What's the Startup Design Sprint at HEC Paris?
Startup Design Sprint: How to Validate or Pivot Your Business Idea in 5 DaysAs a centerpiece of the HEC Paris Startup Launchpad curriculum, one of the HEC Paris Innovation & Entrepreneurship Institute’s flagship programs, the Design Sprint empowers entrepreneurs to validate their ideas and transform their concepts into user-centric solutions. By harnessing a collaborative environment that prioritizes user feedback and rapid iteration, the Design Sprint enables student teams to tackle complex challenges with agility and creativity. Let’s explore what’s behind this framework at HEC Paris.
What’s the Startup Design Sprint at HEC Paris made of?
Scheduled between February 10th and 14th, the Design Sprint was one of the most fundamental steps for the 47 teams who joined the Startup Launchpad this year: at the end of this intensive week, students validate their project and transition to the next stage. As Guillaume Le Dieu de Ville, Startup Launchpad program director, asserts: “What we’re looking for in the Launchpad is to identify genuine market opportunities. We provide students with all the keys to reading, enabling them to understand and acclimate with different activity sectors, and identify the issues that may arise within.” Indeed, when Launchpad students embark on their Design Sprint at HEC Paris, they have already conducted extensive field research through dozens of interviews, and gathered valuable user feedback. This foundational work provides them with a deep understanding of consumer needs and expectations, which they can leverage during the Design Sprint.
“During the Design Sprint, students engage in a series of fast-paced, high-pressure exercises to transform understanding and insights collected during the field research phase, into a non-functional product - a mock demonstration of a value proposition - within just five days.”
- Rémi Rivas, Head of Pedagogy, Startup Launchpad program
HEC Paris Startup Launchpad Design Sprint 2025
Here's an overview of how students transform these insights into actionable solutions over the course of five days:
What's on the agenda?
Day 1: Mapping and Understanding the Problem
The Design Sprint kicks off with a comprehensive session dedicated to mapping the problem landscape and gaining a deep understanding of the challenge at hand. The team undertakes extensive research and compiles critical information, pinpointing the ultimate objective and defining the underlying problem. This initial stage is decisive, as it sets the direction for the entire sprint and ensures all subsequent efforts are aligned towards a clearly articulated goal.
Day 2: Define a Value Proposition and Sketch Solutions
The second day shifts into a creative mode, focusing on developing the chosen concepts further. Students work on creating more detailed descriptions of their proposed solutions, possibly including rough sketches or basic wireframes. This stage harnesses the collective creativity of the team and funnels it into viable options. They may also start outlining the key elements of their value proposition and begin to consider how their solution will differentiate itself in the market.
“Being in a vacuum for a week on a specific project and putting it down on paper forces you to be very down-to-earth. You realize that, in fact, there are certain things that don't work, assumptions that you took for granted that ultimately, once put to the test of the market, don't apply. So you have to adapt.”
- Ines Le Châtelier, Startup Launchpad 2025 cohort participant
Day 3: Choose a Solution and Create a Storyboard
Once a wealth of ideas has been generated, the team converges to evaluate and select the most promising solutions on the third day. The decision-making process is rigorous and democratic, ensuring that the strongest proposals are given priority. Selected ideas are then transformed into a cohesive storyboard: an exhaustive visualization of the user journey from start to finish, which serves as the blueprint for the following day’s prototype.
Day 4: Construct a Prototype
The fourth day is a flurry of focused activity where the vision crafted in the storyboard comes to life through prototyping. This phase is characterized by efficiency and strategic resource allocation, as the aim is to construct a “just realistic enough” prototype. This does not entail perfection or a fully-fledged product but rather an interactive model that can yield substantive user feedback. This tangible representation of ideas becomes the centerpiece for user testing. It is a day when the abstract becomes more tangible, and validation can pivot an idea from conception to reality.
“I think the best part about it is that we’ve been taught how to prioritize what we want to focus on, at this moment, because that time is limited and we want to essentially get our first prototype as soon as possible.”
- Aradhya Jain, Startup Launchpad 2025 cohort participant
Day 5: Final Presentation
On the last day, teams put the finishing touches on their prototypes and complete their pitch deck. They likely engage in practice presentations and receive feedback from mentors. By the end of the day, each team is fully prepared to pitch and present their demonstration prototype to the entire cohort, showcasing what they plan to build and test with their target users. This exercise is a great training ground to prepare student entrepreneurs to pitch in front of real investors the following week.
What are the benefits for student entrepreneurs?
In the fast-paced world of entrepreneurship, time is of the essence. The design sprint condenses the product development timeline, enabling student entrepreneurs to move swiftly from idea conception to user testing, thus maintaining momentum in their projects.
For student entrepreneurs aspiring to create startups, this methodology helps refine their business concepts to a level where they are in the good direction for market launch or further development, thereby increasing their chances of success.
Next step: London LEX and the Grand Pitch Night
Upon completing this intensive week, students will prepare for the London Learning Expedition (London LEX), scheduled for March 24 to 27. The insights gained from the Design Sprint create a robust foundation for students, while the London LEX aims to expand their perspectives through direct, hands-on experiences within the international entrepreneurial ecosystem.
More than just a school trip, the London LEX allows participants to learn from a different business culture within a vibrant city known for its diversity and innovative ecosystem. The expedition, facilitated by HEC UK House, emphasizes the importance of thinking globally from the start, by understanding different markets and adapting business models to meet international demands.
A key highlight of the trip is the London Grand Pitch Night, set to take place on Wednesday, March 26th, at the Curzon Soho Theatre - where 6 teams will have the chance to pitch their projects to a distinguished jury, gaining exclusive visibility.
> Learn more about the next steps of the program
Grand Pitch Night 2024
Did you know?
The genesis of the design sprint can be traced back to the experiences of Jake Knapp, the principal designer at Google Ventures, who recognized that traditional product development cycles were often too slow to respond to the rapidly changing demands of the market. Jake Knapp, along with his colleagues, sought to address this challenge by integrating principles from design thinking, agile development, and lean startup methodologies. The objective was to create a framework that would allow teams to quickly ideate, prototype, and validate ideas with users in a matter of days, rather than weeks or months. They aimed to minimize the risk of product failure while maximizing the efficiency of the development process, enabling startups and established companies alike to maintain a competitive edge.
About HEC Paris Innovation & Entrepreneurship Institute
Top-4 European startups hub by the Financial Times/Sifted, the institute supports entrepreneurs from all walks of life. Through our Incubation & Acceleration, Deeptech, and Social Entrepreneurship centers, we assist students with innovative ideas, budding startups, rapidly scaling SMEs, transforming large enterprises, and social or environmental entrepreneurs to grow efficiently and with impact. Here, the entire entrepreneurial ecosystem of HEC Paris comes together to help you Make it Happen, Make it Big.
About HEC Paris Foundation
A Transformative Impact on the HEC Startup Launchpad!
Philippe Foriel-Destezet (H.58), a Major Donor and Testator of the HEC Foundation, made a generous bequest which the Foundation, in agreement with his family and the School, has dedicated to the development of the entrepreneurial program. Thanks to the generosity of Pascal Cagni (HEC Paris MBA 86), a Major Donor of the Foundation, students from NYU Stern School of Business benefit from this unique opportunity each year.