Startup Summer, a summer internship program that combines a ten-week internship at a Denver/Boulder startup with a series of weekly evening events, focused on teaching the student-participants the fundamentals of entrepreneurism, is now accepting applications for its second year.  Fletcher Richman, an electrical and computer engineering major at the University of Colorado participated in the inaugural year of Startup Summer this past year and has kindly offered to share his thoughts on the program:

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Last summer was the best one of my life.  Every college student should have an experience like Startup Summer.  It was not just about the opportunity to have an incredibly valuable summer internship at a fun, fast-paced Boulder company.  It also included evening events and speakers unlike any I have ever experienced. I heard stories from some of the world’s best entrepreneurs in a very personal, low-key setting.  After every event, the speaker would stay for long periods of time and answer as many questions as I could think of.  The speakers always had insightful, applicable advice that I could apply to my internship or my own projects.

Beyond the hands on experience and personal wisdom, my main takeaway from the summer was an amazing group of new connections and friends.  I have continued to stay in touch with many of the speakers from the summer, a few have continued to advise and mentor me.  Startup Summer also led to a whole new group of friends.  It was a group of talented, like-minded, and just plain fun people.  We all got along really well, and even organized a couple social events of our own.  I can’t wait to see where we all are in five years. 

--Startup Summer is looking for students at colleges or universities who are aspiring entrepreneurs and want to accelerate their development by getting plugged in to one of the hottest startup scenes in the nation.  Unlike last year when the program was limited to students in Colorado, we are opening the program up to any student actively enrolled at a four-year program in the United States.

The program includes:

• A paid ten-week internship with a Front Range startup; the internship will include frequent interaction with the company founders and management team
• The Startup Summer seminar series, featuring prominent entrepreneurs teaching classes on entrepreneurship
• A weekly social event with business leaders in the community
• A close-knit community with your peers in Startup Summer
• An opportunity to interact weekly with a personal mentor experienced in startups and entrepreneurship 


If you are a student at a four-year college with a passion for entrepreneurship, or know a student who would be interested, you can get more details and apply to Startup Summer here.