Retreat: Achieving Conviction in Product and Business Direction

Dive into how to understand customers better than they understand themselves and generate more demand than your company can handle.

Join Us for a two-day retreat on achieving conviction in product and business direction.

​If you’re thinking about a pivot or new product direction, talk to us first. If you're stuck in a pivot, talk to us now. We are trying to get sponsors to cover tickets for founders, see details below to apply for a sponsored ticket.

Lacking real customer demand is the root of most pivots and most startup failures. DDG is the pioneer in innovative ways to uncover market demand.

Richard Rashid, founder of Microsoft Research, says our approach “provides unique insight into the process of innovation.. and a new way to think about successful products and services as well as strategies for disrupting the status quo.”

Elizabeth Cutler, cofounder of SoulCycle, says ”This will help you unlock your blockers and inspire you to look meaningfully at how changing behavior creates results.”

DDG’s approach was developed over a decade through Georgia Tech’s Center for Deliberate Innovation. The Center has helped over 90 companies of all sizes, from idea-only startups to Fortune 500 companies, find the right opportunities and develop products that customers will not not buy, generating over $2 billion of company value.

Our two-day retreat is open to a select group of 12-15 entrepreneurs. This retreat is a unique opportunity to spend two days working with the Center’s founder and director, Dr. Merrick Furst, to transform how you think about your customers, and develop and position your products. If you already have more demand than you can handle, you can afford to skip this retreat. If not, it’s likely to be the best investment you can make.

Speakers:

​Dr. Merrick Furst is a 3x founder and the Director of the Center for Deliberate Innovation at Georgia Tech. He founded Flashpoint@GT, a first-of-its-kind startup engineering studio that developed formative leaders and exceptional technology startups. He also started the InVenture Prize which helps top teams transition from idea to prototype and launch their startups. Merrick was the president of the International Computer Science Institute at UC Berkeley, and before that was a professor and dean at Carnegie Mellon.

​Dr. Daniel Sabbah was the CTO and General Manager, Next Generation Platform, at IBM Corp. He was responsible for creating IBM's Cloud platform and aligning IBM's direction for Cloud and Mobility. He holds an MA and Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Rochester and and MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. His doctoral thesis was in Computer Vision using a precursor of today’s NNs called Connectionism.

Included in the ticket:

• Program focused on Deliberate Innovation™ (worth $200,000) a structured methodology that helps founders identify and meet unmet authentic demands in large addressable markets. Also includes a module focused on Sales Theory (how to achieve a transaction).
• Two days at Cavallo Point in Sausalito, an award winning resort inspired by a secluded National Park setting, storied history, and green ethos.
• Wine reception and dinner with startup founders and investors.
• All meals included.

To apply for sponsorship:

• Fill out the application form here: https://forms.gle/yGeVTcrVJzRgW3CJA
• Deadline: April 30, 11:59PM Pacific.