Crafting MVPs that ignite market success.
Volta Catalyst is the second stage in our residency program. For Catalyst Residents, our focus is on helping founders like you successfully reach two key milestones: Designing and then Developing a minimum viable product (MVP).
With a clear understanding of the problem you're solving, the target customers, and the market you're pursuing, our advisors will work closely with you to refine your product idea and distill it into an MVP you can get into the hands of your prospective customers.
As a founder in the Catalyst stage, your primary goal is to transform your validated idea into a functional MVP that addresses your customers' needs while standing out in the market.
We're committed to equipping you and your team with essential skills to develop your product, streamline your processes, and tackle any challenges that may arise. In the Catalyst residency track, we focus on the following key areas:
- Customer Problem Mapping:
We'll guide you in mapping your customers' problems and their journey, and help you define a set of requirements that improve upon the existing solutions available in the market. - Feature Development and User Experience:
We'll assist you in converting the identified requirements into a set of features and user experiences, ensuring that your MVP is easy to understand and adopt. - Wireframe Design:
You'll learn how to create low and high fidelity wireframes, providing further clarity to the user experience you're aiming to develop. - Continuous Customer Discovery:
We'll support you in conducting ongoing customer discovery sessions to test the assumptions you're making with your envisioned solution. By gathering feedback, you'll be able to improve and refine your MVP's features and overall design.
As a founder, you'll acquire valuable knowledge and skills to ensure the successful development of your MVP and the long-term sustainability of your company. In this phase, we focus on the following key areas:
- Technology Stack Selection:
We'll guide you in designing and choosing the right technology stack that best aligns with your product vision and the resources you have available for its development. - Team Building:
You'll learn to identify the key members needed to develop your MVP and create a company that supports its ongoing growth. We'll help you build a strong, capable team to bring your vision to life. - Company Structure and Equity:
We'll provide insights on structuring your company and distributing equity to maximize the chances of long-term success and maintain team member engagement. - Leveraging Partner Support:
We'll introduce you to the support available through partner organizations, which can be invaluable resources as you work to launch your product and navigate the challenges of the startup world.
- Sharing Knowledge:
We will introduce you to commonly accessed grants and share tips on how to apply and best leverage opportunities. - Making Introductions:
We will connect you with the right resources and advisors at partner funding organizations and economic development agencies. - Creating a Roadmap:
We will connect you to our grant advisors and have them work with you to create a customized grant funding roadmap based on your specific upcoming milestones.
Admission Requirements
- Startup should have moved past idea stage backed up with early customer signal that there is a problem and that the startup is onto a possible solution.
- Startup should now be focused on heading into designing/developing an MVP to solve the identified problem.
- Startup founder is based in Atlantic Canada.
- Startup founder has agreed to meet with growth coach on 4-6 weekly cadence.
- Startup founder agrees to set KPIs using the Value Engine.
- Commit to making consistent progress in the areas of Team, Traction and Technology. Every Catalyst resident is evaluated on a quarterly basis for continued support through residency.
Do you have questions surrounding support at the Volta Catalyst level?
Email services@voltaeffect.com and a member of the Volta team will be in touch within two business days.
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