“We just signed a contract with our second retailer!”

“Business isn’t my field, but I feel like I finally understand the terminology and environment”

“I accidentally found an Angel investor while searching for a CTO, and he’s providing $100,000 in funding!”

The eight startups from the McGill Dobson Centre for Entrepreneurship’s Lean Startup Program are set to make their final presentations on Monday December 5.

The hands-on program challenges student startups to test their business ideas outside the classroom, trading off lecture time for student/teaching team interaction.

Their experiences have been recounted over the weeks through The Dobson Chronicles.

“Knowing their drive and intelligence, I’m excited to see the final products,” wrote program lead Judith Li. “This year alone the class is composed of McGill PhD’s, graduate students, undergraduates, and McGill alumni from engineering, nutrition, management, sciences, and arts. As we near the end of the course, their ideas and pitches are becoming more polished.”

Here’s the eight teams:

1. Avocado Desserts is in the snacking and dessert industry, “making delicious healthy.”
2. GradLounge drives better research by boosting knowledge exchange between graduate students using an online collaborative platform.
3. NanoCrystaLab brings crystal nanotechnology to clinical practice. It manufactures a specialized toothpaste for cleaning dental implants.
4. PairUp is an online platform for connecting temporary vacancies with local property management.
5. Parscit is a last mile delivery solution that allows online retailers to provide scheduled evening deliveries to their customers.
6. Saccade Analytics develops software that enables doctors to better diagnose concussion and dizziness.
7. TmDesk is a web-based virtual desk designed for team discussions.
8. Voco Studios is giving anyone the opportunity to tell their story. We’re starting by making competitively priced videos for startups to create low barrier, entry level production jobs for talented new creators.

The Lean Startup Program took place every Thursday from September 29 to December 1. It was free and open to all McGill students, faculty and staff.

As well, it was heavily influenced by the Lean Startup Methodology curriculum, designed by Silicon Valley serial-entrepreneur and academician Steve Blank.

(Photo: MACLEANS.CA)