 Written by Elyse Ball With the kickoff of our Fall 2023 cohort, I-Corps officially turned 10! When UARF launched the I-Corps program in Fall 2013, it was with a group of 14 teams, all from University of Akron and Kent State University, convening in a basement conference room to try to figure out how to do customer discovery. Our current cohort comprises 34 teams from 8 universities across Ohio, 2 healthcare systems, and the broader Northeast Ohio community of entrepreneurs… and we all know a lot more about customer discovery by now. Over the past 10 years, I-Corps has:
I personally am grateful to I-Corps for all of the valuable lessons it has taught me, including lessons from faculty, students, mentors, entrepreneurs and my fellow instructors. Here are some of my favorites:  1. Innovators gonna innovate: One of my favorite I-Corps experiences is seeing innovators achieve success by saying “no” to their first idea and exploring another idea they had put on the back burner. Using the skills they developed in I-Corps or maybe repeating the I-Corps program a second time, they pursue a fresh new idea that is better informed by customer feedback. In fact, many of the most successful I-Corps startup companies were formed by innovators who are working on their second, third or fourth business idea. A great example is Prince Ghosh’s pivot from aerospace research to industrial IOT. 2. Learning by doing is powerful: I-Corps participants learn their customer discovery skills by actually going out and interviewing at least 21 potential customers. Over the years, I-Corps has experimented with practice interviews and even tested out ChatGPT as an interviewee. However, there is just no substitute for speaking to a real customer. In those interactions, anything can happen and conversations can take unexpected turns. The only guarantee is that teams will learn something interesting and valuable. Aparna Agrawal and Isaiah Kaiser are two I-Corps grads who embraced customer discovery and were amazed with what they learned.  3. The team matters: I’ve been fortunate to work with almost a dozen talented I-Corps instructors over the past 10 years. I-Corps is truly a process that demands excellence of those who teach it and participate in it. Everything is active and chaotic with dozens of teams working on disparate ideas and actively seeking to learn from each other. I’ve also seen the value of strong teamwork in the teams that have come through I-Corps. Participants that are willing to put in hard work and challenge one another’s assumptions tend to thrive in I-Corps and beyond. 4. Pivoting is part of the process: Pivots – adjustments to a business model or idea – are an inherent part of the I-Corps program. After all, no one is going to talk to 21 customers without learning some unexpected things that change the way they approach their product or service. We like to celebrate those pivots, which are often the first time an entrepreneur admits they were wrong about something and need to adjust. This can save huge amounts of time and money in the long run. One of my favorite I-Corps pivots wasn’t from a team, but was with the program itself. When COVID hit, we were forced to move I-Corps to an online format in less than a week. After some initial struggles, we’ve found a ton of advantages to teaching online, including being able to accommodate teams from across Ohio and to use breakout rooms and chat features to enhance team interaction. Today, we still run the program online. 5. People want to be helpful: Perhaps my favorite takeaway from I-Corps is just how helpful people can be. I’m amazed by the talented, busy professionals who make time for students and entrepreneurs to interview them. In fact, UARF I-Corps participants have interviewed 12,000 people, meaning that 12,000 individuals have taken 10 or 15 minutes out of their day to share their wisdom without expecting anything in return. Similarly, more than 200 mentors have given their time and talent to guide teams through the I-Corps process. Multiple-time I-Corps mentor Bob Leach has highlighted the kick when teams reach an A-Ha moment. This cohort, we were thrilled to welcome back 10 past I-Corps participants as mentors – a true full circle moment as those who learned the process are now guiding others through it. I-Corps is an amazing opportunity to learn on both micro and meta levels. We’re looking forward to 10 more years!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
RSS Feed