When thinking of the typical startup location, two things usually come to mind: a college dorm room, or Silicon Valley. Pop culture has ingrained in us the idea that innovation starts in a dorm room or a garage, and then moves on to Silicon Valley when it’s ready. The reality, though, is that innovative new businesses are popping up everywhere across the country and taking the startup stereotypes back from Silicon Valley.
One company is proof. Venture For America is a fellowship program that places high-performing college graduates in exciting startups across the country. With available cities ranging from New Orleans to Detroit to Miami, VFA is showing a different side of the American entrepreneur, and showing college grads they don’t have to live in New York or San Francisco to work for an innovative new business.
“Prior to VFA, I really only heard about startups in San Francisco, NYC, Cambridge, or maybe LA or San Diego,” said Shaw Newman, a 2018 VFA Fellow and graduate from the University of Michigan. “I think my definition of a startup was different as well. When recruiters from companies like Google still pitch ‘the hustle’ and a ‘startup environment,’ it really confuses students who haven’t been exposed to tech and startups…[Companies like that] are not startups anymore.”
As an economics major with two traditional finance internships under her belt, Newman envisioned her career path as a fairly standard one for most of her college career. She would get a finance or consulting job, then move back home to Manhattan and work for a few years while she figured out what she really wanted to do. She figured that out earlier than planned — she realized at the end of her junior year that she wanted to pursue technology policy as her long term goal. She felt that left her with two options: the startup world, or graduate school. With zero startup experience, Newman assumed that a master’s degree in information and public policy was the only way to break into that space.
When she first heard of VFA her junior year of college, she wrote it off thinking it didn’t align with her future plans. But in September 2017, knee-deep in grad school applications, she applied to VFA on a whim at the request of a friend who also applied. Grad school could be deferred, she realized, and considering other options was just as important.
To Newman’s surprise, she progressed through the interview process and was accepted into the program. Suddenly, working for a startup was viable option.
“Through the interview process I realized I have plenty of applicable skills and that majoring in ‘entrepreneurship’ isn’t a prerequisite to joining a small startup.”
While there’s no entrepreneurship prerequisite, Venture For America ensures that their Fellows are well-prepared to make an impact on the companies they join.
Before moving to their new cities, Fellows are required to go through a monthlong “Training Camp,” which teaches them skills essential to working for a startup. Among those skills are design thinking, programming, marketing and sales, problem-solving, and communication skills – like sending an email that someone will actually open. Because Fellows come from diverse backgrounds and majors, VFA considers Training Camp an instrumental part of integrating Fellows into their new roles.
Martin Valkov, a mechanical engineering graduate from Washington University in St. Louis, is another VFA Fellow that hadn’t initially foreseen himself working for a startup. But it wasn’t that he didn’t feel qualified to work for one. Rather, he knew the high rate of failure that many startups face and he wasn’t sure how to identify one with realistic potential.
“VFA provides that level of comfort,” Valkov said. “I trust the organization and understand that they have thoroughly evaluated all of the companies that we can work for.”
Now, both Valkov and Newman are preparing to go through their Training Camp and after, move to a new city and take on an exciting new role.
“Before joining VFA, I always considered the Bay Area as the place to go to join a promising startup,” Valkov said. “After accepting my offer to be a VFA Fellow, my opinion has changed dramatically. I have connected with high-functioning teams working on intriguing projects around the whole country with example cities being New Orleans, Detroit, Kansas City, and Philadelphia.”
Newman will be joining a Philadelphia-based e-commerce company as a product manager, and Valkov is still narrowing down his options. While moving to a new city can be intimidating, both Valkov and Newman seem excited, rather than intimidated about the transition, in large part due to the existing network of VFA fellows installed in cities across the country.
“This exceeds all expectations I had for post-graduation life,” Valkov said. “I think a lot of my peers are currently trying to answer the question we’ve all asked in the last year: ‘How do I make friends after college?’ With the VFA network, the frightening aspect of this question is completely diminished.”
“My class of Fellows already has their own Slack channel, and I know current Fellows and Alumni are in frequent contact with each other,” Newman said. “I think it makes transitioning to a new city much more seamless.”
For current college students dreaming of working for a startup but not crazy about moving to San Francisco or NYC, there are other options. And for students that never considered working for a startup, keep an open mind. As Newman said, you don’t have to major in entrepreneurship to begin your career at a startup.
Find out more about Venture For America below