MIT alumni association publication features VMS

Slice of MIT, a publication of the MIT Alumni Association, had a feature on the Venture Mentoring Service and Demo Day. There’s yours truly in the gray sweater and grey hair.

Here’s a very interesting quote from VMS Director Sherwin Greenblatt:

When VMS was founded 18 years ago, “entrepreneurship was kind of a quiet thing at MIT, and a lot of technical people were thinking of going to work for big companies,” Greenblatt says. “Now it’s gone from being a backwater to a main driving force at the Institute.”

Entrepreneurship was very quiet at MIT when I was working there in 1989 and left to do my first startup, funded directly by MIT through the Treasurer’s office.

Mentor and Demo Day organizer Ernest Sabine, MIT ’66 has words of wisdom for founders:

“You have to get investors in the first 10 or 15 seconds, explaining what problem you’re addressing, the value of the idea, and whether you’ve proven it works,”

Author: Mentorphile

Mentor, coach, and advisor to entrepreneurs, small businesses, and non-profit organizations. General manager with significant experience in both for-profit and non-profit organizations. Focus on media and information. On founding team of four venture-backed companies. Currently Chairman of Popsleuth, Inc., maker of the Endorfyn app for keeping fans updated on new stuff from their favorite artists. View all posts by Mentorphile