Tortoise Labs: Propeller cohort, Elder care ask, School leader ask

Hey there,

Nick here, owner of Tortoise Labs.

As a reminder, Tortoise Labs works with Maine's entrepreneurs to turn their ideas into profitable apps, services, and products. 

If you don't know who I am, why you've gotten this message, or don't wanna get these messages anymore, please unsubscribe forever.

Last year, I only sent out newsletters when I published a case study. But, I was inspired by Helkin Berg's recent newsletter full of interesting and thoughtful updates. So, I'm trying something new with newsletters. (Helkin is the founder of Hey Freya, the first complete health solution just for women and a participant in The Roux Institute's Founder Residency program.)

Thanks so much for reading!

Nick

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🐢 What I'm Working On

• I'm re-positioning Tortoise Labs. For the past four years, Tortoise Labs has been part-incubator, part-design studio, and part-holding company. Moving forward, Tortoise Labs will be the incubator that works with entrepreneurs to turn their ideas into profitable small businesses and startups. Snail Studio (operating separately) will continue to operate as a research and design agency for small businesses and startups. I'm in the process of interviewing my favorite clients, and I'm working w/ the wildly talented Annie Bacher and team to improve how I talk about what I do. If you're someone who needs copywriting help, I've never worked with anyone better than Annie and her team.

📅 Announcements and events--head to the links to signup.

• March 31: The Launchpad competition application deadline. Launchpad gives $50k to the most innovative business in Maine.
  
• April 6: The next cohort of Propeller, a free program to help women from Maine bring technology and technology-enabled ideas to life, will begin on April 6th. The program runs for four consecutive weeks from 5:15-7:15 PM ET. By the end of the program, participants will have successfully defined their customer, value proposition, and are beginning to prototype their app, product, or service with target customers. The program is free and no experience is required.

🙋 Asks--if you can help any of these entrepreneurs, please message them directly.

• Kaitlyn Morse is building a service to help families choose the right elder care with personalized, transparent, and unbiased guidance. Kaitlyn would love to talk with you if you're someone who has or has had a family member spent time in greater-Portland elder care. Kaitlyn's email is kaitlyn@maineaging.com.
• Kippy Smith is building a product to help school and district leaders share (with staff and parents) how things are going compared to school-wide goals. Kippy would love to talk with you if you're a middle/high school administrator or department leader. Kippy's email is ksmith@statusgrowlearning.com.

🆘 Help--I'd love to lend a hand if you're one of these people.

• You're someone who has an idea but isn't sure how to start. I can send you some tangible steps to getting out of your own head.
• You're a small business or startup owner who's having a hard time getting customers (or learning about them). I can listen, ask questions, and share what I might do.
• You're a small business or startup owner who needs a particular resource (e.g. grant-writing, legal services, physical prototyping) but don't know who to work with. I can share who I use as a resource (or ask other owners who they use).
• You're part of an institution (e.g. college, nonprofit, university) and want to bring my customer validation and prototyping classes or workshops to your audience. If you're one of these people, your audience is probably much, much larger than mine. I'd love to work together to help your audience bring their ideas to life.

325 Main St Ste 218, Waterville, ME, 04901, United States of AmericaYou received this email because you subscribed to our list. You can unsubscribe at any time.

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