Tips & Tricks for Mentors October 2015 © 2015 INCubatoredu, NFP

Content Background Curriculum The Mentor’s Job What do I say to my team? Resource: Real Pitches by Real Students © 2015 INCubatoredu, NFP

LEAN methodology + Foundational business education Blend of business basics and new LEAN methodology © 2015 INCubatoredu, NFP

Curriculum Search and Discover Validate Unit 1 Ideation Unit 2 Customer Discovery Unit 3 Customer Connections Unit 4 Dollars and Cents Introduction – 5 days BMC – 3 days Group Ideation – 5 days BMC Refinement – 3 days Competitive Analysis – 4 days Value Proposition – 5 days Customer Segmentation - 2 External Advice/Mentor Match- 3 Problem Interview - 6 Market Sizing - 3 Solution Interview - 11 Positioning - 3 Channels - 2 Customer Relationships - 3 Internet Marketing - 4 Positioning - 3 Channels - 2 Customer Relationships - 3 Internet Marketing - 4 Pricing - 2 Estimating Costs - 3 Intro Financial Statements - 2 Mechanics of Excel - 2 Financial Modeling - 5 Pricing - 2 Estimating Costs - 3 Intro Financial Statements - 2 Mechanics of Excel - 2 Financial Modeling - 5 Validate Unit 5 Building Your MVP Unit 6 Validation/ Experimentation Unit 7 Promotion Unit 8 Operations/ Presentation Two semester course that uses LEAN foundation interwoven with foundational business topics Web/App Development – 3 days MVP Design – 8 days MVP Funding – 3 days Prep for Pitch – 6 days MVP Pitch – 2 days Implementation Planning - 2 MVP Experimentation - 12 Business Regulation - 2 Technology Planning - 3 Legal - 4 Growth Engine - 3 Marketing Planning - 3 Sales Planning - 2 Staffing/Operations - 2 Insurance - 2 Finances - 3 Funding Requests - 3 Prepping for Pitch - 5 Pitch - 3 4 Bolded items delivered by volunteer Coach © 2015 INCubatoredu, NFP

Curriculum Search and Discover Validate Unit 1 Ideation Unit 2 Customer Discovery Unit 3 Customer Connections Unit 4 Dollars and Cents Customer Segmentation - 2 External Advice/Mentor Match- 3 Problem Interview - 6 Market Sizing - 3 Solution Interview - 11 Advisory Day Validate Unit 5 Building Your MVP Unit 6 Validation/ Experimentation Unit 7 Promotion Unit 8 Operations/ Presentation Mentors join the program during Unit 2 5 © 2015 INCubatoredu, NFP

Curriculum Search and Discover Validate Unit 1 Ideation Unit 2 Customer Discovery Unit 3 Customer Connections Unit 4 Dollars and Cents Validate Unit 5 Building Your MVP Unit 6 Validation/ Experimentation Unit 7 Promotion Unit 8 Operations/ Presentation Key milestones that mentors will help prep student teams are MVP and Pitch MVP Pitch Prep Pitch Prep Web/App Development – 3 days MVP Design – 8 days MVP Funding – 3 days Prep for Pitch – 6 days MVP Pitch – 2 days Implementation Planning - 2 MVP Experimentation - 12 Business Regulation - 2 Technology Planning - 3 Legal - 4 Growth Engine - 3 Marketing Planning - 3 Sales Planning - 2 Staffing/Operations - 2 Insurance - 2 Finances - 3 Funding Requests - 3 Prepping for Pitch - 5 Pitch - 3 6 © 2015 INCubatoredu, NFP

Guide vs. Block the flow

Mentor’s Job – The “What” Overall, the mentor’s goal is to identify the riskiest parts of the students’ business What do you consider the riskiest part of the plan? Have you overcome similar risks? How would you go about testing those risks? Are there other people the team should speak with? © 2015 INCubatoredu, NFP

Mentor’s Job -- The “How” Guiding often means questioning “How are you applying this week’s coach lessons to your business?” “What do your customer interviews tell you about your problem/hypothesis? Is the problem significant?” NOT about telling the students the “right” answers Self discovery is a powerful teacher Help students apply hypothesis/test/iterate to their specific business Understand/reinforce principles of financial model © 2015 INCubatoredu, NFP

Search and Discover Unit 2 Customer Discovery Unit 3 Customer Connections Unit 4 Dollars and Cents Lessons in Classroom Customer Segmentation External Advice/Mentor Match Problem Interview Market Sizing Solution Interview Positioning Channels Customer Relationships Internet Marketing Pricing Estimating Costs Intro Financial Statements Mechanics of Excel Financial Modeling What will you charge for your business product/service? Why? How did you arrive at that price? What do similar businesses charge for their product? What is your competitive advantage? What volume/revenue is needed, at the price you are charging, to break even? Is that realistic? Some questions to ask your team What was the inspiration for your idea? What problem is your idea addressing? Who have you talked to to validate if that problem exists with others? Did you find the problem was common among that group? Is the potential customer segment large enough for your business concept? What adjustments could be made to improve your business concept? How will your business be distinctive relative to existing businesses that address the same problem? Why should the customer believe you? What can you do right now to reach potential customers? How can you test customer responses to your business idea? 10 © 2015 INCubatoredu, NFP

Validate Unit 5 Building Your MVP Unit 6 Validation/ Experimentation Promotion Unit 8 Operations/ Presentation Lessons in Classroom Web/App Development MVP Design MVP Funding Prep for Pitch MVP Pitch Implementation Planning MVP Experimentation Business Regulation Technology Planning Legal Growth Engine Marketing Planning Sales Planning Staffing/Operations Insurance Finances Funding Requests Prepping for Pitch Pitch Some questions to ask your team Will your business concept use web or app communication? Why? How? How can the business concept be tested so that the team has many learning cycles using little money? What adjustments have you made to the BMC? Why? How are problem/customer responses incorporated into the MVP Pitch? What is the story for the MVP Pitch? What comments from the Board of Advisors should be addressed during the MVP phase? Why? What are the top 3 steps to implement the teams’ MVP? Who does what in the MVP? If the customer response is not what you expect, how will the team respond? Key watch out is procrastination, not because students don’t want to do the work, more due to fear of failing. Failure is fine. It’s how you handle failure, learn and adjust or….? What are you hearing from customers/vendors? What are you learning? How will that learning be applied to your business model canvas and/or MVP? Have issues raised by the Board of Advisors been addressed? What adjustments need to be made, based on learning from market? What is the team story at this stage? How are expected financials looking compared to MVP experience? Pitch preparation Every team will do an “Academic Pitch” in the classroom. Some teams will be invited to an optional “Final Pitch,” a competition. Two semester course that uses LEAN foundation interwoven with foundational business topics 11 © 2015 INCubatoredu, NFP

Video Clips – Final Pitch Examples FMB Technology https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsz1vwpARX0 Warrior Wipes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86frmupG9BA The Study Project https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roevJorX1Ow TechWurk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xeC5UoLTmk FantasTech https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZ7xG-YU9zI © 2015 INCubatoredu@ef LLC