The Idea Lab

The Idea Lab is a twelve-week program designed to help community members who have a business idea and want to proceed to move from idea to launch. Idea-stage stagnation is often due to psychological blocks, lack of structure, lack of accountability/deadlines, uncertainty about next steps, lack of resources, scope creep, difficulty prioritizing, and fuzzy value propositions. Getting objective feedback and support can help entrepreneurs take the next tangible steps! The Idea Lab at the Polsky Exchange is designed to support community entrepreneurs moving toward launch.

The Idea Lab:

• Provides framework and resources for aspiring entrepreneurs to validate and develop early-stage concepts.
• Equips participants with knowledge and skills to create viable business models.
• Connects participants to resources, mentorship, and networks to continue idea progression after program.
• Motivates participants to take next steps to launching their ventures.

Program participants should be able to devote at least 10+ hours each week, working on their idea. The program is composed of 2-hour in person sessions every week, including presentations, discussions, and group case studies. Outside of the sessions, participants have advisory sessions with SBDC advisors, weekly assessments to conduct customer discovery, market research, create value propositions, business plans, conduct at least 20 user-testing interviews, and present their findings for discussion during class sessions.

Participants should have at least 3 advisory sessions with their advisors before the end of the program.

The deadline to apply is Monday, January 6th at 3:00 p.m. If you need assistance or clarification while completing the application, please contact Barbara Agyapong at bagyapong@uchicago.edu. The program will begin in February 2025, and require an average of five hours each week for twelve weeks.