The Catalyst - Mentoring program for Early stage startups
Program Overview: PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in collaboration with the Innovation and Technological Development Fund is developing The Catalyst mentoring program. The main goal of the program is to strengthen the capacities of startups on topics and areas that are important for everyday work, gaining new knowledge and skills, as well as facilitating access to potential investors. The program is intended for startups at an early stage of development that already have a product or service as well as a developed offer for placing their products / services on the market, ie. are in the so-called MVP (minimum viable product) phase.
Due to the limited number of participants (max. 60), the registration will take place on the principle of “first come, first served”.
The program will last 4 weeks and will cover 8 different topics that are key to the development of a business. The four-week cycle will cover the following topics:
- Project management as a daily business practice,
- Product development and product lifecycle management,
- Innovation and creative thinking,
- Talent Management / HR
- Tips and Tricks,
- Business development,
- Digital Age Marketing & Customer Behavior (Customer),
- Financial management,
- How to prepare for a great “pitch”?
Starting from project management, as a basis for good management, to product development, finance and access to investment and preparation of “pitch decks”, startups will have the opportunity to learn more about these topics through interactive lectures.
The program will be implemented by experts from PwC, as well as external experts with extensive experience in relevant fields.
SCHEDULE OF LECTURES
(Each lecture will last from 6 pm to 8 pm and will take place online on the Zoom platform)
22.11.2021
(Time of conduct from 6 pm to 8 pm)
Project management as a daily business practice
The importance of project management and why project management is more than tasks, schedules and budgets.
Techniques, tools and principles for effective project management.
Traditional versus agile project management in everyday work.
Elena Gotovska
Elena has over 17 years of professional experience, and more than 7 years in implementing projects for technical assistance and working with public sector institutions. Has extensive experience in implementing and managing international donor projects, aimed at strengthening the capacity of the civil society sector, promoting social policies, as well as supporting and reforming the public sector. In addition to project work and practical experience in all phases of the project cycle (project identification and preparation, implementation and management, and monitoring and evaluation), she has extensive experience as a project management trainer for civil society organizations, state administration, but also for the private sector. Gotovska has worked as a program and project manager for project implementation and has realized and participated in projects for public administration reform, judicial reform, promotion of national policies in the field of social and child protection, education and agriculture and rural development, as well as entrepreneurship projects, corporate social responsibility, and others. Additionally, Elena has worked on the implementation of projects for organizational development and improvement of management processes, for civil, public and private organizations. She also has extensive experience as a trainer in strategic planning, advocacy, planning and reporting, and more.
23.11.2021
(Time of conduct from 6 pm to 8 pm)
Product development and product lifecycle management
Process of developing new products and / or services
Product design in terms of their life cycle
Product life cycle management
Stefan Mladenovski (product development)
Product manager with experience in product management, business strategy and consulting in the last 7 years. Stefan is a graduate of the Faculty of Economics (St. Cyril and Methodius University) and is currently enrolled in postgraduate studies at the same university. He currently works as a Senior Project Manager at Intertec.io, a trusted custom solutions development and technology consulting company based in Munich, Germany. Working for an international company of this kind, which is a visionary and reliable technology partner, Stefan has the chance to work with clients across multiple business domains and work with state-of-the-art technology and solve business challenges with cutting-edge technology solutions.
In the past, Stefan has had the opportunity to work as a product manager for Slice, a B2B / B2C platform that powers the largest pizzeria network in the United States. Prior to joining Slice, Stefan was one of the first employees of Stornest, a Dubai-based digital heritage startup based on blockchain. He started as a product specialist, continued as a product owner and CEO of products, was involved in all processes from conceiving and screening the idea from scratch, as well as concept testing, development to the final launch and sale of the idea. He had the opportunity to visit and participate in various startup ecosystems and events in the UK, Germany, Austria, Turkey, Poland, etc. Active participant in the local Macedonian startup ecosystem in the last 4-5 years, as well as involvement in ad-hoc technology projects focused on creating digital solutions for consulting, real estate and FM sector.
Prof. Valentina Gechevska, PhD (Product lifecycle management)
Professor at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, at the University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje (UKIM) since 1990 for the subjects Development of new products; Engineering Economics, Product Lifecycle Management, Computer Integrated Processes, Design Technologies, Production Technologies. At the moment, prof. Gechevska is the Vice Rector for Science at UKIM. He is the founder and manager of the Center for Life Cycle Management of Products and Innovations, the Training and E-Learning Center WEBLAB and the CIM Laboratory. He is the Head of Postgraduate Studies in Product Lifecycle Management. He is a member of the team for development of regional strategy for research and development and innovation and industrial policy. Her topics of interest and expertise are engineering management, industrial engineering, technology transfer, manufacturing engineering, industry 4.0, artificial intelligence and digitalization tools, and circular economics. He is the author of over 200 original scientific papers and visiting professor at several foreign universities. He specializes in the universities of Portland, Maribor, Vienna, Bochum, Florence, postdoctoral studies at the Technical University of Turin, production management training at JICA in Japan. Leader or team member of over 70 international projects, supported by: EU (FP7, Tempus, Erasmus +, H2020), WB, ADA, EAR, GTZ, CEI, UNDP, CEEPUS, EIT, etc. Candidate for member of the European Academy of Industrial Management.
25.11.2021
(Time of conduct from 6 pm to 8 pm)
Innovation and creative thinking
How to increase creativity in the team?
What kills it and what improves creativity?
Conflicts in teamwork and the connection to innovation
Principles of work of innovative team
Prof. Dr. Radmil Polenakovic
Prof. Dr. Radmil Polenakovic – Professor of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management, Innovation Management, Project Management, Logistics and Supply Chain Management at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Ss. Cyril and Methodius ”in Skopje (since 1991). He has published more than 320 bibliographic works. Its main activities are in the field of developing the Macedonian entrepreneurial and innovative ecosystem. He has participated in the development of the National Strategy for Entrepreneurial Learning, the National Strategy for Clusters, Regional Innovation Strategies for Planning Regions, etc. He was part of more than 100 projects (50 as a team leader) supported by: EU (cross-border, FP7, Tempus, COSME, Erasmus +, H2020 …), OECD, World Bank, ETF, ADA, USAID, GTZ, CEI, UNDP , Macedonian ministries and agencies, etc. He is also an evaluator of many projects from Europe, the Balkans, GIZ as well as various local project calls for SME development, entrepreneurship and innovation. Prof. Polenakovic also runs the University Business Start-up Center (since 2006) and the National Center for Innovation Development and Entrepreneurial Learning (since 2009) which have supported the creation of more than 60 startups. He is a member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts and has experience in organizing business plan / concept competitions for high school and university students, training and mentoring startups, commercialization research, etc.
30.11.2021
(Time of conduct from 6 pm to 8 pm)
Talent Management / HR Tips and Tricks
Understanding people’s talents
Building the right team
Performance management
Milana Maleshev
Milana is a professional development professional with almost two decades of experience in consulting and creating and delivering courses in the corporate and public sectors. During her professional career as a human resources consultant at PwC, she has been involved in consulting projects for international and local clients on a wide range of human resource issues (from resource provision to awards and organizational development).
In recent years, its focus has been on learning and knowledge management in organizations.
Working as a co-designer and tutor for the UK-based Institute for Personnel and Development (CIPD) qualification programs has increased her desire to constantly explore new trends in the human resources profession and assess their impact on organizations.
On the other hand, conducting doctoral research on informal learning in the workplace, in a highly dynamic organization of knowledge, vividly demonstrated the enormous amount of learning that happens every day. Therefore, her current professional enthusiasm is focused on exploring ways we can stimulate learning by leveraging the social and collaborative learning already taking place in the workplace. Another topic closely related to this is – how can we use technology to improve learning? Milan believes that technology brings wonderful opportunities to improve the flexibility and availability of tutor-led activities, to support social and collaborative learning, and to collect data to evaluate our efforts.
02.12.2021
(Time of conduct from 6 pm to 8 pm)
Business development
Corporate culture and management
Customer detection
Aleksandra Kuzmanovska
Alexandra has 15 years of experience in providing professional services to many companies in Macedonia, as well as in Slovenia, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Her experience includes auditing and consulting services for companies in the telecom industry, automotive industry, pharmaceutical industry as well as manufacturing facilities and trade. The most important qualifications are in the field of auditing and reviewing financial statements prepared in accordance with local accounting standards and IFRS, as well as qualifications and experience in auditing financial and operational internal controls (SOX audit). Alexandra is the leader of the PwC Academy in Macedonia, where for 8 years she has been organizing and conducting various trainings for our clients.
07.12.2021
(Time of conduct from 6 pm to 8 pm)
Digital Age Marketing & Customer Behavior
Customer behavior
Go-to-market strategies
Branding and promotions online
Techniques for innovative marketing trends
Petar Lazarov
Petar Lazarov author, marketing / branding consultant, sales, export, management and co-owner of Macedonia-Export. He has many years of experience in training and development of managerial and leadership skills of employees in Macedonia, through an innovative and practical approach to work. With its 2 brands, MAMA’S – traditional home recipes and TIP OF THE WEEK – a guide for personal and professional development, moved the standards in 2 areas of operation – food industry and publishing.
09.12.2021
(Time of conduct from 6 pm to 8 pm)
Financial management
Financial Management 101
Funding opportunities and how to approach them
Irina Avramska Pashovska
Irina is a director at PwC Northern Macedonia responsible for the development of the advisory services sector. She has more than 15 years of consulting experience as part of large international companies: Deloitte in Slovenia, Grant Thornton and PricewaterhouseCoopers in Northern Macedonia, and has work experience in the Western Balkans: Kosovo, Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia and Croatia.
Irina runs a variety of public and private sector advisory projects as well as mergers and acquisitions (M&A) projects. As a team leader, it provides financial analysis services, financial and operational structuring and restructuring assistance, and advisory support in mergers and acquisitions. Irina was part of the EBRD in the field of banking as a representative of the ENEF (Enterprise Expansion Fund) fund that supports MS companies with high potential for development and expansion of their businesses.
Radica Kashirska Runtevska
Radica is a senior consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers Northern Macedonia. Actively participates in numerous projects related to restructuring, corporate governance, preparation of business plans, as projects related to financial analysis of companies, in-depth analysis and feasibility studies. Its client portfolio is diversified and covers various industries: energy, agro industry, consumer goods sector, financial services, public sector institutions.
Radica is part of the PwC startup initiative, as well as part of the team that worked on organizing the Pitch startup conference. Match. Grow. He also has extensive experience as a trainer, and was part of the training team at the Investment Readiness workshop for startups organized by the Seavus Accelerator on Startup Investment Models and their evaluation.
Suzana Bosevska Jankova
Suzana is a manager at PwC Northern Macedonia for a number of auditing clients in the industry such as Frikom, DHL Express, Volvo Macedonia, Adient Seating Stip, Adient Automotive Strumica, as well as a manager in for in-depth analysis. Suzana is a Certified Certified Public Accountant, a Certified Auditor, a member of the Institute of Certified Auditors of the RNM and a Certified Accountant of the RNM. Suzana has gained significant experience and knowledge of business in the country and the region engaged in projects in Northern Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. She has more than 14 years of experience in auditing and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and is responsible for digitization in the PwC office in Macedonia. Her task as a person responsible for digitalization is to increase the automation of the daily work in the company and to increase the awareness and to promote the use of digital solutions in order to facilitate the daily work tasks in the company.
14.12.2021
(Time of conduct from 6 pm to 8 pm)
How to prepare for a great pitch?
Tanja Kuzman
Tanja Kuzman is a director of digitalization, startups and innovation with more than 10 years of professional experience. She specializes in digital, startups, innovation, venture capital financing and digital/technology products. Tanja leads a team implementing projects related to these topics in 9 Southeast European countries and is a member of the Global PwC Startup and Development Group. She has mentored more than 70 startups, participated in more than 20 incubation and acceleration programs (e.g., Seedstars, Google Launchpad), authored several startup ecosystem reports, and conducted many assessments of startup investment readiness. Before joining PwC, Tanja was the Chief Investment Officer of VC Fund in the UK. She is currently an Associate Professor at the FEFA Faculty where she teaches topics related to startup development, innovation, market analysis and competition. She holds a PhD in Finance from the University of Sheffield. In May 2014, at the Symposium of Today’s Leaders and Tomorrow’s Leaders in St. Gallen, Tanja was named one of the 100 Leaders of Tomorrow Worldwide.
Momir Polenakovikj (PwC Program Coordinator)
Momir has more than 6 years of experience in the private sector and currently works as a senior consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) within the public sector in charge of preparing various project proposals and overseeing the implementation of active projects. He is responsible for the development of the department dedicated to Startups in PwC Macedonia and is involved in several projects in the field of startups and entrepreneurship, startup ecosystem development and corporate governance, as well as projects related to the public sector and public institutions (capacity assessment and capacity building, feasibility studies, process improvement, etc.)
He has previously worked at the National Center for Innovation Development and Entrepreneurial Learning as a project manager where he organized several startup events including one of the largest startup competitions in Europe (Get In the Ring). He also has experience in the private sector in th
14.12.2021
How to prepare for a great pitch?
Tanja Kuzman
Tanja Kuzman is a director of digitalization, startups and innovation with more than 10 years of professional experience. She specializes in digital, startups, innovation, venture capital financing and digital/technology products. Tanja leads a team implementing projects related to these topics in 9 Southeast European countries and is a member of the Global PwC Startup and Development Group. She has mentored more than 70 startups, participated in more than 20 incubation and acceleration programs (e.g., Seedstars, Google Launchpad), authored several startup ecosystem reports, and conducted many assessments of startup investment readiness. Before joining PwC, Tanja was the Chief Investment Officer of VC Fund in the UK. She is currently an Associate Professor at the FEFA Faculty where she teaches topics related to startup development, innovation, market analysis and competition. She holds a PhD in Finance from the University of Sheffield. In May 2014, at the Symposium of Today’s Leaders and Tomorrow’s Leaders in St. Gallen, Tanja was named one of the 100 Leaders of Tomorrow Worldwide.
Momir Polenakovikj (PwC Program Coordinator)
Momir has more than 6 years of experience in the private sector and currently works as a senior consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) within the public sector in charge of preparing various project proposals and overseeing the implementation of active projects. He is responsible for the development of the department dedicated to Startups in PwC Macedonia and is involved in several projects in the field of startups and entrepreneurship, startup ecosystem development and corporate governance, as well as projects related to the public sector and public institutions (capacity assessment and capacity building, feasibility studies, process improvement, etc.)
He has previously worked at the National Center for Innovation Development and Entrepreneurial Learning as a project manager where he organized several startup events including one of the largest startup competitions in Europe (Get In the Ring). He also has experience in the private sector in the factory Kastinvest DOO Skopje where he was a sales engineer responsible for sales with key European clients.
e factory Kastinvest DOO Skopje where he was a sales engineer responsible for sales with key European clients.