SQUARE1 unveils first set of startup courses in Ludlow, Newport, and at Xavier.
Classes designed to help validate your idea, apply to accelerators, and apply startup thought processes to your job.
Thinking about applying to UpTech in June? Just get word from the Brandery that you did not make the cut? Either way, SQUARE1 is prepared to help you achieve your startup goals.
SQUARE1 is a not-for-profit specifically focused on helping people turn their ideas into startups. SQUARE1 is launching programs in Ludlow, Newport, and Xavier University’s Center for Innovation to do just that.
“Each program has its own flavor,” says SQUARE1 President Keith Schneider. “The Xavier program touches on Design Thinking and Innovation topics making it attractive even to corporate learners.”
The Ludlow and Newport programs will help hopeful entrepreneurs think through their business model no matter the type…high tech, retail, service, and beyond. Each course will be infused with experienced mentors to transition the participants from lesson to application. Schneider explains, “as opposed to a lecture or speaker series, the mentor-driven approach allows us to develop specific tools that help identify and validate customers while creating an actionable go-to-market strategy.”
In Newport SQUARE1 is also launching a Pre-Accelerator course. The region is rich with fantastic startup accelerators in the Brandery, UpTech, and Ocean. SQUARE1’s goal is to have local applicants better prepared to compete for spots in these accelerators.
The UpTech application deadline is June 21st so SQUARE1 is offering two Pre-Accelerator workshops. The first is Friday June 5th and 12th from 2-4 p.m. and another Tuesday June 9th and 16th from 6-8 p.m.. “The two day format allows us to work through some of the main challenges of an accelerator application, give participants a week to work through them, then pull it all together the following week,” explains Schneider.
There is a fee to take the courses, but SQUARE1’s goal is get more people engaged in the region’s startup ecosystem. Therefore, based on your application most people will qualify for some type of discount or alternative payment arrangement.
“We want no potential entrepreneur to have an excuse for not pursuing their idea and, in some cases, their dream,” says Schneider.
In Ludlow, the Idea to Startup class will be held at the Wynner’s Cup Café from 6-8 p.m. meeting weekly for four weeks starting June 4th.
The Newport Courses will be hosted at the Southbank Partners offices at the World Peace Bell. The two Pre-Accelerator Workshops will take place on Friday June 5th and 12th from 2-4PM and another session on Tuesday June 9th and 16th from 6-8 p.m. A day-long Startup Launch course will be offered on Tuesday June 16th from 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
At the Xavier Center for Innovation, Ideas & Donuts will run for one-hour each Wednesday for three weeks starting Wednesday, June 24th from 8 a.m.-9 a.m. Each week a topic will be introduced and assignments given to move your idea toward startup. Also at Xavier, the Think Like A Startup course will provide a day-long session focused on startup innovation, lean startup methods, and design thinking geared not only toward startups, but also corporate innovators or people looking to work in a startup. It is scheduled for July 21st from 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
The full course listing and application can be found at go.startatsquare1.com.
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SQUARE1, Inc. is an entrepreneur education and business startup nonprofit providing resources to a broad range of individuals interested in turning ideas and research into business start-ups. The mission is to work collaboratively at a community level to discover new entrepreneurs, educate them, validate their ideas, and introduce resources that can help in launching a successful business. To learn more visit go.startatSQUARE1.com