About the Program
Helping early-stage startups
Do you have a startup idea? Ready to test your team and idea by participating in a fast-paced, eight week program at Emory?
The Emory Startup Launch Pre-Accelerator program is now accepting applications from startup teams for the Spring 2022 cohort.
The program helps early-stage founders through a defined process that will allow teams to rapidly take their ideas and test them with customers to discard, change and build a business model to move the startup forward.
This program has been very successful at helping teams discover reliable pathways to authentic demand in early customers. In almost all cases, teams attending the program achieve success by using the evidence-based tools and processes to recognize when to move away from ideas that don’t reveal demand from buyers/users.
Participation open to entire Emory community - Students, faculty/staff, alumni (at least one Emory community member per team qualifies entire team)
This program is presented by the Roberto C. Goizueta Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation and held at Emory University.
Program Requirements
Maximum team size is four members with at least one member of the team being a current Emory student, alumni, faculty or staff member. The program instructor chooses participating teams.
All team members will be required to attend on a weekly basis: a three-hour night session, present a weekly team update, and complete in-person, documented customer interviews.
The program will be held at the Emory University
Please consider that this is a highly-interactive program that requires substantial time outside the classroom interacting with your potential buyers/users each week.
What you will learn
Topics covered during the program include:
- Use a Startup Business Model Canvas to describe, test and refine a business
- Uncover, refine and confirm buyer/user problems that lead to solutions
- Learn interview tools that test and refine your assumptions with buyer/users
- Define and explore your early adopters (buyers/users)
- Find the buyer/user behavior triggers that signal demand
- Create, deliver and test micro offers with buyers/users to reveal demand
- When and how to apply micro innovations to adjust your business model
- Recognize and utilize useful metrics to show traction in your business model
- How to discover, define and test key words to amplify buyer/user interaction
Methods and Processes
The program makes extensive use of in-the-field research and testing by applying methods/processes that include:
- Behavioral economics
- Ethnography
- Qualitative interviews
- Quantitative assessments
- Active listening and observation
- Startup Business Model Canvas
- Pathway development and activation
Doing this work successfully will helps teams validate demand, strengthen the teams’ understanding of the problem they are solving, develop metrics to support investments, build their resource networks and strengthen the startup team.
A Team Insights event will be held at the completion of the program. Successful teams will be invited to present their startups to the Emory and Atlanta community.
To apply for the Emory Startup Launch please complete and submit the program application
Program Co-founders
Robert K. Kazanjian
Emory University, Goizueta Business School
Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Organization & Management; Academic Director, The Roberto C. Goizueta Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation
Amelia Pane Schaffner
Emory University, Goizueta Business School
Director, The Roberto C. Goizueta Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation
Kurt Ronn
Founder, North Georgia Innovation
Ed Rieker:
Emory University, Goizueta Business School
Adjunct Faculty (former)
The Roberto C. Goizueta Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation
Founder, Avondale Innovation District
2020 Fall Cohort Program Reflections
Hear from Cohort members about their experience in the program
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