This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will develop an offering designed to help early stage entrepreneurs identify their knowledge gaps, business risks and market challenges, and prescribe actionable measures that enable the entrepreneurs to reduce or ameliorate their risks, thereby increasing the likelihood of success in innovative new ventures. Today, such diagnostics and prescriptive remedies are delivered in one-on-one engagements with entrepreneurs. This application strives to make diagnosing and addressing the knowledge gaps of entrepreneurs a scalable endeavor. If Guidewire Group's expertise can be encapsulated in this platform and delivered to entrepreneurs in a highly scalable fashion, this project may shift the way in which entrepreneurs evaluate and improve their business performance.
It is no secret that the U.S. economy relies heavily on entrepreneurial activity to deliver economic growth. Each year, hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs start new businesses. But according to the US Small Business Administration, over 50% of businesses fail in their first five years. The SBA estimates that in 2007, 637,100 new employer firms began operations and 560,300 firms closed that year. The number one reason the SBA cites for this statistic is lack of experience among entrepreneurs. First-time entrepreneurs often lack the experience to validate their judgments, qualify their actions, and assess their performance. Yet because evaluating and coaching entrepreneurs are typically un-scalable activities, little has been done to make a significant impact on the business sustainability or performance of these entrepreneurs. The system proposed in this SBIR Phase I project has the potential to make market-leading diagnostic expertise available in the form of a self-service, Web-based application, thereby distributing actionable diagnostics more widely than ever before.
At the heart of Guidewire Group’s SBIR Phase I Project (Award No. IIP-094493) is the assertion that the sustainability and growth of entrepreneurial ventures is hampered by the fact that assessing and addressing the opportunities and weaknesses of startups is not a scalable activity. Our project sought to demonstrate the feasibility of delivering Guidewire Group’s proven G/SCORE ™ Startup Assessment Methodology via a Web-enabled expert system in order to help startup companies assess their business progress and identify and focus on areas for business growth and improvement. In order to develop such a system, Guidewire Group needed to prove the validity of three key aspects of a scalable system: That the use of a transparent, market-accepted assessment methodology from a credible source will make the entrepreneurs comfortable disclosing their data and being given advice. That a network of experts can be quickly certified to use, accurately and consistently conduct G/SCORE Assessments to many entrepreneurs at negligible marginal costs. That a Web-enabled application enables the inexpensive delivery of personalized interactions between entrepreneurs and experts and facilitates the aggregation of data from many entrepreneurs for comparison purposes. This SBIR project successfully validated these assertions, and further delivered the following results: Demonstrated a scalable methodology for identifying startups seeking assessment and collecting sufficient quantitative and qualitative information to conduct assessments. The pipeline of startups currently includes over 500 companies from four continents. Demonstrated a scalable methodology for identifying and training industry experts in using Guidewire Group’s G/SCORE Assessment Methodology and collecting validated data. Over 120 investors, technology executives, and members of the media on four continents have been trained and have conducted assessments using the G/SCORE Assessment Methodology. Validated a cost-effective methodology to generate credible assessments using Guidewire Group’s G/SCORE Assessment Methodology with a sample of 160+ companies from four continents. Developed and tested alpha versions of the training and software tools which enable the critical assessment and reporting workflows. Engaged over 150 incubators, investors, economic development agencies, technology vendors, Fortune 2000 companies and economic development agencies to provide insight and commercial feedback into Guidewire Group’s proposed solution. Developed an extensive Product Requirements Document for the Software as a Service required to deliver Guidewire Group’s proposed solution at scale, with early adopter customers. Built, tested and deployed a private-alpha version of the software, providing a profiling and self-assessment tool for startups and profiling and training to enable assessors to validate self-reported G/SCORES. Developed a business process that enables lighthouse customers to efficiently funnel startup partners and assessor partners to the private-alpha software, and enable Guidewire Group to establish the criteria for tight integration via a software API. Secured Microsoft’s BizSpark organization, Hewlett-Packard’s Startup Central program, ANZA Technology Network, and KTEC’s PIPELINE Entrepreneur Fellowship Program as lighthouse customers for the private-alpha, deploying in phases through Q1 2011, giving Guidewire Group access to more than 40,000 startups (self-assessments) and 2,500 partner organizations (assessors) The project resulted in the delivery of a prototype version of a system, G/SCORE SELECT, that enables entrepreneurs to conduct self-assessments of their businesses. These self-assessments then can be "certified" by business mentors and experts using the system’s panel management and third-party assessment tools. Certification not only validates the entrepreneurs’ business assessment, but also provides a means by which experienced business mentors can provide feedback and advice to entrepreneurs with greater reach and scalability. The G/SCORE SELECT system establishes the foundation for a self-sustaining enterprise that can effectively address the needs of startups and organizations that work with startups around the world.
