CEO Start

Validate your business idea and get started in CEO Start

CEO Start is an 11-week group-learning opportunity that prepares aspiring and existing entrepreneurs with insights, relationships, and tools to turn their ideas into viable businesses.

Peer groups of 10 to 15 entrepreneurs will work through the nationally recognized curriculum focused on testing ideas and identifying key assumptions through interviews, peer-to-peer conversation, research, and facilitated discussions on key foundational elements. Professional pitch coaches will also guide participants as they prepare for a final presentation.

Participants who complete the program will walk away with a solid foundation of business skills, access to resources, a community of support, an understanding of their next steps, and the confidence to move forward with their idea.

Hennepin County covers the full cost of participation for businesses, a $3,000 value. There is no cost to entrepreneurs to participate, other than your time.

CEO Start utilizes the CO.STARTERS curriculum, and is powered by investment from Hennepin County with support and in-kind contributions from the cities of Brooklyn Park and Bloomington.

Hennepin County and the Hennepin County Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HCHRA) invest in CEO Start as part of our strategic work to drive inclusive economic growth.

A framework for validating business ideas

Through this hands-on workshop, entrepreneurs will turn their passion into a tested concept ready to launch.

In this training, a group of entrepreneurs will:

Build community and peer-to-peer relationships
Gain business knowledge and learn to keep it simple
Critically examine their idea through real-time, in-person collaboration and expert feedback
Follow an intensive path to develop and fine-tune their idea using the CO.STARTERS lean business model canvas

Participants will leave the program with a deeper understanding of how to create a sustainable venture, articulate their models, and repeat the process with their next great idea.

To be a part of CEO Start, participants must be willing and able to commit one evening in person and two to five hours of independent work outside of course time each week. Most sessions are in person.

“The cheerleading has helped me continue to move forward. Every entrepreneur knows every other day, you don’t want to do it. Knowing that there’s all these people backing me... It gives me a lot more energy and grit to go further.”

— Katie Ross, founder of The Arts Creative and CEO Start graduate

Who is eligible?

To qualify for CEO Start, participants must:

Be a resident of Hennepin County
Have an idea or an existing business in an early stage
Be willing to question, shape and fine-tune that idea
Be willing to talk about the idea with others
Have capacity to attend all classes and collaborate

Non-profit ideas and organizations are not currently eligible.

About the facilitation team

CEO Start utilizes the nationally recognized CO.STARTERS curriculum, a tool from the Finsync Entrepreneur Ecosystem. All facilitators are local business experts trained to deliver the CO.STARTERS curriculum and connect participants to local resources.

National program results

26,781 entrepreneurs served
1,829 leaders trained
93.6% of participants continue working on their venture after one year
63.1% have generated a profit

Based on 2023 data from CO.STARTERS

Apply

The next session of CEO Start will run from September to November 2025. In-person sessions for the next training will be held in the Brooklyn Park. Complete this form to express your interest in the opportunity.

Interested entrepreneurs can also sign up to receive updates for CEO Start and other opportunities by signing up for the business support newsletter below.