What is the McGill Neuroscience Lean Startup Program?
The McGill Dobson Centre for Entrepreneurship is partnering with NeuroSphere, McGill's neuroscience accelerator funded through Healthy Brains Healthy Lives, to offer an entrepreneurship program tailored specifically to neuroscience innovations.
The McGill Neuroscience Lean Startup Program is a tailored learning approach intended specifically for scientific researchers. It is designed to help take you from the idea stage to developing and launching a viable startup, while immersing you into the world of entrepreneurship.
Through informative workshops, mentoring and advising sessions with industry and subject matter experts, as well as self-directed work on your go-to-market strategy, you will gain exposure to business frameworks and tools to diagnose your idea and generate challenging, yet feasible goals for your startup. You will also acquire a general understanding of key business concepts needed to bring your vision to life.
By the end of the program, you will have the business acumen, the confidence and the clarity to present your idea to various stakeholders and take your business to the next stage.
View the Program Brochure
Program Overview
Duration: 8 weeks
Key Learning Themes
Lean Startup Turning An Idea Into A Business
- Why some startups fail and others succeed: stages, pitfalls and best-practices
- Validating your proof of concept
- The framework to creating a viable product
- Understanding your market
- Protecting your IP & Legal Issues
- Financial Projections & KPIs
- Generating a business model to move from idea to startup
- Crafting and articulating your vision to stakeholders
Format
ACTION LEARNING: Throughout the program, participants work with their teams on achieving milestones related to their startup idea. This process is a crucial component of the program and will ultimately lead to the development of a viable startup concept.
WEEKLY WORKSHOPS: The central platform for introducing strategic frameworks and business concepts that guide the process of turning an idea into a business. Workshops also provide the opportunity to bridge theory with real-world application through stories, examples and insights from guest speakers. Workshops will generally last 2 hours but we reserve an extra hour for guest speakers and mentors.
Program Application
Ideal Participant Profile
This program is for McGill-affiliated researchers and trainees that have been working on an idea, discovery or prototype - ideally for 3 months or more, that are looking to legitimize their concept and move towards launching a startup.
You or your team has at least one founder that is a McGill University student, faculty member or staff member.
You or your team has at least one technical co-founder, and can build your business upon a technology, science, or idea that is significantly or radically disruptive.
The project must be aligned with one of HBHL’s research themes
A commitment towards attending all the workshops and executing the project work is required.
Please email us at dobson.mgmt [at] mcgill.ca (subject: Neuroscience%20Lean%20Startup) for any inquiries.
Have questions about the program? Contact Kika Armata for more information: kika.armata [at] mcgill.ca
