parties want the best for your entrepreneurs. Be open to sharing opinions of how the project is going and the outcomes.


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Monitoring and Evaluation Monitoring and evaluation is key for your organization. It is a simple undertaking if planned for in the beginning of your program. You basically decide what outcomes your programs should produce, tools your program will use to achieve those outcomes, and how you can measure those outcomes. Below we have sample surveys that you can use for the various activities that your organization is planning.

Different formats to collect data

Google Forms Google Forms advantage is that you can send to all

people on a list from your Gmail account by copying

and pasting a huge email address list. Each one will

receive the email TO them, not as a BCC, and they

will also not be able to see others email addresses.

Another advantage is that the survey can be

answered directly in the email message they are reading. There is also a link that takes them to a survey

(more traditional) to fill out the survey. Google Forms is good for shorter or simpler surveys that you are

sending to many people.

SurveyMonkey SurveyMonkey is the go-to for online surveys. They are easy to complete, and they offer a service to

send out personalized emails to everyone on your list. Then when that person responds, they will

receive no more reminders to fill out the survey. This is a good option when you want 100% survey

participation from a specialized program.

Paper forms Paper forms are not outdated but can only be used during an event or gathering. They have a very high

rate of response. Be sure to develop the surveys in advance and to schedule 30 minutes for program

evaluation while everyone is still at the event (not at the very end when many people may be ready to

leave). A good time to evaluate is often right before you announce winners of a competition that

everyone participated in.

Recorded interviews Never underestimate the power of your cell phone to document a great story. You can ask for mentors

or successful entrepreneurs who have a great story to share this with you. You can easily see how these

stories can be integrated into a blog or news post you are creating, sent to your membership for

inspiration and added to your YouTube account to show a history of partnership for entrepreneurial

success.

Students at The Enterprise Hub of Trinidad and

Tobago hearing from experts during TechConnect

VentureOut, Sept. 23, 2013


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When to collect data Collecting data can occur before, during and after a program. Before hand, you may want a snapshot of

the population of entrepreneurs you will be working with. You could integrate survey questions into the

application process to make data collection easier. When done before the event, you could also use this

survey to understand the kind of help the entrepreneur wants or needs.

It is often appropriate to design smaller check-in surveys that are to be given out at the midpoint of a

prolonged program, such as 1 1/2 months after a three-month mentorship program has begun. This

helps you determine how mentorship (or the other program objectives) are going and to learn if there

are any entrepreneurs you need to assist.

Another key time to survey is directly at the end of a program. This can be at the end of a training or at

the end of a prolonged period. Either way, you should not delay in sending out surveys and collecting

responses. You want the participants to answer while the program is still fresh in their minds.

What type of data to collect There are two main types of data, qualitative and quantitative. It is popular for programs to report on

both types. Therefore you should plan to collect data from all participants to get a complete quantitative

look at your programs impact. If you are collecting data from the same entrepreneurs over a time

period, be sure to ask the same questions (such as number of employees, amount of monthly revenue,

etc.) so that you can compare growth of the ventures over time. Additionally, you should plan to create

anecdotal success stories that best exemplify the impact your programs have on building capacity,

assisting entrepreneurs, or achieving other organizational goals. You may need to schedule a time to

interview the entrepreneur if you choose to create a case study, article or success story on a particular

entrepreneur. These success stories can also be beneficial to the entrepreneur, as if the context is right,

the success story you write could form a piece of promotional material the entrepreneur can use.

Sample surveys: These surveys can be used as a foundation as you create your own surveys for your participants.

End of event survey For participants to fill out at the end of a major training or pitching

session.

Mentorship evaluation survey For mentors to share results of the entrepreneurs growth.

Baseline entrepreneur survey Measures metrics of a startup in a point of time. You can use

this survey before a group of entrepreneurs enters into a more intensive program, such as

mentorship or a training you offer.

End of program entrepreneur survey This survey encourages entrepreneurs to share results of

their participation in a wider program including training, pitching and mentorship.


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Additional Resources for Mobile Developers Tools for Entrepreneurs Business Model Canvas Consumer Trend Canvas Resume Template

Online Resources SEO for Mobile Apps

MobileDevHQ app store optimization made simple SearchManSEO mobile SEO for IOS apps AppCodes iOS app store optimization AppStoreRankings mobile SEO and keyword optimization IOS SEO Tutorials excellent primer

Mobile App Store Customer Analytics / Ad Platform

Google Analytics - for Mobile AppAnnie Apple/Google/Amazon app store analytics Appfigures mobile analytics and sales data Mopapp mobile analytics, sales data, rankings Distimo - Apple/Google/Amazon app store analytics Xylogics search engine for Apple/Google/Amazon app store Apptrace app store intelligence AskingPoint mobile analytics with polling Flurry - mobile app analytics and traffic acquisition TestFlight IOS analytics in beta testing on the fly Apsalar - mobile apps analytics and ads Count.ly - multiplatform mobile analytics KeenIO - analytics as an API Capptain - mobile analytics + push TapStream - Marketing analytics for apps

Mobile App Location / Ad Platform / Misc

Placed location based analytics for mobile apps and websites G6Pay pay-per-install platform Burstly mobile app monetization tools Yozio campaign tracking and viral optimization for mobile apps Tapjoy - mobile app turnkey ad platform Appbackr - market, sell and distribute your apps Chartboost make money with mobile games


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Playtomic - game analytics for all platforms Google AdMob monetize and promote your mobile games Vungle integrate video ads into your apps

SOURCE: http://dailytekk.com/2012/04/23/150-resources-for-tech-startups/#incubators

Non-Governmental Programs

Entrepreneur Week - www.entrepreneurweek.net

Entrepreneur Meetup www.entrepreneur.meetup.com

Global Community for Advancing Studies on Entrepreneurship - www.gcase.org

10,000 Women Initiative - www.goldmansachs.com/citizenship/10000women/

Global Entrepreneurship Leadership Symposium

www.entrepreneurship.intel.com/community/gels-community

Global Entrepreneurship Week - www.unleashingideas.org

Microsoft BizSpark - www.mitef.org

Global Student Entrepreneur Awards - www.gsea.org

YoungEntrepreneur.com - www.youngentrepreneur.com/about-us

Entrepreneurship and Business News

Entrepreneur www.entrepreneur.com News and resources for business, finance, technology,

marketing, startups, etc.

Inc.com www.inc.com News resource for business, finance, technology, leadership and

management, sales, start-ups, etc.

Red Herring www.redherring.com Technology news resources

VentureBeat www.venturebeat.com News resource for technology and finances

Afriqueitnews - www.afriqueitnews.com The leading West African website for tech startup news

Additional Resources

Novoed, the Stanford online learning platform can help you discover new ideas, meet great

students/potential partners in other countries, and create joint projects. https://novoed.com

Templates for mobile app developers http://fieldtestapp.com and http://goesapp.com

Domain name search: https://domai.nr/

About infoDev - infoDev is a partnership of international development agencies, coordinated and

served by an expert Secretariat housed in the Global ICT Department (GICT) of the World Bank, one of

its key donors and funders. It acts as a neutral convener of dialogue, and as a coordinator of joint action

among bilateral and multilateral donors supporting global sharing of information on ICT for

development (ICT4D), and helping to reduce duplication of efforts and investments. To this end, infoDev

sponsors cutting-edge research and analysis to help identify global best practice in the use of ICT4D.

www.infodev.org

About CRDF Global - Founded in 1995, CRDF Global is an independent nonprofit organization that

promotes international scientific and technical collaboration through grants, technical resources,

training and services. CRDF Global promotes the application of science and technology to economic

growth through international partnerships and training that foster invention, innovation,

entrepreneurship and the commercialization of technology. www.crdfglobal.org