PSW Overview
Two and a Half Days Separated by a Week of Thickening
The Pre-Seed Workshop is an efficient way to give a large number of high tech ideas a solid entrée into the pre-seed stage (and vet ideas that possibly shouldn't go forward). The workshop brings community resources together for two days of hands-on working sessions where we take 6–8 high-tech ideas from 1–4 universities or research centers and move them from the concept to the pre-seed stage.
Format: The workshop primarily consists of nine idea analysis sessions on the Technology, the Market, the Competition, the Business Model, etc.
Product: As teams are lead through these nine modules, they address 20 key questions and generate a series of about 12–13 slides that constitute a 15 minute presentation that they deliver on the afternoon of the second day before a panel of community experts, generally Angel or VC investors. These experts provide feedback on 1) Do they have a business case, and 2) Is it investable?
Teams: The team which conducts the analysis simulates a “real” start-up company with members who have diverse expertise in technology, business, finance, law, etc. The team typically consist of an “idea champion”, an MBA student, an IP or business start-up attorney, a tech transfer officer, and a business coach from the community.
Community Integration: At the end of the workshop, we provide our teams with vectors into the community. For those with high potential ideas, we encourage them to conduct an in-depth opportunity analysis, participate in business plan competitions, venture forums, “entrepreneurship bootcamps” and various resources that each of our Host communities and our state already has in place.