Milwaukee I-Corps Site: http://icorpsmilwaukee.org 1

MILWAUKEE I-CORPS SITE NSF ANNUAL REPORT (YEAR 1) NSF Grant: “Southeastern Wisconsin I-Corps Site: Enhancing Regional Technology Commercialization” (#1450386, 04/01/2015 – 03/31/2018).

YEAR 1 AT-A-GLANCE

Number of participating academic institutions: 5 Number of cohorts: 3 Length of the program (weeks): 4 Number of three-hour sessions per cohort: 5 Target number of interviews (per team): 40 Number of interviews (all teams/all cohorts): 870 Number of Teams:

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee 10 Medical College of Wisconsin 5 Marquette University 5 Milwaukee School of Engineering 3 Concordia University of Wisconsin 4

Total: 27 Total number of participants: 87 Total number of women participants: 21 (24%) Team’s mini-grant: $2,400 Total follow-on funding (as of 3/1/16): $304,000 Teams accepted to the National I-Corps Program: 2 Teaching team (total number of instructors): 4 Number of logged contacts with teaching team: 1,000+

SNAPSHOT

Milwaukee I-Corps Site: http://icorpsmilwaukee.org 2

TIMELINE AND MILESTONES

Figure 1: Milwaukee I-Corps Program Timeline and Milestones

Milwaukee I-Corps Site: http://icorpsmilwaukee.org 3

FOLLOW-ON FUNDING

Figure 2: Follow-on Team Funding

OTHER TEAMS’ HIGHLIGHTS CONTROLLED LANGUAGE SOFTWARE

Finalist in 2016 WI Governor’s Business Plan Competition

ANGIO360 DIAGNOSTICS Finalist in 2016 WI Governor’s Business Plan Competition

ESSENTIAL

BIOTECHNOLOGY

Finalist in 2016 WI Governor’s Business Plan Competition

Incorporated company

ALPHACORE SOLUTIONS Incorporated company

In discussions with first paying customer

VIBETECH Bridge round of investment (amount not disclosed)

Milwaukee I-Corps Site: http://icorpsmilwaukee.org 4

NATIONAL INNOVATION NETWORK INTERACTIONS

CURRICULUM EXCHANGE / SHARING BEST PRACTICES

Learned from the University of Chicago Site Passed knowledge to University of Nevada Las

Vegas and Missouri University of Science and Technology Sites

TEAMS ADVANCED TO NATIONAL I-CORPS PROGRAM

Controlled Language Software team (PI: D. Clark) received a team grant and went on to Georgia Tech Node (Spring 2016) – see photo.

PWP team (PI: J. Rammer) received a team grant and went on to Texas Node (Spring 2016)

Figure 3: Map of Milwaukee I-Corps Site NIN Collaborations / Interactions

Milwaukee I-Corps Site: http://icorpsmilwaukee.org 5

CUSTOMER DISCOVERY ASSESSMENT

We have tracked total number of logged interviews for each team every week. The weekly numbers were discussed at the beginning of each session. The four-week target number of team interviews was set at 40. We emphasized importance of face-to-face over phone interviews and tracked that as well. Customer interviews were logged into a Google shared spreadsheet* (each team had their own shared log) with teaching team providing regular feedback to the teams. Below is an example of a log entry:

* Google spreadsheet was developed at the University of Chicago I-Corps Site

The first cohort (Summer’15) averaged 34.3 interviews per team with the team total as low as 25 and as high as 43. 20% of the teams (2/10) had reached or exceeded the target goal of 40. The second cohort (Fall’15) averaged 26.3 interview per team – a noticeable drop in cohort’s productivity. Moreover, the spread between the teams widened with the lowest number of interviews equal to 5 and the highest equal to 40. 22% of the teams (2/9) had reached or exceeded the target (40). The third cohort (Winter’16) averaged 37.5 interviews – the highest average overall (lowest: 29, highest: 50) with 38% of the teams (3/8) reaching the goal. The difference in number of interviews between cohorts is noticeable.

Figure 4: Average number of team interviews (per cohort) for each week (1 through 4)

Milwaukee I-Corps Site: http://icorpsmilwaukee.org 6

PROGRAM ASSESSMENT (EXIT SURVEYS)

“I have two new dissertation ideas! I made great connections

with our mentor and some interviewees. I spend most of my time reading and writing, so it

was invaluable to get out of the building.” - EL

“We made good connections with industry and it will help

both with my research program and commercial efforts.”

- AL

“I learned the value of early customer discovery, enjoyed

exposure to all the interesting opportunities and further developed my network.” -

Mentor

Milwaukee I-Corps Site: http://icorpsmilwaukee.org 7

PRESS https://uwm.edu/news/milwaukee-joins-national-innovation-network/ http://www.jsonline.com/business/uwm-receives-300000-to-create-innovation-corps-site-b99485868z1-300875871.html https://uwm.edu/news/national-i-corps-program-in-milwaukee-turns-out-first-10-teams-applications-for-next-round-due-sept-25/ http://www.jsonline.com/business/medical-entrepreneurs-will-make-pitches-for-start-up-grants-b99584204z1-329549301.html

http://uwm.edu/news/a-light-approach-to-healing-wounds-moves-closer-to-market/

http://uwm.edu/news/english-prof-helps-unexpected-writers/ http://uwm.edu/researchreport/entrepreneurship-leadership/intro-i-corps/

Milwaukee I-Corps Site: http://icorpsmilwaukee.org 8

Milwaukee I-Corps Cohort #1 – Summer 2015

VIVOFORM AL: Abhay Chauhan, abhay.chauhan@cuw.edu EL: Kenneth Wang, kwang@nanovatellc.com M: Daniel Sem, Sem, Daniel.Sem@cuw.edu

ANGIO360 DIAGNOSTICS

AL: Michael Harrison, mmharris@mcw.edu EL: Stephanie Cossette, Scossette1@gmail.com M: Laura Savatski, laura.savatski@bcw.edu

CONFIDENTIAL CAPTURE SYSTEM

AL: Bonnie P. Freudinger, bfreudinger@mcw.edu EL: Brian L. Laning, blaning@mcw.edu M: Adam Wickersham, adam.wickersham@gmail.com

SOURCE AL: Jung Lee, lee@msoe.edu EL: Wujie, Zhang, zhang@msoe.edu M: Frederick C. Berry, berry@msoe.edu

PWP AL: Jacob R. Rammer, jacob.rammer@marquette.edu EL: Tamara L. Cohen, tamara.cohen@marquette.edu M: Steve Anderson, steven.lee.anderson@gmail.com

IMMERSIVE

FITNESS

AL: John LaDisa, john.ladisa@mu.edu EL: Kristin Kipp, kristin.kipp@marquette.edu M: Tom Schuster, Tom@wsafund.com

CONTROLLED LANGUAGE SOFTWARE

AL: Dave Clark, dclark@uwm.edu EL: Daniel Card, djcard@uwm.edu M: Bob Hedgcock, bhedgcock@resultech.com (Ryan Hatch, rhatch@resultech.com)

LIGHT THERAPY AL: Janis T. Eells, jeells@uwm.edu EL: Elizabeth Liedhegner, liedhegn@uwm.edu M: Steve Visuri, stevevisuri@yahoo.com

NSEE AL: Shun Mao, shunmao@uwm.edu EL: Guihua Zhou, zhoug@uwm.edu M: Doug Stafford, dcstaff@uwm.edu

INSIGHT AL: Alicia Castonguay, aliciacastonguay@gmail.com EL: Ling Zhong, lingtxd09@gmail.com M: Bob Devita, devita@uwm.edu

Milwaukee I-Corps Site: http://icorpsmilwaukee.org 9

Milwaukee I-Corps Cohort #2 – Fall 2015

ESSENTIAL BIOTECHNOLOGY *

AL: Michael James, mjames@mcw.edu EL: Jonathan Ebben, jebben@mcw.edu M: Laura Savatski, Laura.Savatski@bcw.edu

SUPERHYDRO-PHOBIC COATINGS

AL: Konstantin Sobolev, sobolev@uwm.edu EL: Marina Kozhukhova, mik@uwm.edu M: Andrea Breen, andrea.breen@lafargeholcim.com

SMART GRID CONTROLLER

AL: Andrew Ray Eggebeen, eggebee6@uwm.edu EL: Rasoul Hosseini, hossei27@uwm.edu M: Jeff Anthony, janthony@m-werc.org

MICROLITICS * AL: Joseph McGraw, Joseph.McGraw@cuw.edu EL: Armin Gerhardt, Armin.gerhardt@cuw.edu M: Daniel Sem, Daniel.Sem@cuw.edu

FLORASEQ * AL: Karen Harrington, karen.harrington@floraseq.com EL: Steve Visuri, steven.visuri@floraseq.com M: Andy Greene, agreene@mcw.edu T: Melanie Gomez, melanie.gomez@cuw.edu

VIBETECH * AL: Ed Morgan, ed@vibetechglobal.com EL: Jeff Leismer, jeff@vibetechglobal.com M: Christian Albano, christian.albano@cuw.edu

FIRSTDANAO * AL: Hao Zhang, hzhang@mcw.edu EL: Kirk Prichard, kpritch@mcw.edu M: Dennis Devitt, Dennis.devitt@bcw.edu

UV MONITOR AL: Robert Scheidt, robert.scheidt@marquette.edu EL: Annamarie Hermann, annmarie.hermann@marquette.edu M: Dave Zachman, dzachman@gmail.com

SOLAR FOOD DEHYDRATOR

AL: Joshua Shefner, shefnerjn@msoe.edu EL: Jessica Bade, badejl@msoe.edu M: Mark Daugherty, daughertym@asme.org Advisor: Michael Carriere, carriere@msoe.edu

* Healthcare Innovation Pitch teams part of the Bridge-to-Cures program.

Milwaukee I-Corps Site: http://icorpsmilwaukee.org 10

Milwaukee I-Corps Cohort #3 – Winter 2016

HEALTH LITERACY SOLUTIONS

AL: Kris Barnekow, krisb@uwm.edu EL: Natalie Raasch, nraasch@uwm.edu M: Scott Bolte, scott.bolte@gmail.com

… positively influencing parental participation and developmental outcomes …

ALPHACORE SOLUTIONS

AL: Ali Bakhshinejad, bakhshi3@uwm.edu EL: Rob Morien, rjmorien@uwm.edu EL: Alex Francis, francis@uwm.edu M: Armen Hadjinian, hadjinia@matc.edu

… making engineering solutions affordable to small/medium size businesses …

REDIWHEEL AL: Maria Bengtson, maria.bengtson@marquette.edu EL: Steve Golden, scgolden78@gmail.com M: Mark Wilson, markdpwilson@gmail.com

… improving access for wheelchair users …

FOOD WASTE-TO-RESOURCES

AL: William Kort, wkort@uwm.edu EL: John Gardner, gardne37@uwm.edu M: David Drew, ddrew@GFNET.com Advisor: Janet Pritchard, jempritchard@hotmail.com Advisor: Damian Coleman, elyve12@gmail.com

… producing soil amendments from organic waste streams …

TRAINING AVATAR

AL: Craig Berg, caberg@uwm.edu EL: Greg Bisbee, bisbee@arrowheadschools.org M: Ed Chaltry, chaltrye@gmail.com

… exploring teaching avatars in the I-Corps training environment …

REHAB TRACKER AL: Shawn Bohler, Bohler smbohler@uwm.edu EL: Brett Pozolinski, Pozolin3@uwm.edu M: Scott Johannes, scott.johannes1@gmail.com

… improving physical therapy outcomes with better communication …

STICKY QUIZ AL: Brad Dennis, dennis@msoe.edu EL: Chris Taylor, taylor@msoe.edu M: Larry Schmedeman, schmedem@msoe.edu

… improving learning outcomes with a self-paced quizzing engine …

MEDSYNC-RX AL: Christian Albano, Christian.Albano@cuw.edu EL: Brian Trinh, brian.trinh@cuw.edu M: Joost Allard, sentimentlabs@gmail.com

… improving adherence, outcomes and satisfaction with synchronized medication refills …

Milwaukee I-Corps Site: http://icorpsmilwaukee.org 11

MILWAUKEE I-CORPS PARTICIPANT GUIDE (SYLLABUS)

LEAN LAUNCHPAD The Milwaukee I-Corps Program is a joint project of the academic institutions in the Milwaukee region to accelerate ideas using the proven I-Corps methodology. Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Innovation Corps Program, the Southeastern Wisconsin I-Corps Site will foster commercialization of applied academic research and faculty/student innovation; build an innovation/commercialization network that supports faculty and/or student ventures; and broaden the pool of students and faculty

fluent in Lean LaunchPad (LLP) methodology.

The Lean LaunchPad methodology consists of three elements: the business model canvas, the customer discovery process and the minimum viable product (MVP). The business model canvas is a shorthand way to frame the key elements of your business. Based on the canvas the teams can frame questions (or hypotheses) to test during the customer discovery process. The minimum viable product refers to the minimum feature set that will get your customers to buy the product. Defining the MVP helps early stage businesses to build only the most important features in a product (and avoid wasting money building features that the market doesn’t really want or won’t pay for.

CUSTOMER DISCOVERY

Customer discovery is a central aspect of the Lean LaunchPad process. In the course of this program you will be challenged to conduct 40 high-quality, face-to-face interviews employing the techniques developed in this course. This program will help participants to develop and practice the tool to ask questions in a way that gets to meaningful answers about your potential business model.

TEAMS Teams are composed of three members who can be students, post-docs, staff, faculty, alumni, or members of the local entrepreneurial community.

The Entrepreneurial Lead (EL) is a faculty member, post-doctoral scholar, a student, professional staff, or alum of one of the partnering academic institutions with relevant knowledge of the technology and a deep commitment to investigate the commercial landscape surrounding the innovation.

The Academic Lead (AL) will be responsible for overall project management. The AL will typically have an academic appointment that would normally qualify the AL to submit proposals or play the role of a PI in subsequent submissions to NSF. The AL can also be post-doctoral scholar, a student, professional staff, or alum provided that person has a deep understanding of the technology that serves as the focus of the project.

The Mentor (M) will typically be an experienced or emerging entrepreneur with experience in transitioning technology out of academic labs. The Mentor will be responsible for guiding the team forward and tracking progress.

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PROCESS The inaugural summer program consists of a four-week workshop where participants are coached on designing and validating a business model around their idea. The last session will be dedicated to team presentations on lessons learned and a closing reception. Upon completion, each team will have to decide whether to proceed with the idea (“go”) or stop and regroup (“no-go”)

GO/NO-GO The objective of this program is to get to a go/no-go decision on the business model as defined by your initial business model canvas. The program is not intended to validate your technology or help you actually organize and launch a business. Rather the outcome is a simple decision about whether the business as defined appears to be viable. Teams will be asked to make a go/no-go decision in the last meeting. A “no-go” is not a failure – in fact, it is a success. Determining that a model won’t work will help the teams avoid wasting time (and possibly money) on building something that isn’t viable as a business. From a “no-go” decision, teams may “pivot,” redefine their business model and repeat the customer discovery process. For teams that make a “go” decision, the program organizers will help connect them with resources to help them make the next appropriate step. Regardless of the go/no-go outcome, teams will develop valuable skills in discovering the market – skills that will inform their research, business and careers.

MEETINGS Meeting Location – all meeting will be held in the UWM Innovation Accelerator located at 1225 Discovery Parkway, Wauwatosa. Meeting Schedule

Session 1: Monday, 7/27 – 6:00 to 9:00 PM, Innovation Accelerator Session 2: Monday, 8/3 – 6:00 to 9:00 PM, Innovation Accelerator Session 3: Monday, 8/10 – 6:00 to 9:00 PM, Innovation Accelerator Session 4: Monday, 8/17 – 6:00 to 9:00 PM, Innovation Accelerator Session 5: Friday, 8/21 – 6:00 to 9:00 PM, Innovation Accelerator

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BOOKKEEPING Prior to the start of the session, the program organizers will create a Google Docs folder for your team. Team members and the teaching team will have read/write access to the documents in this folder. This folder contains a template Excel document where you will be asked to document your customer interviews. Your team can also use this folder to share documents related to the project.

Setup and Login Instructions. An email with detailed instructions will be sent you prior to the first session.

Expectations on Interview Logging. All weekly customer interviews must be logged no later than Monday 8:00 A.M. leaving the teaching team time to review the logs and provide feedback.

I-CORPS AWARDS Program Award. Each I-Corps Team receives a $2,400 sub-award (mini grant).

Use of Funds. Funds are used to support the customer discovery process. This may include, but is not limited to: acquisition of modest amounts of equipment or materials needed to fabricate prototypes; travel expenses to consult with potential clients or experts; training or education related to entrepreneurial immersion; or, other resources needed to directly advance the goals of transitioning a team's project into the marketplace.

I-Corps Site support for an institution's entrepreneurial teams should not be used for legal or administrative costs. Exceptions to the direct support of teams can be made for the costs of planning technical meetings for the direct benefit of entrepreneurial teams, providing those meetings contribute to the commercialization of team projects. We recommend consulting with the site's managing team when in doubt.

Each team will be allowed to spend up to $2,400 within 12 months. The team is required to provide final report of all expenditures to the Site's managing team within the award's time limit. Unspent balances shall be returned to the site's account at UWM. These sub-awards are subject to NSF guidelines and reporting.

Accessing Funds. Funds are paid out through sponsoring institution’s grants management office. Check with your institution to determine the appropriate procedures.

Institutional Contact Points. If you have questions about accessing funds, contact the teaching team, or your institution’s point of contact for the Milwaukee I-Corps Program:

Concordia University: Daniel Sem, Daniel.Sem@cuw.edu

Marquette University: Kris Ropella, kristina.ropella@marquette.edu

Milwaukee School of Engineering: Fred Berry, berry@msoe.edu

Medical College of Wisconsin: Andrew Green, ag@uwm.edu

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee: Ilya Avdeev, avdeev@uwm.edu

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TEACHING TEAM Dr. Ilya Avdeev, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee avdeev@uwm.edu; m: 414-510-3631

Ilya Avdeev is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering in UW-Milwaukee’s College of Engineering & Applied Science. He is a founding director of the Advanced Manufacturing and

Design Lab with research focus on new modeling techniques for solving complex multiphysics problems. Dr. Avdeev is the Principal Investigator of the Milwaukee I-Corps Site grant. He is also a co-founder of the UWM Student Startup Challenge program and NSF-sponsored Pathways to Innovation program team lead at UWM. Before joining UWM in 2009, Dr. Avdeev was with ANSYS Inc. (Canonsburg, PA), where he played a key role in product development and testing of core mechanical products. Dr. Avdeev received both his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from St. Petersburg State Technical University and his Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh.

Brian Thompson UWM Research Foundation, briant@uwmfdn.org; m: 414-213-6704

Brian Thompson is President of the UWM Research Foundation, Inc. He leads efforts to bridge between the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the private sector through grant programs, intellectual property management as well as fostering corporate partnerships, spinout companies and student entrepreneurship. He is Co-PI on the Milwaukee I-Corps Site, and he teaches new ventures as an adjunct instructor in UWM’s College of Engineering and Applied

Science and the Sheldon B. Lubar School of business. Thompson was previously Managing Director at TechStar where he helped to launch several companies and serve on the board of early stage companies including MatriLab and NovaScan. Mr. Thompson was part of the corporate new ventures group at Hughes Electronics where he worked with early stage companies in consumer electronics, broadband services and entertainment. He holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from UCLA.

Jim Hunter Entrepreneur/Company Founder Adjunct Lecturer, Sheldon B. Lubar School of Business University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, jhhunter@uwm.edu

As a Bostrom Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Mr. Hunter has taught entrepreneurship courses at the Lubar School of Business continuously since the mid-1990s using the case study technique and hosting many guest lecturers including attorneys, bankers, venture capitalists and

entrepreneurs. He is currently the president of three companies, CFO of one company, vice president of four companies, and director of nine companies. He has 11 years of experience in executive capacities with large companies, and over 40 years of experience as an advocate for small businesses. He has served as a mentor to the founders of start-up businesses and owners of company buyouts. Mr. Hunter's professional activities include: past president of the Harvard Business School Alumni Club of Wisconsin; certified management consultant and past president of the Wisconsin Chapter of the Institute of Management Consultants; and a member of the Rotary Club of Milwaukee. Mr. Hunter earned his Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from Purdue University, and his MBA from Harvard University.

Kalpa Vithalani, Ph.D. Licensing Manager Office of Technology Development, Medical College of Wisconsin kvithalani@mcw.edu

Dr. Vithalani manages 70 technologies and has negotiated a variety of agreements with development partners, including, MOUs, MTAs, CDAs, joint ownership, sponsored research, and

option and license agreements. Prior to joining MCW, Kalpa helped Imaging Biometrics, LLC with a successful 510(k) application for their first product. Kalpa was a scientific evaluator for Karolinska Innovations at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. She received a PhD from the Department of Cell Biology at Duke University and completed her post-doctoral training at the Cleveland Clinic. For the last seven years she has served as a judge for the WI Governor’s Business Plan Contest and is currently a Board member of BIOforward.

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MENTOR GUIDELINES

Benefits to Mentors. As a Mentor for the Milwaukee I-Corps program, you will have an opportunity to share your experiences as a business leader, participate in growing entrepreneurial ecosystem in Milwaukee and experience, first hand, the Lean LaunchPad process, and hopefully learn some new and useful skills in customer discovery. In addition, you’ll have the opportunity to work with a bright group of people in your team and with other teams who are making new discoveries and bringing them to the market.

Be a Coach, Not a Consultant. As a business leader, investor and/or entrepreneur, you bring great experience to this process. In other settings, you may act as a consultant and share your experience and valuable opinions on what will and will not work. But we’re asking you to step out of that role for this program. Instead, we want you to encourage teams to find the answers on their own. So, instead of saying “I tried that before, it won’t work,” you might say “you should talk to these people…” and let the team discovery from the market what won’t work.

Support the Customer Discovery Process. We’re asking the mentors to work with the teaching team to support the customer discovery process. If a team offers an observation, the Mentor should help challenge them on whether this is something they think or something they learned from talking to five (or more customers). In addition, we’ll be working on techniques and tactics for customer discovery – including good ways to ask questions. As a Mentor, you’re role is to understand that process and help the team develop skills and good habits for their customer discovery work.

Help Open Doors. Team will be challenged to meet with 40 customers, and they’re going to need help. The Mentors should help them think about who to meet with and provide introductions if possible. Obviously, your contacts are valuable to you. In making an introduction, you’re risking your reputation, and the teams will be asked to respect that important investment that you are making in them.

Respect Confidentiality. Mentors will not be asked to sign a formal non-disclosure agreement. This process should focus on the customer more than the team’s technology, so teams should be able to avoid detailed discussion about the technology that could potentially compromise intellectual property rights. Even in the absence of a formal non-disclosure agreement, the teams will be more effective if they can work amongst themselves with an expectation of confidentiality.

Voluntary Basis. Mentors are participating on a voluntary basis. They are not allowed to ask for equity or receive compensation from the teams for their support during this program.

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GUIDELINES FOR ACADEMIC AND ENTREPRENEURIAL LEADS

Benefits to the Academic and Entrepreneurial Leads. As a participant in the Milwaukee

I-Corps program, you will participate in a process that is the “state of the art” in new venture development. You will experience and practice the customer discovery process that will inform your thinking about forming a company or commercializing a technology – and may also impact they directions for your research and the strength of future proposals. You’ll become an NSF funded investigator, which will make you eligible for funding opportunities including the national I-Corps program ($50,000 team grants). In addition, you will have the opportunity to work with a group of smart, motivated and committed business leaders, entrepreneurs and researchers – and become part of a growing network of innovators and entrepreneurs in the Milwaukee area.

Commit to the Sessions. Teams have committed to participating in all of the sessions. Teams

are asked to review the materials for each session in advance so that we can focus our time together as a group on interactions rather than “content delivery.” In the exceptional case where a team member cannot participate in person, the other members of the team are responsible for managing their participation via Skype or other video conferencing method.

Commit to the Customer Discovery Process. The customer discovery process is an essential

building block of the Lean LaunchPad process. You will be challenged to conduct 40 customer interviews, and this is not easy. You will struggle with this … everybody does … it will get easier with practice and you will get better. You will be challenged to ask questions in a very particular manner that will get past the “fluff” and get to the real data. In the end, these skills will serve you in many ways that you might not imagine. You need to “get out of the building” if you’re going to learn.

Suspend Thinking on Your Technology. Scientists and researchers obviously spend a great

deal of time (sometimes a whole career) working on their technology, but in this program, we ask you to set that aside. You will be asked to avoid “pitching” your technology. This can be difficult – since you may have committed a career in developing breakthrough technology. But by committing to the customer discovery process, you will develop insights that go beyond what you’ve learned so far, and teams have to commit to this process.

Log Your Customer Interviews. We provide a shared resource for all teams to document

their customer interviews. It is important that teams document each interview. This will allow the teaching team as well as your Mentor to review and offer feedback on your interview. More importantly, it will give you a chance to reflect on what you learned and how you could improve your future interviews.

Treat Contacts with Respect. Your Mentor and other members of the program will help open

doors for you to conduct your customer interviews. Business contacts are valuable, and someone who offers you an introduction is putting their reputation on the line. So teams are expected to treat these contacts with respect and professionalism. Being prepared, being efficient and respectful of people’s time, following up with thank you’s goes a long way cementing these important relationships that could be invaluable as you move forward.

Cautions Regarding Intellectual Property. This process is about customer discovery and not

the technology, but is understood that there may be important intellectual property that relates to your work. It is not practical in this group setting to ask all participants to sign confidentiality agreements. In conducting customer interviews – at this early stage – it is simply not reasonable to ask for these agreements. So you need to avoid talking about details of your technology that could compromise your intellectual property rights. You are encouraged to talk to the technology transfer organization at your institution for guidance. You should be able to complete this process without talking about the details of your technology (which could constituted and “enabling disclosure”) by focusing on the customer – their problems, needs, etc. – rather than pitching your technology.

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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

This program does not have required textbooks. Most of the pre-work defined below consists of on-line videos that define the business model canvas process and provide additional detail on the customer discovery process. There is a growing body of literature and research around the Lean LaunchPad process and the customer discovery process. Several texts provide additional background and are highlighted in the optional material for each session. Suggested additional resources include: Business Model Generation, Osterwalder & Pigneur – provides an engaging look at the business model canvas and shows how it is applied to analyze a variety of businesses. The Startup Owner’s Manual, Steve Blank and Bob Dorf – a great reference that drills down on the Lean LaunchPad process. Disciplined Entrepreneurship, Bill Aulet – another perspective on building early stage enterprises by MIT lecturer, Bill Aulet. The Mom Test, Rob Fitzpatrick – a quick read with great practical advice on asking good questions in interviews.

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Preparation – Prior to Session 1

PRE-WORK FOR SESSION 1

1. Prepare: your initial business model canvas 2. Read: Search vs. Execute article, Steve Blank

http://steveblank.com/2012/03/05/search-versus-execute/ 3. Watch: Business Model Canvas Explained – YouTube video overview (2:19):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoAOzMTLP5s 4. Join: Udacity.com for free and register for “How to Build a StartUp” course. 5. Watch:

a. Lesson 1: What We Now Know b. Lesson 1.5A and 1.5B: Business Models and Customer Development c. Lesson 2: Value Proposition d. Lesson 3: Customer Segments

6. Prepare: Introductory PowerPoint Presentation (bring your own laptop!)

5 minutes maximum

Slide 1: title slide / team intro

Slide 2: description of the idea/technology

Slide 3: value proposition(s) and customer segments to be tested 7. Optional Viewing: Udacity – “How to Build a StartUp”

a. Lesson 4: Channels b. Lesson 5: Customer Relationships c. Lesson 6: Revenue Models d. Lesson 7: Partners e. Lesson 8: Resources, Activities and Costs

Session 1

SESSION 1 AGENDA

Program Introduction/Overview, Expectations

Team Presentations (all teams)

Business Model Canvas

Introduction to Customer Discovery

HOMEWORK FOR SESSION 2

1. Interview customers: a. Complete 10+ customer interviews b. Log: customer interview results in GoogleDocs spreadsheet c. Schedule interviews for upcoming weeks

2. Check In: complete 30 minute check in meeting (or telecon) with Mentor 3. Watch: Steve Blank Interviews on Customer Discovery

Pre-Planning Customer Discovery Pre-Planning Pt. 1 (4:55) Pre-Planning Pt. 2 (3:25) Pre-Planning Pt. 3 (1:29)

Customer Discovery Interviews Interviews Pt. 1 (5:40) Interviews Pt. 2 (3:49) Asking the Right Question (2:37)

MILWAUKEE I-CORPS PROGRAM

Milwaukee I-Corps Site: http://icorpsmilwaukee.org 19

Outside the Building Death by Demo 1 (2:18) Death by Demo 2 (1:45) Assuming You Know what the customer wants (1:56) Understanding the Customer Problem (the wrong way) or Death by PowerPoint (1:42) Understanding the Problem (the right way) (3:22) Customers Lie (2:37) The Distracted Customer (3:12) Engaging the Customer (3:37) Customer Empathy (2:25) The User, the Buyer & the Saboteur (2:24) Multi-Person Interview (2:03) B-to-B to C (2:15) Existing vs. New Markets (5:29) Public Interviews (2:11)

Back in the Building

Extracting Insight from Data (2:59) Getting the MVP Right (3:34) Pay Attention to Outliers (2:16) The “Other 85%” (2:32)

8. Prepare: Presentation

Half of the teams will make a 5-minute presentation during Session 2

Template will be provided

Session 2

SESSION 2 AGENDA

Interview Status (all teams)

Team Presentations (first half of teams)

Customer Discovery, Interview Techniques

HOMEWORK FOR SESSION 3

1. Interview customers: a. Complete 10+ customer interviews b. Log: customer interview results in GoogleDocs spreadsheet c. Schedule interviews for future weeks

2. Check In: complete 30 minute check in meeting (or telecon) with Mentor 3. Prepare: Presentation

a. Half of the teams will make a 5-minute presentation during Session 3 b. Template will be provided

4. Read: PDF Handout – The Mom Test 5. Watch: Continue watching Udacity videos and Steve Blank Customer Discovery videos

MILWAUKEE I-CORPS PROGRAM

Milwaukee I-Corps Site: http://icorpsmilwaukee.org 20

Session 3

SESSION 3 AGENDA

Interview Status (all teams)

Team Presentations (second half of teams)

Customer Interviews - refined

Speaker

HOMEWORK FOR SESSION 4

1. Interview customers: a. Complete 10+ customer interviews b. Log: customer interview results in GoogleDocs spreadsheet c. Schedule interviews for future weeks

2. Check In: complete 30 minute check in meeting (or telecon) with Mentor 3. Read: PDF Handout – The Mom Test (to be provided)

Session 4

SESSION 4 AGENDA

Interview Status (all teams) Go/No-Go (or Pivot) The Bigger Canvas Context

Speaker

HOMEWORK FOR SESSION 5

1. Interview customers: a. Complete 10+ customer interviews b. Log: customer interview results in GoogleDocs spreadsheet

2. Check In: complete 30 minute check in meeting (or telecon) with Mentor 3. Prepare: Go/No-Go Presentation

a. 10-minute presentation (all teams)

b. Template will be provided

Session 5

SESSION 5 AGENDA

Team Final Presentations – Go/No-Go (all teams)

Next Steps, Resources – The Milwaukee Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

Wrap Up, Debrief

Exit Survey