Level 1: Ideation & Setup

Updated 6/30/2020

Objective

Setup and familiarize yourself with the core tools of the Accelerator and be ready to begin customer discovery.

Tasks

  1. Drive Folder - Set up a shared file folder (we use Google Drive) to keep all your files in. Make sure your whole team and your mentors have permission to view & edit.
  2. Strategy Canvas - This one-pager helps make sure that everyone on the team is aligned on passion, vision, and values. Grab a copy of the template and fill one in.
  3. KISS Canvas - This is the tool you'll use to document the core hypotheses of your business model. Read about it, get your own, and take a first pass at filling it in. You should also do a quick check to see if there are similar companies to you out there and see if you can sketch out their KISS Canvases. Doing so may give you insights into components of their business models that might be worth borrowing!
  4. KISS Scorecard - This tool shows your company's progress along the path from idea-on-a-napkin to benevolent-world-domination. It also gives you concrete goals to focus on at each step along the way. Read about it, get your own, and do your first assessment. Tip: score yourself harshly, it will keep you honest.
  5. Innovation Project Manager (IPM) - This simple Googledoc helps keep you focused on the handful of things that are the most important for your venture right now. It is meant for you to review once every 1-2 weeks with your mentor(s). At each meeting you set your goals (which are often milestones from the KISS Scorecard), quickly indicate how you plan to accomplish each goal, and define what success looks like. Just before your next meeting summarize your progress/results. Get a copy.
  6. Set up a CRM - The main activity you do in a new startup is interview potential customers. You will interview a lot of people and have a lot of notes, far too many to hold in your head. To keep track of all that information you'll need a database. This kind is usually called a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) database. And just when that stops, you'll be using the same basic tools to sell to actual customers. So getting into the habit of using one will be very helpful for you. There are lots of free CRMs out there. Hubspot's is quite popular. But if you want something even simpler, feel free to use my quick & dirty CRM Googlesheet.
  7. Create a 30-second elevator pitch to use when speaking with mentors using this template. You can ditch the template when you have more experience, but stick with it for now.
  8. Meet with your cohort. Get together with the other startups and mentors you've assembled into your cohort. Set the schedule for how often y'all will meet (we recommend at least once every two weeks, ideally once a week). Walk each other through all of the documents and make sure they A) understand why & how to use them and B) give you feedback on how to improve your answers to each of the questions in the templates. You especially want to make sure you haven't "painted yourself into a corner."
  9. Read Talking to Humans.

Fundraising Advice

Once you have completed this level, the flavor(s) of capital that are usually appropriate are:

Proceed to Level 2