NMC Innovation Mindset Credential

By: Josh Sloat

​Aurora is teaming up with Northwestern Michigan College (NMC) in Traverse City to help provide aspiring entrepreneurs with an Innovation Mindset Credential. This is a brand new curriculum, highly-tailored toward startup bootstrapping and turning ideas into real-world solutions. 

Getting off the corporate hamster wheel or finding the motivation to kick start your side hustle is just the beginning. The path to becoming a successful startup is one that comes with MANY hats. You know your domain like the back of your hand, but you'll have a massive oh-no second once you start running into all of the other things necessary to bring your idea to the marketplace. You'll be a technologist, a designer, a marketer, an accountant, an HR wizard, a salesperson, an attorney, and a professional people person. You don't have time to become all of these things and you don't have the money to pay to have them all done for you. This course is everything you need to know, presented in digestible bits, meant to get you off to the races on building the next great thing, while doing so from a foundation built to last. 
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Program Summary

The Innovation Mindset Credential is a skills-development program designed to give participants the knowledge needed to think like an entrepreneur, act like an innovator, and turn ideas into tangible innovations.
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Program Overview and Outcome

​26 hours of interactive training focused on developing the skills to turn an idea into a viable business solution. The program focuses on the following areas:

• Innovation Ecosystem
• Innovation Mindset
• Design Thinking
• Business Canvas
• Marketing & Research

• ​Social Impacts
• Funding Solutions & Pitfalls
• Legal Issues
• The Art of the Pitch
• Pitch Event

​Legal Issues
Dr. Ashley Sloat will be the instructor for the Legal Issues Course. She'll be covering many of the i's and t's you need to consider when getting started. From her position of domain expertise, she'll help you understand what you need to make sure you're protecting your intellectual assets like patents, copyrights, and trademarks. From her background as a business owner educated in the school of hard knocks, she'll share lessons learned about business formation, essential contracts, entity-based tax considerations, and what to think about before bringing on employees or contractors to help.

Program Outcomes
A Business Canvas and a disclosure-proofed Pitch Deck supporting your idea. 

Schedule and Cost

• Start Date: September 11, 2023
• Classes: Mondays starting at 5:30 PM
• Duration: 12 weeks
• Location: Varies (in Traverse City entrepreneurial ecosystem)
• ​Program Cost: $1,150.00 (financial support is available)​

Courses start soon!

Enrollment is now open for classes starting in September. Hope to see you soon! And if you have any questions you'd like to make sure we address in our course, drop us a line!

Learn more and register