From June to early September, teams have dedicated space in the co-working environment of the Trust Center on the MIT campus, or MIT delta v NYC in Manhattan. They will work on their ventures full-time for the whole summer.
Teams will define and refine their target market, conduct primary market research and build knowledge about their customers and users. They will run experiments to validate or invalidate their key hypotheses with potential customers. They will be building and nurturing their founding team. They will make progress on the mechanics of starting their venture.
Peer Learning & Community Building
Peer learning is a core tenet of this program. Teams will be updating the cohort every week with the progress they have made and to pose any questions or requests for help. Teams will often pair up to help each other with issues and give each other feedback.
Teams will also get an opportunity to form a strong community of peer entrepreneurs who will provide each other with support both during the summer as well as in the months and years after the program concludes.
Mentorship & Coaching
Throughout the summer we will support the teams’ progress via 1×1 coaching sessions and meetings with external mentors who are carefully matched to the needs of their ventures.
Simulated “Board Meetings”
Once a month, teams will present their progress and get unbiased feedback in simulated “board meetings” to “board members” who are leaders from industry.
Guest Talks, Seminar Series & Network Building
We will also help teams expand their knowledge of entrepreneurship techniques and frameworks via an optional seminar series, as well as guest talks by thought leaders on topics of interest.
Participants will also get the benefit of introductions to relevant industry experts, investors, and other entrepreneurs throughout the program.
We offer delta v teams the chance to participate in an optional program for teams who are interested in fundraising. Make the transition from delta v to a sustainable business by spending September and October preparing part-time, remotely for the fundraising process. This will run through late October and wrap up with pitches to investor audiences in New York and California.
Benefits include weekly fundraising-focused programming and mock investor meetings on topics such as funding sources and valuation, the amount you should seek to raise, milestones, data rooms, and finding investors and how to go through this process with them.
The MIT delta v organizing team, in conjunction with the advisory board assigned to your team, will determine the amount of milestone money, if any, to be awarded each month. You have the ability to receive additional funding up to $20,000 in milestone money during the duration of MIT delta v.
Only current MIT students, as defined in the “Eligibility” section, are eligible to receive the $2,600/month fellowships. Only students listed in the submitted application will be eligible as well.
The fellowships will only be awarded during June, July, and August. The MIT delta v organizing team, in conjunction with the advisory board, will determine which team members will receive the fellowships. In general, a team member needs to be founder-level and work full-time at the MIT delta v site to receive money for a particular month.
Remember that all payments are considered income and are therefore taxable. Non-U.S. citizens are typically subject to a 14% tax withholding from any money they receive. We do not provide tax guidance.
Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States