Ways to Get Involved

Invest in ISA startups

iowastartupaccelerator.com/invest

Angel investing in Midwestern startups

plainsangels.com

Donating to support Iowa Startup

Accelerator

iowastartupaccelerator.com/donate

ISAs Corporate Innovation Program

iowastartupaccelerator.com/innovatio
n
iowastartupaccelerator.com/codeschoo
l
iowastartupaccelerator.com/women

ISAs Code School Bootcamp

Womens entrepreneurship programs
InnovateHER competition in:
- Des Moines (11/16)
- Quad Cities (11/17)
- Council Bluffs (11/18)
- Cedar Rapids (11/18)

iowastartupaccelerator.com/innovateh
er

Startup Weekend 11/20 11/22 in:

- Cedar Valley
- Iowa City
- Quad Cities
- Council Bluffs
- Ames

swia.co

Finding a place to Cowork in Iowa (13

locations state-wide)

iowastartupaccelerator.com/coworking

Startup Ecosystem Playbook for economic

developers and community builders

iowastartupaccelerator.com/playbook

ISA Startup Lifecycle

We take a rigorous approach to developing new startup companies, using the
following framework:
Stage

Customer
Discovery

Description

Customer
Validation

Technical
Feasibility

Minimum
Viable Product
(MVP) exists
Selling your
Value
Proposition

Demonstrable
Product-Market
Fit

10x Growth
and Scale

5
6
7

Interviewing 100+ customers to truly understand their pain to

be resolved and the current market dynamics;
Validate market size is large enough to be worth addressing the
problem;
You can construct testable hypotheses to use for validation.
You have a data collection mechanism to track your research
over time.
You have a core team with existing leadership skills
A complete and validated Business Model Canvas;
Solid understanding of market position and dynamics,
competition.
Smoke and mirrors tests / low-fidelity prototype validates
marketplace need.
Financial model exists; breakeven and capital needs
understood.
Ensuring the product is technologically possible to build;
Intellectual property status understood and protected where
possible.
Technical capability exists within the founding team
A high-fidelity, working prototype demonstrates your primary
value proposition for customers;
You can demonstrate the value proposition to your prospective
customers and confirm it resolves their problem.
Well-developed financial model exists, vetted and understood.
Youre able to sell your value proposition to customers;
Generating revenue from your primary value proposition;
Probably beta or early adopter status.
Well-understood Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) and Lifetime
Value (LTV)
Your team is well-rounded, with sufficient leadership, financial,
sales and marketing capabilities to build a company around
The market is actively pulling your product from you;
Monthly Revenue Growth of 10-15%;
On track to reach $100k annual revenue run rate ($8,333/mo)
within 90 days;
Sell your product for more than it costs to produce it;
A credible plan to scale revenues by at least 3-5x in a year.
Repeatable, measurable metrics;
Rapid sales growth on track to reach $1 million annual revenue
run rate ($83,333/mo) in the next year;
Talent, leadership and culture take center stage.

Portfolio Review
Bars represent progress from the time each company entered ISA until 11/1/2015.
Please note that this is not a measure of a companys quality or worth, just the
lifecycle stage theyre at. Some move faster than others.
Stage

1
Custo
mer
Discov
ery

2
Custom
er
Validat
ion

3
Techni
cal
Feasibi
lity

4
Minim
um
Viable
Produc
t

5
Selling
Value
Proposit
ion

2014
Companies
ClikHome
HowFactory
Kids Calendar
Lendedu
ProduceRun
Punctil
Sift
SwarmBuild*
VenueFox
Vinveli
2015
Companies
CareAcademy
CareDrop
EarMashin
GolfRz
Goquets
Home Scene
Pro
Stratbase
Swinetech
TaxiTapp
Before ISA
* failed

During ISA

After ISA

6
Produ
ctMarke
t Fit

7
Grow
th
and
Scale

ISAs Programs