We’re excited to share an update from our former President, Andrew Yang, who left us to found the Venture for America fellowship program. Venture for America Fellows, once selected, work for 2 years in a start-up or growth company in a U.S. city with the goal that they go on to become entrepreneurs. Each class receives $100,000 in seed funding at the conclusion of the 2 years. VFA supporters and board members include Jeff Weiner, the CEO of LinkedIn, Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, and David Lee of SV Angel among many others.

Over the past two years we’ve had Andrew introduce Venture for America, we shared the Time Magazine story about VFA, and we announced their latest Summer Celebration. We even shared that time that Andrew met President Obama!

Now we want to let you know that the application deadline for the 2013 fellowship is rapidly approaching! You can apply here.

Here’s the update from Andrew and Venture for America:

VENTURE FOR AMERICA , FINAL APPLICATION DEADLINE APPROACHING! 

Venture for America  sends young, talented graduates to work for startups in emerging cities (ie. Cincinnati, Detroit, New Orleans, Providence, Las Vegas, Baltimore, etc.), with the goal of mobilizing them as entrepreneurs moving forward.

VFA’s mission is threefold:

To revitalize American cities and communities through entrepreneurship. 

To enable our best and brightest to create new opportunities for themselves and others.

To restore the culture of achievement to include value-creation, risk and reward, and the common good. 

VFA recruits the best and brightest recent college graduates, provides them with training and mentorship, and places them at partner startups to help grow those organizations. This is an opportunity for students who want to learn how to build companies.

The 2013 Venture for America Fellowship consists of the following components:

· Training – a 5-week crash course in startup readiness, held at Brown University in Summer 2013

· Company Placement – 2 years of work at a start-up or early stage company

· Programming and Capstone – Regular assignments, readings, and meetings, including a $100k prize at the conclusion of the program

The final deadline to apply for the 2013 fellowship is February 18th. To learn more, visit www.ventureforamerica.org or email lauren@ventureforamerica.org today!

Andrew Yang, our former President here at Manhattan GMAT, recently left us to pursue his own vision: creating a non-profit organization which aims to place college grads with start-ups across the country, following the model for Teach for America. Below is Andrew’s description of his new idea, Venture for America:

When a company has a serious problem, it sends its best people to solve it.

Right now our country has a serious problem – we need to create more jobs. And yet, our top college graduates are often not heading to innovative start-ups and early stage companies that will generate jobs and produce new industries. In 2010 over 50% of Harvard graduates went to work in financial services, management consulting, or to law school, with fewer than 15% going to industry, which includes companies big and small. The same picture holds true at other top college campuses.

Despite the numbers, many graduating seniors would have a strong interest in working for a start-up that had the potential to grow. It’s an ambition that’s commonly expressed among students. But there are significant obstacles for a senior looking to pursue this sort of opportunity: Continue Reading…