Full guide
A launchpad for young people with purposeful ideas who need a place to start right.
This page is what we give to anyone who signs up. It explains what Raíz y Acción is, how it works, what each plan includes and how to get started. Ten minutes of honest reading.
— Clarity first. Project second.
What it is
It's not a course. It's not a typical incubator.
Raíz y Acción is an online program for people between 16 and 35 with a purposeful idea — social, environmental, community, educational — who don't know where to begin. Or who have been trying on their own for a while and can't quite get started.
It's a method with six phases, an AI mentor that knows your context, a supported community and live sessions with real people.
We start with you. Not with the idea.
Why it exists
What fails is almost never the idea.
I've spent fifteen years supporting social projects through Startidea (Granada, 2011). What repeats most often is not what I expected at first. It's not a lack of market. It's not a lack of ideas. What fails, almost always, is the personal foundation of the person carrying them.
That's why Raíz y Acción dedicates the entire first phase to you. What drives you. What outrages you. Which decisions you make with judgment and which you make out of habit. If that foundation isn't clear, everything else falls.
— Mario Pablo Sánchez Barrón, founder
How it works
The six phases of the method.
Each phase has materials, concrete exercises, a daily check-in and conversations with your AI mentor.
I understand myself
Before talking about the project, we sort out who you are. Your drivers, your indignations, your limits.
I find my cause
You land on the specific problem you want to address, and why you.
I shape my idea
From the cause to an idea with form. What it solves, for whom, how.
I design my first project
We turn it into a small pilot that can be tested in weeks, not years.
I go out into the world
You share it outside. You learn what reality gives back.
I learn and grow
You learn and improve, you decide whether to continue, stop or change direction. Without guilt.
What's included
Three levels. Starting costs zero.
Free Plan
€0
- Initial diagnostic (10 min)
- Phase 1 "I understand myself" — complete
- AI mentor with limited conversation
- Daily check-in
- Community (read only)
Pro Plan
€9 / month
- Everything in Free
- All 6 phases
- Priority and unlimited AI mentor
- Cohorts with weekly live sessions
- Fortnightly challenges
- Downloadable templates and canvases
- Email support within 24 h
14 days free. Cancel anytime.
Annual Pro Plan
€79 / year
- Pro with 2 months free
- Quarterly review sessions
- Early access to new features
Your first week
Day by day, until you have something in hand.
- Day 1. You sign up. Takes a minute. Email + password, or magic link if you prefer.
- Day 1, first 10 minutes. You take the diagnostic. Fourteen questions that are not a test or evaluation; they're a conversation. At the end it tells you your profile and which phase makes sense to start with.
- Day 2. You open the phase you're assigned. There's a short text, two or three concrete exercises, and a space to talk to the AI mentor.
- Days 3–5. You do the exercises. The daily check-in takes 90 seconds: how you are, what you did yesterday, what you'll do today, what's holding you back.
- Day 6. If you're Pro, it's time for your first live session with your cohort. Ninety minutes. You share, you listen, you leave with tasks.
- Day 7. Review. You decide whether the phase is done or if you need another week.
The AI mentor
It's not ChatGPT in new clothes.
It's Claude (Anthropic) with three things that make it yours:
- It knows your context. It knows which phase you're in, what you said in the diagnostic, what you've done in your recent check-ins.
- It's trained on the method. When you ask it something, it doesn't throw generic advice at you. It responds from within Raíz y Acción.
- It doesn't applaud you. That's the Startidea rule. It helps you think better, not feel better.
You can use it to sort out an idea, write a proposal, think out loud or prepare for a difficult conversation. It doesn't replace a person, but it saves you a lot of going around in circles.
Cohorts
Live sessions, week by week.
Every month we open a new cohort: a group of 10–15 people at similar points. You join when you arrive.
- 90-min weekly session on Wednesdays at 19:00 (Spain time). If you can't make it, it's recorded.
- Human facilitator who knows the method and moderates. Most months that's me.
- A shared space within the platform where the cohort communicates between sessions.
It's not a course. It's joint work. You bring your project, the others bring theirs, and we all learn by watching how thinking happens.
For organizations
If you support young people, this adds a layer of method.
Local councils, foundations, schools, associations, youth programs. We implement Raíz y Acción with your people: your brand, your sessions, your timeline.
We provide the method, the materials, the platform. You provide the facilitators and the young people.
To talk about this: mario@startidea.es.
Frequently asked questions
What I get asked most.
Do I need to have an idea already?
No. Half the people who arrive don't. The first phase is made precisely to discover it.
Is there a minimum or maximum age?
The program is designed for 16–35 year-olds. It works above that too, but the language and references are calibrated for that range.
How much time do I need per day?
The minimum viable is 20 minutes a day plus a 90-minute weekly session if you're on Pro. A reasonable amount is 45 minutes a day. Phases progress at your pace; no one pushes you.
Does it work if I'm not from Spain?
Yes. The content is in Spanish, the live sessions are on Spain time. If you're from Latin America, Central America and northern South America timezones work.
Can I cancel whenever I want?
Yes, from your account. No calls, no forms, no one trying to convince you to stay. If you cancel within the 14-day trial, you're not charged anything.
Is my data safe?
Yes. Servers in the EU (Germany) and we comply with European data protection law. You can download your data or delete the account whenever you want from My account → Privacy.
What if the method doesn't convince me?
Cancel. No drama. And if you feel like it, write to me telling me why; it helps me improve.
How to start
Three steps. Ten minutes.
- 1. Go to raizyaccion.hubstartidea.es and create your free account.
- 2. Take the diagnostic (it won't ask for anything you don't want to answer).
- 3. Start with the phase that fits you.
If you still have questions, write to mario@startidea.es. I'll answer personally.
Last updated: May 2026 · Mario Pablo Sánchez Barrón · Startidea