“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”
- Mike TysonRECONVERGE:DEMO(lition) Business Model Extreme Makeover
A proud part of Startup Milwaukee Week – November 5-11, 2018
Events in: Milwaukee, Green Bay, and Madison
Are you a startup? Here’s the bad news:
Two-thirds of you will fail outright. 96% will never earn an ROI.
Booz Allen, Doblin Group
Are you ready to improve your odds?
RECONVERGE:DEMO(lition) will help early stage startup founders stress test their business models, identifying and correcting the most common root causes of failure:
1. Unclear product/market fit strategy – the market doesn’t want what you’re selling
2. Inadequate product innovation – by the time you launch, you’re obsolete
3. Poor communication skills – no one knows what you’re talking about
Recruiting from among the highest-potential startup founders from Green Bay, Madison and Milwaukee’s surrounding metros, RECONVERGE:DEMO(lition) will help early stage startup founders pivot their original offer to a competitive advantage that can never be imitated, predicts the future evolution of their business and engineering systems, and solves new market market performance problems competitors have failed to address or articulate.
Are you ready to get in the ring? If you have the guts, we have the coaches.
Your RECONVERGE:DEMO(lition) Business Model Extreme Makeover Coaches
We’ve recruited experts at the top of their fields to guide startups through each of the three critical phases of the Business Model Extreme Makeover: Right Strategy, Right Product, and Right Pitch.
How can you participate in RECONVERGE:DEMO(lition)?
We’re looking for startups ready to step into the ring and make themselves better. We’re looking for investors who want to nominate their startups – to test them and hone their skills. And we’re looking for sponsors who are ready to make a tangible commitment to improving the Wisconsin startup community.
Are you ready?
Startups
You already know how difficult it is to craft a winning strategy, refine your product offering, and perfect your pitch. And while you do that, the market doesn’t wait. Agility is key, but simply moving faster isn’t going to make you successful. Your strategy, product, and pitch skills need to be honed and stress-tested. If you’re accepted, that is exactly what we’ll do.
Investors
You are all too aware of the startup failure rate. How much of your money, right now, is at risk? Would you like to de-risk that investment? We thought so. Nominate your startup to be a part of RECONVERGE:DEMO(lition). They will get expert coaching – and a complete makeover – on their strategy, product and pitch.
Corporate Sponsors
Two (2) Producer Sponsors will be offered the opportunity to be present at each of the three sites during each of the nine days of exercises AND place a judge on the REVEAL Panel at November’s Milwaukee finale. Eight (8) Supporter Sponsors will also serve as judges, with a portion of those funds from each being allocated as the method for competitive selection on Final Reveal Day. The Makeover finalist to capture the most funds wins the competition… but all finalists, participants and observers will see how predictable it can be to de-risk the future of every business.
Register for the RECONVERGE:DEMO(lition) Business Model Extreme Makeover
You can register yourself, nominate someone else, or express interest in sponsorship.
Get in the ring! Register your own startup (or nominate one):
Use the form below to register your startup for the RECONVERGE:DEMO(lition) Business Model Extreme Makeover. You can also use the form to nominate a startup in your network. Simply add your contact information in the “message” field.
Be an assistant coach! Sponsor the event:
Use the form below to express your interest in sponsoring the RECONVERGE:DEMO(lition) Business Model Extreme Makeover.
RECONVERGE:DEMO(lition) 2018 Agenda
The lead-up to the big reveal on November 9, 2018 begins with weeks of preparation. Review the agenda highlights below so that you know what to expect!
October 15-17, 2018
Get in the ring! / Right Strategy
We will jump into the ring immediately with a comprehensive strategy review.
Right Strategy Details
In addition to getting the strategy formulation and execution processes performed effectively, the “right strategy” will always be comprised of the appropriate amount of executive attention to:
1) the plan,
2) scope considerations (including markets, customers, where focused along the industry’s value chain, where in the evolution of solutions to the targeted markets, etc.),
3) your sources and execution in the marketplace of a competitive advantage (if any?), and
4) the fit with an appropriate business model.
Experience and research have shown that there are really only a small number of ways that companies can launch and run sustainable and successful businesses:
1) As an evolutionary or incremental improvement of product/services offered by existing competitors,
2) Using a distinctive competence to exploit a particular window of opportunity along an industry’s value chain,
3) Being a successful disruptor of an existing industry (identifying and taking advantage of the “Z” axis of competition), and/or
4) by creating a new and customer-demanded category where your business can enjoy navigating a blue ocean.
As such, the “right strategy” will meet criteria such as the following:
- Meets a known and demonstrated customer need, whether articulated or not.
- Makes something much easier for customers/clients.
- The unique solution is intellectually and commercially protected from duplication/replication.
- Identifies and locks in the appropriate partners along the entire value chain.
- Driven by a business model that scales, quickly.
- Represents a genuine insight and remarkable solution.
- The business’ evolution over 5, 10 years and beyond has been visualized and road-mapped.
- Care has been given to cultivating a supportive ecosystem for the offer.
- The business generates enough capital and revenue to stay ahead of its early and fast-growing cash-consumption needs.
- The business articulates “values” beyond just profit-making, and provides products/services that also meet social needs by offering net beneficial impacts.
City Schedule
Milwaukee
Ward 4: 2nd Floor Cafe Conference Room (313 N Plankinton Ave Suite 205, Milwaukee, WI 53203)
10/15, 9am to 5pm
Madison
StartingBlock: 3rd Floor, under The Commons sign (821 E Washington Ave 2nd floor, Madison, WI 53703)
10/16, 9am to 5pm
Green Bay
Rise & Grind: Brown County Library, 3rd floor (515 Pine St, Green Bay, WI 54301)
10/17, 9am to 5pm
October 15-17, 2018
Strategy Review / Right Product Start!
Are you building the Right Product to take advantage of the Right Strategy? Now it’s time to find out!
Right Product Details
[Right Product Details coming soon]
City Schedule
Milwaukee
Ward 4: 2nd Floor Cafe Conference Room (313 N Plankinton Ave Suite 205, Milwaukee, WI 53203)
10/15, 9am to 5pm
Madison
StartingBlock: 3rd Floor, under The Commons sign (821 E Washington Ave 2nd floor, Madison, WI 53703)
10/16, 9am to 5pm
Green Bay
Rise & Grind: Brown County Library, 3rd floor (515 Pine St, Green Bay, WI 54301)
10/17, 9am to 5pm
November 6-8, 2018
Product Review / Right Pitch Start!
Now that we have settled on the Right Strategy and are building the Right Product, it’s time to communicate that vision effectively with the Right Pitch.
Right Pitch Details
The perfect pitch does not ensure investment, the perfect pitch ensures effective communication. A clear pitch will help potential investors make their decisions more confidently and more quickly. That decisiveness fosters a “fail fast” approach that reaches “yes” in a fraction of the time. Structural Foundation Part 1: The 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint – Guy Kawasaki (from https://guykawasaki.com/the_102030_rule/) Ten slides. Ten is the optimal number of slides in a PowerPoint presentation because a normal human being cannot comprehend more than ten concepts in a meeting—and venture capitalists are very normal. (The only difference between you and venture capitalist is that he is getting paid to gamble with someone else’s money). If you must use more than ten slides to explain your business, you probably don’t have a business. The ten topics that a venture capitalist cares about are: • Problem • Your solution • Business model • Underlying magic/technology • Marketing and sales • Competition • Team • Projections and milestones • Status and timeline • Summary and call to action Twenty minutes. You should give your ten slides in twenty minutes. Sure, you have an hour time slot, but you’re using a Windows laptop, so it will take forty minutes to make it work with the projector. Even if setup goes perfectly, people will arrive late and have to leave early. In a perfect world, you give your pitch in twenty minutes, and you have forty minutes left for discussion. Thirty-point font. The majority of the presentations that I see have text in a ten point font. As much text as possible is jammed into the slide, and then the presenter reads it. However, as soon as the audience figures out that you’re reading the text, it reads ahead of you because it can read faster than you can speak. The result is that you and the audience are out of synch. Part 2: Storytelling Basics How to Tell a Great Story – HBR, 2014 (https://hbr.org/2014/07/how-to-tell-a-great-story) In addition to O’Hara’s tips (below), I incorporate some literary devices and classic archetypal story arcs (e.g. hero’s journey, etc.) • Start with a message • Mine your own experiences • Don’t make yourself the hero • Highlight a struggle • Keep it simple • Practice makes perfect Part 3: Personal Presentation There is plenty of good advice … that so many entrepreneurs don’t follow. This section will break down the “personal presentation” of the candidates (appearance, clothing, speaking style, etc.) with the objective of being memorable for the right reasons. Key points: • Respect for the audience • Authenticity • Linkage to the product (not to a personality) • Memorability Some articles to consider: https://www.forbes.com/sites/meghancasserly/2012/04/30/what-to-wear-pitch-venture-capital-entrepreneurs-fundraising/#5b10e8fd1d37 https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/220213 https://www.inc.com/adam-fridman/what-should-entrepreneurs-wear.html
City Schedule
Milwaukee
Ward 4: 2nd Floor Cafe Conference Room (313 N Plankinton Ave Suite 205, Milwaukee, WI 53203)
11/6, 9am to 5pm
Madison
StartingBlock: 3rd Floor, under The Commons sign (821 E Washington Ave 2nd floor, Madison, WI 53703)
11/7, 9am to 5pm
Green Bay
Rise & Grind: Brown County Library, 3rd floor (515 Pine St, Green Bay, WI 54301)
11/8, 9am to 5pm
November 9, 2018
Makeover Reveal Day!
This is the moment – one of the nine finalists will win. But in truth … no one lost. All nine startups are ready for their next toughest opponent – the marketplace.
Scheduling Details
Milwaukee
Ward 4: 2nd Floor Cafe Conference Room (313 N Plankinton Ave Suite 205, Milwaukee, WI 53203)
11/9, 9am to 5pm
Organizational Partners
The Commons Wisconsin
PREPARING TOMORROW’S INNOVATORS
The Commons is an opportunity for motivated and talented students in Wisconsin to get firmly planted in the region’s growing innovation economy. It’s a chance to apply skills on real-world projects, build professional networks and connect with the community. We run a variety of programming throughout the year and work with students of any school, any year and any degree.
For the region’s academic and business community, this is an unparalleled level of collaboration, creating a vast web of connections and opportunity to connect with our best and brightest collegiate students. The Commons is reshaping the economic landscape of Wisconsin.
Learn more at thecommonswi.com
Startup Milwaukee Week presented by Advocate Aurora Health takes place on November 5 – 11, 2018, and is designed to connect, educate, and celebrate entrepreneurship in Southeast Wisconsin. The week’s programming showcases the community’s emerging companies while highlighting the resources and organizations available to foster support for entrepreneurs on their journey. The week will feature 40+ events hosted by 35+ partner organizations in the community. Startup Milwaukee Week is supported by Advocate Aurora Health, Concordia University Wisconsin, Husch Blackwell, Northwestern Mutual, Accelity Marketing, Headway, Milwaukee Business Journal and Newsradio 620 WTMJ and is a part of the Startup Wisconsin initiative.
Startup Wisconsin is committed to advancing and developing Wisconsin’s tech and startup ecosystems through unique programming, collaborative partnerships, and networking. Driven by entrepreneurs and leaders throughout Wisconsin who are passionate about making a difference, and creating a positive and lasting impact that will advance the state’s economy forward. Startup Wisconsin Week is supported by Advocate Aurora Health, Concordia University Wisconsin, Husch Blackwell, Northwestern Mutual, Accelity Marketing, Headway, Wisconsin Inno and Newsradio 620 WTMJ.
Not sure what this will be like?
We’ve crafted a brief narrative example to help illustrate what we mean.
Situation:
Off-The-Shelf drone equipped with a UV camera can detect evidence of mites and fungus in hop crops, allowing the farmer to treat infections more quickly and more precisely. However, the founders are having a difficult time getting traction with their offering, even in the face of initial excitement. In other words, no one is buying. Fortune 1000 agricultural conglomerates would put a highly-skilled team of intelligence analysts on the problem, discovering the root cause and making incisive recommendations. The founders do not have $100,000 and 12 weeks. They will be out of cash by that point.
Solution:
The “Reconnaissance” approach: The answers to those questions exist in publicly-available sources, but the founders do not know how to find them. When they do “Google searches” they find more irrelevant information than useful insights. They cannot separate the wheat from the chaff. With a Reconnaissance approach, founders and allies of the firm are all armed with basic intelligence discovery techniques, allowing them to crowdsource the answers.
Revised Strategy:
Insight: (from Facebook) Only small farmers “walk the fields”; larger operations hire staff to do the work. In either case, they trust people more than they trust the technology.
Pivot: The drone now works with the people in the field, connecting not to a dedicated app, but rather to the information systems already in place, easing the resistance to adoption.
Revised Product:
Insight: (from the USPTO) Swarms of drones can operate more efficiently than a single drone.
Pivot: License the software and deploy to a drone swarm versus an OTS model…that coincidentally looked like a “toy” and not a farm “tool”.
Revised Pitch:
Insight: (from a TED Talk on YouTube) Before and after videos were critical – not the technology, but the impact.
Pivot: Shift from a “how does this work?” to a “what’s in it for me?” promotional strategy.
Venue Locations
Green Bay
Rise & Grind: Brown County Library, 3rd floor (515 Pine St, Green Bay, WI 54301)
10/17 (all day)
11/8 (all day)
Madison
StartingBlock: 3rd Floor, under The Commons sign (821 E Washington Ave 2nd floor, Madison, WI 53703)
10/16 (all day)
11/7 (all day)
Milwaukee
Ward 4: 2nd Floor Cafe Conference Room (313 N Plankinton Ave Suite 205, Milwaukee, WI 53203)
10/15 (all day)
11/6 (all day)
11/9 (all day)