Last year, around this time I was deeply busy with my startup, my professor job, and my son. I was, as they say, "in the trenches". Like many entrepreneurs in the Windy City I was looking for the next step in my startup at the same time that I was looking for help and support from advisors and peers.
Finding a good advisor or a good co-founder or a good co-worker is hard, especially when you have few resources. You believe you know what you are looking for, but you rarely have the right tools to evaluate those that want to sell their services to you. The better the salesperson, the deeper the hole you may fall into.
A friend of mine, Sue Kim, asked if I would be interested in checking out the Startup Leadership Program (SLP). Well, I said to myself, there are many programs that advertise themselves as the support that you need. Some are good, some are mediocre, and some are plain bad for you, and everything has an opportunity cost.
I decided to check it out. I heard some famous names went through the program, and I thought that the $350 for a 6-month program is something I can afford on my non-existent budget. Actually, I thought, it sounds like there should be a catch there because it sounded rather symbolic as a fee. What do I really have to give for the bi-weekly lectures and the monthly day-long seminars?
The program turned out to be a treasure. Of course, don't believe me. Talk to my friends at the program who all have an alter-ego that is rare to find: paralegal and greatest simple idea (Zach), TV producer and big social idea (Katie), the best charisma and performer on stage (Kate), and many more.
Every two weeks we would meet for 4 hours, with food (our SLP colleague Jason's healthy GormetGorilla) and drinks to get lectures from the best people in Chicago on the topic of that week: sales, co-founders and hirings, financials, marketing, UX and UI, business models, and perfecting your pitch. Every month we met for a day-long workshop by the best companies in Chicago on UI and UX, presentation, business models, and investors.
I think the best thing I got there was seeing how others with very different backgrounds than mine build startups that I would not even try. I would never try to sell baby clothes, and would not even know how and why one would think this would become a billion dollar thing. And yet, I'm convinced that Kate can do it. I would never think that magic cards is the place to invest your money, and yet I know that Kelly will do it.
I think everyone should have a mentor or two or three. If you're like me, this group is invaluable. It is much more an investment of your time than the money (which is really symbolic). It is worth it.
Early application deadline is July 8th. The link to the application is here: http://bit.ly/ZtrpuY
