South Carolina Research Authority

One statewide curriculum takes founders from idea to MVP in ten weeks.

SCRA StartUP built the Startup Foundation Series so every ecosystem in South Carolina — anchor hub or emerging market — can run the same rigorous, cohort-based program. It costs nothing to adopt and gives founders a consistent, proven path forward no matter where they start.

See the curriculum Bring it to your ecosystem

10 weeksIdeation to MVP

8–20Founders per cohort

$0Cost to any SC ecosystem

8+Regions across the state

Startup Foundation Series Every region, one program

Startup founders don't stop at county lines. Neither do we.

SCRA StartUP exists to unite the ecosystems working across Greenville, Columbia, and Charleston with the emerging markets building momentum in Aiken, Beaufort, Rock Hill/Fort Mill, Myrtle Beach, and Florence/Darlington — giving every founder in South Carolina access to the same caliber of training, mentorship, and community.

South Carolina Research Authority

It's about You & the Palmetto State

For more than forty years, SCRA has been South Carolina's engine for turning research into results — chartered by the state to fuel its innovation economy by backing entrepreneurs, commercializing academic research, and connecting industry to the people building what's next.

The Startup Foundation Series is that mission put directly in front of founders. It's built for entrepreneurs, problem-solvers, technologists, and researchers across the Palmetto state using technology to solve real problems — and it meets them in every ecosystem across the state, not just the ones with the deepest resources already.

Back technology-driven founders

Grant funding, coaching, and investment through SC Launch for startups on a real growth track.

Turn research into companies

Helping academic breakthroughs at South Carolina's universities find their way to market.

Connect the state's innovators

Matching industry, entrepreneurs, and researchers so good ideas don't stall for lack of the right introduction.

How the Startup Foundation Series works

Each week pairs self-paced learning with real South Carolina voices, then brings the cohort together every two weeks to put it into practice.

Learn

A 30-minute e-learning lesson introduces the week's topic — from customer discovery to pitch decks — at each founder's own pace.

Hear from SC founders

Weekly videos feature South Carolina experts and founders who've applied the lesson successfully, grounding theory in local experience.

Meet your cohort

Every two weeks, the cohort meets with its facilitator to review content, break into small groups for hands-on activities, and hear a 20-minute talk plus live Q&A from an expert or founder.

Cohorts run 8 to 20 founders, guided by a local facilitator from their ecosystem — so the program stays statewide in content and local in relationships.

Built for every corner of South Carolina

Three anchor ecosystems carry the deepest bench of mentors and facilitators today, while emerging markets are building their own momentum with the same curriculum.

Anchor Ecosystem

Greenville

An established hub with a dense network of mentors, facilitators, and follow-on programming for founders who complete the series.

Anchor Ecosystem

Columbia

Home to a strong base of research, capital, and startup support that anchors programming for the Midlands region.

Anchor Ecosystem

Charleston

A high-growth coastal ecosystem with an active founder community and strong ties to the state's innovation economy.

Emerging Markets

Aiken

Rock Hill / Fort Mill

Florence / Darlington

Myrtle Beach

Beaufort

The ten-week curriculum

Every ecosystem in South Carolina runs the same sequence, so a founder's progress means the same thing whether they start in Greenville or Florence.

Week 01Ideation and Customer Discovery

What makes an idea "startup-worthy": problem size, urgency, frequency
IDEO framework overview
Sources of startup ideas: personal pain, industry expertise, emerging trends, unmet needs
Introduction to the Lean Startup mindset: build–measure–learn
What customer discovery is (and isn't) — distinguishing it from market research
How to write a strong customer discovery interview guide
Common bias traps: leading questions, confirmation bias, friends-and-family bias
Documenting and synthesizing early interview findings

Week 02Ideal Customer Profile & Competitive Landscape

What an Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) is and why it narrows — not widens — your focus
Building an ICP: demographic/firmographic traits, behaviors, pain intensity, willingness to pay
Early adopters vs. mainstream customers, and why you design for the former first
Segmenting a market and prioritizing a beachhead segment
Competitive landscape mapping
Identifying your unique angle relative to existing alternatives
Common pitfall: "no competitors" as a red flag, not a strength

Week 03Business Model Canvas & Value Proposition

Overview of the Business Model Canvas — all nine building blocks
Deep dive: value propositions, customer segments, and their relationship
Introduction to the Value Proposition Canvas: customer jobs, pains, gains
Crafting a value proposition statement that is specific and testable
Revenue streams and cost structure basics — how money will move
Key partners, activities, and resources the business depends on
Using the canvas as a living document, not a one-time exercise
How this week's canvas informs every subsequent week's decisions

Week 04Designing Your Solution to Fit the Ideal Customer

Translating customer pains and gains into solution features
Jobs-to-be-Done framework: designing around the job, not the demographic
Prioritization frameworks for solution features (MoSCoW, impact/effort)
Concept sketching and low-fidelity prototyping approaches
Getting solution feedback before writing code or committing resources
Avoiding feature creep: designing the smallest solution that solves the core job
How solution design maps forward into MVP scoping next week

Week 05Product Strategy & MVP/MVS Scoping

The difference between an MVP and an MVS (Minimum Viable Service)
Core principle: an MVP tests a hypothesis — it isn't a stripped-down final product
Types of MVPs: concierge, wizard-of-oz, landing page, single-feature, prototype
Defining the riskiest assumption your MVP needs to test first
Writing a product strategy one-pager: vision, target user, hypothesis, success metric
Scoping exercise: what's in, what's out, and why
Setting a realistic build timeline within program constraints

Week 06Go-to-Market Strategy & Market Sizing

TAM, SAM, SOM — sizing a market credibly with top-down and bottom-up methods
Choosing a go-to-market motion: direct sales, self-serve, partnerships, marketplace
Identifying and prioritizing early acquisition channels
Positioning and messaging basics for talking to your ICP
Pricing strategy fundamentals: cost-plus, value-based, competitor-based
Building a simple GTM plan tied to the beachhead segment from Week 2
How GTM assumptions get tested during market validation in Week 9

Week 07Legal Basics & Business Basics

Choosing a business structure (LLC, C-corp, S-corp) and why it matters for fundraising
Founder equity splits and vesting basics
IP essentials: trademarks, provisional patents, trade secrets, IP assignment
Contracts every early startup needs: NDA, founder agreement, contractor agreements
Basic business operations: banking and bookkeeping
Regulatory or licensing considerations relevant to South Carolina startups

Week 08Building a Minimum Valuable Product or Service

Translating the Week 5 MVP/MVS scope into a build plan
No-code/low-code options vs. custom development — choosing the right approach
Setting up basic analytics and instrumentation before launch
Managing scope discipline during the build — guarding against feature creep
Defining "done" for the MVP: the minimum bar for real users
Planning a soft launch or limited release to the beachhead segment
Preparing the MVP to generate the data Week 9's validation needs

Week 09Market Validation & Proof of Concept Agreements

Defining what counts as market validation versus just positive feedback
Quantitative and qualitative signals to track: usage, retention, willingness to pay
Structuring a feedback and iteration loop from real MVP users
What a Proof of Concept (POC) agreement is and when to use one
Key terms for a POC or pilot agreement: scope, timeline, success criteria
Turning early users into references, case studies, or paying customers
Deciding what to do with validated learning: persevere, pivot, or pause

Week 10Selling Your Solution and Creating a Powerful Deck

Selling to drive immediate revenue and validate the plan, minimizing the need for capital
Using the StoryBrand framework to craft a compelling elevator pitch
Startup sales fundamentals with the Sandler Sales Process: relationship-building, qualification, closing
Structuring a pitch deck: problem, solution, market, traction, business model, team, ask
Telling a compelling narrative with the data gathered across Weeks 1–9
Common pitch mistakes: too much detail, no clear ask, weak traction story
Tailoring the pitch for customers, investors, and grant reviewers

Consistent programming, delivered locally

Every regional ecosystem exists to convene founders and provide the training and resources they need to succeed. The Startup Foundation Series gives that ecosystem a ready-to-run curriculum — at no charge — so founders get the same strong foundation wherever they're building.

—No cost to adopt, for any ecosystem in South Carolina
—Weekly e-learning and expert video content, ready to deploy
—A consistent curriculum across the state, so founder progress is comparable region to region
—Follow-on training as companies mature, run by each local ecosystem

Bring the Series to your region

If you lead an ecosystem in Aiken, Beaufort, Rock Hill/Fort Mill, Myrtle Beach, Florence/Darlington, or anywhere else in South Carolina, SCRA StartUP will help you set up and facilitate your first cohort.

Request the curriculum

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Whether you're a founder looking to join a cohort or an ecosystem leader ready to bring the Series to your region, tell us how we can help.