The road to starting your own business is a long one, with a lot of bumps and obstacles along the way. The Raymond A. Mason School of Business at Virginia's College of William & Mary has launched a carpool lane for entrepreneurial-minded veterans, the Veteran Entrepreneur Scholars Program.
Over the course of five weeks, the free boot camp-style program helps vets create a workable business idea, develop it into a viable concept and create the conditions necessary to launch their business once the program is over. It also teaches attendees about startup culture, best practices, networking and more.
"It's a five-week, part-time course, so it's meant to integrate into your life," Will Gregory, founder of the Veteran Startup Challenge (VSC), told Military.com. "We've stripped down everything to make sure that our vets hit the ground running with the critical information that they need and can actually apply what they're learning in actionable ways."
Gregory is an anthropologist by training and worked in Silicon Valley's tech startup sector. His appreciation for veterans came when he deployed to Afghanistan in 2011, first with the Army and then with the Marine Corps as an anthropologist, helping Marines make sense of Afghan culture.
When he came home from Afghanistan, he began working with startup accelerator Y Combinator, recruiting veterans. As more veterans began to ask him for help in their initiatives, he began pooling resources for them to use.
"I knew if something was going down, the Marines I was with were gonna have my back, no matter what," he said. "I had never experienced anything like that: the level of camaraderie and the selflessness of those Marines. So when I came back, I just wanted to try to help them in even a fraction of the way that they helped me."
The result is the Veteran Startup Challenge, funded by William & Mary alumni, and operated by the Raymond A. Mason School of Business, William & Mary's Center for Military Transition and the Alan B. Miller Entrepreneurship Center.
Applicants to the program come in with a clean slate, starting with a new idea, whether they're currently working on a startup or not. As part of a 10-person cohort, everyone starts from the same point -- thinking like an entrepreneur.
"We want them to go out and start identifying challenges that they experience in their own lives," said Gregory. "Then they find others who experience the same challenges and see if it's a big enough pain point that people would consider a product or service to solve it."
From there, veterans begin applying startup frameworks to their idea, which allows them to streamline processes in getting their potential business to market. It's a startup accelerator program that was originally intended for the tech sector, but Gregory is continually amazed at how creative veterans are when applying the same principles to other businesses.
"It's actually a very straightforward process," he said. "We teach them what frameworks will be helpful to their idea. The ideas have been far and wide, from the medical field to real-estate tech. It's really awesome to see."
Once the boot camp is over, veterans have access to the entire network of alums from past cohorts, which offers guidance and fellowship in the new world of entrepreneurship they are about to enter.
"By being part of this little community, they get to really expand not only their network, but also the scope of their understanding of the startup experience," Gregory said.
Graduates also receive certificates from the Mason School of Business Center for Military Transition and the Veteran Startup Challenge. Digital credentials for display on social media such as LinkedIn are included, in addition to invitations to select William & Mary alumni opportunities and events as graduates of the certificate program.
Applicants to the program don't need any prior business or startup experience, and it's open to all current service members and veterans. Since the Veteran Entrepreneur Scholars Program is a scholarship to the VSC boot camp, attendance is free, but travel and living expenses are not provided.
"To any veteran wondering if they should apply, if they're not sure that they have the credentials to apply, I say just apply. Let us make that call," Gregory said. "I don't wanna see a vet who is a really good fit for the program hold back from taking that shot. There's a good chance that we're looking for things that are different from what classic educational institutions might look for."
To learn more about the Veteran Entrepreneur Scholars program or to apply for it, visit the program website. There are both in-person and remote cohorts, and applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
-- Blake Stilwell can be reached at blake.stilwell@military.com. He can also be found on Twitter @blakestilwell or on Facebook.
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