Lean Startup Short Course

GW's Lean Startup Short Course is an intense, bootcamp-style course teaching participants how to test their innovation’s market potential. Through direct interaction with their intended customers, innovators will learn their customers’ needs and examine how those needs could best be fulfilled through market offerings.

GW's Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIE) runs 4 cohorts a year, with each being approximately 3 weeks (17 days start to finish).

Interested teams are encouraged by OIE to register at least 30 days in advance from the upcoming cohort dates.

Below are the dates for the upcoming short course cohorts.

• October 28th - November 20th (Dual-Use Cohort)
• January 27th, 2026 - February 12th, 2026

Qualifications

Teams must...

• Be ready to test their idea's commercial viability.
• Follow the program curriculum described below.

Pricing

Although our Lean Startup Short Course is open to everyone, we do have certain pricing requirements for teams under certain classifications. Please review our pricing below.

Team Classification	Price
Qualified Current GW Students, Faculty, Staff/Faculty, Researchers Qualified Current Students, Faculty, Staff/Faculty, Researchers at other U.S. higher ed institutions and federal labs/agencies *Contact innovategwu [dot] edu (innovate[at]gwu[dot]edu) for information regarding qualification	Free
GW Alumni	Contact innovategwu [dot] edu (innovate[at]gwu[dot]edu)
Non-GW Affiliated	$4,000

 

Program Curriculum

Each cohort is approximately 3 weeks long. Teams need to commit around ~ 15 hours per week over three weeks.

All core sessions are held from 9:00 AM to 12:30 PM ET.

• Live Lectures (Week 1): Three 3.5-hour sessions focused on Lean Startup methodology and interactive breakout activities (~10.5 hours total).
• Midpoint Check-In (Week 2): One 3.5-hour instructor and mentor led session with early customer discovery insights and “Lessons Learned” presentations.
• Final Presentation (Week 3): One 3.5-hour closing session with team reflections and final “Lessons Learned” presentations.
• Mentorship: Minimum of three 1:1 office hour meetings with an assigned instructor (~0.5–1 hour/week).
• Customer Discovery: By the end of the cohort, each team must complete at least 20 customer interviews and submit documentation.

Outcome

Participants will develop an entrepreneurial mindset or expand upon any pre-existing business knowledge.

Upon completion, teams will have...

• Defined their initial beachhead customer: Pinpointed the first target market to focus their efforts.
• Articulated their solution’s value proposition: Clearly communicated the unique benefits of their solution.
• Gained data on their solution's commercialization potential: Collected insights to assess market viability and growth opportunities.
• Eligibility to apply to National I-Corps: Qualified for the next level of support and resources through the National I-Corps program.
• Increased likelihood for funding, including SBIR awards: Enhanced their chances of securing financial support for their ventures.

For next steps, contact innovategwu [dot] edu (innovate[at]gwu[dot]edu)

For more information contact innovategwu [dot] edu (innovate[at]gwu[dot]edu).

Register Here