Silicon Valley’s management guru Jeff Abbott to train companies participating in the SEB Growth Programme

SEB, in cooperation with the European Innovation Academy, is conducting a growth programme which awaits applications for its new round from companies that wish to find new growth models for their business to develop faster than the general rhythm of the market.

Up to 15 companies will be chosen for the programme commencing in the autumn who, under the leadership of training providers Alar Kolk and Jeff Abbott, will be helped to devise a personal action plan by means of which, the companies will already be able to take a step forward in business activities within three to six months.

“Reputable training provider Alar Kolk has trained over 3000 executives to create successful business models in the past 15 years. Among others, he has provided consultations to global corporations such as Amadeus, FCA, Ferrero, Empower, and Google. Jeff Abbott will be joining the SEB growth programme in the autumn as the other training provider and mentor. Abbott, who resides in Silicon Valley, is an entrepreneur, a consultant for start-ups, an author of books and a partner at the Scaling Academy and Wasabi Ventures Global,” said Ainar Leppänen, the Head of Retail Banking at SEB, with regard to the background of the training providers of the growth programme.

“With the ambitious growth programme promoting entrepreneurship, SEB has, by today, shouldered the development of 100 Estonian companies that wished to improve their business activities and raise their competitiveness. In addition to companies, 50,000 auditors have also participated in the programme within two years, who have taken part in public lectures or have watched live broadcasts via Facebook. An informative fact that is also worth pointing out is that in the most recent class of the programme, the total turnover of participating companies was about 500 million euros, and the goal of the ambitious programme was to increase it tenfold, that is, to 5 billion euros,” Leppänen added.

Important dates in the Growth Programme:

4 September – Launch event at the SEB Innovation Centre introducing the Growth Programme
8 October – “How do you grow tenfold?” Alar Kolk
23 October – “How do you design the customer and the market?” Alar Kolk
6 November – “How do you design new products and services?” Alar Kolk
20 November – “How do you increase turnover without increasing costs?” Jeff Abbott
4 December – “How do you create an organisational culture that supports innovation?” Jeff Abbott

At every session, companies will receive a personal consultation regarding their action plan.

We welcome applications for joining until 11 September 2019. You can find further information about the growth programme at https://www.seb.ee/ariklient/kasvuprogramm