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The 10-module program

From zero
to pitch.

One arc, ten weeks. Each module is a week of structured teaching with a clear deliverable, taught by your existing staff and supported by drop-in industry specialists. Students leave with a problem worth solving, a working venture, a financial model, and a pitch they have rehearsed in front of real founders.

// The arc

Problem → Venture → Pitch.

The program is structured around three phases. Each phase is roughly three to four modules. Students don't graduate to the next phase until they've cleared the deliverable for the one they're in.

Phase 1 — Discovery
Find a problem worth solving
Customer research, problem definition, market sizing. Students leave with a written problem statement validated against the people they spoke to, not the people they imagined.
Phase 2 — Build
Build the smallest thing that works
Solution design, prototyping, financial modelling, go-to-market. Students leave with a working prototype, a cash-flow model, and a business they can defend.
Phase 3 — Pitch
Stand up and tell the story
Pitch craft, demo-day prep, panel rehearsal. Students leave with a polished pitch, a slide deck, and a confidence in front of a panel they didn't have ten weeks ago.
// The ten modules

One week at a time.

01
Problem Discovery
Find a problem people actually have. Not a feature, not a product, a problem.
DeliverableA validated problem statement
Discovery
02
Customer Research
Talk to real people. Write down what they actually said, not what you wanted to hear.
DeliverableNotes from five or more real customer interviews
Discovery
03
Market & Opportunity
How big is this? Who else has tried? What changes that makes now the right time?
DeliverableA market-sizing and timing case
Discovery
04
Solution Design
Translate the problem into the smallest thing that could solve it. Draw it before you build it.
DeliverableA solution sketch and spec
Build
05
Prototype
Ship something. A mockup, a landing page, a wireframe. Whatever you can hand to a stranger and learn from.
DeliverableA working prototype
Build
06
Financial Model
Build a cash-flow model. Understand what you'd need to charge, sell, and survive. The numbers don't lie.
DeliverableA cash-flow model for their venture
Build
07
Go-to-Market
Who's the first customer? How do you reach them? Why would they pick you?
DeliverableA go-to-market plan and first-customer list
Build
08
Pitch Craft
Tell the story in five minutes. Cut everything that isn't earning its place.
DeliverableA five-minute pitch and slide deck
Pitch
09
Demo-Day Prep
Rehearse it. Get torn apart by a mentor panel. Rebuild what didn't land.
DeliverableA rehearsed, panel-tested pitch
Pitch
10
Pitch Day
Pitch to a real panel. Real investors, real founders, a real audience. The Foundry ends with the pitch that everything has been building toward.
DeliverableThe live pitch, plus a portfolio of everything above
Pitch

Ten deliverables, each building on the last. A student finishes The Foundry with a portfolio: a validated problem, a working prototype, a financial model, and a pitch they have defended in front of real founders.

// How it's delivered

Teacher-led.
Mentor-supported.

The Foundry is built to be taught by your existing staff. Every module comes with a full facilitator guide, slide decks, in-class exercises, student workbook, and deliverable rubric.

Drop-in mentors do the second job: industry specialists who come in for the module that matches their craft. A founder for problem discovery. A banker or lender for the financial model. A designer for the prototype. A founder again for pitch week. They don't shadow the program. They show up when their expertise is what's needed.

The marquee names show up too, as one-off inspirational sessions. Their job is different: to make the students believe entrepreneurship is something they could actually do.

How mentoring works →
Where it's heading

Toward The Founder's Cup.

Module 10 ends with the pitch. As more schools run The Foundry, the aim is to take the strongest ventures from each to The Founder's Cup, an inter-school startup championship for South Australia, built off a founding group of schools.

Where it's heading →
// What comes with the curriculum

Built to be picked up
and taught.

Every module ships with the full teaching kit, so your staff aren't writing curriculum from scratch:

Module overview video A short video that frames each module and sets the context for the session, so the class starts oriented and there's one less thing for teachers to prepare.
Facilitator guide Step-by-step for the teacher running the session, with timings and discussion prompts.
Slides & in-class exercises Ready to present, with the activities that produce each module's deliverable.
Student workbook Where students capture their work, module by module, into a portfolio.
Assessment rubric Clear marking criteria for each deliverable, and a mapping to SACE if you want it.

To see how it fits your school's timetable and staff, the For Schools page has the detail.