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VENTURE BUILDER · From Insight to Venture

Venture Builder — From Insight to Venture

24 weekly sessions, all open now. Work through them in order, or jump to whichever one you need.

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1

September 8, 2026

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Raising the Bar

Founder mindset at a higher level of rigor: real evidence, real users, a real product

You will build

A written reflection on what rigor means for this module

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2

September 15, 2026

Choosing a Problem Space

Explore a domain rather than jumping to a single problem

You will build

A short exploration of one chosen problem domain

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3

September 22, 2026

Structured User Research

Design a proper interview guide and interview multiple users

You will build

A completed interview guide and notes from multiple interviews

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4

September 29, 2026

AI-Assisted Synthesis at Scale

AI does the first-pass clustering — you're trained to spot what it misses

You will build

A written list of clusters plus what AI's first pass missed

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5

October 6, 2026

Putting Numbers on the Problem

A simple survey and basic descriptive analytics

You will build

A survey with basic descriptive analytics (frequency, averages, simple charts)

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6

October 13, 2026

What Already Exists?

A basic competitive/landscape scan

You will build

A short landscape scan of existing solutions

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7

October 20, 2026

Writing a Rigorous Problem Brief

A one-page brief backed by a small evidence pack

You will build

A one-page problem brief with a small evidence pack

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8

October 27, 2026

Problem Discovery Review

Present to a panel of teacher plus a visiting Aimers facilitator

You will build

A delivered presentation to the review panel

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9

November 3, 2026

Structured Ideation

A formal ideation technique (e.g. How Might We), individually first

You will build

A set of individually generated solution directions

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10

November 10, 2026

Business Model Basics (light)

A simplified business model canvas: customer, value, how it reaches them

You will build

A simplified business model canvas

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11

November 17, 2026

Choosing a Concept

Evaluate concepts on feasibility, desirability, and available resources

You will build

A concept evaluation and final choice

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12

November 24, 2026

Validating Before Building

Test the concept itself, not just the problem, with real people

You will build

Structured feedback from real people on the concept

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13

December 1, 2026

Stress-Testing the Idea

Use AI as an adversarial critic: "what would make this fail?"

You will build

A written list of assumptions and failure modes surfaced by AI critique

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14

December 8, 2026

Defining the MVP

Decide the smallest version of the idea worth actually building

You will build

A written MVP definition

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15

December 15, 2026

Solution Discovery Review

A second panel check-in before the build phase

You will build

A delivered presentation of the concept and MVP

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16

December 22, 2026

Build Sprint — Getting Started

Start building an actual working prototype

You will build

A working start on the prototype build

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17

December 29, 2026

Build Sprint — Core Build

Continue building the working prototype

You will build

A prototype with its core functionality built

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18

January 5, 2027

Build Sprint — Finishing Up

Finish the working prototype (app, website, physical product, or service walkthrough)

You will build

A completed working prototype

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19

January 12, 2027

Real-World Test & Iterate

Test the working prototype with real users; revise based on evidence

You will build

A revised prototype based on real-user testing

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20

January 19, 2027

Light GTM

Who hears about it first, how, and what makes someone actually want it

You will build

A short go-to-market note (not a pricing or channel strategy)

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21

January 26, 2027

Building the Pitch Deck

A short investor-style pitch deck, AI-assisted after the core narrative is drafted

You will build

A short investor-style pitch deck

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22

February 2, 2027

Pitch Practice

Full run-throughs with facilitator and peer feedback

You will build

A rehearsed pitch with facilitator and peer feedback

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23

February 9, 2027

Shark Tank Day — Final Prep

Last preparations before pitching to an outside panel

You will build

A finalized, ready-to-deliver pitch deck

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24

February 16, 2027

Shark Tank Day — Live Pitches

Live pitches to a panel including an outside judge from the local startup scene

You will build

A delivered live pitch at Shark Tank Day

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Final portfolio

Every deliverable Venture Builder produces by the end of the track. Tick them off as they land.

Deliverables