PARC LAUNCHPAD
OUR SERVICES
While technology is important, great technology alone does not ensure business success. We bring a disciplined and rigorous approach to the business development side of venture building, serving as a launchpad for breakthrough innovation.
​
PARC Refinery offers two main services for PARC and Xerox employees - validation sprints and exploration workshops. For other requests, please contact us directly.
8-10 WEEKS
VALIDATION SPRINTS
In a validation sprint, we advance a business opportunity or concept through an intense, focused, team project (sprint), which generates immediately executable outputs for you. A sprint typically takes between 8-10 weeks to complete. The purpose of a validation sprint is to:
Â
INCREASE LIKELIHOOD OF PRODUCT-MARKET -FIT
REDUCE AND MITIGATE RISKS
OUTLINE RECOMMENDED COMMERCIALIZATION PATH
WHAT HAPPENS IN THE SPRINTS?
A dedicated team is formed to focus and rapidly assess the opportunity’s feasibility, viability, desirability, and executability. The team will consist of a mix of PARC Refinery members and client representatives. The client representative is typically a PARC/Xerox subject matter expert in a technical or business domain.
VALIDATION SPRINTS
Validation sprints are for concepts that are more mature, where initial work exploring customer need and market dynamics has already been completed. Our role here is to help create a robust business case, which may either validate or invalidate the opportunity.
EXPLORATION WORKSHOPS
Workshops are shorter, more suitable for early concepts, and do not require a formal application submission.
WHAT IS THE OUTPUT?
Deliverables may vary from project to project, but our goal is to always provide a recommended path forward based on agreed-upon decision criteria. Not all opportunities are promising investments, and the recommendation may be to not pursue the specific opportunity further. Typical deliverables include:
RECRUITMENT PLAN
GO-TO-MARKET STRATEGY
EXECUTION PLAN
FINANCIAL MODELS
TARGET CUSTOMER PROFILES
VALUE PROPOSITION
"LOOK-LIKE" PROTOTYPE
OPPORTUNITY FORMULATION
SOLUTION BLUEPRINT
RIGHT TO WIN
PITCH
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE
SPRINT?
At the end of the sprint, there is a go/no-go decision point where you, or an identified sponsor, may choose to invest in a pilot or further technical development. At this point, PARC Refinery will hand over the project to you or the sponsor. During the transition, the PARC Refinery team will be available for support and consultation.
I HAVE AN IDEA,
HOW DO I ENGAGE?
Validation Sprints require an application and the application process is open to all PARC and Xerox employees.
We are looking for high-quality business opportunities. In order to assess and prioritize different proposals, we ask the you to answer some key questions about the opportunity, such as:
-
What is the high-value customer/market problem that is addressed?
-
Who is the customer?
-
How will we uniquely solve this problem?
-
Why are we uniquely positioned to win?
-
Have financial and human resources been earmarked or allocated to support this business?
-
Upon investment, what is the estimated time to market?
​
Â
We recommend that you read the application form to get an idea of the kinds of questions you should be able to answer before applying. For more information or to apply, follow the links below.
3 DAYS
EXPLORATION WORKSHOPS
We host workshops to help you structure the exploration of multiple opportunities to ultimately arrive at a top candidate that can be validated in a Validation sprint. Workshops require three full days, and it is expected that you and other key stakeholders participate during this time.
Â
WHAT HAPPENS IN THE WORKSHOPS?
During the workshop, we help the you structure already identified opportunities and we facilitate an ideation session to uncover additional opportunities. Together, we develop prioritization criteria for assessing the opportunities and list key questions/assumptions to be tested.
WHAT IS THE OUTPUT?
Our goal is to set you up with what you need for a successful exploration phase. Typical deliverables include:
-
A long-list of prioritized business opportunities
-
A list of key assumptions and outstanding questions for the client to follow up on
-
A project plan for narrowing down a list of options in order to focus on one business opportunity
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE WORKSHOP?
You/your team will execute on the project plan and PARC Refinery will support with consultation as needed.
I HAVE AN IDEA,
HOW DO I ENGAGE?
The workshops are open to all PARC and Xerox employees. Simply submit your request following the links below.
Â
PARC EMPLOYEES
XEROX EMPLOYEES
Â
GENERAL INQUIRES
OUR LOCATION
PARC Refinery
3333 Coyote Hill Road
Palo Alto, CA 94304 USA
Â