There are over 21 million Veterans in the United States, and many of these Veterans leave the military with the intention of changing the world. Fortunately, these Veterans possess core skills which are strongly linked to entreprenurial success.
To inspire and enable the military community to build technology companies, the Founder Institute, the world's premier idea-stage accelerator and startup launch program, has partnered with Vet-Tech, the nation's leading startup accelerator for military Veterans, to offer the "100Vets" Fellowship in every major US city that FI operates.
As part of this program, any U.S. Veteran or service member who wants to start a technology company can apply to the Founder Institute's step-by-step startup launch program for free, and the best overall applicant will receive a Fellowship for free admission into the program.
The Qualities of Success
Leadership is the most evident startup skill Veterans are equipped with. All servicemen and women within the armed forces are provided leadership training and taught how to manage small groups of highly trained individuals in fast moving, complex environments. Leadership skills are some of the most transferable and are especially critical when launching startup companies which requires leading teams and making difficult decisions.
Teamwork is another hallmark characteristic of military Veterans. While serving, Veterans learn the importance of working together as a team in situations where people's lives are at stake. This pressure enables Veterans to perform well in less risky environments such as technology entrepreneurship which, ironically, is one of the riskiest endeavors one can undertake.
Planning & Execution are skills developed at all stages of military service. Military life is often meticulously planned and highly detailed, all relying on flawless execution and hard work. Planning and execution are aruably the most important factors in startup success. When Vimeo co-founder Zach Klein captures this notion, stating that “a good idea is worthless without impeccable execution and a commitment to iterate,” he is far from alone. It is a widely held belief among startup experts that execution is one of the most important factors in determining a startup’s likelyhood of success.
Veterans in Startups
Veterans possess the characteristics to be great startup leaders. Statistics show that Veterans start 45% more businesses than their civilian counterparts. According to LinkedIn’s 2016 Veteran Insights Report, more than 186,000 Veterans are Executives, VPs, Owners, Partners or Founders in the civilian workforce. The skills and traits that cause Veterans to be successful in startups are not merely theoretical. Veterans are putting those skills to use managing their businesses, with more Veteran businesses launching every day.
These trends have been noticed by investors, with many new veteran incubators and funds being established in recent years, such as Vet-Tech, an accelerator for military veterans and Task Force X Capital, which aims to invest in high-growth veteran-owned startup companies.
Start your entrepreneurship journey by applying for the 100Vets Fellowship, and take the Predictive Admissions Test today.
Some Exciting Veteran-led Startups
- Travel Recon - Travel risk management platform for Executives
- GovBrain - Machine learning Fintech company that is the "Hedge for Hedgefunds"
- Reylabs Inc. - IoT data management for billions of devices
- GuideOn - Helps veterans translate their military skills into a civilian resume.
- Koriist - Connects disparate communications networks with an advanced, software defined data+network router overlay
- Wulou Labs - Consumer medical device that reads prescription data stored in NFC chips
- Simple Disability Insurance - Online platform compresses a 6 month sales cycle into 10 minutes enabling insurance companies to offer disability insurance
- ProctorFree - An online test taking platform.
- inKind - A donation platform for non-profits.
- Plated - Ready-to-cook food delivery.
- Livi - An "on-demand" live streaming app
- Rallypoint - Connects vets with other vets, enabling the sharing of stories and opportunities.
- Critical Intelligence - a cyber-security company
100Vets
Even though our veterans possess the work ethic, high character, and strong leadership skills needed to launch meaningful and enduring technology companies, many veterans don't know the first steps to launching a business, or find themselves unemployed. We created the ‘100Vets Fellowship' to encourage more veterans to leverage their amazing skillset towards building their own businesses" - Adeo Ressi, Founder & CEO of the Founder Institute
Although veterans have made great strides in the startup and technology sectors, there is still a lot of work to be done. The 100Vets program aims to equip 100 veterans each year with the skills necessary for startup survival, to complement the skills developed in the military. If veterans are armed with knowledge of product development cycles, startup legal, fundraising, and revenue models, their chance of startup success is amplified and they can change the world.
Start your entrepreneurship journey by applying for the 100Vets Fellowship, and take the Predictive Admissions Test today.
Learn more about the Founder Institute at www.FI.co.
