Fall 2022 LAUNCH Startup Labs

Sep 6, 2022 - Oct 25, 2022
6 credits

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Term: Fall 2022

Date: Every Wednesday, September 6th to October 25th

Time: 12:00pm - 1:00pm

Location: TBD

Instructors: Mark Mondry & Gavin Garvey

Presented By: LINK + LICENSE + LAUNCH

Description:

Our world is continually reshaped by advanced technologies that emerge from complex academic research, often called “deeptech”. Virginia Tech’s LAUNCH Center for New Ventures is presenting aworkshop series called LAUNCH Startup Labs specifically designed for research focused faculty, staff, postdocs and graduate students to enhance their entrepreneurial thinking and de-mystify the deeptech new-venture process. Each “lab” will address a different aspect of new deeptech startup creation and incorporate applicable entrepreneurial tools and methodologies that you can immediately apply. This work was supported in part by the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative, an investment in the advancement of cyber R&D, innovation, and workforce development. For more information about CCI, visit www.cyberinitiative.org (Links to an external site.).

For more information: https://vt.edu/link/events/startup-lab.html

Participants who complete all the sessions in this course will receive a digital certificate.

**LAUNCH Startup Labs Session Schedule & Zoom Links**
DATE, TIME and PREPARATION	WORKSHOP DETAILS
Tuesday, September 6 Noon-1:00pm Complete pre-survey Skim materials in Module 1	Lab Session 1: Foundations –This lab will help you Identify your entrepreneurial goals given the realities and burdens of scholarly research. We will also introduce hypothesis testing for deeptech startup opportunities.
Tuesday, September 13 Review materials in Module 2	Lab Session 2: Modeling the Business – This lab introduces the construct of a business "model" and how to build a preliminary one for a deeptech commercial opportunity. We will discuss how you can define, test and iterate critical assumptions in the model using a lightweight version of hypothesis testing.
Tuesday, September 20 Review materials in Module 3	Lab Session 3: Teams – This session considers strategic design and formation of deeptech startup teams including how needs are likely to change over time.
Tuesday, September 27 Review materials in Module 4	Lab Session 4: Formation & Funding –This session will cover the steps to legal formation of a startup and why choosing the right structure is important. We will also discuss the diverse mechanisms of federal and state deeptech commercialization funding and how private capital investment works.
Tuesday, October 4 Review materials in Module 5	Lab Session 5: Pitching, Storytelling & Branding – Every startup has the burden of attracting resources - funding, people (mentors, contacts, employees) and market viability. This session explores how to best leverage the communications mechanisms of a deeptech startup and the importance of building a website voice. Hint: It's not about the technology.
Tuesday, October 18 Review materials in Module 6	Lab Session 6: New product Development - In this session, we consider the complex process of actually developing a commercial product or service, including the stages of product development and product launch, including common methodologies and key challenges.
Tuesday, October 25 *October 7 Fall Break starts Review materials in Module 7	Lab Session 7: IP Strategy & Management - In our last Lab session, we will discuss the important topic of Intellectual property strategy and management for deeptech startups. We will explore the topic beyond the scope provided in the LICENSE Technology Transfer Boot camp and consider how patents, trademarks and copyrights are regarded by investors and competitors.

Full course description