Hult Alumni Magazine | Page 44

FEATURE Hult Prize Accelerator Program This cutting-edge, intensive six-week program runs every summer at Hult Ashridge. While more than 100,000 hopeful teams begin the Hult Prize journey every year, only the top 50 startups from around the world (representing 200 student entrepreneurs) are invited to participate in the Accelerator program. It is a central element of the Hult Prize process; every attendee is provided with living and working space within ‘the Castle’, along with opportunities to hone their business skills, network with business and academic leaders, register their entities, and prepare for market launch. Each week the startup teams focus on one broad topic. They spend one day in the classroom hearing from experts and then four days in the field. And just when they thought the hard week was drawing to a close, every Friday sees them having to pitch to an audience of judges. Weekly topics range from understanding your customer to refining your business model and how to sell—the latter course is led by Hult Prize founder Ahmad Ashkar. 2018’s hot topics Value Proposition & Market Positioning Topic title: Competitive Advantage Team Dynamics & Key Uncertainties Topic title: Building Great Teams and Foundations Team Business Model & Market Segments Topic title: Competitive Differentiation 44 Partnerships Topic title: Partnership Sourcing and Execution Sales & Marketing Topic title: Driving Sales and Sales Strategies Profitability & Milestones Planning Topic title: Pricing Frameworks/Milestones Definition