Rev1 Ventures’ Customer Learning Lab Serves Our 1000th Entrepreneur
Successful entrepreneurship is all about achieving milestones, and recently, Rev1 Ventures posted a big one. Our 1,000th entrepreneur completed Customer Learning Lab (CLL).
Why is CLL so important to our entrepreneurial ecosystem?
Because the number one reason that new companies fail is that they can’t get investors’ attention. The reason they can’t get investors’ attention is that they don’t have customers, and the reason a startup can’t gain customers is usually because the company’s solution lacks product-market fit.
That’s the power of Customer Learning Lab—a structured community education opportunity that helps entrepreneurs building a technology-enabled business define their first customers and validate that their product is a fit for this market.
Customer Learning Lab is a boot camp that companies rave about.
I’ve spent the last twenty years working with and within tech startups. I saw new businesses that were raising a lot of money but didn’t have strong product-market fit. They failed.
With CLL here in Ohio, we have this amazing resource that is available at no charge to entrepreneurs who are building technology-enabled businesses. It’s grueling—three days of hybrid instruction over three weeks, with intense homework in between. Entrepreneurs receive direct feedback from customers.
More than 1,000 entrepreneurs have completed the CLL work and captured the benefits. Here’s what just a few of them have to say.
- “The step-by-step templates, the expert explanations, the working sessions to ask questions, and the access to the Rev1 team, specifically an advisor, is so great.”
- “Rev1 challenged what I thought I already knew about my business and product, making me see the problem/solution statement through fresh eyes. I learned new ways to visualize the benefit we offer.”
- “The amount of information and foundational advice that was given just to get startups onto a track that they may otherwise not be on is invaluable. The lessons and workshops taught me something new every time.”
- “The advisors are coming with completely open minds. They want everyone to dream but within reality.”
- “The content is dense and linear. The facilitators are top-notch—experienced and intelligent.”
- “It provides the opportunity to concisely present your problem, solution, and then get valuable customer feedback about your offering.”
- “I appreciate the inclusive nature of Rev1, even for a group just starting out with no business or prior entrepreneurial experience. Our advisor gave very insightful feedback during the course and is an incredible resource.”
- “I really enjoyed being able to put on my “Investor hat” and hear how founders pitch their startups.”
Not every entrepreneur who completes Customer Learning Lab moves forward. Some business ideas gain fuel, and others fizzle. When that happens, it just means the entrepreneur is freed up to develop a different idea.
Think about the impact a thousand entrepreneurial minds steeped in market validation can have in a region like ours!
If you are an entrepreneur with an idea for a technology-enabled business, talk to us.
