jumping-off point

and jumping-off place

a point or place from which to begin something. The local library is a good jumping-off point for your research. The office job in that company would be a good jumping-off place for a career in advertising.

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Torgny	-	Swedish
Sargon	SAHR-gawn (English)	History
Jarl	YAHRL (Norwegian, Swedish, Danish)	Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Norse Mythology, Ancient Scandinavian
Celio	CHE-lyo (Italian), THE-lyo (Spanish), SE-lyo (Latin American Spanish), SE-lyoo (Portuguese)	Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
Hyginus	-	Ancient Greek (Latinized)
Nadab	-	Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek