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Weekend Launch: Day One

🗓️ Saturday, October 3rd, 2026

📍Startwell Main Campus - 786 King St W, Toronto, ON M5V 1N6

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Locations to go continue the work/networking near Starwell.

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Weekend Launch: Day Two

🗓️ Sunday, October 4th, 2026

📍Startwell Main Campus - 786 King St W, Toronto, ON M5V 1N6

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You’ll leave with a clearer sense of where solopreneurs fit into Canada’s economic future, the opportunities emerging over the next decade, and the challenges you’ll need to navigate along the way. | | Fireside Q&A with Steven and Qasim 10:30 AM - 11:00 AM | Building on the opening remarks and keynote, this fireside Q&A brings Steven and Qasim together to explore the future of solopreneurship and independent work in greater depth. You’ll hear their perspectives on the opportunities and challenges shaping this path, with time to ask questions and connect the broader trends to your own solopreneur journey. | | Solopreneur Paths, Alumni & Community Panel with Christian Alphonse (’18), Emily Vilcsak (’25) and Michael Milliere (’22) 11:00AM- 12:00 PM

| Hear candid stories from VFC alumni and community members who’ve built independent careers across different industries. You’ll learn how they navigated uncertainty, defined their offer, and found their footing, so you can build confidence and clarity about your own solopreneur path. | | Networking Lunch 😋 12:00 PM- 1:30 PM | Lunch will be provided, with time to connect and chat with Venture for Canada alumni about their career paths and experiences. | | You’re Worth It: Confidence in Saying your Offer Out Loud with Jay Reid (The Making Box) 1:30 PM- 3:30 PM | A high-energy lab where you get loud about your offer, run live role plays, and practice hearing “no” in ways that build confidence instead of doubt. Through fast-paced exercises, peer feedback, and honest reflection, you’ll sharpen how you talk about your value and build the resilience and adaptability you need to pivot and keep selling as your solopreneur journey evolves. | | Goals & Gratitude 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM | A short, grounding close to Day 1 where you set clear next-step goals and give shoutouts to peers who moved the needle for you. Expect quick reflections and gratitude before we look ahead to Day 2. | | Day #1 Close | We close the day and look ahead to Day 2. |

We’ll also set shared expectations for responsible AI use and surface the main opportunities and risks to keep in mind, so you leave with a clearer sense of how to work with AI well in your solopreneur practice — where it can support your thinking, and where you still need to slow down and decide for yourself. | | Think in Pilots: The Experimentation Model for Solopreneurs with Dominik Loncar (Futurpreneur) 11:10 AM - 12:45 PM | You’ll move from early offer ideas to sharper, customer‑centered positioning. Through structured exercises and peer input, you’ll clarify who your offer is really for, what problem it actually solves, and how to test it in small, low‑risk pilots with real people.

By the end, you’ll have a more refined version of your offer grounded in real customer problems, a clearer sense of customer discovery as an ongoing practice, and initial revenue model options that fit your solo venture. | | Lunch & Learn with Chanté Salicksingh(Journey Home Counselling), Isha Melendez (Latinas del Norte) and Benson Egemonye (Club PTO) 12:45 PM - 1:45 PM | Join us for a conversation with a small group of community solopreneurs. Speakers will share candid stories about building their ventures—from getting started and finding early clients to navigating uncertainty, pivots, and the moments that helped shape their work.

This is an opportunity to hear what building independently looks like in practice, ask questions, and take away practical insight for your own path. Lunch will be provided. | | Understanding Legal Business Structures in Canada with Ownr. 1:50 PM - 2:50 PM | A practical panel with legal and finance experts on what’s “enough to start” as a solopreneur. You’ll get a clearer picture of the minimum registrations, systems, and safeguards to have in place, so you can move forward with more confidence. | | Tools, Norms, and Next Steps 3:00 PM - 3:30 PM | A set-up session to get everyone on the same tools and on the same page. You’ll see where key program materials live, how communication will work, and what shared expectations we’re operating with over the coming weeks. | | Reflection and Wrap-Up 3:30 PM- 4:30 PM | A closing block for you to pause, share, and look ahead. Through group reflection and light discussion, you’ll surface key learnings and surprises from the kickoff and get oriented to the virtual sessions and the rest of the program. | | | |

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Week 1: Know the Customer & Revenue

🗓️ October 6th + October 8th - 6-8PM EST

📍 Zoom

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Who’s This Really For? Customer & Revenue Foundations with Roy Itzhaki | In this session, you’ll get clear on who you are best positioned to help. You’ll move beyond broad assumptions to build a more grounded Ideal Customer Profile—looking at your customer’s context, motivations, challenges, and the problem they most need solved.You’ll also begin connecting that customer insight to a realistic revenue model and early acquisition opportunities, so you leave with a stronger sense of who to focus on and how your offer could become income. | | 🧠 Async Work Wednesday, October 7th

Draft your Week 1 Deliverables | Use the time between Tuesday’s workshop and Thursday’s Practice Lab to build working drafts of your Customer & Revenue Blueprint.

Complete the following in your workbook and bring them to Thursday’s Practice Lab: • Ideal Customer Profile v2 • Revenue Framework • Warm Network Map • Your first thoughts on who to prioritize for outreach

You do not need to have perfect answers. Come ready to share what you know, what you are assuming, and where you want feedback. Thursday’s Practice Lab is where you will pressure-test your thinking and decide what to refine next. | | 🤝 Practice Lab #1 Thursday, October 8th ****6:00 PM - 8:00 PM EST

Sharpening Your Target with Roy Itzhaki | This Practice Lab is your chance to pressure-test the customer and revenue assumptions you have been building. You’ll share your working ICP, revenue framework, and early outreach ideas with peers and mentors, then use their questions and feedback to spot blind spots, sharpen your focus, and decide who to prioritize.

Come ready to talk through what you know, what you are assuming, and what you still need to test. The goal is not to have a perfect answer—it is to leave with a clearer direction and a stronger next version of your Customer & Revenue Blueprint. | | 📝 Async Work Friday, October 9th - Sunday October 11th

Build your Portfolio Assets | Use Thursday’s feedback to turn your workbook notes into a clear, shareable Customer & Revenue Blueprint.

Your blueprint should include: • Your refined ICP • Your revenue direction • Your first path to potential customers • Your outreach priorities • What you still need to test |

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Week 2: Communicate & Convert Value

🗓️ October 13th + October 15th - 6-8PM EST

📍 Zoom

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Positioning, Value Proposition & Messaging with Jocelyn Courneya | In this session, you’ll move from a rough “what I do” statement to a clear, people-centred story about your business. You’ll sharpen your positioning, craft a value proposition that speaks directly to your ideal client, and begin turning it into messaging you can use across pitches, bios, and your digital presence.

You’ll leave with a stronger foundation for explaining who you help, the value you create, and why your work matters to the people you want to reach. | | 🧠 Async Work Wednesday, October 14th

Draft your Week 2 Deliverables | Use the time between Tuesday’s workshop and Thursday’s Practice Lab to build working drafts of your Offer & Positioning Kit.

Complete the following in your workbook and bring them to Thursday’s Practice Lab: • Your Value Proposition Statement • Your Elevator Pitch • Your Social Headline Draft • At least one key message and proof point for your Messaging Playbook • Your first ideas for a Landing Page or One-PagerY

You do not need polished copy. Come ready to test language, say your offer out loud, and get feedback on what feels clear, specific, and convincing. | | 🤝 Practice Lab #2 Thursday, October 15th ****6:00 PM - 8:00 PM EST

Pitch Practice & Messaging Feedback with Jocelyn Courneya | This Practice Lab is your chance to put your messaging into practice. You’ll test your elevator pitch in real conversations, receive structured feedback from peers and mentors, and identify where your language feels clear, compelling, or confusing.

Come ready to practise your pitch, hear how others respond to your value proposition, and refine your language until it feels confident, specific, and consistent. The goal is not a perfect script—it is messaging you can use right away in pitches, networking, marketing, and general outreach. | | 📝 Async Work Friday, October 16th - Sunday October 18th

Build your Portfolio Assets | Use the feedback from Thursday’s Practice Lab to turn your workbook notes into a clear, shareable Offer & Positioning Kit.

Your kit should include: • Your value proposition • Your elevator pitch • Your social headline • Your messaging playbook, including key messages and proof points • A draft landing page or one-pager that explains your offer, price, proof, and next step |