Want to Spend the Summer at a Startup? We Are Now Recruiting for TEC 2012.

It feels like our 2011 True Entrepreneur Corps (TEC) class just left San Francisco last week, but we are already thinking ahead to next summer and are excited to announce that we are now accepting applications for the TEC class of 2012! This will be the fourth summer that we have run TEC, which is an eight week entrepreneurial boot camp designed to provide a dozen juniors and seniors in college with the chance to spend the summer working at a startup and learning about the entrepreneurial process.

TEC serves multiple purposes: first of all, we at True believe we have not only an opportunity, but even more so a responsibility, to help educate and inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs. What better time to kick start this process than while they are still in school? Some TEC participants come to us having already started companies of their own and others go on to either found or work at startups after graduation. No matter their background, students find that the combination of working with their companies and the weekly TEC curriculum provides unique and rich exposure to many aspects of startup operations that simply cannot be found many other places. The impact of this exposure is profound. As one program participant told us, “This program was one of the best experiences ever. I’ll probably look back in a few years and realize that this was one of those turning points in my life. TEC validated the entrepreneur in me—and now I’m yearning for more.”

The work done by students in TEC also has a clear and substantial benefit for companies in our portfolio. As we look for more ways to make the lives of our founders easier and support the growth of their businesses, matching them up with talented young people helps them move more quickly and devote extra resources to existing projects or new initiatives. Said one founder, “We had an awesome experience with TEC and our intern. He actually wrote his own code and launched a product for us!”

June 2012 may be eight months away, but we are accepting applications now through January 31 in hopes of reaching out to and attracting the best possible candidates. Admission is on a rolling basis so students are encouraged to apply as soon as possible. More information about the program, including all application requirements, can be found at www.trueventures.com/TEC. We encourage all interested students to apply or contact us at TEC [at] trueventures [dot] com with any questions.