Why South Bend?

There is no better place to learn about the ups and downs of being a small business owner than a community where they play such an important role in our daily lives. South Bend has a vibrant small business scene, which will allow our Cohort 2 entrepreneurs the chance to learn what happens in the day-to-day of running a business. This insight, combined with the national level research and network that INVANTI has curated, is the secret sauce behind building a venture that resonates with individual customers but also has the ability to scale nationally.

Our Approach

INVANTI is a full-time commitment in which we dig deep into problems, spend a lot of time in coffee shops meeting with lots of different people, and ultimately use those insights to decide what solutions we can build and quickly test. INVANTI is the perfect place for people we call initiators. Our group of entrepreneurs are people who are not afraid to just get started, whether that means sitting in a coffee shop with a sign that says “I want to talk to you about medical bills!” or flying across the country to test a prototype made from post-it notes (shout out to Cohort 1!). There is something powerful about a group of like-minded people in the same room, all passionate about building important things. Starting a venture is hard. But for those who aren’t afraid to start, we’re building a place for them at INVANTI.

We sum up our approach in four steps:

1. Define a Problem

We research big, important, complex problems facing the majority of Americans and define broad opportunity areas for new ventures. We engage startups, existing businesses, non-profits, and government to understand the problems from many perspectives and hunt for places where new solutions may be possible.

2. Recruit the people

Great entrepreneurs are problem finders before they are problem solvers. We recruit people who are hungry to solve important problems by starting a business, but don’t have an idea yet including:

Generalists — 2+ years in consulting or a startup

2+ years in consulting or a startup Experts — 2+ years experience with the problem

Technologists — 2+ years in software hardware

We intentionally recruit women, Black, and Latinx aspiring entrepreneurs.

3. Generate a Solution

We dig deeper into the problems and opportunities with our entrepreneurs and generate new solutions and business models. We emphasize testing assumptions about the solutions early and often with those who understand the problem best.

4. Build a Company

We invest in and support our entrepreneurs to build and launch their ventures. We help find the first customer or pilot, build the first version of the solution, and setup back-end services to make sure that the entrepreneurs’ time is spent building a great product/service.