Living Entrepreneurship Blog / Babson Entrepreneurs

Butler Venture Accelerator’s New Cohort Model Will Help You Succeed

The following post is from Cindy Klein Marmer, Associate Director of the Butler Venture Accelerator Program.

Butler Venture Accelerator Venture On!

The Butler Venture Accelerator program has been busy making changes to help you better succeed in moving your startup idea into a reality. This year, the Butler Venture Accelerator (BVA) will offer you two types of membership within the Accelerator.

  • Accelerator cohort: this is more intense and geared for people who are more serious about working on moving their business concepts forward during the academic year.
  • Accelerator Light: activities are optional based on your interest

What is an Entrepreneurial Cohort?
For those who have an existing business concept and are interested in a more intense structure with greater access to resources, you will have the opportunity to participate in entrepreneurial cohorts.  In the cohorts, you will gain the perspective, feedback and guidance from entrepreneurs from different Babson programs and different industries through weekly cohort meetings and monthly faculty advisor-led issue based sessions.  These semester long cohorts are designed to connect you to a stronger entrepreneurial community and hold you accountable so you can make more progress on moving your venture forward.  Being in a cohort will get you priority access to resources such as dedicated work space, investor sessions, Entrepreneur-in-Residence office hours, and even seed funding.

Each entrepreneurial cohort is a group of approximately 15 Babson entrepreneurs who are either Babson undergraduate, graduate students or Babson alumni.  These 15 entrepreneurs will be from a variety of industries, but will be like minded in that, like you, they are focused on pursuing their idea and taking concrete action to move that idea forward.  Your group will form a community of peers that connect for support and advice over the course of a semester. You will meet regularly, typically 8-10 times per semester, and you will get to know them and their ventures in a deeper way that allows the entire group to do more and learn more from each others experiences.

How does being in a cohort help me?
The cohort extends your team of advisors.  It gives you a team of people you can reach out to when you are struggling as well as when you achieve a major milestone.  The cohort model offers you greater structure, community and accountability.  The cohort model works along with the same BVA methodology where you earn additional resources as you move your business forward and achieve milestones.  Many of these additional resources have now been allotted for cohort members.  This means that in return for your dedication within the cohort, there are certain resources to which, based on eligibility, you would get priority access.

How do I apply to participate in the Butler Venture Accelerator?
To sign up for the Accelerator, whether you are interested in being in a cohort for the semester or not, please contact the Blank Center at blankcenter@babson.edu and you will receive an intake form.

Deadline for applying:
Please note, the next Accelerator application cycles have the following application deadlines:

September 16th Cohort and Accelerator Light Deadline
October 21st Accelerator Light Deadline
February 3rd  Cohort and Accelerator Light Deadline
March 10th Accelerator Light Deadline

What if I miss the deadline, but want to be in a cohort?
If you miss one of the cohort deadlines, please apply during the non-cohort cycle and let us know that you are interested in joining a cohort.  Your application will be reviewed regarding your current stage during the current cycle, but you will also be included in the following semester’s cohort cycle without having to reapply.  For example, if you apply on October 15th, your application will be reviewed in that current cycle.  However, we will include you in a cohort in February 2017 for the Spring semester.