The UC Irvine ANTrepreneur Center is excited to announce a new sponsorship partner for its AI Innovation Course. For Fall Quarter 2024, SparkRockets will offer students enrolled in the course access to its cutting-edge AI co-pilot that will help guide them through the process of turning their business ideas into viable ventures.
To celebrate the announcement of this exciting new partnership, Ryan Foland, Director of the ANTrepreneur Center, invited Scott Ford, CEO of SparkRockets, to discuss the SparkRockets platform and his hopes for this collaboration.
About Scott Ford
Scott Ford is a seasoned and visionary leader with over 25 years of experience at the helm of successful software and technology companies. Prior to SparkRockets, Scott was the COO of Techstars, the largest early-stage startup network in the world. As COO, he led Techstars’ expansion to include 50+ accelerator programs in over 30 cities in 13 countries. During his tenure, Scott grew the Techstars portfolio from $10 billion to $160 billion. Scott and his family live in Boulder, Colorado, where he also teaches entrepreneurship at the University of Colorado Boulder’s Leeds School of Business.
Ryan: Ahoy, Scott! Thank you for sitting down with me. Let’s jump right in; can you briefly introduce SparkRockets and explain what inspired you to sponsor our new AI Innovation Course?
Scott: Sure; SparkRockets (formerly known as GoZigZag) is an innovative growth platform that empowers anyone with a business idea to validate and accelerate that idea to market with the assistance of a friendly and knowledgeable AI-driven co-pilot.
Some faculty at UCI have been early adopters of this technology, using it in the classroom and as you know Ryan, we were happy to support the ANTrepreneur Center’s AI Innovation Challenge last year. Supporting entrepreneurs at the earliest stage of building is core to SparkRockets’ mission to supercharge global entrepreneurship and transform business dreams into reality.
Ryan: What specific tools and resources will students gain access to through your software?
Scott: Students have the ability to give SparkRockets as little as one line of a business idea and, in less than 90 seconds, it will produce a business validation roadmap to get them started thinking about their venture.
This roadmap includes a lean canvas which is essentially a streamlined, one-page business plan template that captures the user’s startup vision. This lean canvas offers a breakdown of the startup across a variety of categories, including: Problems, Solutions, Unique Value Proposition, Existing Alternatives, Customer Segments, Cost Structure, and more. It also provides help on branding the business, offering insights on everything from picking a name to creating an elevator pitch, as well as validation experiments that allow the student to vet the idea and iterate on it if necessary.
Ryan: How does your platform help students overcome challenges when developing projects, and what do you think is the biggest impact this sponsorship will have on students and their innovations?
Scott: SparkRockets offers both speed and depth to students who are trying to hone in on their ideas. On the one hand, it provides actionable information that they can use to vet their ideas. Additionally, if the information they receive sparks new insights, they can also modify their ideas and get new results in less than two minutes.
Essentially, we’re helping to de-risk business ideas at the earliest stage of building.
As an instructor, I love seeing students be able to take off fast, not get bogged down in self-doubt or misdirection, and just be able to go, go, go on their ideas!
Ryan: Can you share any success stories from users who have leveraged SparkRockets’ software for AI solutions?
Scott: This year, we’ve had professors coming back to us asking for more SparkRockets in the classroom. One program particularly noted that, year over year, the ideas in their challenges have improved significantly, and they attribute that to SparkRockets.
Ryan: How does this partnership with UC Irvine align with SparkRockets’ broader mission or values?
Scott: Young entrepreneurs are the future of our economy. SparkRockets’ mission is to supercharge global entrepreneurship and transform business dreams into reality. We do this by making business startups fast, accurate, and accessible to anyoneeveryone with a bright idea. We honor and support the hard work it takes to make new businesses fly. When entrepreneurs succeed, we succeed.
Ryan: What are your hopes for the outcomes of this sponsorship?
Scott: We know SparkRockets can improve the quality of the work that comes out of this AI Innovation Course. Ultimately, we hope these young entrepreneurs take the ideas they develop through the course and run with them! We always love to hear back from anyone who takes their SparkRockets-supported idea to market, so we are excited to hear how UC Irvine ANTrepreneurs continue to advance their ideas.
Ryan: Thank you again for sitting down with me and sharing your insights. To close out this interview, what advice do you have for students using the SparkRockets platform for the first time?
Scott: Thanks for having me, Ryan. My advice is simple: Have fun, experiment, and enjoy the magic of having SparkRockets along for the ride.
Visit the SparkRockets website to learn more about its capabilities and services. Visit the ANTrepreneur Center website to learn more about programming, speaker series, Micro-Internships, funding, and more. You can also learn more about the Center’s collaborations with Blackstone LaunchPad, Tech Coast Angels, Tech Coast Venture Network, OC Startup Council, and SoCal Celebrates Entrepreneurship. Keep up with the Center’s latest news by following them on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.