NY startup scene produces E[institute], School for Entrepreneurs

Ben Lerer of Thrillist, Neil Blumenthal of Warby Parker and Hilary Mason of Bit.ly are amongst a group of New York City startup CEO’s who have agreed to take on students of E[institute], a two-year “school” that  places college aged entrepreneur hopefuls into some of the city’s most cutting edge startups.

According to an interview on huffingtonpost.com, the idea for E[institute] started with a question posed by the fiance of co-founder Kane Sarhan, who wondered why more college aged students didn’t forego a traditional classroom based college experience in favor of apprenticeships at startups.

“Most of the promotion for E[nstitute] has actually come from applicants who share the program on networks they’re involved in.  For instance, there’s this huge movement of the UnCollege Network. There’s this huge movement of TEDxTeen. Many of these kids have been in school, realized it wasn’t for them, and found other people like them who have always learned differently and are really interested in something alternative. And we’re definitely finding kids who are on the entrepreneurial side, who have built stuff, and who may not have the best grades, but are running non-profit groups or businesses on the side that are making money.” Sarhan said in the article.

E[institute] has had over 300 applicants thus far.  It’s apprenticeship program will include supplemental learning such as panel discussions, guest speaker dinners, projects, real-life simulations, and readings.  Skillshare will provide a scholarship for each fellow, and fellows will partake in some of Skillshare’s course offerings.

More information can be found at E[institute]‘s website:  www.enstituteu.com