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