The Top Gun Curriculum
Top Gun will offer a bi-weekly curriculum of business-building sessions designed to help entrepreneurs think through every aspect of their business, from the core idea to the revenue model. Each weekly session is led by speakers who share their unique and often differing opinions on the topic. Participants will be given assignments to build key aspects of their business model leading up to the sessions, as well as reading and relevant online videos to watch.
You’ll learn how to develop a solid business planning foundation, design an effective fundraising strategy, and work one-on-one with experienced business executives and successful entrepreneurs. Outcomes from the program will include:
- Well thought out business model
- Concise positioning statement (Elevator pitch)
- Executive summary – 1-3 pages
- PowerPoint presentation – eight minute summary form
- Road map to the next company milestones
Mentoring:
There will be at least a two-to-one ratio of mentors to entrepreneurs. Mentors will consist of experienced CEOs or founders of a successful venture or high level executive working with early-stage companies. Mentors are recruited based on their ability to convey knowledge and help participants by sharing their relevant experiences.
Presenters:
Experienced and successful entrepreneurs with practical experience in the application of the subject matter.
Bi-Weekly Sessions:
Every other week there will be multiple mentoring opportunities, both as a group and 1-on-1. In addition to the group sessions, each company will be working with mentors during one-on-one sessions in between to help with specific challenges they are facing. Along the way, each company will constantly be practicing and improving their pitch. Weekly learning sessions for participants will be held on Wednesday (Portland) and Thursday (Bangor) evenings beginning at 5:30pm and lasting approximately two hours. Each session will highlight a topic relevant to the participating companies, and will also serve as a valuable networking opportunity. We require all entrepreneurs to attend all scheduled sessions.
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Tentative 2011-12 Program Schedule
Top Gun Orientation (September 7th, 5:30-7:30pm)
Social gathering of all participants, lead mentors, and Top Gun 2009 Grads.
Top Gun Cocktail Reception (September 14th, 5:15-8:00pm)
Social gathering of all participants, mentors, sponsors and service providers. Brief company pitches and a keynote speaker.
Bi-Weekly program
We feel that it’s important for Top Gun participants to deliver a well thought out business plan at the end of the program. Therefore, the curriculum will have significant focus on the "how to" of developing a better business plan. Not how to write it better - but the fundamentals: is there a good market for the product, who is the competition, what kind of a management team is needed, etc.
We will have at least one topic for each of the ten bi-weekly learning sessions. In addition, every 4th week will be a mediated, entrepreneurs-only roundtable.
• Each session will begin by having 3 participants give their elevator pitch: (20 min total)
- The audience will jot down feedback
- Feedback will be collected, quantified and provided back to the respective participants.
- 5-10 minutes allotted for Q&A
• The next 30 minutes is for a presentation by one or two subject matter experts - sometimes experienced entrepreneurs, sometimes specialist mentors
- Prior to each session, the participants will be provided with required reading and videos to ensure that they are familiar with the subject matter of the topic to be discussed.
They will be asked to develop questions as to how to relate this information to their own business model.
They will be asked to provide a draft of their work as it relates to the topic.
• Finally, we will separate into small groups of 2 to 3 entrepreneurs, their lead mentors and select other mentors with a session leader working with each group. These small group discussions will review homework questions and apply the evening's presentations to the particular businesses.
At the completion of each bi-weekly session, participants will be expected to meet with their mentor sometime during the following week to continue to work on development of that session’s topic as well as prepare for the following session.
Session 1 (January 4, 2012 - Videoconference from Portland to Bangor)
Thinking BIG and Seeing the Big Picture: This first session offers two approaches to zooming way out. The first is an introduction to a graphic approach to thinking about business models, which will be used throughout Top Gun as a common vocabulary. The second is a high-level discussion of your core business idea, and why thinking bigger from the beginning is better.
Session 2 (January 18, 2012 - Separate simultaneous non-broadcast sessions in Bangor & Portland)
Startup Research - Markets & Competition: Markets and customer segments lie at the heart of every business, and business model. Within the graphic business model, customer segments are defined as sets of (potential) customers who respond to predominantly similar value propositions. But many entrepreneurs think first and foremost about their products and services, which for many start-ups is putting the cart before the horse. This session is designed to help you think deeply about customers and markets, and walk you through the process of learning all you can about them. We'll also walk entrepreneurs through a 360-degree view of competition - not only for your products, but for employees, distribution channels and financing.
Session 3 (February 8, 2012 - Videoconference from Bangor to Portland)
Marketing, Sales and Distribution Channels: There is an art and a science to communicating about your meaningfully unique solution. You need to talk about the customer problem, make promises about your solution and offer proof. How you execute your marketing will be intimately related to your available distribution channels, and it adds up to addressing the enormous risk of developing a repeatable, scalable, economic customer acquisition strategy.
Session 4 (February 15, 2012 - Videoconferenced Speaker open to the public)
Parallel Development - Products, Customers and Business Models: Converting raw business ideas into a specific set of features and functions can easily go astray when entrepreneurs become too inwardly focused on technical issues and lose track of why they’re doing things. Development schedules can drag on and precious resources dwindle if you’re not rigorous in focusing on what’s essential to early customers. This session is designed both to help you crystalize what your initial product will be, but also to challenge your assumptions about how features and functions translate into value propositions. A key Silicon Valley concept is parallel development of products, customers and business models to ensure that products developed meet real needs and are part of a viable business model.
Session 5 (February 29, 2012 - Separate noon lunch meetings, entrepreneurs only, Portland & Bangor)
Roundtable facilitated discussion for Top Gun Founders only: These roundtables will provide the participants an opportunity for free exchange in a safe, confidential environment. Each roundtable will be run by an experienced facilitator. These will be just for TG participants – no mentors. The topic to launch discussions will be "Aligning Personal and Business Goals" - a challenge for every entrepreneur.
Session 6 (March 5-7, probably in Freeport)
Innovation Engineering Leadership Institute: All 21 entrepreneurial teams will join others across Maine in the Innovation Engineering Leadership Institute. Mentors will be able to attend at a special price.
Session 7 (March 21, Separate simultaneous non-broadcast sessions in Bangor & Portland)
Co-founders, Hiring and Firing: What is the right mix of skills that you need to launch your company? Should you be looking for co-founders, team members, freelancers or interns? When should you plan to bring on people to help? Should you form an advisory board? If so, how should you go about it? How do you recruit and interview to find the best resources? What are the compensation guidelines in the beginning for co-founders and other various roles? How do you set expectations, measure results and remove or fire under-performing resources?
Session 8 (March 28 in Portland, March 29 in Bangor)
Revenue Streams and Business Model Innovation: There are many, many different ways to make money other than using an industry’s “conventional” revenue models and channels. This session will walk early stage companies through the process of working out the basics, and all participants will be challenged to think out of the box to develop innovative revenue models as a component of innovative business models.
Session 9 (April 4 in Portland, April 5 in Bangor)
Financial Models and Bootstrapping: Building the financial model is often the most foreign part of a business plan for entrepreneurs, yet understanding if (and how) “the numbers work” is critical. A good financial model will help you raise financing, but until then, knowing where your cash is flowing (and parking), and how to make the most of what cash and other resources you’ve got, will be key to survival.
Session 10 (April 11, 2012 - Separate noon lunch meetings, entrepreneurs only, Bangor & Portland)
Roundtable facilitated discussion for Top Gun Founders only: Leaning Into Your Weaknesses
Session 11 (April 25, 2012 - Videoconference from Portland to Bangor)
Financing Your Business: For many entrepreneurs, how to finance their business is the number one question. This session will touch on several options, but focus on private equity including angel investors and venture capital. An important topic to be covered is "de-risking your business," a critical concept for communicating with investors and designing a successful financing strategy.
Session 12 (May 2, Separate simultaneous non-broadcast sessions in Bangor & Portland)
Crafting a Winning Presentation: How do you present your business to target partners and investors? What are the tricks to captivate and retain attention? What makes for a great presentation, and what makes for a bad one? How do you convey enthusiasm, conviction, and success? How does your meeting reflect on your company culture? How can you innovate in your meetings to reflect your culture and be more productive? How do you survive tough meetings and tough questions?
Session 13 (May 9, Separate simultaneous non-broadcast sessions in Bangor & Portland)
Protecting Your Crown Jewels: Legal and Business Strategies: There are a variety of legal and business tactics and strategies for ensuring that the fruits of your hard work aren’t misappropriated. Some are legal tools – you’ll learn some of the nuts and bolts on copyrights, trademarks, patents, non-disclosure agreements, and confidentiality. The breakout discussion will also provide an opportunity to focus on strategies to deal with copycats, pirates, as well as the delicate balance between trust and good communications on the one hand, and the legitimate need for protection on the other hand, in all your business relationships.
Session 14 (Portland: May 16, 2012, Bangor: May 17, 2012, Augusta (all 21): May 23, 2012)
“Showcase Celebration”
Company presentations. These final pitches will be given before an expanded audience including members of the investment community, fellow members of emerging Innovation Hubs, and select individuals from the economic development, academic and public sectors.
Note: Curriculum is subject to change without notice.
