FastTrac® TechVenture™
Take Charge of Your Business
Next Course:
February 16, 2010 - April 27, 2010
Deadline to apply : January 29, 2010
APPLY ONLINE
About FastTrac® TechVenture™
FastTrac® TechVenture™ is a comprehensive business planning program that addresses the needs of start-up entrepreneurs who are refining their business ideas, writing their business plans and seeking to grow sustainable high-impact companies. The program combines instruction from experienced business professionals, one-on-one business mentoring, peer learning, and ample tools to help entrepreneurs produce all the elements of an effective business. After completing the class, entrepreneurs walk away with a detailed business plan and executive summary presentation, and a strong understanding of how to finance a company.
Schedule
Week 1: Exploring Entrepreneurship
Week 2: Defining the Target Market
Week 3: Conducting Market Research and Analysis
Week 4: Testing Your Business Concept
Week 5: Entering and Capturing the Market
Week 6: Planning for Financial Success
Week 7: Building and Compensating Your Organizational Team
Week 8: Protecting the Business and Your Intellectual Property
Week 9: Identifying Funding and Working with Investors
Week 10: Managing Cash and Operating Your Business
Post-Class: Investment Pitch Refinement Sessions
Topics
Determine market opportunities and business strategies and pursue them successfully
Define your target customers
Develop a solid marketing plan
Learn to assess and build a top management team
Calculate the funding needed at each stage of your business and discover the best ways to access it
Learn the importance of protecting your intellectual property through licenses, patents, trademarks, and copyrights
Hone your elevator pitch and investor presentation
Features
A focus on each participant's own business rather than academic models
Teams of trained instructors with successful company building experience
A focus on each participant's own business rather than academic models
Reviewed homework assignments that create a thorough business plan
Expert guest speakers with real-world experience and valuable contacts
Industry-specific breakout groups to enhance peer counseling
Hands-on, individual business counseling from expert entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurs are assigned mentors who have extensive knowledge of all business disciplines
Entrepreneurs are provided comprehensive course workbooks, business planning tools and templates developed by nationally-recognized entrepreneurs
Receive one-on-one business training and mentoring
Walk away with a detailed business plan and executive summary presentation
Testimonials
"The biggest benefit of this class for us, already having our product out for about a year, was how it helped us audit our way of thinking and get us motivated to go through the next phase. The class allowed us to make some very beneficial connections and gain valuable feedback on our product."
- Chris Graner, founder CEO, Motorstats.com
"I can 100% tell you that without having gone through this program, I would never have been able to start PrepChamps. It was the small group advisors and several successful area CEOs within the FastTrac TechVenture class that helped to incubate my idea ."
- Dean Bundschu, CEO, PrepChamp
"FastTrac TechVenture was everything I thought it would be and more. It was a great investment of my time and it has given me additional insight to turn around the performance of my business and grow it to scale."
- Charles Wilson, CEO, INTELLUS
"This program helped me map out the strategy and direction of my company. It took my partner and I through all of the critical pillars of business planning and management, and helped us craft a presentation to investors . Without the help of CED I would not have the resources I needed to lay the foundation for my business and think beyond the grind of the everyday."
- Barbra Denison, marketing director, Cranky Creative Group
Fun Facts
Each year more than 75 entrepreneurs are provided the opportunity to showcase their company to investors through FastTrac® TechVenture™ program, and more than 600 companies have graduated from FastTrac® TechVenture™ since 1999.
Overall, FastTrac® TechVenture™ participants have raised more than $400 million.
FastTrac® TechVenture™ company fundraising success stories:
Motricity, Inc., $50 million in 2007
Liquidia Technologies, $16 million in Series B plus $2,500,000 in additional awards
AlphaVax , five rounds of private equity financing
Affinergy, Inc., more than $17 million
CipherOptics, Inc., $17 million from Lucent and venture capital
FastTrac® TechVenture™ graduates that have had IPOs:
Targacept, Inc.
Inspire Pharmaceuticals
SciQuest, Inc.
Icagen, Inc.
