Meet the Ignite Portsmouth Facilitator: Josh Lawson
Josh Lawson is the Program Facilitator at the SSU Kricker Innovation Hub. He runs Entrepreneurial Mindset Training, Startup Weekend: Portsmouth, and the Ignite Portsmouth Bootcamp and Pitch Competition.
“My job is to make things easy,” says Josh. “That is what the art of facilitation is all about.”
Ignite Portsmouth is now in its fourth year. The 8-week boot camp takes participants with a business idea, or with plans to expand and grow an existing business, and teaches them essentials such as marketing, branding, business financials, the art of the pitch, and also matches them with an extensive local mentor network. But the key difference between Ignite and other business boot camps is the cohort based model.
“Our bread and butter at Ignite is the cohort model,” explains Josh. “Participants come together. It’s not just 20 or 30 individuals in the same room who just so happen to being going through the same program. We facilitate a peer-to-peer learning environment. They aren’t just coming to listen to me lecture, or for a guest speaker, but they are interacting with one another. They are learning as much from each other as they do from me. That is what Ignite Portsmouth is all about. That’s why it has been so wildly successful.”
Ignite Portsmouth’s track record speaks for itself. In the first three years, 33 individuals completed the program, with 9 new business starts and 11 business expansions.
“One of the aspects I like most about Ignite is identity formation,” says Josh. “We are in a region of the country that is often left behind and overlooked at a national level. We tend to have a scarcity mentality. Yet, a lot of people don’t naturally see themselves as entrepreneurs. So, to see somebody participate in the program with nothing more than idea - who may have very little confidence - and then go through the whole process of developing their idea, working with mentors, and see their idea and their confidence grow week to week until they are able to stand in front of a roomful of peers and pitch - that is amazing. It’s amazing to see the transformation that happens in their lives.”
Josh encourages anyone with an idea, regardless of how far they are into the process, to consider applying to Ignite - which kicks off May 8th.
“There are a thousand reasons why you may not think Ignite is for you. But there’s 1001 reasons why it is. We are here to support you. We try to make everything as accessible as possible all the way down to the language we use. We aren’t here to overwhelm you with entrepreneurship jargon…we are here to support you.”
This year, Ignite Portsmouth is awarding over $10,000 in seed funding to the winners of the culminating pitch competition.
“Even if you don’t place, even if you don’t walk away with money, you are receiving invaluable training, mentoring, and networking that will carry on far beyond the program.”
Participants in Ignite become an ‘alumni’ of the program, invited back for additional networking events, speaker series, lunch and learns, and continue to get additional entrepreneurial support.
“The Hub is here to anchor the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Everyone who goes through Ignite becomes a part of our network.”
Ignite Portsmouth is the catalyst for new business in our region. This 8-week entrepreneurship boot camp is perfect for individuals with a new idea, business, or with plans to expand and grow!
Participants will become equipped with the tools they need to succeed. They will learn about value proposition, the business model canvas, market analysis and customer validation, financial and revenue modeling, access to capital, marketing, branding, and business pitching. They will also be connected to mentors that will help them along the journey.