Launch School 2011 Details

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Launch School 2011 Details

FOR APPLICANTS AND PEOPLE INTERESTED IN HELPING OR PARTICIPATING:

As many of you know, I ran a free launch clinic for first-time entrepreneurs over the summer and it went really well. So I’m doing another launch clinic in the Spring and am accepting applicants on a rolling basis through January 15th.

FORMAT:

The program will run January to May with group meetings every other Sunday and one-on-one meetings as needed. So the clinic runs longer than the summer version, but we’re spacing out group meetings a bit. Group meetings will include a workshopping element and I’ll bring in guest speakers—mostly experienced entrepreneurs who are already running their own businesses. I’ll accept 10 companies for the Spring program.

FOR APPLICANTS:

REQUIREMENTS:

- You’re willing to commit to participation for the duration of the term and to meet every other week with me and the other participants.

- You’re willing and able to commit to the launch school timeline and submit parts of your project on schedule.

- You’re in New York. (Unfortunately, this just doesn’t work very well virtually, for a variety of reasons.)

PROCESS:

Applicants need to answer the following questions and attach a 2 - 3 page executive summary** (or short PowerPoint deck if you have one) for their business:

1) How far along are you with your business?

2) What are you hoping to get out of launch school?

3) What are you doing professionally now?

**If you don’t know how to write an executive summary yet, read this and do your best: “The Art of the Executive Summary”. It doesn’t need to be perfect or even very good; I just need a general idea of what your business is and how you’re thinking about it. So it’s fine to wing it. (I also assume that if you aren’t invested enough in your business to write a three page document about it, you’re not serious enough about it to be in launch school, so I don’t think it’s too much to ask.)

Please put “launch school 2011” in your subject line and include your phone number somewhere in your email or executive summary document.

Send your applications to ESPIERS at GMAIL dot com.

FOR ENTREPRENEURS/SERVICE PROVIDERS/MENTORS INTERESTED IN HELPING:

Please email me at the address above. We had a great line-up of guest speakers over the summer*** all of whom were incredibly helpful both during the sessions and outside of them. And the participating entrepreneurs are typically looking for advisers and mentors, so any help along those lines is appreciated, too.

b5media was generous enough to allow us use of their conference room for Sunday meetings and I’m looking for a Spring venue now, so help along those lines would be appreciated as well.

*** Thanks in particular to our summer speakers and advisers: Jen Bekman (Jen Bekman Gallery/20x200), Rachelle Hruska (GuestOfAGuest), John Caplan (Open Sky), Rick Webb (Barbarian Group), Alexa Von Tobel (LearnVest), Peter Feld, Elaine Kunda (b5media)