This is your Course Website, which includes to links to all of the resources that you need for our work together.

Each Friday for 2.5 hours we will meet all together on Zoom, we will cover our Class content for the week, 1/2 of the cohort will present their bi-weekly update, and we will have time to discuss and ask questions.
Each week I will also be conducting 1 hour of one-on-one coaching with each team in the “other” half of the cohort.  Coaching sessions will be able to be scheduled M-W from 1pm – 5pm MT.  So there will be a lot of flexibility for you to schedule.  Instructions on how to schedule will follow next week.
COURSE SCHEDULE – Spring 2025 Cohort Dates
Login and Tech Check 10:45-11:00am, Meeting starts promptly at 11:00am (MTN)
Feb 14, 2025 – 10:45 AM Class 0 – Welcome, Orientation, Meet the Cohort and Customer Discovery Best Practices and Pitch Workshop
Feb 21, 2025 – 10:45 AM Class 1 – BMC and Customer Development
Feb 28, 2025 – 10:45 AM Class 2 – Value Propositions
Mar 7, 2025 – 10:45 AM Class 3 – Customer Segments (Customers, Users and Payers)
Mar 14, 2025 – 10:45 AM Class 4 – Channels
Mar 21, 2025 – 10:45 AM Class 5 – Customer Relationships
Mar 28, 2025 – 10:45 AM Class 6 – Revenue Streams and Revenue Model
Apr 4, 2025 – 10:45 AM Class 7 – Key Partners
Apr 11, 2025 – 10:45 AM Class 8 – Key Activities, Key Resources and Cost Structure
Apr 18 24, 2025 – 10:45 AM Class 9 – Closing and Final Presentations
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Presentations and 1:1 meetings for the WEEK ENDING (class date)
Feb 21, 2025 – Group A PRESENT Group B One on One
Feb 28, 2025 – Group B PRESENT Group A One on One
Mar 7, 2025 – Group A PRESENT Group B One on One
Mar 14, 2025 – Group B PRESENT Group A One on One
Mar 21, 2025 – Group A PRESENT Group B One on One
Mar 28, 2025 – Group B PRESENT Group A One on One
Apr 4, 2025 – Group A PRESENT Group B One on One
Apr 11, 2025 – Group B PRESENT Group A One on One
Apr 18 24, 2025 – ALL PRESENT – Closing and Final Presentations (No 1:1 meetings)
COURSE TOOLS
Course Website
This is your course website (https://venturewrench.com/launchcohort2025) for use throughout the course. That will be your link to all of the resources that we will be using. Please bookmark it!
Course Materials
We will be using Thinkific (VentureWrench.thinkific.com) as our Learning Management System.  Video recordings of Classes, resources, and reading suggestions will be available within your course site.  Again, you will be receiving your invitation to the class site during this next week.  Your class materials are available at
Zoom
All lessons will be conducted over Zoom, so please make sure you are using the latest version. All team members are expected to be on time with videos turned on, and actively engaged throughout the course. The zoom details for our regular Friday meetings are listed below.  You will be welcomed into a waiting room and then admitted in order to prevent zoombombing.
ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION
As stated, 2 team members must be present for the each weekly meeting and for the bi-weekly one-on-one coaching sessions.  In order to be considered to have completed the cohort, attendance is mandatory, and any absences must be pre-approved by the VentureWrench team and will also be reviewed by UIC.  Plan to be early to all cohort activities. Attendance will be taken in each class.
CUSTOMER DISCOVERY INTERVIEWS

Your team will be expected to conduct 75 discovery interviews beginning as soon as you can. We recommend starting to schedule interviews as soon as possible. The longer you wait, the harder it will be to schedule interviews!

How do you conduct Discovery Interviews?

Before we start the cohort, it is essential that you familiarize yourself with the concept, and tools, of discovery interviews.  This page on our website (which is also be hosted in our Learning Management System) includes the list of videos produced by Steve Blank (of Stanford) for the Lean Launchpad community.  You need to watch all the videos. It also includes a page of suggested ideas on ways to gather a list of people for discovery interviews.

https://venturewrench.com/launch-bmc-discovery/

Once you’ve watched the videos, you are welcome to start your discovery calls and they will counted towards your commitment for this cohort.

U.S. Small Business Administration.

Funded in part through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration.

NSF Program Director Contacts as of Feb 2025