You already have the butterfly inside of you. We can only recognize it and help it develop. We believe you already carry the seed of entrepreneurship inside, or as we say; the butterfly is inside the egg. With some support we can see your creative desire turn into a force of action. Can anybody become an entrepreneur then? Well, what you really need is GRIT – Passion and perseverance for long term and meaningful goals. Many entrepreneurs fail because they give up. The most important asset you already have – the ability to create. Keep on reading… Show more Show Less
Who we are and what drives us…
Itzinya is a Social Enterprise that is faith based but not faith biased.
The Itzinya team strives to serve people and society by following the example of Jesus, believing that every person is created unique and have equal value, regardless of faith, gender, ethnicity or any other factor that can lead to discrimination. These values are shared by all in out global team.
We are not bound by any political or religious affiliation. We believe in the strength of ecosystems and seek collaboration with private sector, academia, public institutions, investors, civil society including local faith based actors as well as other capacity building organizations.
We believe in the capacity of people everywhere and that talent is equally distributed, but opportunity is not. Therefore we have made it our goal to create more opportunity by focusing on the capacity that is in the entrepreneurs we aim to assist. That is the cornerstone belief we live by and that gave name to our organization;
Itzinya – it’s-in-you.
Our Mission
Unleashing leaders through training, incubating and accelerating value driven entrepreneurs with a key focus on transforming the entrepreneurs.
Our Values
Hope – A deep sense of hope is important for human flourishing and to release creativity to fix what is broken.
Integrity – Truth is the guiding value, even when it is painful or costly. This integrity creates the Trust needed to risk something for the common good.
Dedication – We are dedicated to our mission and it motivates us to go further and challenge the impossible.
Growth – We are relentless in focusing on the entrepreneur, developing and growing character and competence, and nurturing abundance mentality.
You Can Do It…!
The question is – what is the best way to get there….?
Recognizing
Reinforcing
Building the capacity of both the entrepreneur and the business is hard work. If you join us, we will work hard to reinforce it and build your capacity. Together with you we lay the foundation for your company through the Startup Academy that we run during 3 months, 2 evenings per week. You will learn the mindset of an entrepreneur, understand what makes a business work, find your customers, design what value you will provide them, learn to recognize opportunities, and build business models to capture them. You will also learn how to solve societal problems in a sustainable way through entrepreneurship. Show more Show Less
Resourcing
The incubator is a greenhouse and a lab. Growing business models through experimentation. Right after the Academy the Incubator starts. The Incubator is like a lab, the main activity is experimentation. You will complete your business model, find your network, shape your marketing plan and your strategy, get help to find a startup loan and be ready to hit the ground running. Besides Itzinya’s mentors, you will be connected with mentors from the same industry locally and internationally. We don’t just want to see you start your business, we want to resource it and follow you along the way. And as you grow there is more training coming up. Show more Show Less
Releasing
It is beautiful to see the wings tried for the first time. This is when the real work starts.
The time will come when we will release it, it is time for you to try your wings and fly on your own. Even after the time in the incubator the business mentors will be on hand for support. You will also be invited to events for special seminars, networking with other both local and international businesses and expand your network. This is your chance to make reality of that dream. Don’t wait, go to the application page and join us!
You can do it – ’cause itzinya!
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StartUp Academy
A 2 month’s program, 6 hours/week + field work at least 6 hours/week. Entrepreneurship isn’t theory. It is Execution! We focus on what works and are relentless on testing and validating assumptions that might lead to failure.
The Startup Academy is a 2 months program (6 hours/week + field work) that helps entrepreneurs build a solid foundation for their business. Most startups that fail has traditionally been because we assume we know what people need or want. What the solution to their problems should be etc. And we build our products and services on our assumptions. That often proves to be costly, both in regards to our financial resources but also for our time, energy and motivation. It is hard to climb out of those pits we fall into and restart again. So we aim at replacing the assumptions with facts through experimentation and creative iterations, before we spend our resources on starting the business. We have a process where we get outside the building to test our ideas with the real world. The Startup Academy has a high tempo with assignments between sessions. Entrepreneurs are expected to be self motivated and driven. Show more Show LessThe Incubator
If you are determined you could get a seat in the Incubator. In the Startup Academy you build the foundation of your business. Here in the Incubator you complete it, test it and execute it. You are starting your business and get to a stable situation.
A handful of entrepreneurs from each cohort are offered a seat in the incubator. See the incubation as the crossing between a greenhouse and a lab. The point is to create an environment that inspires and facilitates experimentation, development and growth. It is a lab where your products or services are designed and tested, and where your customers become your partners. It is a greenhouse where the facilitators are the gardeners making sure to provide the right “temperature”, “fertilizers” and “watering”. The incubator is either in a co-working space/office hotel setting, where also other companies rent a desk or a room. Or it is in a production environment where you can set up your machinery to test your production and develop your product. In some cases it is only a coaching program where you get ongoing personal coaching through your startup process. You can chose to be in the incubator for up to a year for a fee, or free in return for some shares in your company. This varies in different locations. In this way we also guarantee that we will follow your development and enhance your growth also after the incubation period.Show more Show Less
Build on your own idea
You will spend most of the time working on your own idea. You will be surprised how your idea might morph and take a sometimes slightly different direction, sometimes radically change, depending what you find in your testings.
You might come with a fairly developed idea, or maybe with a direction of what you want to do and a lot of motivation to discover and develop an idea you feel passionate about during the Academy. In any case, most of the sessions you will be applying the training on your own business idea. In this way it will not be theoretical. The whole Academy is really not on academic level. We like to think about entrepreneurship as something very practical and the Academy reflects that. And by the way, we often approves applications for entrepreneurs who are not sure about a specific idea yet. It doesn’t really matter as long as we can ensure that the “drive” is there. What really matters is that you are willing to do the hard work of verifying your assumptions about the market and your solution. That is the only way we believe you can raise your chances for success. We have seen this over and over again and we believe you can do it to. Show more Show LessThe Facilitators
We do not call ourselves teachers! Neither will we treat you as a student! Entrepreneurship isn’t theory. You come to us because you want to start a business, so that is our full focus. The Assignments you will do between the sessions aren’t homework, they are hands-on work developing your future income.
Yes that’s right, we do not have teachers. We don’t believe teaching is the best way for you to get the understanding of entrepreneurship and the confidence in yourself that you can do it. We believe it is more like a journey. So instead of teachers we have facilitators or “guides” that accompany you on your journey. They will share shorter main learning points and lead discussions, reflections and exercises. Those facilitators together with other experienced business people, will also become your coaches already during the Startup Academy and then if you qualify into the incubator, to follow you through your entrepreneurial journey. We then strive to couple you up with local or international mentors from your industry that can give you expert advice.Show more Show Less
Don’t wait – come and join us!
The Startup Academy typically starts 3-5 times every year in each location. Search “Country” to find a local Itzinya in your country and go to application. If you cannot find Itzinya in your country yet, you can apply to ItzinyaOnline and we will put you together with an exciting group of entrepreneurs from around the globe. The whole process is as alive as we can make it online.