Entrepreneurship-In-Residence Program Announced At ETSU

From East Tennessee State University:

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – In a first-of-its-kind initiative in the region, the College of Business and Technology at East Tennessee State University has announced the start of its Entrepreneurship-In-Residence (EIR) program, exposing student candidates to startup investment decisions.

The program is a collaborative effort between The Angel Roundtable (ART) of the Appalachian Highlands and the Entrepreneurship Program at ETSU’s College of Business and Technology. The Angel Roundtable is a network of successful entrepreneurs, investors, and community business leaders from Northeast Tennessee, Southwest Virginia and Western North Carolina who provide investment capital and strategic advice to late-seed and early-stage companies to help them achieve market leadership.

“With this EIR program, our students can complement their classroom entrepreneurship academics and projects with a real-world, hands-on angel/venture capital view of startup company assessment and investor due diligence” said Sonu Mirchandani, director of the Entrepreneurship Program.

The objective of the EIR program is to allow students to see and participate first-hand in what it takes to make seed-stage investment decisions. The learning opportunity will enable students to obtain hands-on seed-stage investment experiences through participation each semester.

“It’s exciting to see that ETSU’s Entrepreneurship Program is scaling up student experiences into the world of angel investing and venture capital. Participating students will have an opportunity to learn how investors evaluate deal structure/term sheets, startup business models, the competitive environment, go-to-market strategies and exit strategies,” said Tony Lettich, managing director of the ART.

This program is open to full-time or part-time ETSU students with interest in private equity and venture capital – but no related prior experience is required. Each rotational experience will last between six to eight months. Entry into the program is by selection; interested candidates can submit their applications at https://bit.ly/3GCCQZg.

This press release was produced by East Tennessee State University. The views expressed are the author's own.