Momentum

Meet the presenters of Michigan Lean Startup Conference-Dan Martell

The Michigan Lean Startup Conference less than a month away! As we build up to May 19th, we will continue to introduce you to the awesome presenters that will be sharing their expertise that day. Please meet Dan Martell........

Dan is the co-founder of http://www.flowtown.com, a venture backed startup building social marketing applications for businesses. An award-winning Canadian entrepreneur, at 25, Dan formed his first start-up, Spheric Technologies Inc., and watched it grow by an average of 152% per year before he sold the company 4 years later in mid-2008. As an informal angel investor, he is active in advising entrepreneurs using lean startup methodology and metrics based marketing to gain market adoption. Here is what Dan will share in his presentation “Lean Product Development: Learning is the Killer Feature”

In todays world of open source, cloud computing and API’s, it’s not if you can build it, but should you build it? The #1 killer of startups is running out of time before you “figure it out” and get traction. Lean product development is the methodology that allowed companies like; PayPal, Yelp, and Ardvark to pivot into their market to become a dominate player.  There is a process behind this approach; in his talk, Dan will go over customer development, qualitative feedback loops, feature prioritization, split testing, product metrics and agile development as approaches to increasing your probabilities of succeeding.

We look forward to meeting Dan on May 19th!

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Meet the presenters of Michigan Lean Startup Conference-Patrick Vlaskovits and Brant Cooper

Momentum is honored to host Michigan’s first Lean Startup Conference on May 19th! It is going to be so exciting to have the nations lean startup thought leaders all in one room! To build momentum as we lead up to the conference (which is less than 6 weeks away), we are going to introduce you to a few presenters each week. Let’s start with Patrick Vlaskovits and Brant Cooper, authors of The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development.

I first met Patrick and Brant back in November at the Chicago Lean Startup Machine (think Startup Weekend using lean startup methodologies). It was an awesome event and Patrick and Brant did a great job facilitating! It was amazing to witness the progress that the teams made (and the changes) based on the feedback they got from the customer discovery interviews they conducted over the weekend. By the time I left on Sunday I drank enough of the lean startup koolaid to know we had to bring these practices to the Momentum program. Patrick and Brant are helping us to put together the framework that the Momentum teams will follow. And of course, their book will be required reading (which is also included in the conference book bundle :)

Patrick and Brant will also be sharing their expertise with the attendees at The Michigan Lean Startup Conference. Here is the synopsis for their presentation, Its the end of the Startup World as We Know It:

Changes to the startup environment are having a disruptive affect on how startups are funded and built.  Patrick and Brant will discuss how lean startups fit into the world and what it means to entrepreneurs and investors.  They will also dispel some common misconceptions regarding lean startups and how startup founders can start using the principles to mitigate market risk.

We look forward to welcoming Patrick & Brant to Michigan!

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Momentum to stage Michigan Lean Startup Conference in Grand Rapids

MIBiz
April 11, 2011

GRAND RAPIDS – Grand Rapids based seed accelerator Momentum, kicks off its 2011 program with The Michigan Lean Startup Conference. “Lean Startup” is a set of methods to rapidly prototype new business models, test market assumptions much faster and generally “reduce waste.” The conference takes place May 19, 2011 at Grand Valley State University’s Eberhard Center.

“We want to introduce Michigan’s entrepreneurs, investors and educators to a more efficient way of proving out new businesses,” said Bill Holsinger-Robinson, director of Momentum. “The speed at which we can know a business’ viability has accelerated, and traditional launch plans waste time and money.”

Eric Ries is creator of the Lean Startup Methodology and keynote speaker. Other speakers at the Lean Startup Conference include Dan Martell of (Strategies for Fast Growth Entrepreneurs), Rob Walling (Start Small, Stay Small: A Developer’s Guide to Launching a Startup), Patrick Vlaskovits and Brant Cooper (The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development). A Founder’s Panel and an Investor/Legal Panel will share insight on what it takes to build a successful lean startup.

“The Lean Startup is a disciplined approach to building companies that matter,” said Ries. “It’s designed to dramatically reduce the risk associated with bringing a new product to market by building the company from the ground up for rapid iteration and learning. It requires dramatically less capital than older models, and can find profitability sooner.”

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Momentum focuses on agile entrepreneurism for 2011

By Olivia Pulsinelli | Business Review West Michigan

As Momentum enters its third funding cycle, the Grand Rapids-based seed accelerator is making some changes that should benefit the companies it selects for its 2011 program.

“Every year we really try to figure out how we can keep building upon what we’ve learned, improving our programming, ultimately improving the outcomes and the success probabilities for the companies,” said Amanda Chocko, Momentum’s program director.

Launched in 2009, Momentum invites five Internet-technology startups to participate in its 12-week summer bootcamp each year. Each team receives $20,000, mentorship and other programming to help them develop a prototype, business plan and investor pitch.

This year’s program — applications for which are due Feb. 5 and which begins May 9 — will incorporate lean startup methodologies. This process, which has been growing in popularity with entrepreneurs the past few years, “uses agile development in tandem with customer development to test market assumptions,” according to Momentum.

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Momentum Business Accelerator Taking Applications For 2011 Program

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Momentum Business Accelerator Taking Applications For 2011 Program

GRAND RAPIDS – If you’d have a great web-based technology business idea, and you’d like to live in West Michigan for 12 weeks this summer, than the Momentum business accelerator program may be what you’re looking for. You can apply now for the 2011 program. Momentum is open to any entrepreneur in Michigan or beyond.

Each year Momentum invites five companies to participate in a 12-week summer bootcamp where they make initial investments of $20,000 and help them to build a functional prototype, test customer adoption, refine their business models and build a repeatable sales process. The program ends with a Demo Day where the companies get to demonstrate their wares to investors and people who can help take the companies to the next level. Momentum takes an 8 percent equity stake in each portfolio company.

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The Momentum Start-ups-Where are they now?

As Momentum gears up for its 2011 program, we thought it would be a good time to check in on the Momentum alumni. Momentum is entering its 3rd funding cycle and has a portfolio of 7 companies to date, 5 of which are still active and 3 who have raised additional funding. The teams have continued the momentum and are making great strides since graduating from the program. Here is the update:

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Seeking Developers who get Geeked about Startups

Are you a developer who has a passion for building cool things, the resourcefulness to do lots with little, and the ambition to create a new company? If so, join the community of developers who are interested in joining a Momentum 2011 start-up team!

Momentum is a Grand Rapids based venture incubator that provides seed investments, intellectual capital, and extensive mentorship to internet technology start-ups. Each year we invite 5 start-up teams into a 12 week program where we make an initial investment ($20k); help you to build a functional prototype, test customer adoption, work on pricing, distribution, messaging, and begin build a repeatable sales process. Your team will then have the opportunity to be selected to enter Momentum Phase 2 where you can receive up to $300K in additional capital and resources.

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Social media site adds flair to energy savings

Thursday, December 02, 2010
Olivia Pulsinelli | Business Review West Michigan

Rajesh Nerlikar wants people to proudly show off their flair for sustainability.

Nerlikar and Mary Lemmer launched Energy Flair this fall, the first effort of TerraPerks, a company the two recent University of Michigan grads formed as part of Momentum’s 2010 program.

Energy Flair combines the growing interest in eco-friendly efforts with the sharing capabilities of social media. The website lets users post digital buttons to their Facebook pages and tweet their energy-efficiency accomplishments via Twitter.

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Kauffman Foundation Award for Learning Interfaces!

Congratulations to Learning Interfaces being selected as one of 15 educational teams out of over 1,400 applicants nationwide to participate in the five-month Kauffman Labs Education Ventures Program sponsored by the Kauffman Foundation.

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Energy Flair has officially Launched!

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