Got a budding entrepreneur at home?
Give them the jumpstart they need to launch a successful business!
Hackathon for 9-12 Yr Olds!
Virtual Workshop
February 27, March 6, & March 13
10:30 am - 12:00 pm CST
WHAT IS IT?
A 3-day hands-on training where kids learn to use Design Thinking to develop, refine, and pitch product ideas that SELL.
WHEN?
Feb 27, Mar 6, and Mar 13
10:30 am to 12:00 pm
** Only 20 5 SPOTS left!
We start on February 27, 2021.
Even the most successful entrepreneurs were once kids with BIG ideas 💡
Where most people only see ‘problems’, entrepreneurs see OPPORTUNITIES to solve problems. And it’s from their solutions that the best-selling inventions were made!
- Canva gave millions of non-designers an easy way to create stunning designs.
- AirBnB solved the shortage of hotel accommodations.
- Uber gave easy access to transportation through a mobile phone.
This training will help your child build the muscle for recognizing opportunities so they can use their passion to fill a REAL (but unserved) need.
Why Kids Love Our Program
Sonali H.
11 years old
For anyone who's creative, this is a way to turn those ideas into something, like actually START a business and not just think about it.
I wouldn't have thought of starting a business that helps frontliners deal with stress if I hadn't been in this camp, and this has been awesome!
Emma M.
12 years old
I had a really good experience. It's something you should do if you're thinking about starting a business or if you just like being creative and inventive, because this really helped me come up with the idea for art and jewelry, and I think I actually want to start it!
Your child will leave knowing how to...
Develop profitable product ideas
Kids will practice framing a problem from an end-user's perspective and create solutions that give REAL value to consumers.
Collaborate with other people
Students arrive at the most optimal solution to a problem by building on their peers' varying ideas.
Pitch their ideas persuasively
Kids will learn to build their own pitch deck and present their ideas to a jury of business leaders "shark tank style" for feedback.
** Only 20 5 spots left!
Workshop starts on February 27, 2021.
📋 Included in the Workshop
3 Days of Live Virtual Training
That's 3 days of 1.5-hour Zoom sessions where students get to PRACTICE our proven process for generating product ideas that solve a real need.
*Each session will be recorded in case any student misses a class.
A Product Idea Workbook (PDF)
Students will want to jot down their (many) great ideas and this workbook will come in handy when they want to organize those thoughts! It's completely reusable if they want to repeat the whole process for a completely different product.
Pitch Deck Template
This presentation has been structured persuasively to help kids make a compelling case for their product idea. They'll be able to edit the template with Google Slides or Powerpoint.
BitSpace's Kidpreneur Certification
After completing the workshop, students are now officially BitSpace Kidpreneurs! They'll get a digital badge (which they can embed in their email signature) and a personalized pdf certificate from us.
Membership to a Private Kidpreneur Community
We've set up a group exclusively for our kidpreneur alumni. This is where like-minded entrepreneurial kids can exchange ideas, share their progress or even continue working together!
** Only 20 5 spots left!
Workshop starts on February 27, 2021.
🗓️ Program Details
February 27, March 6 & March 13
10:30 am - 12:00 pm
Feb 27
Coming up With an Idea That Sells
Products that fly off the shelves are those that serve a REAL NEED for an existing audience.
This is why students will be learning about the Design Thinking process, a problem-solving approach that focuses on the needs of a specific user (or consumer).
They'll practice what they learn RIGHT AWAY through a mini challenge given before the session ends.
Mar 6
Fine-Tuning Your Product Idea
Accurate insights about a user means EVERYTHING when it comes to developing a product that really hits the mark!
In this session, students will learn how to:
- Gather information to understand a problem better
- Interpret their collected information
- Define a user's real need based on what they've found
They will be presented with a list of challenges and asked to pick ONE that they're excited to solve.
Students will then work in groups to solve their challenge and create a visual representation of their idea.
Mar 13
Selling the Big Idea
At some point, even brilliant ideas are going to need some support (or funding) to get off the ground.
Students will learn to communicate the value of their idea by pitching it to a panel of business leaders & venture funders from the Chicago area.
These judges will be offering their valuable feedback at the end of the session.
** Only 20 5 spots left!
Workshop starts on February 27, 2021.
Your Guide for This Session:
Samantha Gleisten
She's the Director of Learner Experience Design at BitSpace and an Unsung Heroes awardee, recognized by Voya for her work on implementing a problem solving curriculum in the classroom. Sam has had more than 15 years of experience as a classroom teacher and is currently Head Teacher at Rogers Park Elementary in Chicago.
Meet Our Judges
Manoj Mahenthiran
Co-Founder, BitSpace
Manoj leads PwC’s Private Equity sector where he focuses on empowering teams to differentiate PwC and their clients in the market. He has over 20 years of experience consulting for Private Equity clients with a specialization in healthcare mergers and acquisitions. He is truly invested in his client’s success to get deals done quickly, with more certainty and seamlessly pivot to post-deal data driven value creation.
Neesha Rahim
CEO, BitSpace
Neesha is a serial entrepreneur who is on a mission to revolutionize how kids are educated.
She has two decades of experience working with youth development orgs, and she founded and grew Level Up Village, a K12, global education + STEM company from a back-of-the-napkin idea to operations in 20 countries & 26 US States at 200 schools.
LUV was acquired by Samsung in 2017.
Nial McCarthy
Founding Member & Head of Global Sales, CTRM Cloud
*CTRM Cloud is a next generation Trading Risk Management solution backed by Elieses Capital.
Niall has 20 years of Commodity related experience, most recently at Morningstar where he led the commercial teams supporting the award winning commodity data management solution used by leading global commodity trading companies. He was a principal at LIM which was sold to Morningstar in 2010.
Quick Summary of Everything You're Going to Get
- 3 Days of Live Virtual Training
- A Persuasive Pitch Deck Template
- A Reusable Product Idea Workbook
- BitSpace's Kidpreneur Certification
- Membership to a Private Kidpreneur Community
Only 20 SPOTS LEFT
NOW ONLY 5 SPOTS LEFT!
Workshop starts on February 27, 2021.
