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Week 1
Finding your first customer
Successful startups are built to wow a well-defined set of customers. Trying to be all things to all people or targeting the wrong customer segment can spell an early end for a great idea.
Our focus in this session will be on creating a customer profile that will guide how you make decisions as you grow your startup.
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Week 2
Opportunity Validation
Viable businesses solve problems, fill an existing need and tackle jobs customers need to get done.
In this session, you will learn a tried and true method for how to make sure that the customer pain points your startup addresses are both real and pressing.
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Week 3
Designing customer journeys
It’s time to step into the shoes of your target customer and design an experience that they will remember and share with everyone they know.
In this session, we will use Design Thinking tools to model how your customers will interact with your product or service.
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Week 4
Modeling your business
Modern startups are asked to adapt quickly to changing environments and offer customers attractive value propositions that will keep them coming back.
We will turn our attention to mapping out the nine building blocks that will constitute your business.
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Week 5
Positioning your solution
A good founder is constantly tweaking their business model as new trends emerge and old ones fall away, as new rivals enter the fold, and regulations change.
This week we will put the work of scholars and practitioners who created and improved external environment scanning tools to good use as you shape a comprehensive view of your dynamic.
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Week 6
Solution Validation
Now that you have a working business model canvas and an idea of what your minimum viable product (MVP) will look like, let's talk about how validating both are essential to obtaining Product-Market Fit.
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Week 7
Projecting Financials
Time to start thinking about money. Savvy founders start thinking about , (1) How to charge for the solution, (2) How much to charge, (3) How big the market for the solution will be, (4) What the first few months of revenue might amount to, and (5) What costs will be accrued in the first months of the business’s existence.
This week will use information gathered from customer interviews and other data sources to construct a rudimentary startup financial projection based on a set of well-reasoned assumptions.
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Week 8
Pitching your startup
In this session, we will put all the work you have completed together into a compelling presentation designed to attract investor attention to your startup.
You will then have the option to pitch for a cash prize at our culminating networking and Mini-Demo Day event.
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Week 9
Coach week
Coach Week is an opportunity to meet for 1:1 coaching sessions with mentors in The Idea Village network.
These subject matter experts can provide strategic guidance and feedback on the cohort’s ventures.
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Week 10
Pitch practice & pitch night
Meet with an Idea Village staff member to help you better pitch your startup and to discuss the next steps for your business.
The IDEAinstitute Pitch Night takes place in-person in New Orleans, and it is an opportunity for select founders to showcase their startups to the community and to pitch to a diverse panel of esteemed judges.
The winner of Pitch Night walks away with a cash prize.
IDEAinstitute Northshore was an integral part of the hyper-growth of our business. It helped us to nail down our customer and in turn we went viral, resulting in our first 6-figure month!
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With the tools I learned, I’ve been able to secure multiple event opportunities, expand my range outside of Louisiana, and secure funding outside of traditional sources. IDEAinstitute Northshore pushed me beyond my comfort zone, and allowed me to think outside of the box by breaking the box!
After going through IDEAinstitute Northshore, I’ve been able to meet other business founders and I realize I’m not alone in my quest for knowledge and guidance.
From the expertise of the program administrators and shared experiences of entrepreneurial alum, to the connections forged and mentorship opportunities, IDEAinstitute Northshore has served as the ultimate business accelerator program. IDEAinstitute is where dreams become reality.
IDEAinstitute's modules are so user-friendly and suitable for entrepreneurs at all stages of development. Their expertise in streamlining my website and implementing an effective marketing strategy resulted in a significant 65% increase in sales
IDEAinstitute has been a fantastic rubric for all the planning and development I completed before starting the program. Some things I got right, other matters I completely missed. It is even better to have an engaged cohort full of non-energy focused expertise to solicit feedback.
As I am creating a business model to turn this personal brand into a tech-driven business that is scalable, Idea Village is helping me identify my avatar and discovering what is missing in the health wellness market that I can fill. IDEAinstitute Northshore is allowing me to take a step back and look at what is happening then discovering solutions to help make this idea scalable.
