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Every founder needs a quick pitch, compelling story, and a funding strategy to get their idea off the ground. Tech AF Founder Academy’s Founder Starter Pack is an interactive workshop series built for aspiring founders to kickstart their journey.
Join us over three weeks while we go through three critical pieces you need in your arsenal. You’ll leave each session with new knowledge, a tangible deliverable, and some new friendships.
Workshops are held virtually 5-7pm EST.
Workshop 1: Elevator Pitch + Problem Statement
Workshop 2: Founder Story + Your WHY
Workshop 3: Funding 101
We offer each workshop individually for $39 or all three sold as a package at a discounted price of $99.
Early stage, nontechnical founders. If you are serious about taking your idea to the next level, we want you in the room! You can be in the idea stage all the way up to building your MSP (minimum sellable product). If you do not have a technical background and are solving a problem that you know well, get on this registration. And lastly but, most importantly, if you’ve been historically underestimated because of your gender, skin color, socio-economic background, gender identity, sexual orientation, etc., then Tech AF Founder Academy sessions need you!
You will receive an email with reading assignments and/or homework to complete before each workshop so that you can get the most out of the content. Your peers also rely on you to come prepared.
Tell me in 30-seconds or less the totality of your idea and company– and make it memorable. Sounds easy enough, but if you’ve ever watched your listener’s eyes glaze over or heard someone stumble to repeat what you do, you know it is anything but. We promise you, wherever you are in your journey, you need to constantly be finessing your elevator pitch.
We’ll start the session off with your problem statement. A problem statement combines the who, what, why behind the problem and solution that is the foundation of your company. This is rarely what you think it is. In breakout sessions, you’ll challenge one another’s assumptions and get way closer to creating something people need badly enough that they’ll pay you for it.
Then, we’ll move on to crafting your elevator pitch. It will look very different from your problem statement, but you can’t have one without the other. By the end, you’ll be looking at your pitch from an entirely different angle. So will your listeners.
In this workshop, you’ll:
Every investor will tell you, “I invest in a founder, not a company.” Why? Because YOU- YOUR personal experience, expertise, and grit– determine if your startup will successfully launch and thrive. This is even more true for non-technical, underestimated founders like you.
Non-technical founders want to solve problems you are intimately familiar with. You are passionate about gaps and inefficiencies– whether that’s within your industry or something you’ve dealt with in your personal life. With enough determination, you are the exact right person to create this solution. Again, you are the.exact.right.person.to.create.this.solution.
You know it. Now how do you show that to the world?
Building off the who/what/why of the previous workshop, you’ll craft, edit, and polish your founder story.
In this workshop, you will:
But, wait, that’s not all!
We’ll also cover your WHY. What is it that drives you to build this company and is it enough to keep you going on the toughest days? This is the hero’s anthem to your founder story and will inspire you as well as any members you bring onto your team.
The first question on founders’ minds: how am I going to fund this? We’re not going to lie, 90-minutes is definitely not enough time to cover everything you need to know about the startup funding world. That’s why this is a 101 course. But it will give you a foundation to start expanding your knowledge and thinking strategically about your own options.
In this workshop, you will:
The most valuable aspect of this workshop is understanding the different types of investors you’ll have as you ideate, build, and execute on your business model. You’ll walk away understanding that getting in front of the right investor at the right time will not only help save you time, but also keep your confidence high.
Kristin Slink has built and sold several tech startups as a non-technical founder. With no MBA or tech background, was often the only woman in the room. Through mentorship and tenacity, she taught herself to step into the role of Chief Product Officer- a role that requires no technical background. She raised $55M in funding before successfully exiting her company. Since then, she has helped hundreds of underestimated founders through her work within the Atlanta community. In 2020, she launched Tech AF Founder Academy to bring more diversity to tech, smash the glass ceiling, and re-define what it means to have success in the tech industry.
Kristin is the CEO and co-founder of Tech AF Founder Academy – her north star metric is increasing the amount of startup capital that goes to women.
Ashley Aarti Beck is a fundraiser and word wizardess. She has been infatuated with the written word and creating sensory experiences since Ms. King’s first grade class. Blending deep empathy and fast-as-lightning-typing, she has helped raise $70M through fundraising decks, proposals, and donor cultivation pieces for nonprofits and tech businesses. She will help you unearth your super powers, key in on your major shining moments, and speak confidently to any investor out there- no matter how crotchety and battleworn they may be.
Ashley is also the co-founder of Tech AF Founder Academy- with a personal mission to help you launch the business of your dreams, solve world problems, and build generational wealth.