The Startup Leadership Program (SLP) here in Boston was founded in 2006 by Anupendra Sharma to focus on bringing innovation and leadership together. Separating itself from programs like Dogpatch Labs and Techstars by focusing on mentorship and creating a lasting community and network of entrepreneurs, this nine-month program is now in six cities across the globe. And Sharma doesn’t plan to stop there: SLP aims to create a global network of entrepreneurs in twenty cities across the globe.
So what exactly is this Startup Leadership Program? What can you expect if you take part? We sat down with Sharma to learn more.
Roots & Expansion: Entrepreneurs Shape the Format
The first year of SLP included a group of seven people interested in discussing and learning about moving innovation in the life sciences sector. The group held panels and fireside chats, and benefited from what Sharma describes as, “Outstanding conversations around leadership and entrepreneurship – things like passion and what drives you.”
After a year of meeting, the group came to Sharma with ideas around how to make the program better. Sharma listened, and continues to allow the entrepreneurs (those currently in the program as well as past fellows who have graduated) to shape the format, learnings, and program each year.
Much inspiration for the program came from a book Sharma read, Room to Read by John Wood. The book outlines how Wood, a social entrepreneur, left Microsoft after visiting a school without books to help build schools in under developed economies. Sharma’s takeaway from the book: “The books are equipment which stock the brain, but the villages built the schools and have the passion.”
Similarly, each year SLP is run and discussions/panels are led by fellows who have graduated from the program in the past, driven by passion to help a new class of entrepreneurs. “Empowerment after graduating from the program makes them passionate about SLP and is one of the strong influencers of how well connected the SLP network of entrepreneurs is,” Sharma explained.
In its second year, SLP accepted seventeen people, and a year after twenty-eight. With this growth, Sharma took the program to Silicon Valley and last year to four more cities. “We want to ensure quality and target 15-20 cities with 25 program members in each city,” Sharma explained.
Part of the strategy in moving SLP into other cities has been anchoring the program to an organization already established there, running SLP as a program within that organization. Here in Boston and in Silicon Valley, that organization is TiE, and which Sharma is part of.
Partner organizations help with operational aspects of SLP: program marketing, space, speakers, etc. The partner organization then has access to SLP programs like mentoring and events. Sharma describes it as “a close but loose relationship.”
Mentorship, Network Core to SLP Success
Eighty people have cycled through the SLP program in Boston. These members judge who is accepted into the program, mentor current members in the program, speak at SLP events, and provide feedback in one-on-one settings. Current SLP members specify a few fellows and mentors they want to have more face to face time with for feedback, and the program makes those meetings happen. Several mentors have even ended up joining the Board or becoming advisors to SLP companies.
How exactly is SLP mentoring different than at other incubators and similar programs? “We place most emphasis on the network of fellows in the program. Access to everyone you need from VC to customer acquisition to a technical problem can be found in the network of fellows who have graduated SLP. We want people to get to know one another and be able to reach out to people in other areas doing similar things,” Sharma explained.
He offered an example; an SLP member in energy looking to sell his products in Africa. An SLP fellow in India making robotic toys was traveling to Kenya to speak to schools, and was able to take the energy company’s products along with him. “This is a good example for how I’d like to see the program develop in terms of being a powerful network. We want to be that group you can call on and say, ‘here’s what I need; can you help me?’ This network is typical at business schools, but not necessarily for engineers or scientists or doctors who are entrepreneurs,” Sharma explained.
Sharma believes the potential of the global network will dictate the success of SLP. “We hope this is an alternative network that grows into something powerful. Beyond just the 25 other members you go to class with, there are thousands across the world members can lean on.”
This year SLP is in the process of finding the right city partners, particularly in New York. Aside from this, Sharma added, “There are lots of interesting initiatives in the works in terms of the education aspect of SLP and the network. We just need to seed them and watch them play out.”
To learn more about the Startup Leadership Program visit their website, and if you’re an entrepreneur check out this slideshow on why you should join:
