Turn Your Startup Idea Into a Business That Works — on Your Terms

Startup Strategy Mastery: From Idea Validation to Investor-Ready
This is a step-by-step, six-module program to help aspiring founders validate, plan, and launch with confidence. The course is open. There is no wait to get started, and you can go at your own pace.
I've built this course with the methodologies and frameworks used by leading companies and accelerators. - Tara Heptinstall, Founder, Envīveo
Use promo code
STARTUPSMART20
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Six Modules and Lots of Resources to Help You Build. Step by Step.
Startup Strategy Mastery is a self-paced learning experience that guides you step by step through the startup planning process, culminating in the creation of a comprehensive project plan and a well-defined startup strategy.
Developed and led by Tara Heptinstall, a business leader with over 20 years of experience and a Techstars mentor, the six-module course focuses on the “must-knows” and “to-dos” required to transform your startup idea into a business that not only thrives but is commercially sound and ready to attract investors.
Payment plans are available. The price includes lifetime access to the course and a one-year membership in the community, along with a variety of resources that are included with the course. If any updates are made to the course, you’ll always have access to the updated information.
It is possible to be both agile and strategic when building a startup.
A well-crafted startup strategy can help prevent costly mistakes, strengthen your pitch to investors for funding, and, most importantly, set you up for long-term success. Unfortunately, many founders neglect it in their eagerness to push ahead.
The purpose of Startup Strategy Mastery is to help you organize all the moving parts and set the foundation for building your business.
*Payment plans are available.
This Course Will Show You How To:
- Validate Your Idea. Avoid wasting time and money on an idea that has no market.
- Price Your Product. Learn revenue and pricing models that fit your product and customer profile.
- Define Your Value. Develop your unique value proposition, positioning, and differentiators.
- Know Your Customer. Define clearly who your customer is and what they need from your solution.
- Beat the Competition. Know who you are up against and define your competitive advantage.
- Develop Key Metrics. Learn how to set the metrics that are essential for startup success.
- Prepare For What Investors Want. Get your strategy aligned with what investors are looking for.
- Sound Like a Founder. Learn the jargon—key terms, phrases, and concepts that every founder should know.
- Test Your Product. Learn how to test your product without breaking the bank.
What's Included

- Six learning modules
- Envīveo's Business Builder's Framework
- Project Plan: Complete project plan outlining all workstreams covered in the course with suggested timing
- Workbooks and Guides
- Course Syllabus and Workbook
- Defining Your Ideal Customer
- Competitive Audit
- Worksheets and Templates
- Five Whys + Other Tools Used in Design Thinking
- Value Proposition Canvas
- Differentiation Definition
- Positioning Brainstorming
- Cost Estimating Brainstorm
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- Identifying Key Assumptions
- Persona Development
- P.E.S.T. Analysis
- Resources
- Top 100 Incubators and Accelerators
- Sample Questions From the Application of Top Accelerators
- Resource: List of U.S. and Non-US Research Sources
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How to Develop Key Metricsfor Your Business
- Pricing Cheat Sheet
- Helpful books and other resources
- Business Plan on a Page – A critical tool inspired by the well-known Lean Canvas that can be used in outreach to investors in your fundraising efforts
Bonus Content
- Putting Together Your Advisory Board
- Customer Interview Guide
- Glossary of Startup Terms
- Mindset Workbook

NEW BONUS. 13 Ways to Build a Minimum Viable Product With AI
Before you invest time and money into building your startup, you need proof that customers actually want what you’re creating. This practical guide walks you through 13 proven MVP methods—from sketches and landing pages to crowdfunding and community-first strategies—each with real-world examples, step-by-step testing tips, and ways AI can make the process faster and smarter.

One Year Membership to the Vive Hive™ Community
The exclusive community that connects tech entrepreneurs and experts who are striving to build, grow, and scale profitable businesses.
- Join the conversation with coaches and other founders for support or expert help
- Join Meet-Ups and Lives covering special topics
- Take advantage of accountability challenges
- Access members-only resources
- Annual renewal rate is just $29/month (billed annually). You will receive a notification before your subscription is renewed.

| Sample Lessons
Welcome & Student Orientation
Get a guided tour of the course, resources, and community so you know exactly how to start strong and make the most of your journey.
Lessons:
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The Startup Strategy Framework
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Your Orientation to the CourseMaintaining Momentum
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The Vive Hive Community
Three Key Decisions
Learn the three most important choices every founder must make: defining the problem, knowing your customer, and aligning your solution.
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The Most Important Thing: The Problem
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Clearly Defining Your Ideal Customer
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Align the Solution to the Problem
Get to Know the Market
Determine whether your idea has room to grow by analyzing the market, identifying challenges, and assessing the competition.
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What Investors Want to Know
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Is There a Market (Know if You can Grow)
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Assessing Challenges and Opportunities
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Conducting a Competitive Audit
Be Different
Define your differentiation and craft a compelling value proposition that positions your startup to win.
Lessons:
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Defining Your Differentiation
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Developing Your Value Proposition and Positioning
The Numbers
Learn how to measure success, estimate costs, and build a business model that works.
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Identify the Right Success Measures
- Estimating Costs
- How Will You Make Money
Validating Ideas and Assumptions
Test your assumptions, price your product, build an MVP, and prove your market fit — without breaking the bank.
Lessons:
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What is Assumption Validation
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Identifying Your Key Assumptions
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Pricing
- Build Your MVP on a Budget
- Low-Cost Market Fit Testing Methods
- Wrap Up: Adjust and Outline Your Plan
That's a Wrap
Bring it all together with a recap and your one-page startup strategy.
Lesson:
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Let’s Recap
If you're one of these types of founders? Then, this course is for you.

You’re eager to start your tech-based business but feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information and the fear of making costly mistakes. You’ve got the passion and ideas, but you’re unsure where to begin or how to structure your plan.

You're a seasoned professional with a great idea, and you're ready to pivot into the tech world. But the unfamiliar terrain of this fast-paced industry leaves you anxious and unsure of how to proceed. You've got years of experience, but transitioning into a new field or going out on your own feels like a daunting leap.

You've started a company or companies before – or have at least played a role in launching new corporate services, products, divisions, etc. But this time around you want to streamline the process, avoid missteps and get in front of investors quicker – and with more successful outcomes.
You don't need a business degree or coding knowledge.
Frequently Asked Questions
Get your important questions answered.
Yes! We will offer a signature course for each of the components of our framework:
- Strategic Foundation (register on this page)
- Commercial Capabilities (add your name to our waitlist here to be notified when it opens up.)
- Operational Infrastructure (add your name to our waitlist here to be notified when it opens up.)
- Human Capital and Culture (add your name to our waitlist here to be notified when it opens up.)
Feel free to email us as well if you have a topic in mind that would help you. We'll review it to see if it's a good option for us to add to our platform.
This course is perfect for aspiring tech founders, early-stage entrepreneurs, and professionals looking to pivot into the tech industry. Whether you're just starting or want to refine your strategy, Envīveo offers the tools and knowledge you need to succeed.
Yes! When you enroll in Envīveo, you gain access to the Vive Hive community, where you can connect with other entrepreneurs and our Coaches Collective to share experiences and get support as you grow your business.
If you have questions, you can contact our support team at any time. Additionally, our Vive Hive community is a great place to get answers and advice from fellow students and instructors.
Click register anywhere on this page to enroll. This will take you to the registration page. Once registered, you'll have immediate access to all course materials. Please get in touch with the Envīveo Support Team with any questions about the course.
About Envīveo
2020-Today
Envīveo started as a better way to help founders transform their ideas into viable businesses. It continues to grow as we develop more resources — and build our global online community of founders, coaches, and industry experts.
Subscribe to get updates on our progress and insights from our experts.

Our Vision and Mission
We help innovators improve the world by providing cost-effective access to the people, resources, and insights entrepreneurs need to start and grow tech-based businesses successfully.

What We Do for Founders
From one-on-one coaching to learning experiences, our on-demand knowledge and consulting platform brings together the resources founders need to start their companies with fewer missteps and greater potential for success.

Our Founder
Tara Heptinstall, founder of Envīveo, has 25 years of experience building marketing, customer experience, and digital capabilities from the ground up within large enterprises, startups, and scaling organizations across various industries. She has led many large-scale programs from ‘zero to launch’ and has prepared dozens of pitches for capital funding to corporate boards of directors and private equity investors. Driven by a passion for coaching early-stage founders, Tara also serves as a Techstars mentor.
Tara is available as a fractional Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) to provide strategic marketing leadership to startups and other companies, offering a flexible solution without the long-term commitment of a full-time hire. This includes aligning marketing efforts with business goals, developing effective marketing strategies, building high-performing teams, and driving sustainable growth.
Please contact her directly to initiate a discussion.
