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Resources for Students

You are the hero; we are your guide

Built by Vanderbilt founders with the collective wisdom of our alumni and faculty, the Center for Entrepreneurship is here to guide you as you build, buy, or join startups. The roadmap for this journey is the Vanderbilt Venture Framework—a proprietary tool developed by studying the successes and failures of businesses over the lifespan of a startup. It outlines a step-by-step process for creating companies of consequence, with every curricular recommendation and co-curricular offering from the Center tied back to it.

Our alumni have a history of building consequential companies - we want you to be next.

Vanderbilt Venture Framework
Workshops

The Center for Entrepreneurship offers a workshop series in the fall and spring.  In essence an accelerator program, these workshops progress you through the Vanderbilt Venture Framework

Mindset

Entrepreneurial Mindset
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Reverse Engineering the Startup
Business Idea

Diligencing Startup Ideas

 
Business Model

Business Model Selection

 
Generating Leads

Generating Leads
Closing Leads

Nurturing, Closing and Retaining Leads
Leadership

Entrepreneurial Leadership
Fundraising

Evidence Based Fundraising
Events

The Center for Entrepreneurship organizes several marquee events throughout the year to facilitate entrepreneurial inspiration, revenue generation, talent formation, and capital management.  These events provide opportunities for founders, operators, investors and other supports from the student, alumni, parent, and community populations to cross pollinate.  

Convoy
In maritime terminology, a convoy is a group of ships moving together for mutual support and protection.  A nod to our maritime mascot, Convoy Conference brings together Commodores in entrepreneurship, venture capital, private equity, and leading-edge business to foster the growth of the Vanderbilt Startup Ecosystem.
Vanderbilt Founders Confidential
Vanderbilt Founder's Confidential (known as VFC for short) is a quarterly gathering of Vanderbilt's founders.  With agenda items for shared learning, whiteboarding, and pitch practice, VFC enables our founders to tap the collective wisdom and network of alumni founders.
Startup Career Fair

The Startup Career Fair is an annual event in late February where Nashville startups and those started by Vanderbilt founders come to recruit for internship and full-time positions.

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Other programming from the Center to support you on your journey to entrepreneurship includes:

 

Clubs

In addition to the resources from the C4E, a multitude of student led organizations on campus also support your journey to entrepreneurship.  From ideating, building, to launch, the below clubs provide community and resources as you build your startup stepwise using the Vanderbilt Venture Framework.

Grant Opportunities

Firestarter

The Firestarter Pitches are designed to be the first funds the student competes for once they are post-product.  And while non-dilutive funding is at stake, the bigger goal is to have students practice pitching, get (friendly) critical review of their business, and open up relationships with alumni who can help them on their journey.

$750 / $300 / $150

Learn More
  • Held monthly
  • 24 winners per year
  • Open to all students
  • Unrestricted funds
  • 5 minute pitch

Chancellor's Launch

These grants help founders demonstrate market traction for their business so that they can better attract capital.  Recipients receive an initial tranche of $10,000, an expert mentor from the alumni base, and a key performance indicator to executive against (e.g. user sign ups, revenue, etc.) over 8 weeks.  Additional funds are unlocked based on KPI execution.

$10,000 - $50,000

Learn More
  • Held twice per year
  • 12 winners each year
  • Open to all students
  • Funds for growth engine
  • 7 minute pitch

Summer Enterprise

In lieu of pursuing a traditional internship, these grants enable students to pursue their startup over the summer.

$15,000

Learn More
  • Held once per year
  • 1 winner each year
  • Open to MBA students
  • Unrestricted funds
  • 10 minute pitch

 

Additional Funding Opportunities

In addition to these non-dilutive sources of capital, the Center for Entrepreneurship manages and interacts with additional sources of capital.  These include: