2025 VentureWrench Launch!™ Program is Complete!

The 2025 cohort of VentureWrench Launch!™ wrapped up with seven Utah teams successly completing the Program.

Seven Utah Teams developing deep technology solutions complete Customer Discovery and Business Model Canvas Coaching Program

Participant Praise for VentureWrench Launch!

These exciting Utah technology companies participated in a demanding, 10 week customer discovery and business model canvas program based on Lean Launchpad and inspired by the NSF I-Corps™ program.

Feedback from the teams identifies how the program helped them accelerate their go to market progress as well as better preparing for SBIR and STTR proposals.

Some comments from participants are included below.

“I greatly appreciated the cohort. Nicole did a wonderful job establishing a culture of peer-mentorship – many of our biggest insights simply came from our peers in the cohort.”

Asked to comment on what was particularly noteworthy or helpful, one participant said, “One on one talks were very helpful and the facilitator was extremely generous with her time and ideas.”

Another team shared, “I valued the time taken by the facilitator to really understand what is going on in the company. I valued the honesty of certain topics that aimed at dispelling unrealistic expectations and helping re-direct companies to think pragmatically. The discussion about investors and what they care about was very illuminating and helped people understand their approach.”

When asked to describe the value of the VentureWrench Launch! Program, one team said, “Effective and Helpful. The framework and process of VentureWrench (VW) encouraged me to conduct of over 80 interviews from specific end-users who I now see as co-developers from across the globe… From that I was able to glean actionable insights that I previously did not have in addition to adding specific product requirements, reframing my presentation of my medical device for better adoption and buy-in, and establish relationships in spaces that I did not think I would be connected to so quickly.”

Another participant explained that, “The steps we followed in this program provided a very clear answer and coherent pathway to the question that has been [elusive] for the past 2 years, “How in the world are we going to make money with [our technology]?”

One participant explained the value they received from the program, “[C]reating each element of the business canvas model was invaluable. A veritable, “drinking from a fire hose” 10 week course that was worth every minute we invested in it.”

Importantly, all program participants felt the program met or exceeded their expectations. One team said, “Holding our feet to the fire to get out and begin our customer journey was the most helpful. That being said, the one-on-ones with Nicole were INCREDIBLY helpful – she has great insights well beyond the scope of customer discovery that were essential for us to hear.”

Another participant said simply, “It gave us the nudge needed to get us out of development mode, which if we had stayed knowing what we know now could have resulted in us failing.”

All of the teams indicated that they would recommend the VentureWrench Launch! Program to other SBIR/STTR companies.