Collegiate Summer Venture Program

The Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship launched an intensive 10-week program in 2017 that serves as a boot camp for entrepreneurs. Funded through the generous support of Earl W. Stafford ’76, the program gives entrepreneurs access to the various resources of the University of Massachusetts and the Pioneer Valley without the distractions of the school year.

In 2019, a summer collegiate accelerator offered by local nonprofit Valley Venture Mentors (VVM, see page 29), which supports entrepreneurs in western Massachusetts, merged with the UMass program. In the combined program, ventures from the 14 schools and colleges of the Grinspoon Entrepreneurship Initiative work with and inspire each other, allowing participants to collaborate with a more dynamic community and form a more diverse collection of disciplines.

Founders enter the program at different levels: Some have an idea in its early stages, and others are generating revenue and looking to scale. Each works with mentors—a brain trust of the campus’s alumni, faculty, and staff, as well as VVM’s network of supporters and many local industry experts and business leaders who are part of the Pioneer Valley entrepreneurial ecosystem. The type of progress founders will make during the summer is determined, establishing benchmarks and targets and meeting weekly with their mentors to track their progress.

Most days are spent defining who their customers are. Teams build their company visions, refining their thinking and pivoting when the data suggest they are going in the wrong direction. Teams create prototypes while working with the makerspace community on campus. Repeatedly practicing pitches, they learn what makes a strong presentation and how to look at their venture through the eyes of investors and potential partners. As they celebrate their successes and confront their obstacles together, founders become a community of entrepreneurs.

Participants spend time in the community and online doing customer discovery and meeting with entrepreneurs in the Valley, as well as visiting the VVM co-working space, a valuable resource that’s available year-round where they can meet and get to know some of the upcoming ventures that call VVM’s space home.

A week at the Mount Ida Campus of UMass Amherst in Newton is also on the schedule. Route 128, downtown Boston, and Cambridge comprise one of the world’s most vibrant entrepreneurship communities. Happy collisions with many of the players and organizations that are central to the region’s reputation bolster the programming. Additional outside experts join the program for single-session workshops in their areas of expertise, such as marketing, customer acquisition, legal issues, prototyping, and team development.

The culmination of the program is a showcase in Springfield, where entrepreneurs pitch to and network with a room full of industry experts, business leaders, faculty from around the region, economic development leaders, potential investors, and interested community members.

Berthiaume Center Mentor Network

The Berthiaume Center Mentor Network is a group of entrepreneurs, investors, and industry experts who have the knowledge and energy to support emerging entrepreneurs. These volunteers share their experiences to help ventures move forward in their entrepreneurial journey, with a particular focus on the Collegiate Summer Venture Program. The Berthiaume Center works with Eric Ashman ’89 to mobilize and manage the group—he was an early supporter who helped create and formalize the mentor network concept. Ashman, former president and chief operating officer of Group Nine Media (which includes well-known websites Thrillist, NowThis, and Seeker), focuses on advising startups across Massachusetts.

Isenberg MBA alumna Rebika Shaw Bendayan was also instrumental in helping codify the mentoring program’s structure and has continued serving as a mentor. She is an experienced healthcare strategist and leadership coach with global expertise in building strong teams and infrastructure. She currently serves as a senior consultant at Commonwealth Health Advisors.

At the 2021 Executive Pitch competition, engineering major Vishesh Gupta (second from left) and biology major Ami Mungilwar (third from left) won $2,000 in funding for their venture, Learnin, a platform for curated educational content. Berthiaume Executive Director Gregory Thomas (left) and Program Manager Carly Forcade (right) presented the awards.

Innovation and Entrepreneurship Scholars Program

Berthiaume’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Scholars Program (IESP) is open to all first-year UMass Amherst undergraduate students, including transfer students. Successful applicants develop startup ideas from the back-of-a-napkin stage to real businesses, or advance previously established ventures with help from Berthiaume MBA Fellows, Ventures @ College of Computer Sciences Entrepreneurs-in-Residence, and Berthiaume Expert Office Hours. They participate in boot camps, seminars, and competitions such as the Innovation Challenge, and work with the Entrepreneurship and Social Entrepreneurship Clubs.

As part of an exclusive cohort of innovative and entrepreneurial students, IESP participants complete at least 10 customer interviews and draft a business plan for their ventures. If students complete all IESP requirements, they receive a $250 award.