Step 3. Evolve Program

Launch New Ventures And Business Expansions.

Evolve is a flexible, multi-month, business development program designed to transform passions, interests, and skills into a viable venture, project, or new life path. Cohorts of creative entrepreneurs learn practical business skills using design thinking, the Air venture canvas, and Lean Startup principles. To get the full package of Evolve Materials contact your State Activator or send an email to Air.

Realize your creative & Financial potential.

Evolve’s approach is nontraditional and individualized. If you do the work and attend the classes, you will have the know-how and tools to successfully plan, build, and launch your creative venture. Participants explore their personal needs and values before fully investing in their venture. Each participant prototypes their new product, program or service so they can learn to listen to real world feedback. Throughout the program, participants build and refine their business plan in preparation for a final presentation that helps them gain support for their venture. Participants have access to dynamic financial tools, a mastermind team, and even individual coaching, if desired.

What You Will Learn & Do

Class 1 – Start with Why

Mission & Vision

Learn Design Thinking & Lean Startup concepts. Draft your mission and vision statements. Get feedback from your cohort and Air Certified Facilitators.

Class 2 – What & Who

Venture Description & Market Identification

Explore the value of your venture and draft your value proposition. Identify customers, stakeholders, and competitors.

Class 3 – What & how

Research Tools, Goals & Objectives

Analyze your venture viability. Discover market research tools. Develop goals and timelines.

Class 4 – Learn by doing

Prototyping

Design your prototype and create experiments that will use your Minimum Viable Product to assess your venture’s viability.

Class 5 – Money or Values?

Money, Money, Money

Challenge your mental models about work, finances, and intangible values to develop a venture that fits your definition of success.

Class 6 – What Counts?

Money, Money, Money Part 2

Use realtime data from your prototype. Air Venture Financials templates include budget, cashflow, and sales projections.

Class 7 – Find Help

Project Management & Team Formation, & Self Care

Build self awareness and identify who and what you need to succeed. Discover tools to maximize your time, energy, and health.

Class 8 – Check Your Systems

Pivots & Marketing & Sales Strategy

Analyze your prototype data and determine the changes you need to make now to succeed faster. Build marketing and sales pipelines.

Class 9 – Tell Your Story

Presentation Skills

Complete your Venture Canvas and practice telling your story for the audiences you need now. Get feedback from your cohort and get connected to investors.

Implemented Creative Ventures

Pickle & Ash; Stuart, VA

The owners of this farm to table restaurant, market, and food truck attended the Evolve Program in 2019. They found local investors and opened in the spring of 2021.

Berea MakersSpace; Berea, KY

The team that created the Pop Up STEAMshop in Berea, KY wanted to open a maker space. The STEAMshop volunteers created the energy to get the project underway after they worked through the Evolve Program. The Makerspace opened without any public funding and is now expanding to a larger facility.

Apparent Artistry; Logan, OH

Robyn Lindsey prototyped her idea  and staged the company’s debut performance – a mini show that challenged perceptions of dance and theatre during pandemic life. The show brought together dancers from Ohio and the US, with parents, to inspire conversations about how COVID has changed parenting, art, and our overall lives.

New Leaf Marketplace; Nelsonville, OH

Jennifer L’Heureux evolved her Nelsonville Emporium into a new social enterprise. Now it’s the workforce development site of the Survivor Advocacy Outreach Program. SAOP works to prevent sexual/relational violence and substance misuse by providing economic support, housing, and supportive services to those who have been impacted by trauma and/or substance misuse.

Brick City Bread is a passion project that started small during the COVID sourdough craze. Using the Evolve focus on real world feedback and prototyping, a new venture was born. By starting small, Brick City Bread was able to refine recipes and find a niche market without over-investing in equipment or space.

Evolve Program Materials

Evolve materials include: a 230 page printed participant guide, digital, fillable worksheets, customizable cash flow, revenue projection, and budgeting financial tools, links to all teaching materials and additional resources, and videos of the class presentations. You can see a sample class here. Reach out to us.