INDIANAPOLIS – The Kelley School of Business at IUPUI and Indianapolis-based company The Startup Ladies are beginning a new partnership that will connect local entrepreneurs with Kelley Evening MBA students.
Evening MBA students will use a grant from the Indiana University Women’s Philanthropy Leadership Council to conduct customer development research for entrepreneurs working to build a scalable company, providing insight that typically would cost an entrepreneur thousands of dollars. This includes interviewing future potential customers to understand what they want, what they need and what they’re willing to pay for.
“Many companies fail because they don’t do this research: Determining if the market truly needs what your company believes they want,” explained Kristen Cooper, The Startup Ladies CEO and founder. “One of the reasons The Startup Ladies exists is to help eliminate barriers for women who are first-time business owners. This new partnership provides an additional resource that allows entrepreneurs to save time and money, which will help them go to market faster. It also helps these women entrepreneurs better understand their customer needs and business model.”