ATDC

CLASSES

Developed with the ever-evolving needs of startups in mind, the dynamic ATDC curriculum incorporates startup best practices and the collective experience of ATDC staff and industry experts from Georgia and beyond. Below is a description of the curriculum.  Review the calendar to see what is being offered and to register for classes. Registration is required for ALL classes.

ATDC’s Curriculum

All ATDC members (Educate, Accelerate, and Signature) are invited to take part in ATDC’s educational curriculum.

Our curriculum prepares first-time and seasoned entrepreneurs alike for the entrepreneurial journey.  Entrepreneurs progress through Customer Discovery, Financial Literacy, and Investor Readiness. These three series form the foundation of our educational curriculum. Outside of these core classes, entrepreneurs are invited to participate in the many electives we offer throughout the year. Our electives are frequently evolving as new staff members, sponsors, and volunteers are brought on and eager to share their expertise.

Customer Discovery Series

Our Customer Discovery series is your starting point at ATDC.  It consists of Customer Discovery Theory, Customer Discovery Tools, and is followed by Customer Discovery Lab (seven sessions, minimum).

Completion of the Customer Discovery Series is a prerequisite to attend both Financial Literacy and Investor Readiness.

1. Customer Discovery Theory (2-hour session) – Most concept-stage startups fail because they focus more on how to deliver a product than on the needs of people buying it. This course provides a concentrated overview of the Customer Development Process, Business Model Canvas and Minimal Viable Product. By understanding their customers, startups reduce the risk of failure. This class is the first in the Customer Discovery Series, and it should be followed with Customer Discovery Tools.

2. Customer Discovery Tools (2-hour session) – This is a follow-on class from Customer Discovery Theory.  The purpose of this class is to work with the entrepreneurs to make sure they are ready to move forward with the discovery process—actually interviewing potential customers.  We will review the entrepreneurs’ business hypothesis, an initial set of interview questions, and tools to help build a persona of potential customers. This class should be followed by Customer Discovery Lab.

3. Customer Discovery Labs (7 – 10 weeks) –  Customer Discovery Lab is designed for founders who wish to deeply explore their customer segment and value proposition. Customer Discovery Labs use a combination of teaching methodologies from Customer Discovery (get out of the building), Lean Startup (iterative loop of experimentation), Startup Engineering (disprove your assumptions), and the Business Model Canvas to uncover your compelling business model. Customer Discovery Theory and Customer Discovery Tools are prerequisites for this class.

How does it work?

  1. Multi-week intensive program. You should commit to attending every week.
  2. Each week, make assumptions about what needs to be true about your business model to succeed.
  3. Design tests to disprove each assumption.
  4. Collect data and interpret the results.
  5. Update your business model canvas based on what you have learned.
  6. Present your findings to the teaching team and get thoroughly thrashed.
  7. Repeat.

You will be expected to talk to at least 10 potential customers each week.

After the seven-to-10-week Customer Discovery Lab module, you will have identified the core of your business model – your customer segment and value proposition. You may discover there isn’t one and that’s fine. It’s better to find out you were wrong now than later – after spending years and possibly a fortune.

Financial Literacy Series

(Prerequisite: Completion of Customer Discovery Series)

Through this four-session series, you will gain a thorough understanding of your business model and be able to articulate that model to an investor in financial terms.

Takeaways:

  1. Learn the details and underlying assumptions of financial models.
  2. Become familiar with the terminology investors expect you to know, understand, and use.
  3. Create and use a financial model to explain your business to stakeholders.

Investor Readiness Series

(Prerequisites: Customer Discovery Series and Financial Literacy Series)

Taught in partnership with Atlanta Technology Angels, this multi-week session focuses on what entrepreneurs need to know as you prepare to talk with potential investors.

Takeaways:

  1. Understand the investment experience from the perspective of an entrepreneur
  2. Understand what investors are looking for when they examine a startup
  3. Perfect an elevator pitch
  4. Create and refine a pitch deck
  5. Practice pitching
  6. Receive feedback from investor mentors

Next Steps

After completing the Customer Discovery Series, Financial Literacy Series, and Investor Readiness Series, you will be better equipped to benefit from other ATDC curriculum. We offer classes on advanced functional areas such as sales, digital marketing, product development, etc., as well as market-specific classes throughout the year in our Industry Program verticals: FinTech, Advanced Manufacturing, RetailTech, HealthTech, and 5G.  Please check the ATDC events calendar for upcoming classes that may interest you.