What if you could get a crowd of the best and brightest business brains in New England in the same room? Then, what if you could pitch your startup–and its struggles–to them and get advice, leads and names of potential investors?
Since its inception in 2011, Valley Venture Mentors has helped open such doors to regional startups on a bi-annual basis. The Springfield, Mass.-based accelerator is about to kick off another class of eight or so budding businesses this fall and will be accepting applications till September 1st.
"The service we provide is a mentoring service that requires people to physically be present so it's relatively local," VVM cofounder Scott Foster told BostInno in a conversation. In the past, VVM has had participating startups from cities all over the North East, including Springfield, Northampton, Holoyoke, Boston, as well as New Haven, Connecticut and Providence, Rhode Island.
In its two six-month long classes, VVM runs 14 teams, all of which have access to the wisdom of around 100 mentors, with professional backgrounds in everything from business law to entrepreneurship to sales and marketing. Needless to say, the diverse group of mentors means endless networking opportunities for VVM's entrepreneurs.
Founder of foreign exchange transaction company PeopleHedge and former VVM participant Damon Magunski lauded the personalization aspect of the accelerator. "We found lots of resources [at VVM]," shared Magunski. "[The mentors] opened doors that otherwise we and the other startups would have been unable to reach." For his startup, the most valuable part of the program was receiving feedback on presentations and pitches. "We went through a lot of [versions] of our presentations," he said. "It was invaluable to have senior people listen and give us suggestions."
But cleaning up your pitch is just the beginning when it comes to VVM. "Each team has different needs at different times in the business cycle," explained another of the accelerator's cofounders, Steve Willis."They have to develop what their own expectations are, whether its developing out an idea better or building out a team or creating an MVP."
The mentors keep up on how far along the startups are in achieving their respective goals in monthly meetings. At 5pm on the second Wednesday of each month, the companies and mentors flock to law firm Bulkley Richardson'soffice in the Mass Mutual building in Springfield. One at a time, the teams pitch their company and the problem's they're facing in seven minutes. Then, the room splits into breakout sessions, in which mentors ask questions and give advice to the teams. Entrepreneurs often meet with mentors for a few additional hours a month to get further guidance and follow up.
"We wanted to figure out what entrepreneurs needed, and wanted to give it to them," Foster said, "rather than trying to tell entrepreneurs what they need and how to they need to go about it."
But VVM recognizes that sometimes, the entrepreneurs may just not be a great fit for the program, and visa-versa. "We have to ask ourselves and the team, 'can this group help you?' We have to feel like we can actually help you, and sometimes its not about the entrepreneur, its about us," shared Willis.
When it comes down to it, VVM is dedicated to and passionate about grooming the participants for success in the future. "We're ultimately looking at the entrepreneur behind the business. This particular business may not be the one, but if they can build skills they need to be a better entrepreneur, than the next business may be the one," said Foster.
Apply to Valley Venture Mentors before Sept. 1st and learn more about the program here!
