Venture for America is a program for young, talented grads to spend 2 years in the trenches of a start-up with the goal that these graduates will become socialized and mobilized as entrepreneurs moving forward.

1. Summary
February, 2012

2. © Copyright 2011 | Venture For America | All Rights Reserved
THE PROBLEM
Distribution of Talent
o The majority of our talent is flowing to finance/consulting/law and not
enough talented young people are engaged in job-creating
enterprises in our communities.
Our identification and distribution of talent has become
a critical weakness instead of an historic strength.

3. THE HARVARD CLASS OF 2011
Approx. 1,630 seniors 17%
12%
20+%
4%
Finance/Banking
Management Consulting
Law School (25% apply)
Teach for America
293 seniors applied (18% of class),
66 became Corps Members
That’s 49% of the class (at least)
Harvard College Senior Survey Data 2010 (http://www.ocs.fas.harvard.edu/students/jobs/seniorsurvey.htm)
The Crimson, Senior Survey 2010 by Clifford M. Marks, Tuesday May 25, 2010 (http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2010/5/25/percent-year-seniors-class/)
Law School Admissions Council Data 2010 (http://members.lsac.org/Public/MainPage.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fPrivate%2fMainPage2.aspx)
Teach for America: Top Colleges and Universities Contributing to Teach for America’s 2010 Teaching Corps Report
(http://www.teachforamerica.org/newsroom/documents/20100714_Teach.For.America.Announces.the.Schools.Contributing.Most.Graduates.to.2010.Corps.htm)
Association of American Colleges: Undergraduate Institutions Supplying Applicants to U.S. Medical Schools (https://www.aamc.org/download/161090/data/table2-1-mblack-2010-web.pdf)
Grad School, Non-profits,
Industry, Gov’t, IT, Military
15+% Med School (18% apply)
10%
22%
Undecided

4. SAME PICTURE
AT OTHER TOP SCHOOLS
 Over 50% of graduates take either the LSAT or the GMAT
(2004 – 2010)
Law School Admissions Council Data 2010 (http://members.lsac.org/Public/MainPage.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fPrivate%2fMainPage2.aspx)
Graduate Management Admission Council Data 2004-2008
UPenn, Career Plans Survey Results – Class of 2010 (http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/undergrad/reports/Class2010CareerPlans.pdf)
Duke Senior Survey Results for Undergraduates (http://www.princeton.edu/career/employers/about-princeton/survey-data/
Cornell Preliminary Class of 2010 Postgraduate Report (http://www.career.cornell.edu/downloads/PostGradSurveys/PreliminaryClassOf2010.pdf)
 Teach for America, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bank of
America/Merrill Lynch, Accenture, Google, and Deutsche
Bank Top Employers 2010
 Deloitte, Deutsche Bank, Ernst & Young, Goldman
Sachs, Google, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, NIH,
and Teach for America Top Employers 2010
 34% took jobs in Finance or Consulting of those who
accepted a job at graduation; Bank of America, Barclays
Capital, Citigroup, Google, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley,
and Teach for America Top Employers 2010

5. WHERE THE GRADS ARE GOING:
2010 Top Job Locations for Undergraduates
Duke Senior Survey Results for Undergraduates (http://www.princeton.edu/career/employers/about-princeton/survey-data/)
The Crimson, Senior Survey 2010 by Clifford M. Marks, Tuesday May 25, 2010 (http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2010/5/25/percent-year-seniors-class/)
RI
New York, NY
Boston, MA
Washington, D.C.
San Francisco, CA
December 2010 States with >10% Unemployment Rates

6. WHY/HOW DO SMART KIDS
CHOOSE A PATH?
› Prestige. Looks good on Resume. Marks you as Smart.
› Opens Doors. Keeps options open. Sky’s the limit.
› Community. Make sure you don’t ‘fall behind’ peers. Work
with other smart people.
› Clearly Marked Path. Easy to Find or Apply To.
› Something good / pro-social. e.g. Teach for America
› Progress. Seeking ‘the next level.’ Gain stature.
› Gain Skills. Training for the next thing.
› Money. Compensation, amenities, lifestyle.

7. WHY NOT START-UPS?
› Not recruited (contrast with banks, consulting, big companies,
Teach for America, etc.)
› No community / peer group
› No network / idea / money / tech proficiency
› Hard to find suitable start-up / no structured path (contrast
with law school)
› Unclear prospects for training, advancement or success
However, many Kids would LOVE to join a start-up!
They all talk about it. Many go into finance/consulting to
“learn about business”, so they can start something.

8. TEACH FOR AMERICA (1990 - )
› In 2011, Teach for America drew 48,000 applicants for
5,200 slots, including 12% of all Ivy League seniors.
› Hired more seniors than any other employer at numerous
colleges, including Yale, Dartmouth, Duke, and Georgetown.
› Founded 1990 by Princeton senior Wendy Kopp; what began
as a thesis has grown into a $180 million organization.
› Considered Top 10 Job to start a career by Businessweek.
› Board includes John Legend; TFA Alumni include Michelle
Rhee (Former Chancellor of the D.C. Public Schools system).
› Sends the best college grads in the country to hundreds of
the lowest-performing school districts in Mississippi, etc...
The Wall Street Journal: What They’re Doing After Harvard by Naomi Schaefer Riley, July 10, 2010
(http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704198004575311052522926796.html)

9. • Venture for America will recruit the best and brightest
college grads to work for two years at emerging start-
ups and early stage companies in lower-cost cities
(e.g., Detroit, Providence). Fellows paid $32-38k/year
by the host company. Hundreds of applicants from
national universities to date.
• Modeled after Teach for America, Venture for America
will provide a path for entrepreneurship to college
grads who want to learn how to build companies and
create jobs.
• Venture Fellow Summer Institute held at Brown
University in June 2012 with seasoned investors and
entrepreneurs.
• At the conclusion of the fellowship, Fellows will attend
a capstone where $100k in seed investment will be
awarded to the highest performing Fellow.
VENTURE FOR AMERICA (2011 - )
Year
1
2
3
4
5
…
2yr program at a
start-up as a
Fellow
Venture For
America
Biz Competition
Continue full-
time at start-up
Start-up Pro!
Apply to
Fellowship

10. + others…
VENTURE FOR AMERICA TEAM
Management
Team
Board of
Directors
Andrew Yang
President & Founder
Eileen Lee
COO
Eddie Shiomi
VP Programs
Robin Chan
Zynga
Peter Ezersky
Quadrangle
Darren MacDonald
IAC
LeRoy Kim
Allen & Company
Investor
Board
David Lee
SV Angel
Josh Linkner
Detroit Venture Partners
+ others…
Chip Hazard
Flybridge
Andy Weissman
Union Square Ventures
+ others…
Mike Tarullo
Corporate Dev.

11. MEASUREMENTS OF SUCCESS
• The primary metric for VFA will be the number of jobs
generated by Venture Fellows past and present, in 3
categories:
1. A Venture Fellow founds or co-founds a company that creates jobs;
2. A Venture Fellow plays a significant leadership role at a company that
creates jobs; or
3. A Venture Fellow is employed and contributes at a company that creates
jobs.
• The stated goal of Venture for America is to contribute to the
creation of 100,000 U.S. jobs by 2025.
• The secondary metric is the proportion of Venture for America
Fellows who remain engaged in start-ups or early stage
enterprise.
© Copyright 2011 | Venture For America | All Rights Reserved

12. RECRUITMENT LISTING SERVICE
© Copyright 2011 | Venture For America | All Rights Reserved
• We expect to have 1,000+ applicants for 50 spots in Year 1.
• The Top 20% will be designated as Finalists and will receive
assistance in placing them in appropriate start-ups. Virtually
all applicants will opt in for access to additional opportunities.
• Start-ups / early stage companies in every market will have
the ability to access resume database. Means-adjusted fee
only for successful hire.
• Potential to drive hundreds of applicants to start-ups beyond
Fellows.

13. TIMELINE
© Copyright 2011 | Venture For America | All Rights Reserved
Press Launch
On-Campus
Marketing and
Awareness
Infrastructure
• Office
• Staff
• Website
V 1st Class of Fellows arrives at Brown University
Recruitment
Interviewing
On-boarding
Programming
Confirm Host Companies
Mar ‘11
Apr ‘11
May ‘11
Jun ‘11
Jul ‘11
Aug ‘11
Sep ‘11
Oct ‘11
Nov ‘11
Dec ’11
Jan ‘12
Feb ‘12
Mar ‘12
Apr ‘12
May ‘12
Jun ‘12

14. ACT. BUILD. CREATE.
Mobilizing Graduates as Entrepreneurs
• Contact: Andrew Yang (andrew@ventureforamerica.org)
• Visit: http://ventureforamerica.org/
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Click on icons to open webpage
© Copyright 2011 | Venture For America | All Rights Reserved