Belfast’s Catalyst offering CEOs new ‘Way to Scale’ with bootcamp course

30 Aug 2021

Last year's Way to Scale programme participants in Boston with programme co-ordinator John Knapton. Image: Way to Scale

Northern Ireland tech and innovation non-profit Catalyst is offering CEOs the chance to work with leading entrepreneurs to scale their businesses.

Belfast tech non-profit Catalyst is inviting ambitious CEOs to apply for its Way to Scale bootcamp in late September.

The bootcamp has 20 places for CEOs and up to two members of their senior teams, and it offers a series of four 90-minute, online workshops focused on topics such as value proposition, business growth, go-to-market strategy, market positioning, team dynamics and business risk.

CEOs can progress from the bootcamp to the Way to Scale programme, which runs from January to March in 2022. It comprises three weeks of intensive training modules delivered in Belfast, Boston and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

The bootcamp and programme are designed to help CEOs reach £10m in revenue and both are run with the support of Belfast City Council.

The Way to Scale programme has already supported the transformation of 20 innovation-driven companies in Northern Ireland through substantial revenue and staff growth.

John Knapton, executive coach and experienced entrepreneur, commented that the programme provided “a great opportunity for entrepreneurial businesses from Northern Ireland to tap into both the expertise and mindset needed to achieve significant growth and to compete globally”.

Knapton added: “We want ambitious founders of growing and scaling companies in this part of the world to have a ‘shoot for the stars’ mentality and to give them both the confidence to set audacious targets and the tools to achieve them. We’ve seen companies who have taken part in Way to Scale double the size of their ambitions and reach those goals ahead of forecast.”

The bootcamp, which runs from 23 to 27 September, is open to companies with an ambition to scale in the tech and innovation space that are already generating £500,000 in revenue or have attracted a similar amount of equity funding.

The team leading sessions at the bootcamp includes entrepreneurship expert and author Bill Aulet, who currently leads the development of entrepreneurship education at MIT.

For more information on the Way to Scale bootcamp and details on how to apply, see here.

Blathnaid O’Dea was a Careers reporter at Silicon Republic until 2024.

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