PolyUp is growing—and for the better!

This article is intended to introduce you to the expansion of an initiative within our community that benefits entrepreneurs: PolyUP.

Our shared challenge? To work together for the greater good, to facilitate the development, monitoring, and quality of our support services, and to come together, one after another, as a strong human and organizational chain in Quebec. We hope this initiative will become a model and a source of pride that will be talked about far beyond our borders.

To wrap up this introduction, I’d like to say a special thank you for all your supportive emails—they’re very encouraging! 

TL;DR: Read the headlines and the blue sidebars

PolyUp is a collaborative workspace for entrepreneurs and those who support them, powered by the Miro software. This virtual space organizes key concepts in business development to assess progress and identify areas for further exploration. The tool allows for free navigation and offers messaging, commenting, and voting features, promoting entrepreneurs’ independence.

Short answer: Because that's what it was already called, and we don't want to change the name for those who have already used it 🙂

Long answer: The original name seemed perfectly appropriate. For one thing, it refers to the organization from which it originated, and it’s a nice tribute— Propolys at Polytechnique Montréal. When we discussed changing the name, the term “PolyUp” didn’t immediately bring “Propolys” to mind for anyone. On the contrary, the definition of the word “Poly”—meaning “many” in Latin—refers to the nature of the tool, which brings together multiple concepts and is designed to be used by multiple stakeholders in succession.

We have a base model in a Miro space that we duplicate. In a new “instance” (the term used for a copy of the model) of version 6.0, you will find:

• A section with instructions on how to use the PolyUp*:
  • the rules to follow
  • How Comment Colors Work
  • additional resources

  *These instructions are suggestions and best practices that we encourage you to follow.

• A self-diagnostic section
• A section on discovery and validation
• A section for work and experimentation
• A Market/Product Alignment Section
• An impact section

Currently in version 6.0, PolyUp is set to evolve through collegial governance by an advisory committee (more on this below).

The Creative Commons concepts that make up the framework could be improved, transformed into applications, or replaced by new ones. It aims to accelerate communication, reduce the burden of knowledge transfer between programs, reinforce learning outcomes, and track the project’s progress throughout the startup’s support journey.

1. For advisors, it allows them to challenge entrepreneurs and centralize information.
2. For entrepreneurs, it helps validate or invalidate the components of their business, reducing risks and ensuring entrepreneurial success.

We act as a third party that offers a solution that benefits everyone we talk to (and we talk to a lot of people!)

Part of our mission is to scale up initiatives that benefit everyone. We are therefore taking on the responsibility for the distribution, maintenance, and future development of this tool.

It’s a lot of work to answer all the questions, assist new users, maintain a record of all distributed instances, produce content, and ensure governance. In addition, we’ll help with transfers, managing access rights, and any instances where content is modified or deleted by mistake.

Our neutral stance allows us to bring together various stakeholders on a committee and ensure the collaborative development of this tool through a clear governance structure.

• To ensure the cohesion and continuity of support for entrepreneurs throughout the entire support continuum.
• To facilitate learning and always move forward rather than revisiting what has already been learned.
• To establish standards and turn the diversity of support providers into a strength through collaboration and complementarity.

⭐️ The key to the concept (and if you had to remember just one thing): PolyUp is constantly improving AND it’s transferable!

You are free to choose not to use PolyUp if you’re not interested. Please remember that this is just a suggestion. Also, if you want to use it but the business owners don’t want it, their preference takes precedence, because the goal is for it to be useful to the business owner.

We don't want to force the main (no pun intended) on anyone. We’re doing this because we know it’s relevant; the power of usage will teach us the rest.

Have you considered using it to train your trainers? The concepts it brings together allow you to present best practices—along with the corresponding resources—to ensure your trainers adhere to validated standards. Expand their knowledge, define their scope of work, and empower them to collaborate.

Ah, that's a different question, but a very important one!

On the one hand, let’s not forget to remain humble, because as support providers, we are just one step in the entrepreneur’s journey. PolyUp is designed to facilitate the continuity of that journey. Therefore, the first person on the entrepreneur’s journey who initiates a PolyUp will begin using this tool.

Furthermore, the document supports the entrepreneur and could be used in other programs, where it can be adapted as the startup evolves. We must therefore approach our work with the understanding that we are one link in a chain, and that the PolyUp may arrive partially completed before we begin and will continue to be expanded upon by others after our participation, throughout the entire process.

Therefore, we must not delete or alter the content for our own personal use. Doing so would undermine the very concept of shareability, which is the strength of this initiative.

So, we can: 

• Participate in the advisory committee and suggest new, relevant content. 
• Add a note in the margin with useful information
• select some of the suggested items and ignore others entirely

To continue our work on PolyUp, we will be establishing an advisory committee.

Why: In line with our mission and our values of transparency, collaboration, and sound governance, this advisory committee is tasked with advising on, providing feedback on, and contributing to PolyUp’s technology roadmap (Roadmap + Backlog).
Yes, MAIN handles its distribution, but it is a tool intended for use by as many people as possible; therefore, we believe it is only natural that our role is to organize its governance and ensure its democratic development so that it is as useful as possible and aligned with everyone’s practices.

Who will make up this committee: a cohesive and representative group of stakeholders, including accelerators and incubators that use the tool, government officials (at the federal and provincial levels), entrepreneurs, of course, and members of the pilot project, who will be included in the first committee.

When: This committee will be officially launched after the pilot project

How to join the committee: just let us know! There will be a quarterly meeting and ongoing access to a working document to compile new proposals. Committee members may step down at any time. We would like members to serve for two quarters before proposing new members to replace them, in order to involve as many stakeholders as possible throughout the year.

PolyUp is a kind of toolkit with the following features:

• Continuous improvement (collaborative = advisory committee)
• Transferable (to each support program)
• Who owns it? (Yes, the request is made by the participants, but the content—and therefore every instance of PolyUp—belongs to the entrepreneur. It is up to them to decide on access links and how this space is used.)
• Which aims to be impartial and apolitical (it directly benefits entrepreneurs by providing value, and we strive to ensure that this tool is simply a tool, without representing any particular affiliation)
• Creative Commons content, royalty-free, licensed or assigned (the content is either free to use or recognized as being free to use under the terms of the concepts cited here)

Want to talk about it? Email us at polyup-demande@mainqc.com