START Program

Have an idea? Explore your potential with MQ Incubator

Join the Incubator’s START Program and learn practical skills to validate an idea and market opportunity.

In this two-week highly interactive program, our expert-in-residence will take you on a journey using tools from LEAN startup and design thinking techniques to:

• define the problem you are solving
• test your hypotheses with end users, beneficiaries and stakeholders
• articulate the value proposition of your idea
• prototype your idea
• build out your pitch deck and pitch your idea to sell to market.

Not only will you emerge from the program with more confidence about where to take your idea next – you’ll also meet like-minded people from across the university who are on a similar journey and benefit from their networks, advice, peer support and hopefully friendship.

Upon successful completion of the program, your participation will be recognised via digital credentials.

Programs run once per semester. Subscribe to our newsletter to find out about upcoming program dates.

The program is free to all current Macquarie students.

By the end of the program, you'll be able to:

• advance your skills in customer discovery, validation and iteration while utilising design thinking and entrepreneurial tools to evaluate real-world problems and projects
• cultivate endurance by practising and developing skills that increase your awareness of self and team, confidence and agency, improve communication and problem-solving abilities, and identify self-purpose
• sell your ideas
• create value through presentations and business models that articulate and operationalise knowledge to identify entrepreneurial pathways
• mobilise people through leadership and enabling skills that help identify future team members, networks and research opportunities.