Dreamit is bringing its early-stage startup training ‘to the masses’

Properly pitching investors, crafting eye-catching one pagers and learning from customer feedback should be some of the sharpest tools in an entrepreneur’s toolbox.

At least that’s how Dreamit exec team sees it, and that’s why they’re taking some of the critical portions of the accelerator’s program — formerly held for its portfolio companies — and bringing it to spaces across the city in a series of free talks across town called Dreamit Open Learning.

“The topics covered are the kinds of tricks and traps we’ve been teaching startups for years, we just decided to expand the programming to include the greater entrepreneurial community,” said CMO Seth Berk in an email. “Think of it as a way of bringing the Dreamit curriculum to the masses.”

The chats will be led by Dreamit execs and managing directors like CIO Steve Barsh (aka BarshBits,) Managing Director Andrew Ackerman and Platform Director Maureen Rinkunas.

Here’s the lineup of chats:

• The Art of the One Pager. April 12, at Quorum.

• The Art of Customer Feedback. April 20 at the Smilow Center for Translational Research

• The Art of Prospecting Investors. April 26 at WeWork.

• The Art of Closing a Round. June 1 at NextFab

The series of talks is coherent with the latest word from the Philly-based accelerator: Dreamit will now be focusing on later-stage companies instead of early-stage as part of an evolution in its model. It’s unlikely that later-stage startups need any help crafting a one-pager. So, it looks like Dreamit is taking that early-stage know-how on the road, perhaps as a way to create a pipeline for portfolio companies. The Philly focus is notable, though, as Dreamit 2.0 has lessened its local focus and said it would take a more global perspective.