point of departure

point of departure
    n 1: a place from which an enterprise or expedition is launched;
         "one day when I was at a suitable jumping-off place I
         decided to see if I could find him"; "my point of departure
         was San Francisco" [syn: {jumping-off place}, {point of
         departure}]
    2: 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" [syn:
       {springboard}, {jumping-off point}, {point of departure}]