MCI Bootcamp South Africa.

We helped entrepreneurs transform their products and services into market-creating innovations.

TEDxJohannesburg recently hosted a rigorous, innovation-focused, and context-specific three-day bootcamp to help turn South African-based entrepreneurs into market-creating innovators.

The Market-Creating Innovation (MCI) bootcamp took place from Tuesday to Thursday, 12-14 July, and was presented by the Christensen Institute, with the support of Workshop 17.

Anchored in the principles and theories in Clayton M. Christensen, Efosa Ojomo, and Karen Dillon’s book, The Prosperity Paradox: How Innovation Can Lift Nations Out of Poverty, the MCI Bootcamp was designed especially for emerging market leaders.

The three, half-day bootcamp sessions were facilitated by Ojomo, the co-author of The Prosperity Paradox and a senior research fellow at the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation. This is a United States-based organisation founded on the work of the late Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen.

The South African bootcamp focused on social impact entrepreneurs, both for-profits and non-profits, whose enterprises champion or accelerate solutions to the climate crisis.

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Bootcamp programme:

Tuesday 12 July

14:00 - 15:30 PM | Session 1  

Welcome + Introductions

Introduction to the Prosperity Paradox 

15:30 - 16:00 PM | Break

16:00 - 17:30 PM | Session 2 

Introducing the problem: why zero?  

What is a market-creating innovation and why is it important? 

Wednesday 12 July

14:00 - 15:30 PM | Session 3 

How much of the 51 billion tons are we talking about?

How can I identify market-creating opportunities?

15:30 - 16:00 PM | Break

16:00 - 17:30 PM | Session 4

What's your plan for cement?

How can I evaluate market-creating opportunities?

17:30 - 18:00 PM | Break

18:00 - 19:30 PM | Session 5

How much power are we talking about?

How do I know what products non-consumers will buy? 

Thursday 13 July

14:00 - 15:30 PM | Session 6

How much space do you need?

How can I build a market-creating business model?

15:30 - 16:00 PM | Break

16:00 - 17:30 PM | Session 7

Plan for Zero

What do I build in-house vs. outsource?

17:30 - 18:00 PM | Thank you & next steps.