Pitching before there's proof
Investors hear the idea, ask about customers and traction, and the conversation ends there.
Now accepting applications for the next cohort
Turn your idea into a business investors want to fund.
In six weeks, with Travis Brodeen: prove people will pay, win your first customers on a budget, and know exactly which money fits your business and when. About two hours of work a week, every template built alongside you.
- 6
- weeks
- 12
- live sessions
- ~2
- hours a week between sessions
- 1
- 90-day roadmap
Why this exists
Most first-time founders start with the raise. That's backwards.
After 200+ campaigns, we see the same pattern: founders chase investors before they have customers, an audience or a clear reason to raise. The Lab puts things in the right order.
Cold outreach that goes silent
Hundreds of messages to the wrong investors, sent before anyone knew who you were.
Spending money to find out
Building, hiring and advertising before testing whether anyone would pay.
Not knowing when to raise
Too early burns credibility. Too late burns runway. Most founders guess.
Apply for the next cohort
Takes about two minutes. We reply within two business days.
Business first. Community second. Capital when you're ready.
Is it for you?
Built for founders at the beginning.
The Lab is for you if…
- You have a real business idea or an early business, and you're the one building it
- You're willing to talk to customers and test demand before spending
- You want to know which kinds of funding fit you, and when
- You can make two live hour-long sessions a week for six weeks
It's not for you if…
- You want a guaranteed investor introduction or a guaranteed raise
- You're looking for legal, tax or investment advice (we'll tell you when to get it)
- You're ready to launch a campaign now. Talk to our agency team instead
- You won't have time for the work between sessions
Apply for the next cohort
Sound like you? The application is short.
The curriculum
Six weeks. Twelve sessions. Something real every week.
Every session ends with a short assignment, so each week moves you closer to a decision, not just a notebook full of ideas.
- Week 1
Start with a business, not a raise
Session 1Founder reality check
Define the problem, the customer, the offer and what success looks like, and separate building a business from raising money.
You'll leave withA one-page founder and business snapshot
Session 2Validate before you spend
Customer interviews, small tests, willingness to pay, and choosing the first traction metric you'll track.
You'll leave withFive customer conversations and one validation experiment
- Week 2
Bootstrap the foundation
Session 3Money math for beginners
Startup costs, cash runway, unit economics, pricing and a lean budget, and what you can do without outside capital.
You'll leave withA simple 90-day cash and milestones worksheet
Session 4Your first customers and proof
Low-cost acquisition, partnerships, preorders where they fit, referrals, and documenting real evidence of demand.
You'll leave withOne customer acquisition experiment
- Week 3
Build a community before asking for money
Session 5Founder story and positioning
A problem–solution narrative, a credible founder story, trust signals, and communicating without hype.
You'll leave withA 60-second founder story and positioning statement
Session 6Grow an audience on a budget
An owned email list, founder-led content, community participation, partnerships and a weekly outreach habit you can repeat.
You'll leave withA four-week audience and content calendar
- Week 4
Understand the funding landscape
Session 7Which money fits your business?
Bootstrapping, revenue, loans, grants, rewards crowdfunding, angels, Reg CF and Reg D: the tradeoffs, dilution and timing of each.
You'll leave withYour funding-path decision matrix
Session 8Are you ready to raise?
The readiness criteria that matter: traction, community, a realistic target, team, financial records, timeline and professional support.
You'll leave withA readiness scorecard and gap list
- Week 5
Build a responsible fundraising plan
Session 9Pitching with evidence
A simple pitch structure, use of funds, milestones, proof, risk disclosure and the mistakes first-time founders make most.
You'll leave withA five-slide pitch outline
Session 10Build relationships, not spam
Finding the right supporters, warm introductions, founder conversations, CRM tracking and thoughtful follow-up, inside the rules on securities solicitation.
You'll leave withProspect categories and an outreach plan, ready for professional review
- Week 6
Prepare to execute
Session 11Launch planning and measurement
90-day milestones, roles, budget, content cadence, realistic funnel assumptions, and when to bring in counsel or a platform.
You'll leave withA draft 90-day launch-readiness plan
Session 12Founder presentations and next steps
Short founder presentations, peer feedback and your own readiness decision: bootstrap, validate further, or seek qualified funding help.
You'll leave withYour final roadmap and next-step commitments
Inside every session
Mostly doing, not listening.
Forty of every sixty minutes are spent on real examples and your own business, live, with feedback.
5 minCheck-inReview the last assignment
15 minFocused lessonOne idea, taught tightly
15 minReal-world exampleA real campaign story from Travis and Crowdigy
20 minGuided exerciseBuild it live, or take the founder hot seat
5 minNext assignmentWhat to bring next session
What it takes
Less work than you think. Results sooner than you'd expect.
Your first win comes fast
By the end of week one you'll have five customer conversations lined up and your first validation test running.
Of work a week between sessions
Short, specific assignments that build on your own business, never busywork.
Templates filled in with you
You don't get a blank worksheet and a deadline. We build each one together in the session.
Paragraph of prep before session one
One paragraph about the problem you solve and who has it. That's all you need to start.
Graduation
What you'll walk out with.
An offer customers say yes to
Who your customer is, the problem you solve, and a simple offer they can say yes to.
Proof people will pay
Real customer conversations, a tested assumption and a bootstrap budget you can live on.
Your first customers, planned
How you'll win your first customers and build an audience that knows your name.
The right money, at the right time
Which kinds of funding fit your business, which don't, and the gaps to close first.
A pitch built on evidence
A five-slide pitch outline, a founder story and an ethical follow-up plan.
Your next 90 days, mapped
Your next steps, in order, with the commitments you made in front of the cohort.
Then you make the call: keep bootstrapping, validate further, or seek qualified funding help. Founders who are ready to raise can continue into Funding Secrets, Travis's eight-week fundraising program.
Your instructor
Travis Brodeen
CEO & co-founder, Crowdigy
Travis bootstrapped a company from $3k to $1.2M a month before he ever raised a dollar. Since then he's coached hundreds of founders through their raises, and Crowdigy has helped companies raise more than $300M on Wefunder, StartEngine, Republic and more.
In the Lab, every lesson comes with a real story from that work: what the founders did, what it cost and what they'd do differently.
- $300M+
- raised by companies we've helped
- 200+
- campaigns managed
- $124K → $3.57M
- one stalled raise, after its community was activated
- $10.0MGryphon Connect
- $4.9MLane Axis
- $4.0MVampr
- $3.9MZenniHome
- $2.1MMTailor
Founders on working with Travis
Don't take our word for it.
From founders Travis and the Crowdigy team have coached through their raises.
“Launching a crowdfunding campaign without a product and for our pre-seed round was a daunting task. Hiring Travis to help us throughout the raise with our investor messaging was something I would do over and over again.”
Tiffany KellyFounder & Data Scientist, Curastory“Travis transformed my pitch deck, led me to new connections and provided me with a polished sound board. Travis is a straight shooter, so be prepared to answer those tough questions.”
Bret CaretskyCo-founder & CEO, Unicorn“For most people, diving into Reg CF fundraising campaign is like learning to speak a foreign language. Travis helped us run a great campaign and max out our funding round.”
Taylor BlomCRO, Next Door PhotosThe real cost
Most founders pay for this lesson anyway. Just not on purpose.
A fundraising consultant
Often thousands a month, and most won't take a founder before there's traction.
A campaign launched too early
Ad spend, platform fees and months of work behind a raise nobody was ready for.
Six months pitching the wrong people
The most expensive one: runway and credibility you don't get back.
Tuition
Everything you get.
- 12 live sessions with TravisTwo one-hour sessions a week for six weeks, live on Zoom
- Founder hot seatsYour business, workshopped live with Travis and the cohort
- The full template librarySnapshot, cash worksheet, funding matrix, readiness scorecard, pitch outline, outreach plan
- Every recordingCatch up within 48 hours and still turn in the assignment
- Your 90-day roadmapBuilt over six weeks and reviewed in the final session
- Bonus The Founder Template VaultFor when you're ready to raiseEvery Lab worksheet plus the extras: customer interview script, validation tracker, runway calculator and milestone planner
- Bonus The Investor Outreach Email KitFor when you're ready to raiseWarm-intro requests, first-touch emails, follow-ups and monthly investor updates, written to stay inside the rules
- Bonus The Tough Questions PlaybookFor when you're ready to raiseThe questions investors and customers ask most, and frameworks for answering them honestly and with confidence
- Bonus The Pitch-Ready ChecklistFor when you're ready to raiseEverything to have in place before you pitch: the numbers, the documents, the proof and data-room basics
Your tuition:
Best value
Pay in full
$1,000
One payment
Two payments
$550 × 2
$550 today, $550 in two weeks
Apply for the next cohort
You choose how to pay after you're accepted.
Zero risk
Two guarantees. All the risk is ours.
The Two-Session Test
Come to the first two live sessions. If you're not convinced the Lab is worth far more than you paid, tell us before session three and we'll refund every dollar. No questions, no forms, and keep every worksheet you've received. On the payment plan, we refund your first payment and cancel the second.
The Roadmap-or-Retake Guarantee
Attend the live sessions (or watch the recordings within 48 hours) and turn in every assignment. If you don't finish with a complete 90-day roadmap, join the next cohort free, as many times as it takes.
After session three, payments aren't refundable, but you can move your seat to the next cohort once. The Lab teaches fundraising readiness; it doesn't guarantee investors, platform approval or funding.
Apply
Save your seat in the next cohort.
Cohorts stay small so every founder gets time in the hot seat. Tell us about your business and we'll reply within two business days.
- Apply in about two minutes.
- Hear back within two business days, with the cohort schedule.
- Enroll with your link: pay in full or in two payments.
Questions
Frequently asked.
Who teaches the Lab?
Travis Brodeen, Crowdigy's CEO and co-founder, leads every session. He bootstrapped a company from $3k to $1.2M a month, and Crowdigy's team has helped founders raise more than $300M across 200+ campaigns. Each session includes a real example from that work.
When are the sessions, and what if I miss one?
Sessions run twice a week for six weeks, live on Zoom, one hour each. Accepted founders get the full schedule before enrolling. Every session is recorded, so if you miss one you can catch up and still turn in the assignment.
Why do I have to apply?
The cohort is small so every founder gets hot-seat time, and it works best when everyone is at a similar stage. The application takes about two minutes. We reply within two business days, and if the Lab isn't the right fit we'll tell you what would be.
Will I raise money by the end of the Lab?
Maybe not, and that's by design. The Lab helps you decide whether to raise at all, and if so when and how. Some founders leave with a plan to bootstrap for another year, which is often the best decision they can make. Nothing in the Lab guarantees investors, platform approval or funding.
Is this legal or investment advice?
No. We teach how fundraising works and how to prepare for it. Any securities offering has to follow the law, and Reg CF raises must run through a registered funding portal. When you need legal, tax or investment advice, we'll point you to licensed professionals.
How does the payment plan work?
Pay $550 when you enroll and $550 two weeks later, charged automatically to the same card. The plan totals $1,100, $100 more than paying in full.
What's the refund policy?
Attend the first two live sessions. If the Lab isn't right for you, tell us before session three and we'll refund everything you've paid, and you keep the worksheets. If you do the work and don't finish with a complete 90-day roadmap, you can retake the Lab free. After session three, payments aren't refundable, but you can move your seat to a later cohort once.
What happens after the Lab?
You leave with a 90-day roadmap and a clear next step. Founders who are ready to raise can continue into Funding Secrets, Travis's eight-week fundraising program, or work with Crowdigy's agency team on a campaign. Founders who aren't ready yet leave knowing exactly what to build first.