The Basics
All 886 program interviews are conducted over 30-minute time slots via Zoom. We expect all co-founders to be on the call. In return, expect 1-2 of our partners to present, in addition to our operating team and program directors.
Due to time constraints we ask for your pitch to be concise. Teams are given 5 minutes to present, in which we expect you to walk us through your deck and do a brief demonstration of your product. The remainder of the 25 minutes is reserved for Q&A and discussion.
How to Prepare
- Online Etiquette - Preemptively address potential technical issues. Have resources prepared and accessible, and make sure Zoom works without interruptions or updates.
- Your Pitch - Don’t try to memorize a script. Prepare talking points and conduct market research beforehand, but aim to be familiar enough that you do not rely heavily on notes.
What We Look For
- Progress - We are interested in seeing the progress you have made since applying or contacting us.
- About You - Be ready to describe your team's size, experience, the problem you are solving, and why solving it is personally significant to you.
- Data - Be ready to share monthly operating expenses, runway, previous funding, and user or revenue metrics if applicable.
Questions
Our interviews are not meant to be an interrogation where we expect you to know absolutely everything. We appreciate sincerity and understand that some questions can be unexpected.
- What feedback have you gathered from beta testing or users? How did you apply it?
- How do you differentiate from competitors? What are competitors doing well or wrong?
- When have you pivoted and why?
- What stage of the process are you in? What does your timeline look like?
- How do you plan to scale your product? Who is your target audience?
- What do you hope to gain out of our program? What makes Ikigai a good fit for you?
After the Interview
If we have additional follow-up questions, our operations team will contact you via email. If our partners wish to have further discussions, we may request a second round of interviews. Final decisions are generally communicated after interviews are completed and all applicants have been reviewed.
Good luck to all applicants!