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The Workshop Program

The workshop/sessions are over - see slides and recordings here

 

  • Does my Product have commercial potential?

    • Finding if there is a big enough commercial market for my product

    • Determining Product Market Fit (PMF)

    • What does my company really sell and does it have commercial value

    • How do I investigate and do customer discovery to validate its commercial viability

    • See Recording and Slides: HERE

 

  • What does it really take to go commercial

    • Up and beyond the product, what else do I have to think about

    • What metrics do you have to meet internally to take the risk

    • How to think about the market, how to size the market

    • Market penetration strategies/marketing

    • How customer acquisition and unit economics are different

    • Creating an advisory board to help understand the market

    • See Recording and Slides: HERE

 

  • Business Models, Partnerships, and Goto Market

    • Have PMF, discussion on commercial business

    • How to think about your business model (how you make money)

    • How to form partnerships and types

    • What are your companies goals for this business

    • Case studies/archetypes for major business models and GTM strategies

      • Examples of what to look for internally 

    • See Recording and Slides: HERE

 

  • Cracking the Valley of Death 

    • Never made it across, new ways of approaching

    • Using Gov funding to up your TRL level

    • Leveraging R&D while working to find new channels and product market fit.

    • Understanding Adoption Readiness Level and later stage transition

    • See Recording and Slides: HERE

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  • Fundraising for a dual use company (and during covid). Realities

    • Introduce the Investment Readiness Level framework

    • What do VCs look for and how can you prove it (great Steve Blank post)

    • Other sources of funding

      • Customer financed pilots/funding

      • Asset Based

      • Dual Use VCs - a special breed?  (depends on type of company)

    • See Recording and Slides: HERE

 

  • Intellectual Property, Licensing, and partnerships in a dual use environment

    • Basic discussion with focus on SBIR issues 

    • What about commercial?  Should one patent or not? Are algorithms patentable - or worth patenting?  trade secrets? 

    • Strategies for partnering with Primes and/or government offices

      • What to look out for

    • See Recording and Slides: HERE

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Workshop Dates - All Workshops Over - See Recording and Slides: HERE 

  • Does my Product have commercial potential? - August 28th 11am-1pm ET

  • What does it really take to go commercial - September 18th 11am-1pm ET

  • Business Models and Partners - October 9th 11am-1pm ET

  • Cracking the Valley of Death - October 23rd 11am-1pm ET

  • Fundraising for a dual use company (and during covid). Realities - November 13th 11am-1pm ET

  • Intellectual Property, Licensing, and Partnerships in a dual use environment - November 20th 11am-1pm ET

 * Dates Subject to change based on availability of awardees

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The Accelerator Program

 

This is a program based on the Lean LaunchPad techniques adopted for creating Dual Use Companies which has its origins in a program created by BMNT and Steve Blank. This program has its origin in the Lean Startup Class/Hacking4Defense classes that I co-teach at Stanford which also has morphed into the I-Corps program from NSF.

 

Commitment of time is more intense as there is an expectation that the team will work on specific aspects of the training and information.

 

The program’s goal is to:

  • Provide training on the Lean Methods of creating a dual-use company

  • Prepare the company for follow-on government funding opportunities (e.g. SBIR)

  • Facilitate finding the right path forward for your company in terms of product/mission market fit

  • Help determine the key activities that the company should pursue and focus their efforts

  • Connect the company to a collection of advisors and mentors pertinent to their efforts

  • Strategize with the company for their next growth steps

  • Introduce the company to potential private funding partners (as requested)

  • Focus on improving the companies Tech Readiness Level (TRL), Investor Readiness Level (IRL), Adoption Readiness Level (ARL)

 

The program is a participatory effort where H4XLabs is providing advisory, instructional, mentoring, and introductory services.  The company is responsible for actually doing the work.  This is truly hands-on and requires a commitment not to only attend the sessions but to work on specific areas discussed.

 

The general agenda is as follows:

            May                                Onboarding call with the Company and participants (about 1 hour)

            End of May                      1.5 days Kickoff by VTC (sc

            Weekly/Bi Sessions           ~1 hour Mentoring and Advising with appropriate SMEs

            Bi-Weekly Sessions             ~1 hour Group Sessions on Specific Topics (to be determined based on                                                      participants and special speakers)

            dates TBD                        2 hour first prep for Demo Day

            dates TBD                        2 hour run-thru for Demo Day

            Ad-Hoc

                       Presentation to Investor and access to Defense Investor Network

                       Strategy Sessions for company growth, expansion, and scaling

 

The Mentor/Advisor Program

 

This is a less intense program based on the Lean LaunchPad techniques adopted for creating Dual Use Companies which has its origins in a program created by BMNT and Steve Blank. This program has its origin in the Lean Startup Class/Hacking4Defense classes that I co-teach at Stanford which also has morphed into the I-Corps program from NSF.

 

This program is different from the more in-depth accelerator program as this is a tailored program where we work together to advise the company on a few specific topics and not on the overall strategy for taking the company to the next level.  This program still takes commitment and a partnership with H4XLabs.

 

The program’s goal is to:

  • Work on strategies and tactics on the areas mutually determined best to serve the company

  • Strategy and tactics for follow-on government funding opportunities (e.g. SBIR)

  • Validate and facilitate finding the right path forward for your company in terms of product/mission market fit

  • Help determine the key activities that the company should pursue and focus their efforts

  • Connect the company to a collection of advisors and mentors pertinent to their efforts

  • Strategize with the company for their next growth steps including other funding pathways (as requested)

  • Introduce the company to potential private funding partners (as requested)

  • Use as a framework improving the companies Tech Readiness Level (TRL), Investor Readiness Level (IRL), Adoption Readiness Level (ARL)

 

The general agenda is as follows:

            May                                Onboarding call with the Company and participants (about 1 hour)

            End of May                      1.5 days Kickoff by VTC (sc

            Weekly/Bi Sessions           ~1 hour Mentoring and Advising with appropriate SMEs on call

            dates TBD                        2 hour first prep for Demo Day

            Ad-Hoc

Presentation to Investor and access to Defense Investor Network

Strategy Sessions for company growth, expansion, and scaling

 

Potential Topic Areas/Sub-Topic Areas

 

The following list is potential topic areas (but not exhaustive) that we can look to cover for your company.  Topics with * are covered in the accelerator track.

 

Product/Mission Market Fit - Technical Readiness Level (Product Development)

  • Customer and Value Proposition (desirability validation)*

  • Beneficiary Discovery/Stake Holders Support*

  • Determining Market, SAM, TAM, etc.*

  • MVP creation and Hypothesis Testing*

  • Scaling production/Overseas Product Production Techniques

 

Adoption Readiness (Customer Adoption)

  • Dual-Use Company building*

    • Attacking the commercial sector and Challenges

    • Balancing commercial and government product lines

  • Partnership building*

  • Scaling/Adjacent market exploration*

  • Sales and Selling Strategies (commercial and government) – Basic* and Advanced (either sector)

  • Specific Strategies on attacking a customer segment/customer base (customized to target)

  • Contracting Vehicles*

  • Finding additional Sponsors/Branching out from your current customer base

 

Investment Readiness Level (and financial strength of the company)

  • SBIR follow-on Pathways*

  • Other funding pathways*

  • VC strategy – is it right for your company

  • VC 101 – Current VC climate and investment strategies

  • How VCs evaluate a company (e.g. Why now, Why you, Why your tech, Why worth it)*

 

Company Building and Operations

  • Recruiting teams

  • Company formation issues

  • IP Strategy (including copyright and trade secrets)*

  • Governance and Company formation (startup and corp spinouts)

  • Creating Advisor Boards

  • Modern tools for outsourcing your back-office and key functions

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