Why Student Founders Are Important
And How Alumni Ventures Group is Supporting Them.
Building a company is hard. Plain and simple. Starting a company while an undergraduate…even harder. Yet, each year more and more students are choosing to study entrepreneurship and work beyond the classroom as colleges have built large startup hubs and provided resources to aspiring entrepreneurs.
Shawn Xu at Dorm Room Fund wrote a great article about the state of student founders and VCs on TechCrunch. After reading this, go check it out here.
University Resources
The resources available for those looking to start a company can sometimes even decide which school they want to attend. This was the case for me as I went on week-long college visit trips. When I arrived at Northwestern on a beautiful spring day, I fell in love with not only the impeccable view of Lake Michigan, the warm and friendly people, and its high caliber education; but The Garage, Northwestern’s startup incubator. The Garage was a dream come true for me, with free coffee and flavored water (an underrated beverage choice), access to veteran entrepreneurs and mentors, and a rich community of fellow student go-getters. The Garage provides programs for young companies, schedules guest speakers, and takes students on immersion trips. It all seemed too good to be true.
It was coming to Northwestern and being in The Garage daily that I realized how important the entrepreneurial community was here. From startups like BrewBike, Bossy, and PedalCell; students are building powerful products and daring movements, and still studying for a degree. At almost any time of the day or night that I am in The Garage, students are hard at work, trying to build their version of the next big thing.
What Now
They were spending their free time from classes building and creating, trying to solve the world’s problems. And they enjoy it. I knew I had to find ways to support these entrepreneurs beyond The Garage. Being in the ecosystem and offering my help and setting up meetings just wasn’t enough. So, when Alumni Ventures Group (AVG) approached me about growing their 10,000 Entrepreneurs initiative, I was quick to say yes.
10,000 Entrepreneurs Internship Grant
At AVG, we believe that the world needs more builders, makers, innovators, and creators — not more lawyers, consultants, and investment bankers. And if you want to be a lawyer, we’d like you to be an entrepreneurial lawyer. Our goal is to encourage undergrads to explore entrepreneurship, in its broadest form, regardless of their ultimate career choices.
Our first initiative is the 10,000 Entrepreneurs Internship Grant to help students exploring an entrepreneurial career with a small stipend. Here’s how it works:
Who: The grants will be awarded to undergraduate college students. We have allotments for students from our alumni fund schools, plus open grants to undergraduates from any US school.
Purpose: Use the grant for summer internships with a startup/growth venture or exploring your own startup business. The grant is intended to assist with living expenses.
Number of awards: In 2019, we plan to award a minimum of 20 scholarships, $2500 apiece. We anticipate the program will grow substantially in subsequent years.
We understand how much living costs can be in NY, CA, MA, etc. and we want to help. Students must take a summer internship with a startup or innovation-oriented entity or plan to work on their own startup. Find more information and apply at 10kentrepreneurs.org. Applications are due April 14th.
