Originally published by Leigh Sevin ’14 in the Venture for America Forbes Blog.
This past summer, my cofounder, Jinesh, and I were accepted into the Venture For America accelerator in order to go full-time on our company, Arthur. Beyond giving us an opportunity to go heads-down on our venture, the accelerator gave us access to the entire VFA network, whose board includes people like the CEO of LinkedIn, and a cofounder of Warby Parker.
Despite the prominence of the network we had access to, we also found that one’s level of success had no bearing on whether he or she made a good advisor – in fact, hearing from entrepreneurs who had failed was equally as helpful as hearing from those who had made it big. What mattered more was their expertise on a specific area of our business, their willingness to engage with us, and their ability to offer tangible, actionable advice.
If finding a cofounder is like finding a date or a potential spouse, then putting together your group of advisors is like making friends in college – albeit a bit more strategic and high-pressured. Just like college friends, advisors can come at all different levels of proximity. The best thing you can do is understand the other person’s position, what their priorities and goals are, and what type of relationship makes the most sense for you.

Your Go-to Crew

Originally published by Yitaek Hwang on the Leverege Blog.

Joining VFA

It seems that the spotlight on entrepreneurship nowadays almost compels people to have this newfound conviction or aspiration to join the startup world. I would be lying if I were to say that I knew I was destined to join a startup. My plan initially, like most incoming Duke engineers, was to study biomedical engineering and perhaps pursue a graduate degree in engineering. Perhaps I am just riding the fad of the era — stem cells of the early 2010s to now IoT in the mid 2010s — but Venture for America, or anything startup-related, was never part of my original plan.
My first encounter with entrepreneurship was rather unconventional. I was volunteering at a small hospital in Tanzania when an incoming Duke medical student contacted me for a potential partnership involving the use of 3D printers, as I was actively involved with the maker club on campus. After a couple of email exchanges, I gladly accepted a position with ViFlex, a social venture working to provide eyeglasses to more than 700 million people in developing countries without access to proper eye care. My focus and interest at the time, however, was more on the social impact, rather than the startup experience I would be getting. But as I became more involved, I increasingly grew enamored with the process of building a company as well as restoring vision to those who needed it.

Final design of ViFlex glasses

My involvement with ViFlex did not directly translate to my interest in VFA. During my junior year, I had accepted a summer internship position at GE Healthcare and was considering high-tech companies in typical “Duke” cities (Silicon Valley, DC, New York, Seattle) after graduation. But at this point, I had no clue what I wanted to do. I was interested in medical devices, maker movement, computer architecture, and increasingly “entrepreneurship.” I wanted to get a taste of everything to figure out what I truly enjoyed doing and tentatively settled on working at a startup to be a Jack of All Trades. Then rather fortuitously I happened to walk by the VFA booth at a job fair as I was scouting out companies in Silicon Valley to apply for the year after and was intrigued by the concept. I didn’t consider myself the prototypical programmer in a hoodie working at Uber or AirBnB, and the fact that I would be with other like-minded fellows as I headed into the risky world of startups really appealed to me. So I applied at the end of my junior year and accepted the fellowship position, patiently awaiting for the match process to open up in March to start my career as an entrepreneur.

This version of entrepreneurship wasn’t something I could relate to

VFA Match Process

One thing that I wanted to emphasize in this section is that, as the name suggests, this is a match process: this means that it’s about finding a mutual fit. I want to share my experience with the process, and provide a fellow’s perspective to help bridge the gap between the Partner Companies, VFA, and the Fellows.
The first thing that the companies must understand is that everyone’s experience with VFA is extremely different. Some, like me, applied at the end of junior year, and had been preparing and waiting for nearly a year before the match portal opened up. Others only have a month or so, after deciding on VFA in January. Also, while I might be studying for finals and preparing for graduation, some fellows attending schools on the West Coast for example, may just be taking midterms. This means that the process will inevitably be different for everyone.
Stemming from this fact, while some of us may have the time to parse through 300+ opportunities on match, others might only have time to check out a couple of companies each week. This is not meant to be an excuse, but just as much as fellows must prepare to stand out, it can only benefit the companies to have a more complete profile and a working website or some link for more information. Lastly, this may be fixed next year, but currently the portal only highlights new opportunities, not new companies added or revised profiles. So to grab the fellow’s attention and to stand out amongst hundreds of companies, it will be best for the company to have an overall profile complete before the match portal opens and add opportunities as soon as possible. I can’t speak for every fellow, but I was more inclined to reach out to companies that listed opportunities, so I wouldn’t waste time applying to a company looking to fill a sales position when I was only interested in an engineering position.
Here are some other things that I appreciated:
Personalization: I understand that everyone is busy, but a personalized message means so much than a general one. It’s nice to know that the recruiter at least skimmed my resume past what I majored in. Also, before getting the offers, I appreciated the founders calling me to explain the offer and expectations instead of sending a cold-email through a third party service. Prompt and frequent engagement: Since the initial communication is handled by VFA, it’s confusing for the fellows when the companies don’t accept an invitation for a long time, accept an invitation but don’t reach out, or don’t reply to our messages without saying the company is either not interested or in a position to hire at the moment. A simple note or a general timeline given to the fellows help us stay engaged. Understanding that we are busy as well: As I mentioned before, some of us are finishing up our senior theses or design projects, studying for finals, and preparing our final goodbyes. While it’s important to get to know the team, but I didn’t like having to repeat the same information over and over to other members of the team who hold similar roles as if I was starting the entire interview process over from the beginning. Also, for technical positions, I was personally discouraged from continuing with the process when given lengthy programming assignments that would take multiple days to finish. Reasonable expectations for making a decision: Again, since every fellow’s match experience differs significantly, it is hard to establish areasonable timeline. I definitely appreciated the companies wanting to move the process along quickly. But more so than that, I appreciated the companies that allowed me to wait until after the VFA job fairs to not only explore my options, but to also ensure that the said company would be the best fit for me. Even if that is not possible, I didn’t appreciate companies trying to pressure me to make a decision within a couple of days. Most of the fellows took a huge leap of faith to join VFA, and we can definitely use at least a week to talk to our families and mentors before finalizing our decision. Equity: It’s not critical, but I believe it’s a matter of attitude. I want to work for a team who wants to make the pie bigger, not hold onto a bigger piece of the pie. Obviously, the amount of equity available will be dependent on the stage of the company, but considering that many of the VFA companies are in the early stage, I viewed this as a sign of commitment to its employees. Yes, VFA is only a two-year commitment, but I am more likely to stay if I have a higher stake in the company.

Why I chose Leverege

Going into the VFA Match process, my initial top choices were companies that either Duke alumni worked at or related to biomedical engineering/healthcare IT. As a new company partner, Leverege fits none of these descriptions, but I was nonetheless intrigued by the company profile and decided to send a connection request. Honestly, I didn’t even know what IoT stood for at the time. I had some experience with machine learning and big data, so I just thought IoT was something related — and cool.
Early in the match process, I was also reaching out to whatever company sounded interesting, regardless of field, role, location, or company size. However, as the process went on, I found myself needing to narrow down my search. After talking to many of my mentors whom I have met through ViFlex, I decided to focus on two things: the founder’s prior experience and team chemistry. I have been told over and over again that an A-level team with a B-level idea will always beat out a B-level team with an A-level idea. Using these criteria, I cut down my options to a handful of VFA companies with founders who have successfully built a company before and with the team that I envisioned myself working with happily.

Leverege held a pool party at the CEO’s house to welcome all of the VFA fellows

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Personally, I wanted to work at a laid-back yet productive company that reflects the culture that I was accustomed to at Duke. With no wrong choices to make, I focused on getting to know the team and see how I would get along. One of the things that I appreciated from Leverege was that they not only focused on getting to know my ability as a programmer, but also getting to know me as a person. We talked about my interests, hobbies, and my passion for Duke basketball, which helped me see these talented people as not only my co-workers, but also friends.
As much as VFA and the company partners were interviewing me, I conducted my own set of “interviews” to finalize my decision. I would find First Round Review or TechCrunch articles related to the industry of interest and ask the team members there what they thought about it. I wasn’t looking for a particular response, but I appreciated the depth of thought, prompt engagement, and the follow up questions to continue the conversation rather than stating what they thought.
At the end of the process, I had met a few of great companies en route to establishing an excellent company culture and many others who had yet had the time or resources to dedicate to it. Nonetheless, I appreciate the time and effort that all of the VFA company partners dedicated to learn more about me and explore our fit. While my experience is just one of many different ones amongst all the VFA fellows, I hope that my story helps both the future fellows and company partners to help make this chaotic process bit more manageable.

Originally published by Calum McLelland ’16 on the Leverege Blog.

Brown: Freshman-Junior Year

As a freshman entering Brown University, I was convinced that I wanted to be an entrepreneur. One of the most significant reasons for choosing Brown was their open curriculum; this approach allows students to choose their own path rather than be forced to take requirements that may not be relevant nor enjoyable. Similarly, I was enamored with the idea of starting my own company and controlling my own destiny rather than becoming a cog in a rigid machine. I must admit that I was also driven by the glamorous idea of quickly making millions. Thus, I decided that I would complete the Entrepreneurship and Technology track of BEO (Business, Entrepreneurship, and Organizations) to gain the necessary knowledge to start a company before I left Brown.
In my first semester I attempted to take Danny Warshay’s course, The Entrepreneurial Process: Innovation in Practice. To my disappointment, I learned that I could not take the course as a freshman and was unable to take it until my junior fall. Though I took several other courses related to business and entrepreneurship in the interim, when I was finally able to take Danny’s course it proved the most useful by far; it taught me what it means to be an entrepreneur. A significant element of the class is a semester-long team project to create a business plan and give a final pitch to VCs. I learned that this process is not as glamorous as I had imagined and that I had a long, long way to go before I’d feel prepared to start my own company.
More important than the material I’ve learned from him, Danny has also been an incredible mentor to me and pushed me to better understand myself. Though I had not yet heard of VFA, he echoed many of the same values during a lecture that’s come to be known as “The Rant.” To begin The Rant, Danny draws a line that divides into two paths on the board, one he labels McKinsey and the other Goldman Sachs. As silly as it might seem, he explains that many Brown students over the years have seen these as being their only options (or some other big company in consulting or on Wall Street). This is somewhat unsurprising given that such companies are quite prestigious, offer high starting salaries, and recruit heavily on campus. However, Danny’s most important point during The Rant is that we should take the time to understand ourselves and our passions, because he has seen too many students who follow the aforementioned paths only to find unhappiness.
I took his advice to heart and realized that perhaps I wanted to be an entrepreneur for the wrong reasons. So I asked myself, what do I actually want to do? I quickly found that this is no easy question to address, but after much thought and several conversations with Brown alumni I felt that I had arrived at an answer: I love games, both playing them and creating them. My entire life I’ve played sports, video games, board games, and every other kind of game imaginable while developing several of my own along the way. As such, in the summer before my final year at Brown, I explored this passion by working at a board game café and developing a board game with my brother on the side.
That summer brought another important realization, I love games but I don’t want game development to be my life’s work. Certainly a hobby, but I didn’t feel that it would fully engage my varied strengths and interests. Now back at square one, I began searching for other options. Yet again, Danny Warshay came to my rescue when, now as his teaching assistant, he asked me to pass along an opportunity to the class. That opportunity was VFA.
I’d never heard of VFA, but as soon as I looked into it I knew that it was perfect for me. An information session on campus and a chat with Victor Bartash only cemented my conviction.

So Why VFA?

1. Although my perspective on and understanding of entrepreneurship had changed during my time at Brown, I still desire to one day start my own company. When it comes to preparing for such an endeavor, there is no opportunity that comes close to matching VFA. Through VFA I was trained for 5 weeks in everything related to entrepreneurship; I will spend 2+ years working at a start-up under people who have successfully started companies themselves; and I will be given access to an incredible network of capable individuals.
2. In looking at potential career options, one of my greatest concerns was that I’d choose poorly and then be stuck in that career. At many big companies, one learns to do a very specific role and becomes an expert at it, but often does not learn skills that can be more broadly transferable. By working at a start-up, I will have the opportunity to work and grow in a multitude of capacities. Not only will this help me to be successful wherever my path may lead, but this will also be essential in helping me to understand what I like and what I do not.
3. There is no better way to learn and grow than to surround oneself with highly capable individuals, and VFA allows me to do just that. At VFA Training Camp I was absolutely blown away by every person I met. The Fellows were all highly capable, driven, passionate, and extremely interesting as individuals. My VFA class has over 170 incredible people for me to learn from and who will push me to be better.
4. I believe in VFA’s mission. It’s amazing to have the opportunity to enjoy the many benefits to my career mentioned above while simultaneously being able to give back and help to revitalize American cities.

The VFA Match Process

As I entered the VFA match process, here’s what I was looking for:

1. Given my desire to gain exposure to a multitude of roles, I wanted to work at a smaller company.
2. I sought a company whose leadership had experience successfully building companies so that I could gain mentors to teach and guide me.
3. It was important to me that the leadership share my values and would thus be a good fit culturally for me.
4. Though not essential, I hoped to find a company whose product/industry appealed to me.
5. If the above conditions were met, I hoped to find a company in Baltimore as I’m from Maryland and would love to be close to my family and friends.

A few days before the process began I admitted to my Mom that I was worried. I was worried that I wouldn’t find the perfect company, that I would have to compromise on one of the criteria I’d set in my mind. In typical Mom fashion, she told me that she had every confidence that I would find somewhere that would be great for me.
As it turns out, her confidence was well placed and I was fortunate to find the perfect opportunity at Leverege. To this day I still cannot believe how perfect it is, every condition that I sought was met. I attribute much of it to luck, but I also believe that there were several things that Leverege and I did right during the process.

What Leverege and I did right during Match

The first thing that Leverege did right was in naming their opportunity “CEO in Training.” This title immediately leapt out to me since it appealed to my desire to one day start my own company and was so different from the opportunities posted by other organizations. In general, I’d advise companies to put some thought into the names of the opportunities they post on VFA Match as I found that many tended towards generic.
Due in part to the uniqueness of the name and my own proactivity, the first thing that I did right was to immediately reach out to Leverege. In fact, I’m told that I was the first to do so which led to me also being the first to speak with them over the phone. This proved to be a huge advantage as I immediately set the bar for all the fellows that followed. As such, my recommendation to future fellows is to be as proactive as possible and to begin reaching out to companies as soon as the match process opens up. Although this may seem daunting during the middle of one’s senior spring, this ended up saving me several weeks of work as I was able to accept an offer early in the process.
Despite how well the first conversation went, Leverege and I were both right to continue to explore other options. On my end, my talks with other companies only reinforced my conviction that Leverege was the perfect opportunity for me. For example, the representative of one particular company who I spoke to seemed bored, disinterested, and unprepared which strongly juxtaposed the energy and preparedness of Leverege. Though I can’t speak for Leverege, I imagine that their conversations with other fellows helped them to be confident in their decision to extend an offer to me. My general recommendation to fellows is to speak with as many companies as possible because it will help in identifying one’s values and what one finds important in a company.
Finally, another thing that Leverege did right was to be extremely transparent during the interview process. I found this very refreshing, and it encouraged me to be transparent in return. I told Leverege that they were easily my number one company, and that I would accept an offer immediately if they were to extend one to me. By being transparent, companies can help to alleviate some of the stress inherent in the match process, whether the feedback is good or bad. If it’s good, this alleviates the stress of worrying that one performed poorly during the interviews. If it’s bad, this allows the fellow to either take steps to address the concerns or to devote energy to matching with another company instead.

I’m so happy to be at Leverege

In retrospect, the match process seems almost like a fairy tale. Had I described the perfect company before the process began, that company would be Leverege.

1. The company is small at fewer than 10 individuals.
2. The leadership has extensive industry experience and the CEO Eric Conn has successfully built and sold multiple companies.
3. My experiences with the guys at Leverege revealed a close matching of values; transparency as mentioned earlier and many others.
4. The Internet of Things industry is fascinating to me and I believe that the industry will affect huge, positive changes in our lifetime.
5. Leverege is extremely close to home. In fact, their office in Germantown is a mere 15 minute drive from where I grew up.

I know that my situation was somewhat unique, but from my conversations with other fellows I’ve found that the vast majority feel similarly that they’ve found incredible opportunities at their respective companies. I’m ecstatic to be a part of VFA and can’t wait for what’s to come these next few years.

Open-plan offices aren’t the only workspace innovation to become popular in the last few years: as Fifth Harmony makes clear, now you — yes, you! — can work from home.

This privilege (yes, privilege, and if you don’t believe me ask anyone born before 1982) can significantly reduce the time you spend commuting and dealing with in-office distractions. If you’re bordering on ill or rounding the corner on getting better, it extends your recovery time without the added stress of work piling up. Plus, it can save you some lunch money. Snowstorms, travel delays, and mental health days — all of these are opportunities to be productive from the comfort of your own home.

But that is the key word: productive. You’re still working, which means you’re still expected to perform at the same, stellar baseline (or above!) at which you’ve been making a name for yourself. If you’re asking yourself how to be your best self, in front of only yourself — we’ve got all the answers for you!

Communicate expectations with your team.

Prior to working from home, you should already have a good handle on what the expectations are for remote work. Are you expected to check in, and how often, and in what manner? Can you only work from home once a month, or is once a week the norm in your office? If you’re interested in working from home, discuss this with your manager and team as soon as possible. Working from home is often a good solution to a sudden, stressful issue, so having a clear set of expectations and boundaries at the outset can relieve a lot of anxiety.

Make a case for working remotely.

I’ll say it again — working remotely is a privilege that implies that you can be trusted to supervise yourself and continue to exceed expectations at HQ. If you’re capable of coming into the office but would prefer not to, make sure that there’s nothing you need to be in the office to do (meetings, interviews, location-specific responsibilities, etc.), and that there’s a strong justification for taking the day off besides “I really don’t want to deal with the subway this morning.”

Assume it’s business-casual as usual.

Waking up with your normal weekday alarm is extremely important, but with your commute out of the way, you can have a more leisurely morning. Get up and fix yourself a nice breakfast, walk your dog, floss and use mouthwash — you deserve it. Then slip into something comfortable but appropriate for a walk to the store or a restaurant — if you couldn’t wear it out, you shouldn’t wear it in today. If you’re in your favorite sweatpants or pajamas, it’s much harder to be in a professional mindset, take last-minute video calls, or just generally behave like it’s not a long, lazy weekend at home.

In fact, consider getting started earlier.

Eat the frog — getting up in the morning is the hardest thing to do, and once that’s done, checking emails, setting up your goals for the day, and getting your necessary resources in order isn’t so bad at all. Once your energy starts to flag, make breakfast, brush your teeth, or walk the dog, then return to work as usual. Interrupting yourself to do other minor, similarly productive things can keep the energy going.

Sit up!

When I get home from work, I’ll lie in bed to check my social media pages, catch something on Netflix, or read some of the articles I’ve been saving over the course of the day. This is my default “it’s over” position, and I’m sure the same rings true for many of you. Avoid being in the position of explaining to your manager that you fell asleep over the documents you were editing and sit at your desk or a dining room table.

Even better — get out there.

Some people just can’t work from within their home, and that’s perfectly fine. It’s not surprising that your brain may associate your apartment with a shutdown of work-related thoughts, thereby making it more difficult than ever to focus. Scour Yelp or Foursquare or Google prior to making a work from home request and find a good nook, coffee shop, hotel lobby, or library with reliable wifi that is open within your regular working hours, then pack a bag and work someplace new.

Don’t hoard water-cooler hours.

A colleague of mine used to say this, meaning that just because you weren’t getting the natural breaks provided by coworkers and other, normal workday disruptions, doesn’t mean you should feel comfortable taking off two or three hours at a time while working from home to go run errands, visit the doctor, or just veg out. Working from home is largely a trust exercise, and if you can’t be trusted to pick up the phone, finish assignments on time, or be responsive when you’re not in the office, expect future requests to work from home to be denied.

Avoid the fridge.

Being at the office with a limited food supply means that your attention is elsewhere. But at home, with cupboards brimming with your favorite foods, it’s much harder to keep from snacking all day long. Stick to the same amount of meals you eat per day by setting up the food you’ll eat throughout the day in Tupperware placed carefully at the front of the fridge, or set alarms for mealtimes and adhere strictly to them.

Consider saving interactive projects or phone calls for later in the day.

In the morning you’re more likely to get work done — you’re focused, the world gets quiet outside as people disappear into their offices or schools, and there’s a good chance you’re fully alone. As the afternoon gets longer, the time crunch becomes evident — people return home, you and your colleagues are probably getting antsy, and your concentration is likely to be waning. Let yourself be invigorated by lighter, more interactive projects that are a change of pace — even if it’s a conference call — from the more heads-down kind of work you may have tackled that morning.

Don’t overwork.

The hours become kind of malleable when it’s just you, your computer, and the barista making really good cold brew coffee. You might feel tempted to go more slowly or work later because you’ve “saved time” — on your commute, or interacting with your coworkers — but what you’re actually doing is robbing yourself of time. Stick to your normal working hour parameters to keep your work from home day from turning into a work from home all-nighter.

And that’s it! These tips should help you out in your capacity as an officially capable telecommuter — and Fifth Harmony and I couldn’t be more proud.

Martin Keen comes from a long line of craftsman. Martin’s father was known to build furniture and both his father and grandfather made shoes. It is no surprise that Martin followed in their footsteps. After going to industrial design school and experiencing many injuries in a sailboat, Martin designed a sandal with protective toe gear for sailors. His successful design led to the creation of Keen Footwear, a company that still exists today. While Martin was working as a designer and a consultant for other companies, he realized that his creativity suffered when he was sedentary. He began tinkering in his barn and built an upright seat device that kept him energized by correcting his posture. The first prototype was created in 1995 but Martin didn’t launch Focal Upright until 2012. Today Martin and his wife, Mary (who appears as a surprise guest in this episode!), continue to build Focal Upright Furniture with the help of Venture for America Fellows. In total, Focal has hired 6 Fellows and continues to be an amazing partner to VFA. Tune in to this week’s episode to learn more about Martin’s journey from shoe designer to furniture designer and why standing isn’t the answer.
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Originally published by Andrew Yang on the Venture For America Forbes Blog. 

Stanford business school recently announced a new fellowship program – the Stanford USA MBA Fellowship – that will cover the full cost of tuition and fees – about $160k each – for 3 graduates who would then go work for 2 years in the Midwest. An admission officer said the program hopes to find “people who are interested in bringing everything that they learned back to their region to develop it.” Stanford’s hope is to expand the program to 8 students next year and include the Southeast.
This is kind of awesome on multiple levels.

First, it’s a major acknowledgment that some parts of the U.S. are doing a lot better than others. According to the Economic Innovation Group, only 20 counties generated half of the economy’s 166,500 new businesses between 2010 and 2014, including places like Austin, San Francisco, and New York. Regions are increasingly diverging in terms of their economic dynamism nationwide. The Midwest and the Southeast are not thriving as much as other parts of the country by many measures.
Second, it acknowledges that Stanford grads are unlikely to head to diverse parts of the U.S. In 2015, 60 percent of Stanford graduates stayed on the West Coast with only 12 percent going to the East Coast and all other parts of the U.S. (the remaining 28 percent went abroad). Similarly, 63% of summer placements in 2016 were on the West Coast, with only 2 percent in the Midwest and 1 percent in the South.

Third, it says that where Stanford graduates work is important, thereby affirming Stanford’s values and mission as a national institution. Its mission reads in part ‘to promote the public welfare’ and the mission of the business school includes “to develop innovative, principled, and insightful leaders who change the world.” If the school is attracting only those who want to work in Silicon Valley, it’s only producing a certain kind of person and leader.

Venture For America has been working in the Midwest since 2012, since we placed our first 12 Fellows in Detroit. Since then, we’ve recruited, trained and placed about 500 top college graduates in startups and growth organizations in Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, Cincinnati, St. Louis, New Orleans, Baltimore, and 10 other cities around the U.S. We can attest to the fact that there are real needs and opportunities in these regions. There are promising businesses tackling distinct problems in all of them that would benefit from some new talent.

Too many schools see what their alums are doing and withhold any meaningful value judgment. It takes a rare institution to say, “Let’s try and get some people who want to do something different that speaks to our values” and then put money to work to make it happen. I love the fact that Stanford is putting concrete resources behind attracting and empowering applicants with different designs for their future. Here’s hoping Stanford’s effort is successful and emulated by others. If the grads need places to land, let us know – we know a lot of companies in the Midwest who would love to have them!

This week Jeremy sits down with Jon Stein, Founder & CEO of Betterment, an automated investing service that helps clients better manage and grow their wealth through smarter technology for a fraction of the cost of traditional financial services. Download this week’s episode to hear Jon’s journey as a Columbia Business School grad passionate about using technology to better align customers with their financial institutions and why the New York Times named Betterment one of the next “startup unicorns”.
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