Scaling Readiness Programme

Two days. Six sessions. One concrete plan for your company. Each face-to-face session covers a critical scaling challenge and ends with actionable takeaways you can implement immediately. You'll work through it alongside a group of founders and leaders at the same stage, with dedicated time for peer exchange and enough shared experience to build lasting connections.

Module 1: Company strategy: turn company-wide ideas into one clear plan.

Most growth plans are buried in 50-slide presentations that no one reads. Strip away the noise and build a single, high-velocity growth blueprint: one page, sharp priorities, total team alignment. You leave with a plan that tells your team exactly where you're going, what moves the needle, and what to stop doing.

• Translate scattered ideas and priorities into one clear, execution-ready roadmap
• Identify what actually drives growth at your stage and scrap everything else
• Create full team alignment around a plan that drives daily decisions

Miguel Meuleman (Vlerick) + ondernemer

Module 2: Organisation: build structure that keeps up with your growth

Your company is growing faster than your organisation can keep up: signals are blurring, teams are stretched thin, and the startup energy is starting to fade. Adding headcount without structure doesn't scale; it just scales the chaos. You'll spot the warning signs early and put just enough structure in place to maintain momentum without becoming the company you swore you'd never be.

• Recognise the early signals that your company is about to crack, before they become crises
• Navigate your most critical hiring decisions: which positions should you fill first, and when
• Implement a structure that creates accountability without killing speed

Veroniek Collewaert (Vlerick) + Chief People Officer (scaleup)

Module 3: Make culture a competitive advantage, not an afterthought

Culture isn't an HR initiative; it's a competitive advantage. The right culture attracts top talent and keeps them; an unplanned one costs you your best people exactly when you need them most. Using the real-world Showpad journey, you hear directly from the founders who built and scaled a global culture from scratch.

• Define your culture explicitly, before your next wave of hires defines it for you
• Turn your values into a genuine magnet for the talent you actually want
• Learn from Showpad's global scale-up: the decisions, the mistakes, the lessons

Veroniek Collewaert (Vlerick) + Louis Jonckheere or Pieterjan Bouten (Showpad)

Module 4: Models that predict. Dashboards that persuade. Numbers that drive decisions.

Most founders manage cash reactively — checking balances, chasing invoices, hoping the numbers work out. This session turns finance into a forward-looking navigation system that tells you where you're heading, how long your runway is, and exactly what levers to pull. You'll build models that predict the future, not just report the past.

• Build reliable cash flow and forecasting models from your existing data
• Create investor-ready dashboards that speak the language of VCs, not accountants
• Hardwire your financial KPIs to daily operational execution, so the numbers drive decisions

Miguel Meuleman (Vlerick) + ecosystem expert

Module 5: Fundraising: raise on your terms, not theirs.

Fundraising feels like a black box because most founders go in unprepared: unclear on valuation, unsure about dilution and losing the narrative in the room. This session strips away the complexity from Pre-Seed to Series A and gives you the tools to get funding on your terms.

• Understand exactly how investors value your company at your stage and how to influence this
• Model dilution scenarios so you never give away more than you need to
• Build a capital plan and investor narrative that connect your metrics to your vision

Sophie Manigart (Vlerick) + entrepreneur/investor

Module 6: Go-to-market: from founder hustle to a sales engine that runs without you.

Founder-led sales have a limit. You can't be in every deal forever, and the moment you step back without a system in place, the pipeline dries up. This session gives you the blueprint to build a repeatable sales engine from your first critical sales hire to a team that closes consistently and improves with every cycle.

• Make the right first sales hire: the role, the profile, the moment
• Build a repeatable process that shortens your sales cycle and scales your pipeline
• Use data and content to optimise every stage of your funnel for conversion Elien Vandenbroucke (ex Silverfin) + entrepreneur

• Two days fully focused on your business, not generic case studies
• Every session combines academic rigour with a founder who has scaled their business in real life
• You leave with an actionable plan, something you can put into practice on Monday morning
• A small group of peers at the same stage with candid conversations, no posturing
• Vlerick research meets the Wintercircus ecosystem: definitively covering every critical scaling challenge in one programme
• Founders’ dinner, live DJ, and well-earned drinks at the iconic Wintercircus.

• Digital leaders who are ready to scale with intention and confidence.
• Founders and C-level leaders of early-stage tech and digital startups. You've got product-market fit and paying customers. You're growing — but the business is getting harder to manage, not easier. This programme is for that moment.

• Bootcamp format:
  • Friday full day + dinner. Saturday full day + closing.
  • One place, one time: intensive and practical.
• Registration: Claim your spot now!

1. Schedule a call to check whether this programme suits you and your organisation at this point in time.
2. Is there a match? Register online!

The standard cohort price is €3,000 (VAT exclusive). Discounts for multiple registrations from the same company:

• Duo registration: €2,500 per person
• 3 or 4 registrations: €2,000 per person

What’s included:

• 2-day bootcamp
• In-person, classroom format hosted at the iconic Wintercircus campus in Ghent.
• Wintercircus Academy & Vlerick Graduation Certificate “Scaling Readiness”

This programme is eligible for the SME e-wallet (KMO-portefeuille), in which a small company receives a 30% grant and a medium-sized company 20%. Up to a maximum of €7,500 per year.