JumpStart

Generator Tour & Welcome
Welcome to JumpStart! In this kickoff session, we’ll introduce you to Generator’s staff, give you a tour of the space, and walk through membership orientation so you’re fully equipped to make the most of your time here. This session is your first chance to get grounded, meet your cohort, and start getting excited about what’s ahead.

Foundations
In our first week together, we’ll set the tone for the next 12 weeks. We’ll begin with introductions, review the syllabus, and establish classroom agreements. Then we’ll do a future-self visualization to imagine where you want your business to be a year from now—and how we’ll get you there. Finally, you’ll participate in small-group work exploring your CliftonStrengths: where will your strengths make running a business feel easeful? What might be more challenging? We’ll use this to start rejecting one-size-fits-all business advice and instead begin shaping a business that works for you.

Mission & Values
This week is all about exploring who you are, what you believe in, and how your business can reflect your values—especially if you’re committed to anti-capitalist, non-business-as-usual approaches. We’ll review and refine your mission and values, and begin crafting your elevator pitch, tagline, and/or slogan. You’ll also take the first steps toward speaking publicly about your work, practicing projecting your voice in the classroom. By the end of this week, you’ll have a clearer picture of what sets you apart in your industry—and how to communicate it.

Market Research
This week is all about asking questions, gathering feedback, and uncovering the truth about your market. We want to find out what you know—and don’t know—about your product. Who is it for? What problem does it solve? What wish does it fulfill? We begin our market research journey with tools that work whether you’ve got 20k Instagram followers or just your high school friends seeing your posts (or even if you avoid social media entirely!). We’ll walk through your mission statement and business name, develop your Ideal Customer Avatar, articulate your hypothesis, and learn research tools like surveys, informational interviews, and social media polling.

Milestone & Implementation Week 1
This first Milestone & Implementation Week is all about getting eyes on your prototype! JumpStart focuses mostly on the business-y side of things—not the engineering—so for this special session, we bring in a crew of brainy, wickedly smart engineers and makers from a variety of fields. You’ll present your prototype, ask questions, and get live, constructive feedback to help guide your next steps in product development.

Website Building Intensive
This session is entirely dedicated to building your website from the ground up using Squarespace. If you’re starting fresh, you’ll create a homepage, product page, and about page. If you already have a site, you’ll spend this session doing an SEO audit and making improvements to your site’s searchability and user experience.

Marketing Foundations
This session covers the essentials of marketing. We’ll do a cost-benefit analysis of different channels—social media, email marketing, SEO, in-person and online networking, paid ads, and more—to help you choose what’s actually worth your time. We’ll also break down the difference between marketing and sales, and you’ll complete an exercise to create the foundational messaging for all your future marketing efforts.

Midpoint Rest Break!
We know this program is A LOT, so we build in a small break midway through. There’s no formal class this week—just space to catch up, slow down, and refocus your intentions before we head into the second half of the program.

Ask a Lawyer
This session is fully devoted to business and legal essentials. Vermont Law School graciously provides expert-led instruction covering topics like liability and insurance, contracts and policies, intellectual property, product safety, and entity structure (like when to consider becoming an S-Corp). You’ll also learn how to find a lawyer that aligns with your values—and more.

Milestone & Implementation Week 2
This week is dedicated to getting your current, in-the-moment needs met. At this stage, participants are in many different places with many different needs. You’ll meet one-on-one with someone in the community—a mentor, peer, advisor, potential customer, or manufacturer—to ask questions, get support, and move the ball forward.

Money Basics & Getting Paid
This week is all about building a strong financial foundation. We’ll cover cost of goods sold (COGS) and how to price your products, explore money mindset, and talk through how and when to pay yourself. You’ll also learn how to set up a business bank account, create a basic budget, and get a clear overview of what accountants, bookkeepers, and tax professionals do—plus how to decide when to hire versus DIY.

Accounting, Budgeting & Taxes
This week typically welcomes two guest workshops from folks like accountants, radical bookkeepers, crowdfunding experts, local banks specializing in business lending, and professionals who can help you understand business credit. These sessions dive into topics like budgeting, bookkeeping, taxes, borrowing, and more—offering insight into how to manage your money and make informed financial decisions.

Pitch Practice
Throughout the 13 weeks, you’ll be slowly and intentionally building a pitch deck slide by slide. Each week, Emily assigns two slides—with clear structure and thoughtful examples—to help shape your story. In Week 12, you’ll bring your full deck to class and practice delivering your pitch in front of a small group of business leaders and experts. You’ll receive feedback on your slides, your delivery, and your overall story so you can refine everything before graduation night.

Graduation & Expo
This final week is a celebration of you, your work, and—for many folks—the launch of a new product or business. But what makes JumpStart unique is that this event is nothing like Shark Tank. It’s a loving, community-filled room where people are excited to hear your story, your wins, your struggles, and your vision. Whether you pitch big or simply show up and share, this evening is about honoring the work you’ve done and making a soft, supported entry into the world of business and making. It’s a joyful, radical gathering of Vermont’s creative community.

How To Live With Your Business
Jen Kimmich
The Alchemist

How to Make Your Customers Love You
Christine Dodson
Mamava

How will you manage it?
Bret Hodgdon & Matt Cleare
Davis & Hodgdon Associates

Building a Solid Legal Foundation
Justin McCabe
Dunkiel, Saunders, Elliott, Raubvogel & Hand

Winning Support from the Right People
Cairn Cross
FreshTracks Capital

How Will People Know About It?
Michael Jager
Solidarity of Unbridled Labor