From a problem to a team.In 11 evenings.

11 Wednesday evenings at SAA School of Management, free to join. You arrive with a problem worth solving. You leave knowing whether it is real, and with the people to build it with.

Why it works

11 evenings. One real outcome.

Two kinds of evening, alternating. Practitioners who have built companies in Turin tell you what they wish they had known. Workshops put you to work with the rest of the room: finding a problem, talking to users, hearing other people's ideas, choosing who to build with. It ends with a showcase of the problems worth pursuing, and the bridge to what comes next.

01

You do not need an idea

Half the room walks in with nothing, and that is the design rather than the shortfall. The workshops exist to find a problem worth the trouble — and the people who want to chase it with you. Joining someone else’s counts exactly as much as arriving with your own.

5 workshop evenings
02

Talks from people who have done it

Not a recorded video, and not a panel that leaves at eight. A founder, an investor, somebody who has priced a product or signed the paperwork: they take the part they actually know, and then answer questions for as long as the room keeps asking.

6 practitioner evenings
03

You leave with evidence

Not an attendance certificate and a folder of slides. A problem that has survived other people’s questions, conversations with users who are not your friends, and a team that has already disagreed about something and carried on.

Evening 11: the showcase
  • Practitioner · a speaker
  • Peer workshop · a mediator
  • Wednesdays, 17:30–19:30
  1. October
  2. 01
    Talk

    What a startup actually is

  3. 02
    Talk

    Turin's ecosystem: who's who

  4. No session

  5. 03
    Workshop

    Problems worth solving

  6. November
  7. 04
    Workshop

    Talking to users properly

  8. 05
    Workshop

    Idea listening circle

  9. 06
    Talk

    Founder resilience

  10. 07
    Talk

    Pricing: what to charge

  11. December
  12. 08
    Talk

    First users without a budget

  13. 09
    Talk

    Legal and admin basics

  14. 10
    Workshop

    Finding people to work with

  15. 11
    Workshop

    Problem showcase and bridge

Who you will meet

0 people who have actually done it.

Practitioners in the room every week, for the whole evening — not a recorded video, and not a panel that leaves at eight.

Before you ask

The things everybody asks.

Do I need an idea to join?

No, and about half of each cohort arrives without one. Five of the eleven evenings are workshops built for finding a problem worth solving and the people to work on it with. Joining someone else's idea counts exactly as much as bringing your own.

Is it really free?

Yes. No fee, nothing to buy during the programme, and no equity. The room is provided by SAA School of Management and the speakers come for nothing.

Who can apply?

Anyone over eighteen. Students and people already working both take part, and you do not need to be enrolled at the university or studying anything in particular.

What language are the sessions in?

Italian and English. Most evenings run in Italian, with English whenever the speaker or the room needs it. Teams work in whichever language suits them and the final showcase can be in either.

What is the difference between the two kinds of evening?

A practitioner evening is one person who has done the thing — priced a product, raised money, signed the contracts — talking about the part they know, then answering questions for as long as the room keeps asking. A peer workshop has no speaker: a mediator runs the room and the work is done by the people in it, on their own problems.

Why is there no session on 21 October?

One deliberate break, a fortnight in. The two opening evenings are talks; the workshops that follow ask you to turn up with a problem you have actually thought about, and that week is for doing exactly that.

What if I miss an evening?

Nothing happens — there is no penalty and nobody chases you. The certificate is the one place attendance matters: it asks for most of the evenings that count, and the exact figure is on your own page once you enrol.

Do I have to come every week?

Come to what is useful. The workshops build on each other more than the talks do, so the middle stretch rewards turning up; the talk evenings stand alone and you can pick the ones you want.

Can I speak, or run a workshop?

Yes — every evening has an open slot. Practitioner evenings want somebody who has done the thing in question; workshops want a mediator who can run a room without dominating it. Write to the programme and say which evening and why.

What happens after the eleven evenings?

The last evening is a showcase: teams put their problem in front of the room and the mentors. What comes after that is yours — some teams keep going, some people join another team, and some decide the problem was not worth it, which is also a result.

The room

60 seats. One evening a week.

59 still free for the next cohort. Applications close when they run out.

Front

Admit one · Free

Foundation Phase 2026

Starts
Wed, Oct 7, 2026
Every
Wednesday · 17:30 – 19:30
Length
11 evenings
Where
SAA School of ManagementVia Ventimiglia 115, Torino

59of 60 seats free

Register free