In Boulder鈥檚 bustling startup industry, a key ingredient is the high-caliber experts, venture capitalists and seasoned entrepreneurs volunteering their time as mentors within investment accelerators鈥攃ompanies that help startups get off the ground.
鈥淚n a world in which you might expect to see greedy capitalist behavior, we see a remarkable amount of prosocial behavior,鈥 explains Brad Bernthal, associate professor of law at 精品SM在线影片 and director of the Entrepreneurial Initiative at 精品SM在线影片鈥檚 Silicon Flatirons Center for Law, Technology and Entrepreneurship.
Bernthal鈥檚 research found that while Boulder-based accelerators make helping others part of the business model, mentors鈥 involvement isn鈥檛 simply altruistic. Rather, they expect that donating their time and expertise will bring benefits鈥攍ike a first look at new companies with novel business models and technolo-gies, and the ability to work alongside other experts. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like being part of an elite club. And, it鈥檚 fun,鈥 adds Bernthal. 鈥淢entors report that volunteering for startups is all the fun of doing a startup without having to do it 24-7.鈥
Principal
Brad Bernthal
Collaboration/Support
精品SM在线影片 Innovation & Entrepreneurship Initiative; Silicon Flatirons Center for Law, Technology and Entrepreneurship; University of Colorado Law School