Want to jumpstart your idea this spring semester? LaunchPad is pleased to host “Thought to Action,” a bootcamp offered each Saturday afternoon in February by serial entrepreneur Phil McKnight, founder of Ghostfruit, co-founder of Promptous and LaunchPad Entrepreneur in Residence.
Register here for this exciting bootcamp that will lead you through a clear definition of problems, intentions, and patterns of action, to help you execute on ideas.
One of the hardest gaps to bridge for aspiring entrepreneurs is to understand that their goals are attainable. Over the course of four weekly sessions, each lasting three hours, the attendees will learn how to get from what they must what they need. Guided ideation will help to identify action items, then each week the group will reconvene to discuss outcomes, learnings, and next steps. Depending on circumstances, weekly action items might include the development of a business model canvas, customer discovery, specific research, team building, networking, financial modeling, or whatever else might be needed.
Each session will be led by McKnight from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the LaunchPad, first floor of Bird Library.
Space is limited to 20 participants. Sign up here.
February 5 — Problem: Will begin by relating the story of Stone Soup and talking about the application of it. What is the role of a founder? This will be followed by a group discussion of goals, ideas, cares, and landing at a problem which each person (or group) wants to solve. The assignment will be to spend the week learning more about the problem through research and at least two exploratory conversations
February 12 — Solution: Will begin by discussing the outcomes of the previous week’s research, and better defining problems to be solved. Group will collaborate with ideas about each other’s chosen problems to be solved and begin to come up with potential solutions. Some active time will be spent exploring the logistics of potential solutions. What needs to be known and taking steps to make those unknown things known. Similarly, this will involve work through the week to research, evaluate, and narrow in on an answer.
February 19 — Action: Will be focused on evaluating the feedback and discoveries received around the potential solution and refining it. Group will poke holes in assumptions and help to refine solutions, with a goal being the definition of specific action steps. Once action steps are defined, group members will individually figure out what the prerequisites for those action steps are and develop a plan to fulfill those prerequisites. During the week, group members will implement that plan.
February 26 — Evaluation: Group will convene for the final time to talk about their proximity to their action steps, and what challenges remain, and take what they learned and prepared for in the course to continue the plan-ask-do-evaluate cycle to continue the deployment of their solution.
About Phil McKnight:
Phil McKnight is an entrepreneur who specializes in furthering the adoption of new technologies. His background is in IoT, renewable energy, InsurTech, blockchain, and cryptocurrencies, and has a unique skill for helping people to chart the path between where they are and where they want to go. His current business, Ghostfruit, is a hosted bitcoin mining enterprise, with a business model focused entirely on delivering profitability to the customer. Founded in 2022, with the values of crypto adoption, renewability, and equity their first customer cohort will be brought online in Q2 of this year.