On the evening of March 26, 2026, eight founders walked into The Castle at 501 Prospect in Beloit and did something most early-stage entrepreneurs only dream about: they stood in front of a packed room, said exactly what their business does, who it serves, and why it matters — and the community showed up to listen.

More than 60 people filled the room. Hundreds more tuned in via live stream — enough that the audience voting form crashed under the traffic before the final pitch was even finished. We didn't plan for that. But honestly? That's exactly the kind of problem we want to have.

This was the Business Readiness Program's inaugural Idea to First Dollar Pitch Night — the culmination of an intensive eight-week cohort built for early-stage founders across southern Wisconsin. What happened in that room was not just a pitch competition. It was proof that when you give real founders real support, they build real things.

Where this started: a Thanksgiving phone call and a crappy website

The Business Readiness Program did not start with a strategic plan or a grant. It started around Thanksgiving 2025, when BRP founder and president Jocelyn Kopac called a handful of trusted people and said she thought she actually wanted to do this. They told her to go for it.

On December 9th, a website went live. Kopac has since described it, generously, as rough. What it lacked in polish it made up for in reach — within six weeks, 22 applications had come in from across central Wisconsin and two other states. Founders from Michigan were inquiring about relocating. The interest was real, and it was immediate.

Applications closed January 23rd. From 22 applicants, 12 first-round interviews were conducted. Ten founders were accepted. Eight graduated. Every single one of them completed a 40-point checklist to earn that graduation — covering everything from business formation and customer discovery to pricing, branding, and revenue generation. They didn't just show up. They did the work.

"Is it an expensive hobby, or is it a business? A business makes money. We needed to make sure they made money."

— Jocelyn Kopac, Founder and President, Business Readiness Program

How the program works

Idea to First Dollar is an eight-week startup incubator cohort designed for early-stage founders who are ready to build but need structure, clarity, and accountability to actually do it. The program is not a lecture series. It is not a workshop you attend and forget. It is a hands-on, milestone-driven experience built around real business activity.

Founders spend the eight weeks validating their ideas through direct customer conversations, building fully legal business entities, developing pricing and sales systems, and — most importantly — generating actual revenue. The Lunch & Learns, scheduled for an hour each week, routinely ran two hours or longer. Nobody wanted to leave. The conversations were too rich, the energy too alive, and the community too good to walk away from.

Cohort One was split across three product-based businesses, four service-based businesses, and one hybrid. Founders came from Beloit, Janesville, Roscoe, Mequon, and one drove an hour and a half each way from Waunakee, Wisconsin, every single week. Together they represent what is possible when founders from across southern Wisconsin get access to the same caliber of support available in larger markets.

• Validated business idea through 40+ direct customer conversations

• Built a fully legal, operational business entity

• Developed pricing strategy and sales process

• Created brand presence and digital footprint

• Generated real revenue before graduation

• Built a professional network of 100+ contacts

• Pitched their business publicly to a live audience and panel of judges

Meet The Founders of Cohort One

These eight businesses are not concepts. They are real, revenue-generating companies built by real people who showed up every week, did the work, and stood on a stage to prove it.

The judges who showed up for these founders

Five judges gave their evening to evaluate eight businesses across five categories: clarity of concept, problem and solution fit, business viability, quality of pitch, and community impact. These were not rubber-stamp judges. They asked hard questions, pushed founders on their numbers and timelines, and engaged with every pitch like it mattered — because it did.

Mason Cook Mastercraft Venture — venture capital perspective https://www.linkedin.com/in/mdwcook/

Kari Swirth CEO & Executive Director, Greater Beloit Chamber of Commerce https://www.linkedin.com/in/karikolle/

Rick Latella Serial entrepreneur — bringing real-world business experience to the panel https://www.linkedin.com/in/ricklatella/

Naomi Patten Marketing Expert — bringing digital growth expertise https://www.linkedin.com/in/naomi-patten-53a9b9212/

Cheyenne Small business expert — Janesville area perspective https://www.linkedin.com/in/cheyennespade/

The community that made it possible

A program like this does not run on good intentions alone. Cohort One happened because a specific group of people and organizations decided that southern Wisconsin founders deserved real investment — and they acted on that belief.

TDM Funnels Primary financial sponsor for Cohort One https://tdmfunnels.com/

Janesville Innovation Center Provided program space multiple days a week for the full eight weeks https://www.janesvilleinnovation.com/

The Castle — Levi Andersen Hosted pitch night and proved small businesses backing small businesses is real in Beloit https://www.facebook.com/thecastlebeloit

Dayton Bennett Photography Provided professional headshots for every founder in the cohort https://daytonbennett.photography/

Black Hawk Technical College Provided interns Felipe and Cassie for video, web, and marketing support

BRP Board of Directors Kane Carmody, Yasmine Alamad, Phil Fonfara, Devin O'Neill, and Danielle Harris

"What you have poured into the Business Readiness Program, and into each and every one of us in this first cohort, goes far beyond a job description. Your tireless energy, your unwavering belief, and your genuine investment in our dreams have carried so many of us from a simple idea to our very first dollar earned. You believed in all of us — sometimes before we believed in ourselves — and that is a gift none of us will ever forget."

— Deana Fahn Johnson, BRP Cohort One participant and founder, You Are Supported

Why this matters beyond pitch night

The $34,000 in Q1 revenue is a headline number. But the story underneath it is more important. Most of these businesses are under six months old. One founder launched her business during the cohort itself. These are not companies that had a running start — they were built from scratch, under guidance, with accountability, in eight weeks.

The 866 customer conversations those founders had are not just a metric. Each one represents a founder who had to push past fear, ask real questions, handle real objections, and figure out whether what they were building was something people actually wanted. That is the hardest part of building a business — and every founder in Cohort One did it.

Wisconsin manufacturers can't find workers who can do the math. Parents in Rock County can't find potty training resources that actually work across multiple caregivers. Breast cancer survivors can't find a recovery garment that fits both their body and their life. Local businesses can't afford the social media help they need to compete. Community events are growing faster than the infrastructure that supports them. These are not abstract market gaps. These are real problems that eight real founders from southern Wisconsin are now solving — and getting paid to do it.

BRP's mission is to help people turn viable business ideas into real, sustainable income. Cohort One is what that mission looks like in practice. It is a proof of concept, a body of evidence, and an argument for what becomes possible when this region invests in its own founders.

What it takes to keep this going

BRP is a Wisconsin 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Every cohort runs on grants, sponsorships, and community investment. There is no tuition. There are no fees. The entire program — the space, the instruction, the headshots, the events, the tools — is made available to founders at no cost, because the barrier to entry for early-stage entrepreneurship should be ability and drive, not access to capital.

Cohort Two is planned for fall 2026. Sustaining it, and growing toward the broader vision of regular cohorts, specialized programming, and expanded reach across Rock County and southern Wisconsin, requires ongoing investment from funders and sponsors who understand that economic development is not just about attracting outside businesses. It is about growing the ones already here.

If you are a foundation, a corporation, a government agency, or an individual who believes in that, BRP wants to talk to you. The outcomes are real. The need is documented. The community is ready.

Cohort Two is coming this fall.

Applications are open now. If you are an early-stage founder in southern Wisconsin who is ready to stop wondering and start building, this is your program. If you are a sponsor or funder who wants to invest in what works, we want to hear from you.

Apply or get involved at businessreadinessprogram.com

About the Business Readiness Program

The Business Readiness Program (BRP) is a Wisconsin 501(c)(3) nonprofit startup incubator based in Janesville, Wisconsin, serving early-stage entrepreneurs across Rock County and southern Wisconsin. BRP delivers structured, time-bound cohort programming designed to move founders from idea to execution — with a focus on real business activity, revenue generation, and long-term sustainability. BRP is located at 2949 Venture Dr, Janesville, WI 53546.

Media & partnership contact

Jocelyn Kopac, Founder and President
(920) 212-1475 — call or text
businessreadinessprogram.com