Mark Wachen sits in the Manhattan outpost of DreamIt Ventures, the Philadelphia-based start-up incubator. Wachen is an angel investor who founded a start-up of his own called Optimost, which he sold in 2007 for $52 million. And this summer, on the 11th floor of a nondescript Garment District tower, and with the sound of two twenty-somethings playing ping-pong in the background, Wachen is helping a batch of entrepreneurs get their start.
Business incubators have been around for decades. But DreamIt Ventures is one of scores of tech and start-up incubators that have sprouted up across the country over the past five years, with the greatest proliferation in New York City and the San Francisco-Silicon Valley areas. This new breed of incubator is not only elite, but can prove lurative. Usually, a start-up incubator will require that fully formed teams of hopeful entrepreneurs go through a rigorous application process, after which the incubator culls 15 to 20 accepted teams from 100 or more applicants. The selected teams are then given somewhere between $15,000 and $20,000, access to experienced serial entrepreneurs, office space, and opportunities to meet with angel investors and venture capitalists. By the end of the session—a few months, usually—if all goes right, each team should be able to launch a fully functioning small business.
To read the full, original article click on this link: How to Make the Most of Your Time at an Incubator | Inc.com
Author:Matthew DeLuca
