• This document provides light guidance and a curated list of learning resources for your self-directed learning for the Walk stage. This is meant to provide you a solid starting point. For your venture and project to succeed, please explore the tremendous amount of valuable resources beyond what’s included here!
• Please note that the Innovation Pathway (IP) is not meant to be an instructional program. It’s a self-paced, self-directed learning program. It provides resources to help you incubate your venture/large-scale project.
• If you are looking for an instructional program, we recommend that you take an innovation/entrepreneurship course at BU or attend one of BUild Lab’s bootcamps.

Apply to the run stage

<aside> ➡️ Apply to pitch for the Run Stage here

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<aside> ➡️ IMPORTANT, before applying:

1. READ the criteria below before applying and make sure you have the information required in your deck

2. WATCH: This pitch before you apply to see a really good example of a 7-10 minute pitch

3. REVIEW these pitch decks from teams that have successfully advanced to Run and Fly

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Criteria for getting into the Run stage

<aside> 💡 Before applying to the stage… You’ve developed an initial proof of concept (e.g. prototypes, pilots) that’s been validated by key stakeholders

Once in the stage, you are… Demonstrating viability & feasibility of business via plans (e.g. fin. projections) & progress (e.g. adtl. market validation)

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<aside> ➡️ IMPORTANT: If you are considering applying to an investment panel, you should work with your coach to determine if you have all of the following information in your pitch deck, and the extent to which that information sufficiently addresses the criteria below.

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There are three sections to the criteria for getting into the Run stage — (a) your core idea, (b) your plans and progress, and (c) your presentation. Each section has specific factors that the investment panel will look at to determine if your team has met the criteria for the stage

About your core idea — these are core concepts about your business plan. This is the “thinking” part of the business. The concepts below need to be clear, and to the extent you can, demonstrate that they’re validated.

• Problem, customers and stakeholders: In-depth understanding of a sizable/large-scale, important problem; identified key customer segments and stakeholders, and their needs
• Market size: Demonstrate the problem is sizable/large-scale with market size analysis and estimate
• Differentiation, competition/ landscape, and macro trends: Describe how you’re different and why that difference matters to your customers; how is your approach unique and novel given alternatives available to customers; In-depth understanding of competition or landscape (their products, business models, and customers), as well market and other macro trend that impact your industry. For social impact ventures, when customers seek options, what do they find and how you are meeting a new need for your customer.
• Solution and value proposition: Proposal of a solution that addresses the identified problem better than competition and has a compelling customer value proposition. For social impact, you must clearly articulate a value add to society, clear alignment from the problem to the design of the solutions.
• Impact: What are the outcomes you are going to measure moving forward to see if your solution has a social impact? How will you measure those?
• Business model: Identified key aspects of the solution’s business model, including customer value proposition, customer segments, preliminary go-to-market strategy, manufacturing process/capabilities.
• Revenue model & expenses: Identify who pays, how much / how often, as well as important buckets of expenses that you will incur in order to reach key milestones. For nonprofits, what are the funding buckets you are aligning to and who (companies, grants, government) are currently funding these types of initiatives that you would be seeking support from. In addition, how are you thinking about earned revenue?
• Team building: Have identified the expertise needed on the team

About your plans and progress — these factors have to do with the “doing” part of your business. In addition to having a coherent conceptual understanding of your business plan, you need to validate that what you believe is really true (or not, and pivot!).

• Solution concept validation: Solution concept (features, user demand, willingness to pay) validated and incorporates feedback from validation interviews and/or testing with customers using some form of prototype (can be visual simulations);
  • For hardware, MedTech, or other Deep Tech ideas: you can include 3D renderings, sketches, or other prototypes that include written support from an expert in your industry about your approach to your solution.
  • For social impact teams:
    • Draw the workflow of your product or service (e.g. flowcharts, diagrams, conceptual drawings). How does one thing relate to the next? This can include secondary research or written support from an expert in your industry regarding the model.
    • Describe how the components or steps in the workflow (e.g. the process) lead to the impact or outcomes (e.g. improvements in X, Y, Z) that your beneficiaries (e.g. people you’re trying to serve) are looking for. Clearly articulate how you measure impact, what impact you were looking to have & what you have learned from your first test.
• Key assumptions & plan to validate: List the riskiest assumptions for your product and business, and identify how you plan to test those assumptions
• Action and funding plan: A solid plan for further testing and a path to creating and launching the first launchable version of your solution, including team/expertise needs, preliminary assessment on level of funding needed, and how to secure funding (if applicable)

Presentation — these factors have to do with your ability to clearly and succinctly communicate your ideas to the investment panel

• Clearly explain all of the relevant concepts
• Effectively navigates the Q&A by providing well-prepared answers, acknowledging gaps in knowledge respectfully, and demonstrating active listening to panelist inquiries and feedback.

Storytelling in your pitch for Run

Storytelling is a critical part of communicating your business effectively. A storytelling technique that can make your pitch for the Innovation Pathway more effective is to do the following:

• Introduce the core aspects of the business: what is the problem you’re solving and for whom
• Given your target customer and their unmet needs / problem, what did you go out and do to test what you believe to be true?
• Given your tests, prototypes, experiments or additional customer discovery, what did you learn from that? What surprised you and changed? How did that learning affect the direction of the business?
• Given what you learned, what is next for you? What next important learning are you going after? What will you do to learn that? What next experiment, test, or milestone are you trying to reach?