Office Hours with Adrian Grant, Comcast Ventures Catalyst Fund:

On Thursday, November 30th, teams from our Ignite and Summer Launchpad programs met for coaching sessions with Adrian Grant (Stern ‘05). Adrian is an Entrepreneur in Residence for the Comcast Ventures Catalyst Fund and a Mentor for Techstars.

Throughout the semester, NYC startup experts from accelerators, venture capital funds, law and accounting firms meet with NYU student and faculty entrepreneurs to provide expert coaching and personalized advice at the Leslie eLab. Of the teams who participated on 11/30, discussion topics ranged from product piloting strategy to viable business models, pre-seed fundraising, and pitching physical products.

Adrian strongly encourages all founders to focus on validating their business ideas early. This can be done simply and does not require sophisticated technology. “I’ve seen companies raise capital off of Excel spreadsheets before automating anything. Traction matters more than how beautiful the product is. The best thing to do to optimize for investment is to have customers.”

Are you an NYU entrepreneur wondering how to validate your startup idea? The Entrepreneurial Institute staff is here to help! I highly encourage you to watch the recent Startup School recordings of Getting to Product Market Fit Part 1 and Part 2 and book an appointment with a Blackstone Launchpad coach today.

About Office Hours:

Office hours are by invitation-only and a chance for startup teams to receive expert coaching on specific issues and challenges they face. Priority access to office hour signups is given to teams participating in programs including  Ignite Fellowships, $300K Entrepreneurs Challenge, Healthcare Makerthon, Prototyping Fund, Summer Launchpad, and those recommended by Blackstone Launchpad coaches.

Interested in participating but not involved in one of the programs listed above? Sign up for a coaching session with a Blackstone LaunchPad coach and learn how to access entrepreneurial resources at NYU.