At CoLab, we're constantly striving to create the best possible community platform for teachers. Recently, we had the incredible opportunity to participate in a workshop led by Gregory Cerallo from Sidekick Interactive, through McGill Dobson Centre for Entrepreneurship's X-1 Accelerator and have a follow-up session to brainstorm ways to execute our final product sprint before launch. These experiences were a game-changer, providing us with invaluable insights and tools to propel our startup forward.

Discovering Our Core
The workshop began with a crucial exercise: defining our essence. Just like Spotify's is "I open Spotify to listen to music," we identified CoLab's as "I open CoLab to collaborate with other teachers." This simple yet powerful statement serves as our guiding star, ensuring that every decision aligns with our core mission.

Mapping Our Future
Next, we delved into a comprehensive mind map of our product, encompassing everything from existing features to the ambitious pipeline. This exercise offered a clear overview of where we are and where we want to go. We focused on setting concrete goals for the next 2, 6, and 12 months, providing a roadmap for our journey.

Poker Planning
One of the most impactful takeaways was the concept of poker planning. This collaborative approach to estimating development time involves team members independently assigning cards representing different timeframes to each feature. By sharing these estimates and discussing the rationale behind them, we can reach a consensus on priorities and timelines. We know that talking about our assumptions together as a team will streamline development and ensure everyone is aligned on the same goals.

Embracing the Weird
Now this part was especially memorable! Gregory emphasized the importance of embracing uniqueness. He encouraged us to prioritize building distinctive features now, while we have the flexibility to experiment. This advice resonates with our desire to make a significant impact in the education sector. By daring to be different, we can carve out a niche for CoLab and create a truly exceptional platform.

We're incredibly grateful for the opportunity to learn from Gregory Cerallo and the X-1 Accelerator. The insights and tools gained from this workshop have already made a positive impact on our team and our product. Stay tuned for exciting updates as we implement these learnings and bring CoLab to more teachers across the country!