Innovation. Entrepreneurship. Leadership. The Seed Transformation Program focuses on all three.
Through a rigorous curriculum, facilitated in-company workshops, and a community of like-minded leaders, you will gain the strategic skills, methodologies, and mindsets to transform your business and your community.
The Stanford GSB approach is highly interactive. Unlike a traditional classroom, this program will have you out of your seat, collaborating with peers, brainstorming ideas, and learning by doing.
During four one-week sessions that take place over the course of six months, you will work with Stanford faculty to explore topics ranging from leadership, strategy, and business ethics to accounting, marketing, and value chain innovations. The ultimate goal: to create your company’s transformation plan, a detailed action plan for your business with concrete steps to help you grow and scale over the next three to five years. In between sessions, a Seed facilitator will lead in-company workshops to help you gain buy-in with your team; the facilitator will also provide ongoing support for your small peer groups, called Leadership Labs. At the end of the six months, you will present your transformation plan to Seed staff and your peers.
Overview
Months 1 – 6
Participate in four immersion weeks, held at the Stanford Seed Center in Nairobi, Kenya.
Week One: Build Your Strategy
- Strategy
- Organizational Design
- Leadership/Team Building
- Business Model Canvas
Week Two: Know Your Company
- Accounting
- Operations
- Value Chain Innovations
Week Three: Know Your Product and Customers
- Product Innovation/Design Thinking
- Marketing
- Business Ethics
Week Four: Develop Your Plan
- Finance/Investing
- Performance Management
- Corporate Governance
- Human Resources/Capacity Development
Intersession Activities
The STP curriculum is designed to give you tools and tactics so that you can put into practice at your company the theories and frameworks you learned in the classroom. To help you achieve this, STP also facilitates in-company workshops and Leadership Lab meetings.
Facilitated In-Company Workshops
Led by Seed staff — experienced local business leaders and facilitators — these workshops will help you introduce new ideas and learning across your company and help you generate buy-in to achieve company growth.
Months 7 – 12
In the second half of the yearlong program, you will implement your transformation plan and continue to meet with your Leadership Lab.
After the Program
STP participants continue to stay engaged with Stanford Seed. Together with current and former participants, you will become part of the STP Member Network. Among the benefits:
- You will be invited to participate in ongoing peer leadership groups, tactical training workshops, networking events, and other programs, and will continue to get support from Stanford Seed consultants and Stanford students.
- Network members are often invited to share the experiences of their own transformation journeys with incoming cohorts.