Critical Solutions
"Your customers don't care about you. They don't care about your product or service. They care about themselves, their dreams, and their goals. Now, they will care much more if you help them reach their goals, and to do that, you must understand them."
Steve Jobs
About the NSF I-Corps Program
The National Science Foundation (NSF) I-Corps program, hosted by UCSF Innovation Ventures, is a premier training course designed to empower academic researchers and innovators. It moves them beyond the lab by teaching the critical business skills needed to translate groundbreaking scientific discoveries into real-world applications. Through an immersive, evidence-based curriculum, the program challenges teams to engage directly with potential customers and stakeholders, validate their commercial hypotheses, and identify the most viable market for their budding technologies. The ultimate goal is to bridge the gap between UCSF's world-class research and its commercial potential, accelerating the development of new therapeutics, medical devices, and digital health solutions for public benefit.
NSF I-Corps Steps
Step 1: Customer Discovery - Interview 100 potential customers
Step 2: Business Model Canvas - Lay out the road map
Step 3: Launch Your Product
Sounds easy, right?