"springboards" in the noun sense
1. springboard
a flexible board for jumping upward
2. springboard, jumping-off point, point of departure
a beginning from which an enterprise is launched
"he uses other people's ideas as a springboard for his own"
"reality provides the jumping-off point for his illusions"
"the point of departure of international comparison cannot be an institution but must be the function it carries out"
Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)
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