VIP: Start and Fund a Growth Startup

Test your idea, protect your company, understand your market, build a team, and develop a funding plan

Sign up and start the online curriculum any time.

We do not yet have our next 8 week VIP sequence scheduled.

Why Sign Up for VIP: Start and Fund a Growth Company?

Because when you start a company, you want to focus, follow best practices, and not become overwhelmed. In other words, you want to maximize your odds of success.

Based on our 30 years of experience working both in startups and mentoring startups, VIP show you step-by-step best practices for validating your value proposition and your business model, protecting your company and your intellectual property, creating a practical strategy for funding your startup, and developing a go-to-market plan.

Who Should Apply?

VIP is for entrepreneurs who are starting a growth business. What does “growth business” mean? It means a business that intends to sell a product or service not just locally, but regionally, nationally or even internationally.

VIP – What you get

In the VIP program you receive:

  • 8 video training modules with practical how-to information for entrepreneurs
  • 8 weekly interactive online workshops where we discuss how to apply that week’s topic to your business
  • Additional resources that help you understand and apply the VIP topics
  • Follow-on opportunities for local funding and mentoring
  • You’ll be part of an entrepreneur cohort – which means you’ll get to know, work with, help, and get help from the other entrepreneurs who are participating in the class. Being an entrepreneur can be lonely – it helps to have a peer group to talk to!
  • Bottom line: you get better focus, less confusion, and a higher chance of success with your startup

Plus - a Seed-Investment Funding Opportunity!

This is new! We’re working with SEDCOR, UBC, and SORDI to create seed funds in each of their regions so we can offer VIP graduates an opportunity to apply for seed funding for entrepreneurs in these counties:

  • Coos and Douglas (organized by the UBC – Umpqua Business Center)
  • Jackson and Josephine (organized by SOREDI)
  • Marion, Polk, and Yamhill (organized by SEDCOR)

More information to come on the seed funds in the near future!

What does VIP Cost?

For entrepreneurs in rural Oregon we can offer a drastically reduced price thanks grants from the Oregon Community Foundation and Ford Family Foundation. Entrepreneurs in rural Oregon can register for the entire VIP program for a single payment of $79.

For entrepreneurs anywhere other than rural Oregon, the cost for the complete program $249.

What do we define as “rural Oregon”? We have a simple definition: entrepreneurs in Oregon who live east of Gresham, south of Wilsonville, or west of Hillsboro.

Whether you’re in rural Oregon or not, this is money well spent for an entrepreneur incubation program that you can participate in from anywhere!


This course is closed for enrollment.

Your Instructor


Steve Morris
Steve Morris

Steve Morris is the manager of the Westside Startup Funds 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. He is also Executive Director of OTBC. He is a veteran of three investor-funded start-ups and two business-unit startups inside larger companies, and has more than 25 years of management experience in the software, service, and semiconductor test industries at companies such as Hewlett Packard, Integrated Measurement Systems, Cadence Design Systems, Mentor Graphics, Credence Corporation and Teseda Corporation. With hands-on startup CEO/founder experience, he has a broad understanding of startup issues, and an excellent ability to explain even complex startup topics in clear, easy-to-understand way. At OTBC, he has helped hundreds of entrepreneurs start and grow companies, and has developed a large inventory of startup workshops and practical startup tools. He holds a B.A. in mathematics from Reed College and a Masters of Science degree from Carnegie-Mellon University Graduate School of Industrial Administration (now The Tepper School of Business).


Course Curriculum


  Welcome, and videos of the live sessions
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  Topic 1: Your Business Model - Capturing your Hypotheses
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  Topic 2: Test Your Business Model
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  Topic 3: Protect your Company and your Intellectual Property
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  Topic 4 - Build your Team
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  Topic 5: Analyze Your Market
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  Topic 6: Go to Market Strategy
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  Topic 7: Fund your Startup
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  Topic 8: Create a Compelling Pitch
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  Topic 9: Pitch Practice
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  Optional: Develop a Financial Forecast
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  Optional: Government Grants for Tech Startups: SBIR and STTR
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Frequently Asked Questions


When does the course start and finish?
The course begins on April 1, 2021 and continues for 8 weekly sessions. We have weekly interactive-video meetings to review the content and answer questions - but if you'd like, you can work through the entire course at your own pace.
How long do I have access to the course?
How does lifetime access sound? After enrolling, you have unlimited access to this course for as long as you like - across any and all devices you own.
What if I am unhappy with the course?
We would never want you to be unhappy! If you are unsatisfied with your purchase, contact us in the first 30 days and we will give you a full refund.

This course is closed for enrollment.