Entrepreneur's Bootcamp

 

Being a successful entrepreneur is tough work and getting funding is just the start.

The fastest way yet to get to funding yet, Entrepreneur's Bootcamp was created by George Kenney co-founder of successful venture capital firm Shepherd Ventures. It's based on the unique method used by Shepherd Ventures to choose investments for their role as the lead investor, with fund results six times higher than the average VC firm.  Entrepreneur's Bootcamp is offered by George Kenny's firm Center for Strategic Management, Inc and Intelliversity is not responsible for its content.

Funding, launching and scaling a business is arguably the hardest project a human can undertake.

Here's why:

• Though complex, it's not just the complexity.
• Though requiring all the skills a person can acquire -- it's not just skills required.
• Though the time commitment is enormous -- it's not just the time commitment,
• Though you have to risk your reputation, social life, family relationships, and financial well-being -- it's not just the risk you take.
• Above all, it's the stress that comes as a surprise to most first-time entrepreneurs.

Stress is due to unplanned, unexpected undesired events.  Things just don't work out as expected:  competition, egos, unexpected expenses, unexpected delays in revenue, legal challenges, technical failures, recession, changes in technology and demand, and way, way more time invested than you expected -- "Anything that can go wrong will, sooner or later," to paraphrase Murphy.

You will have to deal with unexpected stress.  And you will have to pivot the company at least once and probably two or three times before winning.

Yet you as Vision Master have to get through it all, or else your vision is dust.  Some can handle the stress and pivots, some can't.  The fact is, and everyone in the investment community knows this, and every entrepreneur should know this, that most founders CAN'T handle it.  Why else do 80% of FUNDED companies fail before investors are fully paid?

So if you want the funding, it will help if you're recognized by investors as the kind of person who never gives up, who can handle the stress and pivots, and keep on going.  Not that this gives you a 100% certainty of succeeding, but it does give you a better shot.

We're out for 80% success rather than 80% failure.  Are you on that bus?  Really?

So how does an investor know that's who you are?  How does an investor recognize you as the two in ten who walks through walls?

Do you know the rules of the road?

It boils down to "trust" in you -- not just trust that you're honorable and honest -- but trust that you can perform UNDER STRESS, handle the pivots, and keep on performing, never folding no matter what you're up against.

So how does an investor recognize you as one who can be trusted to perform UNDER STRESS and handle the inevitable pivots?  Normally, investors don't have a good way.  First, they look at track record.  But track record is not a reliable indicator.  Second, they look at you in a series of interviews.  But superficial meetings are not reliable indicators.  Meetings and track record taken together are not predictive.

So is there a better way?

At Intelliversity, we've been looking for that better way for over eight years now.  One major breakthrough we've championed is that you can't do it alone; having a co-founder with complementary skills and aligned values is the best weapon against the unexpected challenges of outrageous fortune.  You'll find this well-documented in my eBook Born to Star, a draft of which is available to you on the Intelliversity site.

More recently, Intelliversity has joined forces with the co-founder of venture capital firm Shepherd Ventures (George Kenney), one of the most successful VCs in Southern California, to bring to you another way.  George and Shepherd Ventures have been successful because 1) he bets on the people (CEO and team) more than the product, and 2) he has a way to assess the CEO and team that is much more powerful than track record and interviews.

They call that better way, now fully developed, "Entrepreneur's Bootcamp." Entrepreneur's Bootcamp will certify you as qualified to launch and scale an innovative business, through the stress and pivots.  It's called "Bootcamp" because it's hard to get into and hard to complete.  Entrepreneur's Bootcamp certifies its graduates to launch and scale an innovative company in today's world.

Unlike a seminar, Entrepreneur's Bootcamp is one-on-one with the instructors.  It's not a group.  Hence it can be completed in six weeks.  Often it takes seven or eight weeks.

The genius behind Entrepreneur's Bootcamp is that it supplies the expertise needed to launch and scale an innovative business through stress and pivots.  A great deal of this expertise is based on two systems that come out of MIT, where a great many undergrads start businesses.  Faculty there determined to provide systems to enable these new-born leaders to succeed even the first time.  About 50% succeed, an amazing achievement given that the failure rate for funded startups is around 80%.  Entrepreneur's Bootcamp provides the same level of success.

Equally important, Entrepreneur's Bootcamp reveals and corrects the most important reasons so few companies get venture or angel funding.

What I want you to know now is that Entrepreneur's Bootcamp is a two-edged sword.  It gives you as founder expertise in launching and scaling a business, as well as the messaging you need to inspire investors.  This expertise will get you far.

Equally important to investors is that when you graduate you are "certified."  What this means is that, because you've been able to handle the stressful challenges of this program, we recognize you as someone who can handle the stresses of entrepreneurship and not quit, and are able to handle the inevitable pivots.

Entrepreneur's Bootcamp is difficult to get into and difficult to complete.  The journey through Entrepreneur's Bootcamp is full of surprises and improvements to the leadership skills and business models of the participants.  When you do complete it, the recognition and certification enable one of three results after you graduate:

1. We invest in your company entirely ourselves (the least likely outcome).
2. We help you create an investor syndicate, drawing from the 100 VC's in our circle and a larger number of high-net-worth individuals.  Our recommendation is trusted by other investors because of the certification and our track record of picking winners.  Bootcamp enables us to trust you and then we can transfer that trust to investors.  There's no shortcut.
3. You will locate other investors on your own, and gain their trust through our recommendation and certification.

So far 24+ companies have completed the modern version of Entrepreneur's Bootcamp. Their success in raising capital is unprecedented.  This is on top of the original 18 companies funded by Shepherd Ventures, and another approximately forty who have been recommended to other investors by Shepherd Ventures.

You are invited to apply for Entrepreneur's Bootcamp.  To begin, you are invited to a no-charge one-hour consultation with George Kenney (co-founder of Shepherd Ventures) and Robert Steven Kramarz (Executive Director of Intelliversity).  You'll get an estimate of the level of funding you may be qualified to receive, prices and schedules, and answers to all your questions.

Entrepreneur's Bootcamp, if you can get in, enables you to 1) Be fully prepared to launch and scale, 2) be able to scale and pivot under stress, 3) be able to present to sophisticated investors comfortably knowing they recognize you as a winning leader who makes them money, 4) be much more likely to obtain the funding with far few meetings, and 5) get funded at the high end of your desired valuation, without losing control, by investors you like and respect.