Entrepreneur’s Toolkit

Entrepreneur’s Toolkit Workshops powered by MaRS are experiential, hands-on workshops facilitated by experienced entrepreneurs. The workshops offer ventures tools, mentoring and peer feedback to solve specific problems and develop essential business components.

In each four-hour session you will generate a deliverable that you will use frequently in the business development process.


This three-part workshop series is designed to help early-stage ventures build a sales call script that follows a process which is proven to bring in quality and quantity sales.

Sales are fundamental to a successful business, but often misunderstood–like every other business function, it is a process. This workshop series focuses on the sales process within a business-to-business (B2B) environment. It’s also important to remember the saying, Sales A.B.C (always be closing!).

For new ventures ready to start selling, it will provide you with techniques to map out your sales process and tools to manage, influence and track sales opportunities. This workshop will also provide you with the opportunity to refine and practice your cold calling and sales meeting techniques to improve outcomes and demonstrate repeatable sales.

“I liked the interaction with other entrepreneurs, as we exchanged ideas about challenges we encountered on the field. I also liked the ideas presented by the speaker, as they have helped advance my business. In some cases, before the workshop, I was doing the opposite of best practices and I noticed a dramatic improvement immediately.”

Participant Profile: This workshop series is for new ventures with limited sales skills that are ready to develop a sales process and start selling to customers. For participants that have some sales experience, this workshop offers a focused refresher on sales fundamentals.

Workshop Topics:

    • Sales Canvas Framework: Inbound and outbound sales calls
    • The sales funnel
    • Turning leads into prospects
    • Negotiation tactics
    • Identifying customer stakeholders
    • Metrics for the sales cycle
    • Mapping your sales pipeline
    • Define, track, analyze and manage your sales process

Workshop Series Cost: $100* WEtech Alliance clients will be refunded your full ticket price at the end of the workshop series and upon completion of our post-workshop survey.

Session 1: The Sales Canvas Framework and the Sales Funnel

Date: February 7, 2018 // 1-5pm

This session will introduce the Sales Canvas Framework, which encompasses all aspects of inbound and outbound sales activities, and how these activities relate to moving customer prospects through the sales funnel. You will get the opportunity to explore the “Leaky Sales Funnel,” learn about cold calling techniques and practice managing individual sales opportunities to turn leads into prospects.

Deliverable: Techniques to book, prepare for and conduct a sales call

Session 2 – The Customer Sales Meeting

Date: February 15, 2018 // 1-5pm

This session will focus on how to move customers’ leads through the sales funnel. In preparation for your customer sales meeting, you will get the opportunity to identify variouscustomer stakeholders, learn new negotiation tactics and practice managing individual sales opportunities to successfully turn customer prospects into sales.

Deliverable: A Sales Process and Stakeholder Management Chart to prepare you to meet with your customers

Session 3 – Analyzing and Managing the Sales Process

Date: February 22, 2018 // 1-5pm

The final session will focus on the technical aspects of measuring the sales process to improve the quality and quantityof sales activities and make changes to become more efficient in closing sales. You will define the stages of the sales cycle for your customers and map out your sales pipeline with some sales cycle probabilities. You will learn about how to define, track, analyze and manage your sales process.

Deliverable: A spreadsheet approach to tracking sales with sales funnel data for a prospective customer


This three-part workshop series is designed to help early-stage ventures learn key Marketing & Communications components that will contribute to a cost-effective, high-impact MarCom strategy.

Marketing and communications (MarCom) is the ability to communicate your brand to your target customers, using channels that find your target customers and messaging that resonates with your customers’ problem or need.

Due to limited resources, many new ventures rely on low-cost marketing and communications strategies and activities to develop and scale their businesses. This workshop series examines the principles of marketing and communications strategies and provides relevant frameworks and tools for you to increase opportunities for growth.

Workshop Series Cost: $100* WEtech Alliance clients will be refunded your full ticket price at the end of the workshop series and upon completion of our post-workshop survey.

Session 1 – Identify and Define Your Target Audience

Date: March 8, 2018 // 1:00-5:00pm

This session introduces the “MarCom Strategic Framework,” and focuses on two key elements: defining your target audience and establishing credibility.

Deliverable: A strategy to build a target audience, as well as identify and engage with key opinion leaders (KOLs) to build domain leadership and credibility

Session 2 – Evaluating Channels

Date: March 15, 2018 // 1:00-5:00pm

In this session, you will align your marketing objectives with the consumers’ buying process while examining a variety of marketing channels and activities. You will evaluate and select which ones are the most relevant and credible with your target audience.

Deliverable: A strategy to evaluate and select relevant marketing activities and media channels to complement your customers’ buying process, and develop a brand positioning statement.

Session 3 – Communicating to Customers

Date: March 22, 2018 // 1:00-5:00pm

In the final MarCom session, the focus will be on developing your message. You will explore communications techniques, identify language that resonates with your target market, and adapt the message across the selected media that efficiently and effectively reaches your target market.

Deliverable: A series of clearly structured messages, a media selection template and key components of a media kit


This two-part workshop series is designed to help early-stage ventures create a comprehensive 10-slide pitch to gain investors’ attention and ultimately funding.

Many new ventures need to access external sources of funding to effectively build their product and enter the market. This workshop series will help you to understand how to create a powerful pitch that you can use to engage investors.

Participant Profile: This workshop series is for startups that have a validated value proposition and business model combined with a strong team and attractive market opportunity. Between the two sessions, participants are expected to ensure that they have all the information required to create their pitch.

Workshop Series Cost: $100* WEtech Alliance clients will be refunded your full ticket price at the end of the workshop series and upon completion of our post-workshop survey.

Session 1 – What do investors & stakeholders want to know?

Date: April 12, 2018 // 1:00-5:00pm

In this session, participants will focus on gathering and structuring the information required to effectively engage with investors. Using the essentials of effective communication, you will craft a compelling narrative that will help your venture to stand out in front of investors and other stakeholders.

Deliverable: A summary of the 10 key components that form your investment story.

Session 2 – Creating your pitch

Date: April 19, 2018 // 1:00-5:00pm

This session will focus on creating a powerful narrative and pitch by applying the principles of storytelling. You will be given the opportunity to practice your pitch during the session and obtain feedback that will help you to turn your investment story into a compelling presentation.

Deliverable: A 10-slide pitch deck summarizing your key information.