entrepreneurship 101

entrepreneurship 101 - Founders & First Steps brings together participants in Alexandria for a practical afternoon of entrepreneurship learning, peer exchange and community connection. The day is structured around two complementary activities for different stages of the entrepreneurial journey.

1:00 PM–2:30 PM  |  Founders Room

Alexandria Founders room is designed for active founders and early-stage startup teams who want a practical conversation about building and growing companies. Rather than a traditional panel, the activity will center on founder-to-founder dialogue around execution challenges, customers, teams, fundraising readiness and building companies outside highly concentrated startup ecosystems. The session will combine selected founder stories, moderated discussion, small-group conversations and open networking. Participants should leave with new founder connections, clearer ideas about the challenges they need to solve next.

3:00 PM–5:00 PM  |  Your First Step

From Idea to First Business introduces aspiring entrepreneurs to the practical foundations of turning an idea into an opportunity. Participants will work through identifying a real problem, understanding potential customers, defining an initial value proposition and deciding what to test before investing significant time or money. The activity is designed for participants with little or no previous startup experience. By the end of the session, attendees should leave with a simple first business concept and a clearer next step for validating it.

Networking and closing connect participants across both activities. Attendees should leave with stronger local connections, clearer next steps and practical ideas they can continue testing after GEW.