The purpose of NexUS is to strengthen our personal and community relationships so that we can better help prospective entrepreneurs validate their gifts, purpose, and ideas.
Introducing NexUs
One way God cares for us is through entrepreneurial leaders who create better ways to meet our needs.
How do we discover and develop our community’s entrepreneurial leaders? How do they discover and develop themselves? How do they learn the tools to create and validate their business ideas without wasting scarce resources? How can we educate and inspire them?
AI and the internet alone are not the answer. Entrepreneurial leaders are human. They were created to work in community with others. (That is the purpose of organizations!) The answer, therefore, is NexUS: the intersection of “What’s next?” and “us.”
How did I come to this conclusion? From personal experience.
For 36 years, I have been a college professor. For 15 years I have worked with students testing their business ideas and exploring if entrepreneurial leadership is an answer to their calling. For 8 years I have written about Holland’s historical entrepreneurial leaders.
Here’s one thing teaching and writing have taught me: besides faith, grit, desire, and a certain amount of skill, pre-entrepreneurs need education, encouragement, experiences, inspiration and perspective — things a community can provide.
Thus, we need NexUS.
The purpose of NexUS is to strengthen our personal and community relationships so that we can better help prospective entrepreneurs validate their gifts, purpose, and ideas..
Be part of what’s next and us!
NexUS Start-Up Experiences
One of the most difficult things about starting a business is getting started. Want to test your idea? Validate your passion? Want to do this without spending money?
START HERE: NexUS offers FREE in-person start-up and re-start experiences. Using lean start-up, leading change, and human-centered design tools, NeXUS not only helps you discover a business model that works but also gives you the opportunity to test-drive your start-up experience.
The next FREE, in-person NexUS Start-Up Experience class is Sept 9 - October 21: 5:30 - 7:00 PM at Escape Ministries, 202 E 32nd Street, Holland, MI. Below is the schedule. Sign up here: https://www.start-upacademeinc.com/fall-2025
Week 1:
Invitation: Let’s go on this journey together!
Changing the World! (Quinn: Change the World)
Customer Discovery (Blank’s Four Steps to the Epiphany)
Observations and Empathy (Design Thinking; Lewrick, Link, Leifer: The Design Thinking Playbook)
Week 2:
Customer Profiles and Value Maps (Ostenwalder, Pigneur, Bernarda, Smith: Value Proposition Design)
Business Model Canvas, Plan A (Maurya: Running Lean)
Week 3:
Problem/Solution Interviews (Maurya: Running Lean)
Demand, Currency, Minimum Viable Product tests (Partners Worldwide: Microenterprise)
Week 4:
Idea Pitch (MWest Challenge)
Investor Pitch (MWest Challenge)
Week 5:
Idea Pitch
Test Cards and Learning Cards (Ostenwalder, Pigneur, Bernarda, Smith: Value Proposition Design)
Week 6:
Business Model Canvas, Plan B (Maurya: Running Lean)
Investor Pitch practice
Week 7:
Investor Pitch
1st Place: $ 300
2nd Place: $ 200
3rd Place: $ 100
Consolation: $ 50
NexUS Histories
Need inspiration? Do you love learning about Holland, Michigan’s history? Do you want to know more about the entrepreneurial leaders who built our community?
START HERE: NexUS helps you explore Holland, Michigan’s entrepreneurial past as context for its future. Using Holland’s unique entrepreneurial history, NexUS educates and inspires future entrepreneurs (of all ages) through in-person and digital resources.
NexUS Events
Need encouragement? Need a venue to get feedback on your idea? Looking for a mentor? An expert? Someone to teach or learn from? Are you looking for an opportunity to connect with like-hearted people and give back to your community?
START HERE: NexUS organizes community-gathering events in which new and experienced entrepreneurs can celebrate entrepreneurship, learn from each other, connect with new and old friends and with novice and experienced entrepreneurs.
NexUS Newsletter
In each month's edition of the NexUS Newsletter, Steve VanderVeen tries to synthesize the best of what I have in the areas of entrepreneurship, innovation, leadership, and history.
START HERE: