Venture for America
| Founded | July 20, 2011 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Andrew Yang |
| Type | Nonprofit organization |
| Focus | Revitalizing America through entrepreneurship |
| Location |
|
| Members | 1000+ |
| Employees | 50+ |
| Website | ventureforamerica |
Venture for America (VFA) is an American nonprofit organization and fellowship headquartered in New York City. Founded by Andrew Yang in 2011, its mission is "to revitalize American cities and communities through entrepreneurship" by training recent graduates and young professionals to work for startups in emerging cities throughout the United States.[1][2]
History
 | This section needs to be updated. (January 2019) |
In its first year, 2012, Venture for America placed 40 fellows in five cities: Cincinnati, Detroit, Las Vegas, New Orleans, and Providence.[3]
In 2013, Baltimore, Cleveland, and Philadelphia were added, and nearly 70 fellows were placed.[4]
In 2014, more than 100 fellows were placed, and an additional four cities—Columbus, Miami, San Antonio, and St. Louis—were added.[5]
In 2015, the organization added Birmingham, Charlotte, Denver, and Pittsburgh and placed more than 120 fellows.
In 2016, a documentary about Venture for America titled Generation Startup was released, co-directed by Cynthia Wade, an Academy Award winner, and Cheryl Miller Houser.[6][7] 2016 also saw the addition of Atlanta and Nashville along with nearly 170 Fellows placed.
In 2017, VFA expanded to Kansas City and placed approximately 180 Fellows. In mid-2017, Andrew Yang stepped down as CEO of the company.[8][9] On November 6, 2017, Yang began his 2020 presidential campaign.
Approach
Venture for America recruits recent college graduates to work in various startup industries, or the related industry of venture funding, for two years in economically challenged cities throughout the US.[3] The goal of the program is for its Fellows to create jobs by eventually serving a senior role at their initial companies and hiring new employees, or by starting their own companies, which will then hire people.[10]
Venture for America accepts 10% to 18% of applicants.[11] After acceptance into the program, all Fellows attend a five-week summer training program in Detroit, Michigan. There, the Fellows are taught and mentored by investors, venture capitalists, and innovation firms in the skills they will need at their companies.[12] The skills they learn include topics of web design, entrepreneurship, and public speaking.[2]
Fellows are then placed in startups in cities like Baltimore, Detroit, and San Antonio in industries such as education innovation, biotechnology, VC firms, media, and clean technology.[2][13] Since 2012, Venture for America has trained over 700 fellows who have worked in 18 cities.[14]
Criticism
Critics of VFA have noted that while the organization originally promised to generate 100,000 jobs by 2025,[15] it has not yet created 4,000 jobs. In June 2019, Teddy Schleifer of Vox wrote that the organization's positive early publicity can be attributed to marketing efforts by Andrew Yang, and that his presidential campaign is similarly benefiting from unrealistic expectations.[16] Yang justified setting the lofty goal of creating 100,000 jobs, saying: "In order for organizations to have a very high ceiling, you need to set the goal very, very aggressively."[17]
Similar to Teach For America, after which VFA is modeled, VFA has been rebuked for its elitism, given that its model places college grads who often do not have professional entrepreneurial experience into entry-level jobs with the stated goal of helping jumpstart local economies.[18] Vox journalist Teddy Schleifer writes that "Yang thought about how to fix inner cities through the prism of these rich guys, rather than listening to what the community wanted."[19]
References
- ^ Genet, Danielle (April 25, 2016). "Passion to Profit: Young Foodie Moguls Share Stories of Success". ABC News. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
- ^ a b c Seligson, Hannah (July 13, 2013). "No Six-Figure Pay, but Making a Difference". The New York Times. Retrieved October 10, 2016.
- ^ a b Coelho, Courtney (July 12, 2012). "Venture training helps entrepreneurs succeed". Brown University. Retrieved October 10, 2016.
- ^ Venture for America (May 31, 2013). "Venture for America to Send 100 Top College Graduates Over Next Five Years to Support Detroit and Cleveland Startups". PR Newswire. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
- ^ Dahlberg, Nancy (April 4, 2014). "Venture for America launching in Miami". Miami Herald. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
- ^ Delamotte, Nikki (November 14, 2016). "'Generation Startup': Young entrepreneurs are in focus in new documentary". Cleveland.com. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
- ^ Friess, Steve (November 30, 2016). "How Banza, a Chickpea Pasta Start-Up, Thrives on Attention". The New York Times. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
- ^ Ballard, Julie (March 29, 2017). "Andrew Yang Steps Down as Venture for America CEO". Silicon Bayou News. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
- ^ "Andrew Yang Steps Down from Venture for America Board of Directors". Venture for America. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
- ^ Zimmerman, Eilene (July 18, 2011). "The 'Teach for America' for Entrepreneurs?". Inc. Retrieved October 10, 2016.
- ^ "Venture for America - Hire a Fellow". Venture for America. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
- ^ "Venture for America: Entrepreneurial Fellowships for College Grads, with CEO Andrew Yang". Big Think. October 19, 2014. Retrieved October 10, 2016.
- ^ Schwartz, Ariel (July 20, 2011). "Venture For America Will Do For Entrepreneurship What Teach For America Does For Education". Fast Company. Retrieved October 10, 2016.
- ^ "Venture for America - Our Impact". Venture for America. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
- ^ "Introducing Venture for America - How to Create 100,000 Jobs". Venture For America. 2011-07-19. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
- ^ Schleifer, Theodore (2019-06-13). "Andrew Yang is promising to revitalize America. His nonprofit tried, too, but couldn't". Vox. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
- ^ Wood, Pamela. "Explaining Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang's work in Baltimore". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
- ^ "Venture for America program in Providence aims to jump-start entrepreneurial careers". Venture For America. Retrieved 2019-12-13.
- ^ Schleifer, Theodore (2019-06-13). "Andrew Yang is promising to revitalize America. His nonprofit tried, too, but couldn't". Vox. Retrieved 2019-12-13.