Founder Lab

A 2-3 day workshop that introduces students to entrepreneurship by starting their own businesses, from initial idea to "Demo Day" pitch.

Students with varying experience in business and entrepreneurship from all backgrounds convene to pitch ideas, form teams, and work together to build a business plan.

Along the way, students learn key startup skills, meet with seasoned mentors, and are plugged into the local entrepreneurship ecosystem.

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BY THE END OF THE PROGRAM

Student entrepreneurs will learn

Key startup principles

The facilitator begins by defining the entrepreneurial mindset, introducing customer-centric lean idea development and how it helps budding entrepreneurs solve real problems, and how Founder Lab empowers this methodology.

Brainstorming & ideation

Businesses solve problems. In this session, we cover different human-centered design strategies like the Bug List and Mind Map to identify important problems and inspire innovative solutions. Students join brainstorming groups.

Elevator pitching

As an entrepreneur, you will have to explain your business thousands of times to many different people. Students learn the best practices for creating a succinct and compelling elevator pitch. Students will then pitch ideas as individuals or as a team. From here, teams form around 4-7 ideas.

Lean Canvas business model

The term "business model" can be intimidating to first-time entrepreneurs. The Lean Canvas is a simple, 1-page business model that outlines the most crucial focal points of a new business idea. Teams complete a Lean Canvas of their initial business model and iterate throughout the program.

Customer discovery

You can't sell to everyone, so we discuss how to narrow down your target customer demographic by conducting real interviews with real potential customers, helping teams uncover the pains customers experience. This process truly helps young founders build something people want.

Rapid prototyping

Teams learn how to build a prototype or a visual representation of their product or service. Software teams vibe code functioning software, while hardware and services draft user experiences. We discuss the "Minimum Viable Product" and the different ways to design one.

Target market analysis

Customer discovery helps a business realize its early adopters, but how does a business scale to service many, many more customers? Teams research their market and conduct a TAM/SAM/SOM analysis to understand their business's opportunity.

Go to market strategy

There are many steps a business must take before launching its product or service to its desired customer base. We discuss how to build a strategy for delivering products and services and how this strategy informs next steps after Founder Lab.

Mentorship

Entrepreneurs need mentors. Mentors bring experiences, relationships, and wisdom that enables entrepreneurs to stay accountable, avoid risk, and make the right decisions. Teams meet with local mentors who are startup advisors, founders, and investors to give feedback on team ideas.

New venture pitching

After hours of development and iteration, teams are ready to package their business model into a compelling pitch deck, full of narrative storytelling, clear value propositions, and a justifiable revenue model. Teams prepare their pitch and present their business to a panel of seasoned experts.

Day 1 - Pitch the ideas

Outcomes: Students get a crash course in Entrepreneurship 101, pitch ideas and form teams, and create their first business model

Introduce entrepreneurship and what to expect at Founder Lab

Students share problems and brainstorm solutions

Students pitch ideas, vote and form teams around 4-7 top ideas

Teams build their first version of a Lean Canvas business model

Day 2 - Build the ideas

Teams build questionnaires and interview real potential customers

Teams meet local mentors and receive feedback on their ideas

Teams research their Target Market, uncovering market potential

Teams build and present initial prototypes of their solutions

Outcomes: Teams learn customer pains, meet local entrepreneurial leaders, dig deeper into the business potential, and create a visual prototype

Day 3 - Present the ideas

Outcomes: From Day 2 customer and mentor feedback, teams iterate the business model, build comprehensive pitch decks, and present their business to a panel of local entrepreneurs and investors.

Teams make final adjustments to the business model and solution

Teams learn how to build a compelling new venture pitch

Teams present a final pitch of their business to a seasoned panel

FAQ

Questions about Founder Lab

If you don't see your question, hit the button below and let us know what's on your mind.

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What is Founder Lab?

A 2-3 day introduction to entrepreneurship where students form teams around ideas that they pitch. Teams learn the basics of testing a new idea and have an on-site facilitator, school staff, and local mentors to help them along the way. The program culminates in about 4-7 teams presenting their businesses in a "Demo Day"-like pitch to a panel of local entrepreneurial advisors, investors, and founders.

How much does Founder Lab cost?

The program is free for students. The Startup Bug contracts with the educational institution. The price will vary based on the scope, level of customization, and your budget, but will likely fall between $4500 and $6500.

What is my team responsible for when we host a Founder Lab program?

Organizing team will:
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-Recruit students
-Invite mentors and panelists from the community to attend
-Arrange catering
-Provide a space to host the students and facilitator(s) (and a few classrooms as breakout rooms, ideally)
-Provide a projector for the facilitator to present slides from

What is The Startup Bug responsible for when we host a Founder Lab program?

The Startup Bug will:
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-Facilitate the entire program. Once Founder Lab begins, the organizing team is mostly hands-off, providing logistical support as needed.
-Provide program management to the organizing team during the planning phase for the 2-3 months before the program, including biweekly (or more frequent as needed) check-in calls to assist with any planning challenges
-Provide marketing flyer templates, email templates, and promote the program to classes over a Zoom call
-Host the program website and registration, if your team prefers. Many organizations elect to host the website and registration on their own domain. We recommend hosting on your own domain so students are exposed to the other programming you're offering.

What is the preferred classroom structure for a Founder Lab workshop?

This program can be in-person, hybrid, or virtual. In-person is the preferred format.

What types of students are invited to participate?

That's ultimately up to you, but we hold the strong opinion that Founder Lab is open to all students, regardless of their major, level of experience with business & entrepreneurship, or age.
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Founder Lab is frequently considered as the top of the funnel to a high school or university's entrepreneurship programming and is an excellent way to recruit new students to the community you're building.

How many students can participate?

The sweet spot is 25-40, but the acceptable range is anywhere between 15-55.

Is Founder Lab a competition?

That's up to you! Founder Lab is typicallyis not a competition because it's less intimidating to new students interested in the program. Founder Lab is commonly the step before a pitch competition or campus incubator program, serving as the top of the funnel for these other, more competitive and serious programs.

I don't see a topic on the list that I'd like covered. Can you teach it?

Perhaps! Talk to us about it. If requested, The Startup Bug's curriculum team can adjust the content to better match your program's needs. We will design a bespoke curriculum and run it by you for feedback and further iteration.