UW I-Corps Mentor Experience
Program impact
You can make a difference! The UW I-Corps Site program trains on average 60-80 teams per year. Those teams then move on to compete in UW gap funding and business plan competitions, and the I-Corps National program.
Teams having participated in the UW I-Corps program are funded at a much higher rate (70%) in the UW gap funding than teams who did not participate in I-Corps (40%).
Team who attend the I-Corps national program receive follow on funding at a high rate compared with teams who do not attend the program (See NSF’s biennial report on the I-Corps program).
Forms of engagement
- Network with teams for a long-term productive relationship by dropping in to various live events
- Give feedback to teams you meet during breakout sessions
- Help give constructive feedback on pitch and pitch practice sessions
Mentor role relative to team objectives
Team objectives
In six short weeks teams will have to:
- Create and update a Lean Canvas through customer interviewing
- Conduct five interviews per week (25 total), capturing insights and linking them to their online canvas
- Prepare a presentation of their learnings and prospective new venture
How mentors can help
- Help the teams test their business model hypothesis
- Help team discover/utilize their own social network
- Teach how to get customer discovery meetings
- Teach how to listen, not sell
- Teach how to think past the technology to focus on the business model
- Teach how to Iterate and Pivot (collect and use data)
- Provide specific actionable (not vague) advice
- Be challenging but not destructive
