11 Fantastic Mentorship Resources for Boston Entrepreneurs

Boston is perfect for entrepreneurs. If you want to start a business here you’ll find access to capital, an educated workforce and mentorship to rival anywhere else in the world. Speaking of mentorship, there are so many great resources here that I think a pointer to some of them would be helpful.

Each of these serves an important part of the regional business ecosystem. If you need to figure ‘it’ out, chances are that someone on this list can help you. If you still don’t know where to start, contact me directly. I probably have some ideas for you.

1. Awesome Foundation: giving out a grant every month to “people doing awesome things in the world.”
2. Betahouse: coworking for entrepreneurs, technologists and creatives in Central Square, Cambridge.
3. Boston World Partnerships: dedicated to helping business leaders worldwide understand and access Boston’s competitive advantages, including a network of high-caliber business people.
4. DartBoston: a network of the top, young entrepreneurs and professionals in Boston. “Committed to making awesome things happen,” they provide helpful resources, advice, and strategic consulting for individuals, start-ups, and organizations in the Boston area.
5. Horwitz and Company: Business growth strategy, strategic insights, rigorous analysis and practical advice for non-profits, consumer products, biotech, internet and other industries.
6. Incunation: a private venture community of trust exclusively for entrepreneurial professionals.
7. Onein3 Boston: serves the one-third of Boston’s population that is between the ages of 20 and 34. The program connects Boston’s young adults with resources related to home buying, business development, professional networking, and civic engagement.
8. TechStars: a highly selective, mentorship-driven seed stage investment fund providing up to $18,000 in seed funding, a summer of intensive top-notch mentorship, and the chance to pitch to angel investors and VC’s.
9. TiE Boston: TiE-Boston is a not-for-profit organization with a mission to foster and support entrepreneurship, either in a start-up context or within a larger company. The organization represents a diverse set of industries, including software and information technologies, biotech, financial services and other services.
10. Ultralight Startups: helping entrepreneurs reach profitability and multi-million dollar valuations in a very short period of time with minimal capital investment.
11. Venture Cafe: currently in the planning stages and soliciting ideas for a permanent name, this will be a cafe in the heart of Kendall Square, open early til very late, that is specifically designed to get members the innovation and entrepreneurship communities collaborating!

If you know of any that I’ve missed, drop me a line!

Update: Here’s bonus #12 (I meant to include this one originally): MassChallenge is a venture funds competition combining the collaborative, educational and catalytic impact of a business plan competition with the business and job creation of a seed fund.