Explore Your Idea Course

Overview

Explore Your Idea Course is the first 12-week course in our Launch Academy. This course focuses on clarifying your business idea and who it is for, testing your concept and getting feedback, and beginning to build awareness and making sales.

Course Objectives

Gain an understanding of the conditions needed for your business to thrive
Apply concepts of design thinking and learn startup methodologies to define, build, test, validate, and improve your business idea
Gain a deeper understanding of the business model and market opportunity for your business
Develop a go-to-market plan for your business

Weekly Sessions

Unit	Topics Covered
Introduction	Gain an entrepreneurial mindset and examine your motivations and goals for starting a business Learn how to use design thinking methods to clarify your business idea and test its feasibility Clarify your business idea through a series of simple questions
Customer Discovery	Gain an understanding of how to use customer discovery processes for evaluating market fit Learn how to prepare for and conduct customer discovery interviews, and how to use the data to create a customer profile Conduct customer discovery interviews
Business Model	Gain an understanding of how an organization creates, delivers and captures value through its business model Learn how to use a business model canvas to develop a business model for your idea Define your customer, product/service offering, value proposition, and social impact through the business model canvas
Minimum Viable Product	Gain an understanding of lean startup methodology Learn how to apply lean methods in developing a minimum viable product Develop your minimum viable product
Creating Presence	Gain an understanding of the importance of creating an online presence for your business Learn the basics of creating a website and social media profiles Create a website and social media profiles to promote your minimum viable product
Share Your Idea	Share your minimum viable product with peers and instructor Receive feedback from your peers and instructor on your minimum viable product Reflect on your experience sharing your idea with others
Market Insights	Gain an understanding of the components of a go-to-market strategy Learn how to get insights on the market for your business by performing a market analysis Conduct market research to gain a deeper understanding of the potential for your business
Understanding Your Customers	Gain an understanding of the factors that influence your customer’s behavior and purchasing decisions Learn how to use a customer journey map to visualize your customer’s experience in making purchasing decisions Create a customer persona and journey map for your target customer
Demonstrating Value	Gain an understanding of the importance of having a clear and concise presentation of your business’ value proposition Learn how to identify and articulate your business’ value proposition Develop a value proposition statement for your business
Building Awareness	Learn about different marketing and sales channels to build customer awareness Gain an understanding of why it is important to define marketing goals and create a marketing plan Develop a marketing plan to build customer awareness of your business
Cultivating Relationships	Gain an understanding of how to cultivate relationships with potential customers through marketing and sales activities Discuss how to build trust and nurture relationships with potential customers Define how you want to show up in the sales process and what a good customer relationship looks like
Final Presentations	Present your go-to-market plan to your peers and mentors Receive constructive feedback from your peers and mentors to refine your go-to-market plan

Course Details

Length: This course is 12 weeks (54 clock hours).

Format: This course is delivered online and combines live, interactive learning with flexible, self-paced work. Each week includes:

Weekly live, instructor-led workshops via Zoom
Online readings, videos, and applied activities you complete on your own schedule
One-on-one mentoring meetings and facilitated peer group sessions focused on learning progress and course activities

Time Commitment: You spend about 10 hours per week engaging in workshops, coursework, and applied business-building activities.

Prerequisites: None.

Enrollment Requirement: This course is only available to those enrolled in Launch Academy.

Completion: This course is completed on a Pass / No Pass basis. To pass the course, you must attend required sessions and complete all assigned course activities and final deliverables.

Support & Feedback: You will receive ongoing instructional feedback throughout the course during workshops, one-on-one sessions, and facilitated peer mentoring conversations.

Apply to Our Launch Academy

To take our Explore Your Course, you must be enrolled in our Launch Academy.

Apply for our Launch Academy.

Overview

Course Objectives

Weekly Sessions

Course Details

Apply to Our Launch Academy

Contact Information

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