The William & Mary’s Raymond A. Mason School of Business in Williamsburg, Virginia recently announced the launch of the William & Mary Veteran Entrepreneur Scholars program.
This program, enabled by the generosity of an anonymous William & Mary alumna, provides qualified military service members and veterans with full scholarships to be a part of an intensive entrepreneurship boot camp.
The program is hosted by the Raymond A. Mason School of Business’s Center for Military Transition and the Alan B. Miller Entrepreneurship Center and is powered by the veteran startup incubator called the Veteran Startup Challenge.
The Veteran Startup Challenge helps veterans, military spouses and Gold Star families launch startups and begin tech careers. This is done by providing hands-on training, expert mentorship and a community with whom vets can explore and collaborate.
For the veteran entrepreneur scholars program, over the course of five weeks, Veteran Entrepreneur Scholars learn the foundational skills of innovation and entrepreneurship. They apply these learnings through a hands-on project, identifying a startup idea, validating the market, and taking the first steps toward launching their own venture.
“In recent years, we've seen entrepreneurial thinking skills, mindsets, and practices to be increasingly essential no matter what role our veterans take on,” said Graham Henshaw, Executive Director of the Alan B. Miller Entrepreneurship Center. “This hands-on, real-world program delivers a distilled, applied experience that equips these leaders to tackle challenges of consequence more effectively”
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Scholars participate in this experience as members of small teams of fellow veteran entrepreneurs, with whom they actively collaborate, exchange feedback, and share the ups and downs of life as a founder. The program culminates in Demo Day, during which each Scholar presents their startup.
“Vets are America’s greatest reservoir of untapped entrepreneurial talent,” said Veteran Entrepreneur Scholars lead instructor and VSC founder Will Gregory. “They’re also super busy and don’t have time to waste. We give them the fastest 0-60 humanly possible. Our Scholars hit the ground running, getting their hands dirty building impact-oriented ventures they can grow beyond this course.”
Successful completion of the program will see graduates welcomed into the Veteran Entrepreneur Scholars community, which provides further opportunities for engagement with fellow veteran entrepreneurs.
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.
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No prior experience in startups or entrepreneurship is required. All current and former service members are welcome to apply.
Both in-person and remote cohorts will be hosted. In-person cohorts will be held at the Alan B. Miller Entrepreneurship Center on William & Mary’s campus.
To learn more or to apply for the program, visit here.