Introduction to I-Corps Dan Kunitz

DC I-Corps Accelerator Director

February 10, 2016

I-Corps Story

How can we increase the economic impact

of the research dollars invested every year?

NSF Ditch of Death

Investors

Industry NS

F o

ve

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ll

GO

AL

I

ST

TR

AIR

/PF

I

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C

I/U

CR

C

SB

IR

ST

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Res

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In

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Discovery Development Commercialization

Foundations

Valley of Death

I-Corps

University

Small Business

“Ditch of Death”

Lean Launchpad Course

Lean Launchpad Course

developed by entrepreneurs

Lean Launchpad Course

taught by entrepreneurs

I-Corps Teams

I-Corps Nodes

I-Corps Sites

The National Innovation Network

About Lean Startup

How do we build a startup?

How do we build a startup?

What is a startup?

A startup is a temporary organization designed to search for a scalable and

repeatable business model

A startup is a temporary organization designed to search for a scalable and

repeatable business model

A startup is a temporary organization designed to search for a scalable and

repeatable business model

A startup is a temporary organization designed to search for a scalable and

repeatable business model

Startups search

Companies execute

Why do startups fail?

1# 2#

3#

100#First#Hits#

TM#

HiringPoorly

LackofFocusBuildingsomething

nobodywants

4#

5#

6#7#8#9##10

STARTUP MISTAKESTOP 10

Score: 300

5. Not Having The Right Co-Founders

36% of Tot.

Score: 153

18% of Tot.

Score: 112

13% of Tot.

Score: 98

12% of Tot.

FailtoexecuteSales&Marke ng

6. Chasing Investors, Not Customers

7. Not Making Sure You Have Enough Money

8. Spending Too Much Money

9. Failing To Ask For Help

10. Ignoring Social Media

18 (2,1%)

12 (1,4%)

6 (0,7%)

66 (7,9%)

45 (5,4%)

28 (3,3%)

www.100FirstHits.com

Customer Development

Validated business model

Informed by agile engineering

Evidence-based entrepreneurship

Course Goals

Improve odds

Shift the Curve

Shift the Curve

Reduce Risk

Fewer Strikeouts…

Reduce Risk

Fewer Strikeouts…

Reduce Risk

Fewer Strikeouts… More Base Hits and Home Runs!

Create more winners

Program objectives

• Create a Business Model Canvas • Learn Customer Development • Develop Hypotheses to test • Conduct Experiments • Gain Insights

About this course

Flipped Classroom

We are all entrepreneurs

Course outline:

• Wed. Feb 10 Business Model Generation and Customer Discovery

• Wed. Feb 17 Midpoint office hours

• Tues. Feb 23 Final presentations and discussion of what’s next

Expectations:

• Articulate your business thesis

• Develop hypotheses about your business model

• Test your hypotheses with 5 - 10 interviews each week

• Update and present your canvas each week

Our ecosystem: GW Office of Entrepreneurship

DC I-Corps

AccelerateDC

DC DSLB; TEDCO; CIT

NSF National I-Corps; SBIR/STTR

Introductions

Instructors

Jim Chung Dan Kunitz Lex McCusker

Mentors In Residence

Bob Smith Randy Graves Annamaria Konya-

Tannon

TAs

Lindsey Mitchell Tengiz Sydykov Jasmine Bautista

Team introductions

Thank you

dkunitz@gwu.edu