Alec Dingee, Founding Chairman

MIT Venture Mentoring Service

A free service, founded in 2000, supporting entrepreneurs emerging from the MIT community:

– students – graduates– faculty – staff

VMS Philanthropic Base

• Original founding gifts of $1 million

• Mentors’ donation of significant time, energy, and expertise (over 8,000 mentor hours in 2008)

• Chairman, Director, and Co-Directors are volunteer positions, supported by a small paid staff

• Involvement of hosting institution (MIT)

The Need

• Current economy puts additional pressure on new ventures

• Speed of current product-to-market cycle means entrepreneurs have little time to learn

• Technologies emerging from university labs need more entrepreneurs to bring them to marketplace

• Need for new entrepreneurs who are effective leaders to keep U.S. economy competitive

VMS Goals

• To educate new entrepreneurs about the venture creation process

• To build entrepreneurial leadership

• To connect the worlds of academia and business

• To create successful ventures

VMS Mentoring is Based on Two Basic Concepts

• A fledgling venture is more likely to thrive when an idea, a good business plan, and an entrepreneur are matched with proven skills and experience

• Successful entrepreneurs can be motivated to volunteer time and expertise – and many find the mentoring process compelling and rewarding

How Does VMS Work?

• Services are free and confidential – no conflict of interest, no strings attached

• Commitment to an entrepreneur is long-term• Ventures are screened, assessed, and assigned a

mentor team• Entrepreneurs have access to a wide variety of

professional resources, contacts, skills seminars• Monthly mentor meetings to review all VMS

ventures

What Makes VMS Different?

• Focus on professional education: learning by doing• Leverage of MIT’s education mission, reputation, and

resources• Strict ethical guidelines and rigorous screening for

mentors and entrepreneurs create an unbiased process

• High mentor quality through personal referral and rigorous screening; becoming a VMS mentor is considered prestigious

• A culture of collegiality and trust

VMS Mentors

• 135 current mentors• Most with start up experience• Almost half non-MIT• CEOs, CTOs, and founders of companies such as Bose,

Analog Devices, Boston Scientific, and many high-growth technology companies such as BlueFin Robotics, Progress Software, and Excelergy

• Broad range of– backgrounds – technical and industry expertise– business expertise

VMS Ventures and Entrepreneurs

• 1,259 entrepreneurs served

• 706 ventures served

• VMS ventures have raised over $560 million in funding

VMS Ventures

• Vela Systems, Inc. – Mobile software for field activities in construction and capital project management

• Corestreet, Ltd. – Infrastructure and software for security and smart credentials

• Myomo, Inc. – Pioneers of neurorobotics, a new class of non-invasive medical device technology

• SmartCells, Inc. – Polymer-based dosing technology for treatment of diabetes

VMS Outreach• Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation grant awarded to VMS to

document its methodology and systems for use by other organizations

• Outreach workshops, funded in part by Kauffman Foundation• Mentoring programs based on the VMS model are being

planned by 12 institutions and have already been established at:

• Innovate St. Louis (Washington University)• Boston University• MaRS Centre (Toronto)• Yale University

• First Founders, providing experienced start-up entrepreneurs for emerging technologies

Ensuring the Future of VMS

Additional Funding needed:• Endowment to guarantee ongoing operations of

VMS– Seed money from four donors already committed

• Funding to make program improvements and enhancements

• Funding to continue and improve outreach and transfer of methodology to other organizations and institutions