Is your business ready to launch? Find out. A no-cost, fully virtual readiness program that shows entrepreneurs how lenders, investors, and funding programs will see their business, and what to build next. Delivered by DAWN in partnership with Make Startups on the CofounderOS platform.
Cost
No cost to you. Every approved participant receives a $3,000 scholarship that covers the full program.
Format
Fully virtual and self-paced on the CofounderOS platform. Participate from anywhere in the region.
Enrollment
First cohort November 2026, then rolling enrollment.
Who
Entrepreneurs in northeast Minnesota, northwest Wisconsin, and partnering Tribal Nations.
How to start
Complete DAWN’s client intake. We then send you the CofounderOS application.
Market and Launch Ready AI is a virtual program that shows entrepreneurs how lenders, investors, and funding programs will see their business, and what to build next. Participants work through nine readiness areas: elevator pitch, target customer, customer problem, solution, business model, key advantage, market traction, customer acquisition strategy, and customer retention strategy.
AI-assisted scoring paired with human validation gives each founder specific feedback on where the business stands in every area and what evidence would make it market and launch ready. Because the program is fully virtual, founders can participate from anywhere in the region and work at their own pace. It turns readiness from a judgment call into a record you can carry into any room.
Readiness areas, from elevator pitch to customer retention
Scholarship for every approved participant. No cost to you.
Self-paced on the CofounderOS platform, from anywhere in the region
First cohort, with rolling enrollment after that
If you have ever wondered how a lender, an investor, or a grant program will see your business before you ask them, this is built for you. Nothing in the criteria is a trick. It is the same list lenders and investors are running through in their heads, written down.
Your business is assessed across all nine areas, from your elevator pitch to how you keep customers.
AI-assisted scoring paired with human validation tells you what to work on next, and exactly what evidence would make you market and launch ready.
A documented record of where your business stands that you can bring to lenders, funders, and programs.
A direct line to DAWN coaching, resources, and capital partners when you are ready.
Four steps, start to finish. You start with DAWN, move onto the CofounderOS platform, and work through the nine areas on your own schedule.
Fill out DAWN’s short client intake form. It takes a few minutes.
We send you the CofounderOS application. Your $3,000 scholarship covers the full program.
Answer the readiness questions in each of the nine areas, at your own pace, with what you have already learned and done.
See where you stand, close the gaps, and carry your readiness record into lender, investor, and funder conversations.
Each area has published criteria that describe what entrepreneurs should be prepared to demonstrate. Evaluations emphasize specificity, evidence from completed work, internal consistency, and a clear understanding of the customer. Planned activities are useful, but they do not carry the same weight as completed research and documented results.
Can the founder tell the whole story in a minute?
Who exactly buys, and what research says so?
What pain is real, recurring, and worth paying to fix?
Does the offering actually solve that problem?
Who pays, for what, and can it sustain itself?
Why this business over every alternative?
What do customers and revenue already show?
How will the business reach and convert buyers?
How will it keep customers and grow their value?
You are building, launching, or growing a business in northeast Minnesota, northwest Wisconsin, or a partnering Tribal Nation.
You want to know how a lender, investor, or program will see your business before you ask them.
You are willing to do the customer research and document what you learn.
Participant flyer
A one-page overview of the program you can share with a founder, a cohort, or a coworker.
Readiness Evaluation Criteria
The full criteria for all nine areas, so you can see ahead of time exactly what you will be asked to demonstrate.
Driving Access to Wealth & Networks (DAWN) is Northspan’s central hub for programming across northeast Minnesota, northwest Wisconsin, and partnering Tribal Nations. DAWN is fueled through grant funding and support from public and private partners. We enhance economic and community resilience by offering resources that form connections, build capacity, and facilitate access to capital. DAWN works to engage and elevate so communities can thrive.
Market and Launch Ready AI adds to DAWN’s existing lineup of entrepreneur support, which includes technical assistance, cohort-based training, pitch and showcase events, and access to capital through programs such as the State Small Business Credit Initiative. Founders who complete the program can bring their readiness record directly into DAWN coaching and capital conversations.
We are filling the November 2026 cohort now and will keep enrolling on a rolling basis after that. There is no cost to participants, because every approved founder receives a $3,000 scholarship that covers the program. If you want in for November, apply today.
Fill out DAWN’s short client intake form.
We send you the CofounderOS application. Your $3,000 scholarship covers it.
Once you are in, work through the nine areas with what you have already learned and done.
Make Startups helps entrepreneur support organizations turn local programs into credentialed training supported by documented outcomes. Its CofounderOS platform provides the learning, assessment, and reporting tools that combine AI scoring with human validation, so founders, programs, and funders can understand a founder’s progress against shared readiness standards. Learn more at makestartups.com.
202 W Superior St , Suite 600
Duluth, MN 55802
There are times when technology cannot replace the value of human interaction. That’s why we’re proud to say that we have boots on the ground, and not just bots.
We’re proud to say that we have boots on the ground, and not just bots.
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