Why You Would Want to Participate
You will be working your butt off for very little money, and there is no guarantee that even if you are the next Steve Jobs that the company you are working with will succeed, or that if it does that there will be a long-term opportunity for you.
On the other hand, it all might happen, you should learn a lot and have a blast, and you will have the opportunity to impress people who can help you regardless of where your personal path leads. In addition, while every successful entrepreneur tends to wax nostalgic about the early days (and forgets the angst, sleep deprivation, and emotional spikes and dives), it is a unique privilege to participate in building something great.
You can apply here.
Strategists Selection Process
Applications must be received by the deadline. We review applications on a rolling basis, so there is an advantage to applying early. By late March, we invite people we think might fit with the Innovators to Philadelphia for a weekend in April.
During the first part of the weekend, you meet with us and some folks we have assembled to help us better understand who you are and what you bring to the table. You also have a chance to screen some of the companies we are considering inviting to participate in DreamIt.
If we think that you can help DreamIt Companies, you will meet the Innovators so that each of you can determine if you would make a good team. If there is a good fit between you and one of the DreamIt Companies, you will be offered a $5,000 DollarshipTM to participate in DreamIt - a three-month program that will run from late May through late August. You may also be able to establish a long term relationship with the company.
If you accept a Dollarship, you are responsible for helping a DreamIt Company build their business.
You live in the Philadelphia area. You choose where to live, although we will help you find some good options. You choose where to work—be it a coffee shop, the Art Museum, Citizen’s Bank Ballpark, or the office space and common space we will have available for you.
During DreamIt, the Innovators build the product, and you help them build the company. Your responsibilities might include some or all of the following: work on the development plan, setting milestones, work with the lawyers and accountants to set up the company, develop the go-to-market strategy, develop the sales and marketing plan, analyze the competitive landscape and figure out how to position the product, draft the company's business plan, and prepare the company for its Demo Day pitch. This will be accomplished without impeding the development of the product.
Throughout DreamIt, there will are dinners and breakfasts featuring leading visionaries, entrepreneurs, public relations experts, emerging growth company lawyers and accountants, private investors, and venture capitalists. There also is ample opportunity for DreamIt Companies to compare notes and progress, and to mingle.
While you might learn more than you have in any other three months of your life, this is not an academic exercise. You have 12 weeks to build a real business and create significant value.
After DreamIt
Hopefully you've proven your value to the company and the company's proven its value to you. It's up to you and the Innovators to decide what role (if any) you will have with the company going forward.