The Sullivan Family Ideator, a NSF Regional I-Corps program offered by the Wond'ry, Vanderbilt University's Innovation Center, is a localized version of the National Science Foundation's I-Corps program, which provides training, mentoring, and resources to help researchers, students, and faculty commercialize technology-based innovations into the marketplace. The program seeks to equip innovators with essential tools and a proactive mindset to test assumptions, identify genuine customer needs, and make evidence-based decisions about their innovations. This experiential and collaborative program is designed to address the pivotal question: Is there a market for my idea?
The next cohort will meet from October 28 to December 3, 2025, in 6 sessions over 5 weeks, with optional Pitch Practice and Pitch Day. Participants will engage in activities including weekly presentation, worksheets, 20 customer discovery interviews, and office hours. This program invites faculty, students, researchers, and innovators who are exploring pathways to impact and entrepreneurship, as well as teams looking to validate whether their innovation truly meets customer needs.
