This is my first time being in San Francisco. Since I have to sit in the middle seat on my flight, I’m glad both passengers next to me are skinny. It’s really awesome that I will get to spend a week there. I will be staying in “The Startup Haus”, which I set up through Airbnb. I will sleep there for the night, and in the morning I will be picked up by a driver from NewMe.
I will be participating in the NewMe Week Accelerator. NewMe is… I have been through accelerators before (Vetransfer & Revolution Labs). These two accelerators ween for 12 weeks. There was a lot to be done in 12 weeks, from early stage business model development to getting out and talking to potential customers, so having just a week to re-work our business model canvas is a little scary. I expect little sleep and a lot of customer development.
There are a few things I want to get out of this opportunity: 1.) Funding for the company. I’ve been told that there are investors that fund companies at the stage in which we currently are (close to having an MVP). 2.) Advisors in the EdTech environment. I would love to work with someone that has a better idea of how the EdTech environment works. I was always told to hire and bring on people that are smarter than you. 3.) Build a network. After this week, I plan to make more trips back here. My goal is to create as many connections as possible. I have 250 business cards with me, and I don’t want to go back to Milwaukee with any left. We are getting ready to land, so I have to put my computer up.
– Monte
