Ask YC: Entrepreneurship Summer Program?

1 point

18 years ago

I'm a 31 year old Internet entrepreneur with two solid profitable successes under my belt and a couple more projects under way. So far at least, my style has been to take no investment, work with a single partner, and build lean operations that need little ongoing maintenance while banging out the cash. Recently I've also started investing in others' startups and/or advising in exchange for equity.

Before I get too deep into the next project I'm looking for some structured professional development. This summer would be a great time for me. I'm looking for a program that lasts a month or two and which will help me (a) strengthen my leadership skills, (b) gain exposure to the wider industry, (c) work with and learn from some great people.

The closest I can find is Stanford's Summer Institute for Entrepreneurship (http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/sie/). But the site says you must be a current grad student whereas I finished my PhD in CS a couple of years back. Not to mention that the deadline is tomorrow and the crowd might be too 'green'. Another option is the Mastering Technology Enterprise program at IMD in Lausanne, Switzerland. But it seems less entrepreneur-focused and, at $40k for 6 weeks, doesn't seem to make sense.

Does anyone know of a program that might be suitable? I'm based outside the US but am more than happy to travel. I guess the Valley would be ideal but I'm open to any other biz/tech hub.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

(Another option would be to help mentor this summer's Y Combinator program, unpaid, but I don't see any openings for that...)