Founder's Trail

Founder’s Trail is an entrepreneurship challenge by E-Cell, IIT Patna, where participants take a startup idea from identifying a real world problem to developing, validating, and taking it to the market. The challenge is divided into 3 rounds : Discover, Design , and Deliver with each round building on the previous one. Team Size: Participation requires teams of 1-3 people. Round 1: Discover Start with a real problem and develop a startup idea around it. Your task is to show that the problem actually exists, understand your target customers, and support your idea with proper market research. Deliverables: Problem Statement - What problem are you solving and for whom? Startup Idea - Your proposed solution and how it solves the problem. Startup Domain - Identify the industry/domain in which your startup operates . Target Customers - Define your primary customer segment and their key needs or pain points. Market Research - Primary/secondary research, customer insights and relevant data. Competitor Analysis - Existing competitors, alternatives and your differentiation. Startup Identity - Startup name, logo and a basic brand identity representing your idea. Idea Submission - A concise document/presentation combining the above. Round 2: Design Now turn your idea into a practical and viable venture and plan how you will take it to your first customers. Participants will define the solution, business model, pricing and a clear GTM (Go-To-Market) strategy. Deliverables: Solution Design - Product/service concept, prototype or working model. Customer Journey - How the customer discovers, uses and receives value from your solution. Business Model - Pricing, basic costs and how the venture will generate revenue. GTM Strategy - Target customers, acquisition channels and conversion strategy. Submission - Present the complete venture and its execution plan with the above requirements. Round 3: Deliver The final stage challenges teams to take their venture beyond planning and test it in the real world. Teams will execute their marketing strategy, reach potential customers, and collect real world feedback to evaluate and improve their venture Marketing & Execution Guidelines: Content & Social Media Creation: Create and publish promotional Reels and short-form content on your project's dedicated Instagram account. Ensure you use the official event hashtag and tag @ecell_iitpatna in all posts. Customer Acquisition: Reach customers beyond social media using other outreach methods, campus groups and product demos. Tracking & Metrics: Measure success by monitoring views, engagement, inquiries, qualified leads. Iteration & Improvement: How you will use performance data and customer feedback to refine your messaging and continuously improve your venture. How Selection Works Every round is an elimination round, and only the top performing teams advance to the next round. A judging panel evaluates each submission based on the criteria specified for that round. Round wise deliverables, submission guidelines, and judging criteria will be provided at the beginning of each round. Teams must prepare their pitch decks according to the specified deliverables and slide limits for that round. Ties will be broken based on the higher score in the first criterion listed in the respective round's evaluation table. Note : For every round, teams must submit a pitch deck within the slide limit specified for that round and follow all deliverables mentioned in the respective round guidelines.For queries , you can contact any of the organisers.