Between the largest Fellow reunion in VFA history, the 2013 Class Graduation, and our first-ever “Side-Project-A-Thon,” last week deserves a spot in the VFA record books. All four classes of Fellows were invited back to Providence for “VFA Training Camp Redux,” our annual reunion in Providence. We had Fellows training Fellows, Fellows interviewing Fellows, saw the seeds of some new projects and companies, and enough festivities packed into one week to last us the rest of the summer. Check out our recap video here and a breakdown of week 2 below!
https://vimeo.com/132759113
We celebrated our VFAmily Reunion…
- Congrats 2013ers! It was a slightly bitter and very sweet graduation ceremony for the Class of 2013. In front of a crowd of 200+ fellow Fellows, we heard over and over that they believe this is only the beginning of a lifetime of friendship, support, and business building side by side.
- SPaT (Side-Project-a-Thon): Last week, we hosted our first-ever program dedicated entirely to the building of “side hustles.” We’ve seen over the past few years that successful businesses can start in both big and small ways — and carving out the time to think and work is pretty important. Ten teams of Fellows got together to work through their side project ideas and think about how they might make it happen. We wouldn’t be surprised if some of these ideas were to resurface in next year’s Innovation Fund or VFA Accelerator!
2014 Fellow Russell Suskind during his Sales Strategy training - Fellows training Fellows: For the first time, we spent some reunion time hosting a series of Fellow-led trainings where 2013 and 2014 Fellows shared the tips and tricks they’ve picked up from their time in the field. Topics included sales strategy, digital marketing, data science, web design, “grinding and hustling,” and more. We even learned a thing or two ourselves!
And meanwhile, the Class of 2015 went full steam ahead!
While the rest of the campus buzzed with reunion activities, the 2015ers remained hard at work. Check out some of the highlights below:
- McKinsey: McKinsey delivered an invaluable two-day intensive on problem solving and effective communication. They tackled the science of deconstructing a problem using “issue trees” along with the art of effective communication and feedback in the workplace.
- Gary Chou: In typical fashion, long time VFA supporter and Orbital founder,
Gary Chou, was a fan favorite last week, speaking to the 2015 Fellows about what he’s learned from spending 20 years in the entrepreneurial world. He talked about “uncertainty vs. risk” (they aren’t the same!) and suggested “if you know what’s going to happen next in your life, then you’re wasting your time.” Preach, Gary! - Negotiation Training: Marty Finkle of Scotwork ran an interactive training on negotiation strategy and tactics, complete with a full breakdown of his 8 Step Approach and a real-time negotiation with Fellows.
2015 Fellow Dextina Booker during her Pecha Kucha - Growth Hacking 101: Cassie Lancellotti-Young, EVP of Customer Success at Sailthru, stopped by to give a comprehensive deep dive into all things marketing analytics and growth hacking.
- Pecha Kuchas: The 2015ers honed their presentation skills when they delivered jaw-dropping Pecha Kucha performances on topics that ranged from pet dogs and childhood passions to slam poetry and social justice.
Thank you to the rest of the guests who stopped by to spend time and share their experiences with the 2015 class, including VFA Board Members Sy Jacobs, Darren MacDonald, Peter Ezersky, Eric Cantor, Jay Bockhaus and Fresh Direct executive Jodi Khan.
Until next week!