YEI Summer Fellowship

The YEI Summer Fellowship program promotes the creation, growth and long-term success of viable, scaleable new ventures stemming from Yale students' business ideas. As a hybrid effort bringing together faculty, students, administrators, alumni and established entrepreneurs, it seeks to advance the best of these ideas in a logical fashion, by:

  • Creating a community of entrepreneurial fellows that share ideas, experiences and know-how;
  • Sharing important business practices and fundamentals through a rigorous "bootcamp" indoctrination;
  • Challenging fellows to develop a vision of where they want their companies to be in the future, and to communicate these plans clearly to prospective mentors, investors and partners;
  • Supporting the early needs of successful venture teams that demonstrate persistence and passion in bringing new products and services to market; and
  • Exposing fellows to an ever-growing network of local entrepreneurs, corporate partners, and Yale alumni for guidance, critical feedback, and mentorship.

Criteria for applying to the YEI Summer Fellowship Program

Admission to the YEI Summer Fellowship Program is competitive, and limited to between 15-18 fellows each summer. Strong preference will be shown to applicants who satisfy the following criteria:

Student Status

Candidate must be a current undergraduate or graduate Yale student

OR

Candidate must be a current graduate or undergraduate college student at another institution AND a member of a new venture team with at least one current Yale student co-founder. Within the non-Yale category, preference will be given to students who can secure financial support equivalent to a YEI stipend (approx. $5K) from their home institution.
Venture Idea

To whatever extent possible, the venture idea should be explained in terms of the following characteristics:

  • Is it solving a real problem that some specific group of users will be willing to pay for? What steps need to be taken to validate the need and its magnitude?
  • Is it innovative, either in the use of a specific technology or in creating a unique service offering? Can the innovation be protected from competitors?
  • Is it scalable and can it be profitable, with the potential to generate significant revenues (in excess of costs) when fully implemented?
Venture Team Size

Preference will be shown to entrepreneurs who have recruited one or more additional team members to help move the venture forward. All co-founders/team members need not be students or affiliated with Yale.
Business Model

To whatever extent possible, the business should be explained in terms of the following characteristics:

  • The field(s) in which the product or service will be offered
  • How the product or service might ultimately be delivered
  • What segment of the total market would choose your product/service over competitive offerings

The online application for the 2009 Summer Fellowship Program will be available at the end of the fall semester.