Investment-Style Founder Incubation:From $0 To $1MM

Revenue modelMarket researchGood team moraleCashTimeCofoundersSellable productContactsFocusPeer supportGood developersEncouragementA kick in the assPerspectiveWorking sales processTest clientsA pitch

In the beginning stages, every startup needs some of the following:

Investor contactsA planSchwag Logo Cofounder agreementsStress reliefFinancial projectionsSlide deckWork spaceAccurate pricingValue proposition Competitor dataPartnersEnterprise sales cycle

User specsPrototypeDemo presentationUser testing/feedbackUser interfaceBusiness cardsURL /websitePress releaseTax IDHiring paperworkCap tableFounder agreementsAdvisorsLawyerBank account

What a startup needs right now, depends on what they lack the most.

As soon as the startup can beg, barter, steal, trade, or pay for what is needed, they ’ll move on to the next major lack.

The biggest perceived lack startups have is money, until the company can sell enough to pay the bills.

Whether you’re a first time founder, serialentrepreneur, developer, investor, or worked for startups previously,

Every new startup must transform from an idea into a viable project, then into an economically self-sustaining company able to maintain steadymomentum in order to grow.

More than cash, knowing how and being able to do this, is the biggest actual need startups have.

Portland Ten is an investment-style incubator for tech startups. We help founders get from $0 to $1MM in 18 months.

We provide a 3 month bootcamp and 18 month mentoring relationship, in a flexibly structured experience that models what viable tech startups at $1MM do, and assists founders in launching and growing their companies.

We ask participating founders to commit time, tuition, and the willingness to be teachable and change.

Our main goal is to help founders invest in themselves and give their ideas and projects themaximum chance for success, and this is reflected in our 10 by 2010 commitment.

Our metric for success is to assist ten Portland startups in getting to $1MM in revenue

by October 2010.

“10 by 2010.”

Participating founders commit to this goal, and we commit our resources, time, network,

and reputation to reach this goal with them

Basics of The ProgramEvaluation

Founder/Team EvaluationTask Session AssessmentStartup Checkup

3 Months Residency

90 Day MilestonesWeekly Founder's Group Weekly Sales TrackingEmphasis on Market Validation2/Week Task Sessions/Week Weekly 1-on-1 Advisor Check inMonthly Startup Checkup

Activities & Supplies

Special guests & eventsMonthly Friends & Family SocialMonthly Founder’s Lunch3 startup books & an UncalendarAccess to Portland Ten Google group

15 Months Post-Incubation

3 Months of Advisor Check Ins 12 Month MilestonesClosing board meeting 15 Months Sales Tracking Monthly Founder's Group Alumni pass to future P10 events Access to P10 networkP10 Alumni Google group

Timeline & Founder Commitments

Timeline

Fall applications accepted: beginning July 27

Candidates selected: by August 30

12 Week Fall Session: September 21- December 13

Founder Commitments

Tuition: $1000/month for 3 months Participation: 6-8 hours per week for 12 weeks

10 by 2010:

Founders commit to generate $1MM within 18 months of starting the program.

What Our Founders SayBen Parzybok, WalkerTracker

   

“From the perspective of having successfully put together a boot-strapped product, I was particularly interested in Portland Ten to learn about taking the project to a new level. My short term goals include working through the enterprise sales cycle, understanding best-of-breed practices for startups and connecting with a community that is undergoing the same process. Portland Ten has been an invaluable help as Walker Tracker re-envisions its objectives and gets on task."

Kenneth Beare, Lingofeeds    “Portland Ten is driving me to understand Lingofeeds from all angles. It’s exhilarating, challenging in the extreme, and brutally honest at all times. Most importantly, it is helping me put the pieces together to form a successful online venture."  "Lingofeeds.com is now five months into Portland Ten, and on the cusp of launching a solid first product. I’ve developed important third party relationships, as well as done significant market validation. All of this has been done on a bootstrapper’s budget. Without Portland Ten, it would all still be a ‘great idea’."

John Metta, Hydrasi  

 “Portland Ten is a group focused on razor sharp honesty. You call them reasons and learn that they are excuses. You call them obstacles and learn that they are your own fears. You call them gold and learn that they are just really horrible, horrible ideas. It’s hard and often painful, but so is starting a company and I’d rather take the hard knocks in a room full of peers than one full of angry investors who learned too late that there’s no market for my product.“." "When I started Portland Ten, I had a vague idea. By the end of Portland Ten, I had the foundations of a strong company, and a month later I have a co-founder, waiting clients, and am in full development. We’re bootstrapping with strong revenue-driven goals and a no-nonsense attitude, and funding is now a choice, instead of a requirement." 

Dave Miller, BashWorks  

 “First and foremost Carolynn Duncan’s Portland Ten bootcamp is a hell of a deal. The training is fun, challenging, and comprehensive, with plenty of one-on-one problem solving. I’m learning a ton and having a great time doing it." "Two months after our final session, Portland Ten continues to pay off with new connections, with the application of much improved business practices, and as a motivator to reach the revenue goal to which we committed."

Alan Wizemann, Cularis  

 “We consider the experience and guidance from Carolynn and the PortlandTen to be an invaluable asset to our growing start-up. Through the exercises, their experience, founders groups and private checkups, we have honed our business procedures, product pricing, and go to market strategies while increasing our pre-sales for our upcoming product, ShopIgniter. Coming from a technology background, P10 has helped me dive into the realm of a business development founder and has become paramount to our strategy to become a million dollar company at or before the end of next year. As any start-up founder can tell you, getting the right advice on your company is almost impossible, as is exploring the world of angel and venture capital investment. With P10, we were able to use the knowledge and experience of Carolynn to bridge that enormous gap and help us generate buzz around what we are doing. I highly recommend any new business to try to get into P10, you will be glad you did."

   Don Hollerich, DedicatedMaps

"This is my fifth start-up, of which 2 had successful exits, & the other 2, not so much. When I was first introduced to Portland 10, my first reaction was: Been there, done that, why do I need this? But I decided to give it a try. What I found was that I was forced (encouraged) to focus on the things that are important during the start-up phase, like how does this product provide customer value & how does it make money, rather than on just the things that I am good at, like developing software. I wish I had this group at least a couple of times before."

Eileen Quenin, Blabylon    

“PortlandTen is proving invaluable to me. I spent the past few years "networking" & "talking" about my start up.  I was working on it, but not really focusing on the essentials.  I didn’t know what the essentials were. I actually had little understanding of the machinations of the market, of what venture capital was about, the "real" business side of thing.  I had never actually done true market validations, researched funding, or looked closely at my own biases, blind spots and motivations behind my business/product development decisions. Carolynn provides a wealth of experience and a unique kind of "tough love" that has proven essential to a new entrepreneur like myself. She gives empathy and steadfast clarity.  The other founders’ stories and adventures help me discover so much about myself - what it takes to launch and run a successful company. I still believe I can do great job coming up with product/features(s) to meet market needs and guide a company.  The boot camp has knocked out (thankfully so) a good deal of grandiosity and naivety.  I find it challenging and appreciate the growth it provides. I told a friend, ‘It is like the difference between slumping over reading a magazine on a treadmill and having a personal coach push you to your edge while making sure you don’t injure yourself.’"   

Steve Woodward, Nozzl Media  

"We’re only halfway through our 12-week session, but Portland Ten is already helping put my business back on track — a track I didn’t even realize we had left. Carolynn is relentlessly honest and backs up that honesty with insightfulness, experience and smarts. The program isn’t for the faint of heart, but for an entrepreneur who is ready to learn the tough lessons about what it takes to succeed, it’s the best deal in town."   

Staff Carolynn Duncan, Program Director

 Serial entrepreneur and subject matter expert in venture capital and angel investment. Hundred Dollar Business, FundingUniverse.com, EPIC Ventures, Eastern Idaho Entrepreneurial Center, TagJungle, Provo Labs. 

      

Nick Cottle, Venture Analyst

Nick Cottle is a founder of 7 Summits Sports Inc. and has worked to grow a division of the company called Epic Relays. Nick is also currently a full-time MBA student at Willamette University. Previously, Nick worked for HP and received a Bachelor's in Public Relations from BYU.

Advisors

Mark Grimes, Ned.com, NedSpaceSerial entrepreneur and experienced angel investor. NedSpace, Ned.com, and Better World Media Network.  

Josh Friedman, NedSpace/Eleven WirelessSerial entrepreneur. Better World Media Network, NedSpace, Eleven Wireless, Starveups. 

Rob Wiltbank, Wilamette University, Buerk, Dale, Victor Angel investment expert, Wilamette University MBA program professor, and partner at Buerk, Dale, Victor venture fund.

Kristin Wolff, Corporation for a Skilled Workforce Senior partner with CSW—a Michigan-based public policy firm, working with states, cities and organizations across the US on economic, education and workforce issues.

We enjoy working to strengthen Portland’s startup, tech, and investment communities.

If you’d like to get involved with Portland Ten or recommend a founder for the 10 by 2010

bootcamp, please contact us.

You can also follow updates via Twitter or our blog.

To apply for the current Fall 2009 session, submit an application at

http://www.portlandten.com/apply