Our Cornerstone 2.0 Scale-Up Program experience
The Backdrop, The Program, and The Future
The Backdrop
DTB Carbyne was amongst the 20 black-British startups rigorously selected to take part in the program — and we did it through our story (and a few projected numbers, of course).
Late summer 2019, I found myself desperately in need of business training as a Founder. This is after having realised that just because I start a business in an area I know, it doesn’t mean I know how to run it. Not one bit. Reading books like the E-Myth made that quite clear. The author Michael E. Gerber defines it as follows:
E-Myth \ ‘e-,’mith\ n 1: the entrepreneurial myth: the myth that most people who start small businesses are entrepreneurs 2: the fatal assumption that an individual who understands the technical work of a business can successfully run a business that does that technical work
I quickly came to understand that I needed a mixture of business consulting and coaching so I started searching and came across some really great options — all reasonably priced for the level of support offered.
But I was still tentative. Why? Because:
- I wasn’t fully convinced by their business acumen and their grasp of my domain area and
- I wasn’t sure if they were truly passionate about helping me solve my problem. Behind the smiles and sales techniques, I was just another client.
Behind the smiles and sales techniques, I was just another client.
I, not long after, saw Foundervine, put a post on LinkedIn about the Cornerstone 2.0 Scale-Up Program they were running. It caught my attention instantly. This one, for the reasons I’ll mention, was different. It was:
- Unapologetically exclusive to the black community
- Offering expert-led business training by entrepreneurs (current/exited), VCs and managers from large corporates — most of whom were of Afro-Caribbean descent.
- Offering access to a wide network of people who are in my community and who care about the problem we’re tackling both at a personal and professional level.
- Able and ready to invest in startups with high growth potential after the training.
At this point, the individual consultant/coach idea was out of my head. This seemed to be exactly what I was looking for and it had fallen straight into my lap this time. I made a mental note and followed up later.
I had found my target and waited for the opportune time to sit down and absolutely kill the application process. Kill it is what I did as it would have killed to not get accepted, and by God’s grace — we were! 🎉
The Program
The program put us all through our paces with new concepts and content to grasp, homework and next session prep.
Thankfully, I’d been in coding crash courses before so I was fully aware of how intense it could be. The difference here though was that I was applying all the knowledge to the business directly, setting myself action points each week. That was the most demanding bit.
From the very first session, I knew I was in the right place, Stephen from Cornerstone opened up powerfully, and it all made sense.
I would say the biggest learning point was figuring out exactly what our value drivers were, the nuts and bolts of cash forecasting and the power and business value of IP.
All I can honestly say at this point is that the ROI from the program is 100x and growing exponentially. As well as acquiring new knowledge, I’ve acquired new potential clients and partnerships, a new network (LI connects has grown by 300+ in the last few months), a bond with people I genuinely admire, respect and want to see win!
The ROI from the program is 100x and growing exponentially
The Future
From here moving forward, it’s all systems go! I’ve gotten everything I need to go out there and make it work. As what we’ll be fundraising for is new arm of the business, the next few months will be critical for us as we continue to build the team, prove our service and business model and get our clients in front of their target customers.
Stay tuned for updates in the coming months — most likely on LinkedIn and Twitter!
Thanks for reading!
Will
