Program Overview
These were the Submission Criteria for our Spring 2013 Applications - the only program run by Lean Launch Ventures
- Your business must have been formed not less than 3 months prior to application submission
- All applicants should be teams of at least 2 people
- At least one member of your team must have sufficient technical skills to develop your minimum viable product (MVP)
- Your business must be located within or willing to relocate to the state of Connecticut
Duration: 12 week hands-on, workshop-oriented, exploration and refinement of your startup concept
Goal: To build a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) filling customer need and/or solves customer problem
Curriculum: was based on LeanLaunchPadTM methodology of Steve Blank and Bob Dorf
Location was: 285 Riverside Ave, Westport CT - in the offices of Canaan Partners
Lean Launch Ventures provided:
- an engaged partner
- experience, industry and domain skills
- talented group of seasoned mentors
- contacts from our extended network
Key Tool: Business Model Canvas (BMC) was used as a scorecard for proven hypotheses
Focus: “getting out of the building” meeting customers, suppliers and partners validating hypotheses
One 3 hour class per week using a "flipped classroom" model:
- key lectures watched on video as homework assignments
- lectures discussed in class
- bulk of class time = reviewing progress of each team’s work
Successful completion of the program: investments of $33K were made in each startup in the form of convertible Notes with a 2 year duration which ended in June of 2015.
Demo Day: the 5 teams which graduated pitched their businesses to highly qualified early-stage investors to gain additional funding.
Classroom Sessions
Week 1: Kickoff / Introductions / Mentor Matching / BMC review
Week 2: Business model and the process of Customer Discovery
Week 3: Value Propositions - Statement, Testing & Refinement
Week 4: Customers, Users & Payers
Week 5: Distribution Channels
Week 6: Customer Funnel - Get, Keep & Grow
Week 7: Revenue Models
Week 8: Partnerships, Joint Ventures & Strategic Relationships
Week 9: Key Resources / Key Activities
Week 10: Costs & Budgeting
Week 11: Presentation Skills
Week 12: Presentation Practice
Demo Day