Winter LLP mentoring
Today I completed the final "official" session of the winter 2019 UBC Lean Launch Pad for entrepreneurial students and alumni. Session 5 (of a five-week incubator program) requires the ventures to present updates on their findings and the road ahead. It is not a contest to see who is the smartest one in the room. Failure (so to speak) is always an option.
My venture team, Synch, explored the idea of using virtual reality to enhance and improve collaboration among remote teams. Mahk and Hamed were wonderful people to work with, very open to coaching and clearly learned much in the LLP process. In their presentation they admitted some initial assumptions were wrong (as confirmed in customer interviews) and they would pivot to alternative ideas.
Following the presentations the mentors were asked to rate the market readiness of their venture's product or service, on a scale of 1 to 5. I gave Synch a 1... but with pride. The LLP process helped them to understand how the market is reacting to their ideas and allowing them to redirect their efforts in a better direction.
Mahk brought VR equipment to the event so mentors and ventures could experience it. And no one was more impressed than their mentor.
I am very proud of what they achieved in the LLP program.
