Jumpstart your startup with a new series from Women 2.0 to help bring your business idea to reality. Jumper cables in the trunk? Check. Gas? Check. Brakes? All good.
Is it possible to come up with a business idea, conduct market research, validate the idea and put together a convincing pitch in 2 months? Women 2.0 says yes!
In the last two batches, the Jumpstart Your Startup (JYS) program has accepted over 40 participants. These were women that came together to work on their business ideas. The program covered the following topics through a multi-week in class format that provided lectures, group discussion and guest speakers and a lot of personal coaching.
1. What is it like to be an entrepreneur?
2. What are the steps involved in starting a business?
3. How do I validate if my idea has merit? How to conduct market research
4. Understand business models and go-to-market issues
5. How do I develop a business plans
6. How can I get my company funded, who are the suitable investors for me and what do they need to see form me to get interested.
“Not only did the workshop help me redefine my biz plan and strategy but it also hooked me up with women 2.0 network which is going to be a fantastic resource.” — Nancy Daniels
This nurturing approach in a safe environment on how to start as an entrepreneur and a step-by-step approach to writing a business plan has been invaluable to our participants. It was empowering to see the growth in participants who worked through ambiguity to reach a clear solution. Their ideas were diverse in nature and ranged from consumer product development to web 2.0 applications.
“…. thanks for such a great class. I knew absolutely nothing about anything business when I started and I have learned a lot. The class was very helpful to me in many ways.” — Tracy Dickinson
The program is taught by Naeem Zafar, a faculty member at the Haas business school at UC Berkeley. Naeem is a seasoned entrepreneur (six startups and dozens of advisory roles) and founded Concordia Ventures where he advises and nurtures entrepreneurs. Naeem has authored three eBooks on entrepreneurship-related topics.
“…An excellent instructor who takes you through all the important steps needed to start a new business. Highly recommended”. — Nita Fautier
Naeem’s warmth and energy gave us the perfect space to explore, scrap, then reinvents our business plan. Thank you!” — Erin Dev
The invited speakers, successful women-entrepreneurs included: Betty Kayton (InnovativeCFO), Amra Tareen (AllVoices), Megan Casey (Squidoo) and Vicky Saunders (Zazengo). These guest speakers provided incredible insight into their successes, shared inspirational stories and answered numerous questions.
Jumpstart participants attended the Women 2.0 Jumpstart weekend and celebrated success along with Alexa Andrzejewski, who received seed funding from Dan Martell, angel investor, for her Food-spotting idea.
Jumpstart is a fantastic way to start on a path of entrepreneurship, grow your idea into a business, and have confidence pitching it.
“One of the best aspects of the class was seeing how all the diverse idea took shape and evolved. I am looking forward to seeing how they all turn out…” — Lara Williams
Jumpstart Your Startup Starts January 2010
We plan to start a new session on Januray 2010. This 10-session program goes from Jan 13 to the final graduation class on May 8, 2010. The program will meet mostly on Wednesday evening from 6:30pm to 9pm but three sessions will be on Saturdays from 10am to 3pm.
“The ability to connect with like-minded women was invaluable.” — Dawn Alva
Program Coordinator
Baat Enosh
baat@women2.org
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Naeem Zafar (Lecturer, Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley)
Naeem is a part of the faculty of Haas business school at the University of California at Berkeley where he teaches Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the MBA program. Naeem founded Concordia Ventures, and focuses on educating and advising entrepreneurs with all aspects of starting and running a company. Naeem has been with six startups in Silicon Valley California (three of them as the president and CEO) and has extensive experience in mentoring and coaching entrepreneurs. He is now starting his next venture under the name of Institute for Service Organization Excellence (ISOE). Naeem holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Brown University (magna cum laude), Rhode Island, and a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Minnesota. Naeem serves on advisory board of six companies and is a charter member of TiE (world’s largest nonprofit focused on fostering entrepreneurship) and a charter member of OPEN.
