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The Top Gun Curriculum

Curriculum Image

The curriculum will cover topics critical to the success for an early-stage venture:

  • Product Development
  • Structuring a Sustainable, Innovation-based Business
  • Sales Strategy
  • Team Building/ Recruiting/Compensation
  • Capital & Funding Structure

You’ll learn how to develop a solid business planning foundation, design an effective investor presentation, and work one-on-one with experienced business executives and successful entrepreneurs.

  • Concise positioning statement (Elevator pitch)
  • Executive summary – 2-3 pages
  • Investor presentation – six minute summary form
  • Road map to the next company milestone

Mentoring:

There will be at least a one-to-one ratio of mentors to entrepreneurs. Mentors will consist of experienced members of the business and investment community.

Presenters:

Local and regional industry leaders have been recruited to conduct weekly learning sessions.

Weekly Sessions: [link to menu]

Each week there will be multiple mentoring opportunities, both as a group and 1-on-1. One evening we'll host all of the companies together for an interactive workshop with speaker or panel and plenty of Q&A. In addition to the group sessions, each company will be working with mentors during one-on-one sessions 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 Tuesday 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 valuable networking opportunities. The scheduled learning sessions will take place once per week with the opportunity for a weekly round table discussion. The goal of the program is to provide all of the necessary tools to prepare you for developing and presenting your innovation-based company. We require all entrepreneurs to be available for all scheduled sessions.

Program Schedule - For the 2009 Class

Company Showcase & Cocktail Reception

Watch a video of the opening.

(August 27th, 5:15-8:00pm) Social gathering of all participants, mentors, sponsors and service providers. Brief company presentations and reception, with keynote speaker Tom Chappell – Founder, Tom’s of Maine. Hosted at The Woodlands Club and Sponsored by Pro Search, MacDonald Page, Bernstein Shur /Tech Ventures Group, and Wright Express.

Weekly Program

[week   1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | celebration showcase ]

[ Sept  (1)  (8) (15) (22) (29)| Oct  (6)  (13) (20) (27) | Nov (3) (10) (17)] 

Day 1 each week

  • Recap of the previous week’s progress and introduction for of the coming week’s topic.
  • Learning Session: Industry leaders will provide in-depth content for development of your business plan and funding presentation.
  • Each week, participants will be expected to pitch at the beginning of each session.

Day 2 each week

  • Mentor Meeting: Companies meet individually with mentors to discuss week’s topic and how it relates to their business plan evolution. These meetings are at the discretion of the mentors and participants.
  • Optional roundtable discussions or special sessions may be offered upon request from participants.

Curriculum

Week 1 (September 1st)

Communicating & Selling: What investors look for in a Business Plan, Executive Summary, Elevator Pitch and Fundraising Presentation. This panel will teach the entrepreneurs what Investors feel is most important in a business plan, both for your business, and for investors!

Special Luncheon Session, (September 4, 12-2:00PM), presented by Doug Hall: "Business Simulation:  Early Stage Innovation Sales Forecasting" Hosted by The Woodlands Club and sponsored by The University of Maine.

Week 2 (September 8th)

Validation & Opportunity Assessment: Identifying the need and providing the solution, growth prospects, bottom-up forecasting 

Week 3 (September 16th)

**Note:** This is a Wednesday and we will be traveling to Orono to tour the AEWC

Markets and Competitive Analysis: Researching the target market and leveraging the market research
Our session will begin at 3:00pm at the Foster Innovation Center on the UMO campus in Orono with a tour of the AEWC Advanced Structures and Composites Center to begin at 4:45.

Special Lunch Session, (September 17, 12-1:30PM), presented by Karin Gregory: "When to Use a Lawyer:  A Dialogue between a Business Owner and a Lawyer" Hosted by The Woodlands Club and Sponsored by Furman Gregory Deptula.

Week 4 (September 22nd)

Product Marketing and Branding: Marketing, sales and promotional strategies

Week 5 (September 29th)

Sales and Business Development Strategies: Revenues, Customers and Distribution; Entering the market i.e. sales, channels, pricing; Overcoming NO!

[link to menu]

Week 6 (October 6th)

Building a Winning Team: Recognizing that investors invest in people and the limitations of the founding staff; This panel will show how to hire for the future by selecting achievers.

Week 7 (October 13th)

Intellectual Property and Licensing

Week 8 (October 20th)

Financial Planning and Sales Projections: financial planning for growth

[link to menu]

Week 9 (October 27th)

Sources of Capital & Funding Structure: Bootstrapping, grants and other non-dilutive funding

Special: Speed Venture Summit™, (October 28th, 2-7pm), Crowne Plaza Hotel, Nashua, NH

Week 10 (November 3rd)

Venture Capital & Angel Investing: Valuation, Term Sheets & Exit Strategies Determining your Valuation. This panel will discuss how Entrepreneurs and Investors set their valuation, and how they can come to terms. They will also discuss exactly what VCs want if you want a check; Who gets what and how much you should expect to give away.

Week 11 (November 10th)

Preparing CEO’s for the VC / Angel Meeting You will learn what VCs are thinking, the current state of the market and what they are looking for in 2010.

  • Presenter: Chris Risely "How to raise $10 Million in Venture Capital ... and why you may want less. A serial CEO's perspective on growth equity."
  • Guest Entrepreneur: Al Curran - Woodard & Curran
  • Hosted and Sponsored by Woodard & Curran

[link to menu]

Week 12 (November 17th)

Coaching Event: “How to pitch” An interactive workshop on how to make an effective presentation. What to say, what to add in, what to leave out. The panel will go over the basics and specifics of meeting with providers of risk capital, and what they expect to hear.

Showcase Celebration "Pitch Day"

(November 19th from 5:00 - 8:00 pm). Not your typical VC pitch event – these 8-minute company presentations give each of our twelve start-ups an opportunity to showcase their new business venture and take their organization to the next level. Attendees are invited to visit with the companies before and after the presentations. Hearty hors d’oeuvres and cash bar will be available.
Hosted at : Hannaford Hall, Abromson Center  and Sponsored by Spinnaker Trust, Maine Angels, Pierce Atwood, Verrill Dana, Small Enterprise Growth Fund and Blue Wave Investments .

 Note: Speaker list and Agenda are subject to change without notice.