Start School<\/a>, a new initiative that is free to participants and structured to avoid many common startup program features, including equity stakes, demo days, pitch competitions and investor-driven benchmarks. According to the organization, Start School\u2019s sole purpose is to help Utah entrepreneurs build sustainable, profitable businesses \u2014 without pressure to raise capital or scale faster than makes sense.<\/p>\n\u201cWe exist to serve Utah\u2019s entrepreneurial community, all of them,\u201d Betts told the summit audience. \u201cNot just the founders who fit the venture backed mold. For the past year, we\u2019ve been asking ourselves what would it look like to build something different? Not an accelerator. Not a program designed to funnel founders toward investors.\u201d<\/p>\n
Betts said the program is built around open access and rejects what he described as the startup world\u2019s reliance on \u201cgatekeeping and warm introductions.\u201d <\/p>\n
Start School, he said, accepts entrepreneurs based on commitment rather than credentials, connections or perceived \u201cinvestability\u201d and does not charge tuition or fees. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Silicon Slopes emphasizes that it does not profit from participant success, invest in companies or broker investor introductions for compensation.<\/p>\n
What is Start School?<\/p>\n
Start School\u2019s curriculum, per the program description, focuses on practical business-building skills and personal leadership rather than investor-oriented frameworks. Betts said the program is especially intended for founders who may never seek venture capital, reflecting a belief that most businesses are better served by steady growth than by \u201cgrow at all costs\u201d models. <\/p>\n
Silicon Slopes also points to fast-emerging artificial intelligence-driven tools as a key reason for the program\u2019s launch. The organization says AI advances have lowered barriers to entry and made it possible for small teams \u2014 or even solo founders \u2014 to build viable companies. Start School, according to Betts, aims to teach entrepreneurs how to use those tools effectively and update startup playbooks for what the organization calls a newly leveled playing field.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis means the calculus has shifted,\u201d reads the Start School website. \u201cYou don\u2019t need to raise millions to compete. You don\u2019t need to hire fast and hope the revenue catches up. You can build something real, profitable and sustainable from the start.\u201d<\/p>\n
During Wednesday\u2019s announcement, Betts said mentoring opportunities through Start School will include access to a group of veteran Utah founders, all of whom have built businesses driving $100 million or more in annual revenues.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve navigated the challenges you\u2019re facing,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019ve made the mistakes you\u2019re trying to avoid and they\u2019ve agreed to give back by mentoring the next generation. In any other context, any other ecosystem, access to founders at this level would require connections, introductions, and luck. At Start School, it requires a willingness to learn.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Silicon Slopes summit<\/a> continues through Saturday at the Salt Palace Convention Center in downtown Salt Lake City.<\/p>\nContributing: Minty Buckwalter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Silicon Slopes launches an innovative new program for Utah entrepreneurs.Start School aims to redefine the road to business…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":456368,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[45,49,48,137,13552,13137],"class_list":{"0":"post-456367","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entrepreneurship","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-entrepreneurship","12":"tag-news-division","13":"tag-news-feed-national"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456367","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=456367"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456367\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/456368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=456367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=456367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=456367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}