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Patriot Boot Camp is hosting its next technology entrepreneurship boot camp in Austin, TX from February 8-10, 2019, sponsored by USAA. The program will welcome 50 military veteran and spouse entrepreneurs from around the country, who will participate in educational workshops, mentoring sessions with startup experts, and peer networking over the course of three intensive days.
The mission statement of Patriot Boot Camp (PBC) is, “to assemble and activate an inclusive community that advances veterans and military spouses in their mission to become creators, innovators, and entrepreneurs leading the new economy.” Patriot Boot Camp (PBC) is a non-profit founded in 2012 to provide active duty service members, veterans, and their spouses with access to mentors, educational programming, and a robust community of experts and peers to help them innovate and build impactful businesses. The first three-day PBC event was held in 2012 in Washington, D.C. Subsequent programs have been held each year in 8 cities nationwide. In fall 2014, Patriot Boot Camp became an independent 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization thanks to the leadership and generous financial support from Jared Polis and the Jared Polis Foundation. PBC works to address gaps in entrepreneurial support that military members, Veterans, and their spouses often encounter.
Veterans and military spouses face three critical challenges when starting a business: (1) Access to business education, (2) Access to capital (funding), and (3) Access to mentorship and network. Patriot Boot Camp is uniquely positioned to fulfill these challenges through their Flagship Program – the 3-day intensive Boot Camp program. PBC assembles together over 21 speakers with subject matter expertise for business education, legal information and options for capital. PBC also deploys over 35 mentors to each 3-day program with business experts from around the country spending two days to mentor one on one with the entrepreneurs. This is always the most popular and unique aspect of the Patriot Boot Camp 3-day program.
The PBC experience is a successful experience when PBC attendees give their all both during and after the event. “We are truly a family and our door is always open and our lights are always on,” states Pilcher. “PBC is an incredible community built on the TechStars #GiveFirst mission and our PBC alumni, speakers, mentors and team are always available to continue mentoring and helping our entrepreneurs grow.”
The future for PBC and the aid it provides military veterans and military spouses continues to grow. PBC is launching the Patriot Mentor Program later this year and a first ever Patriot Boot Camp Alumni Pitch contest weekend is in the planning stage. Jen concludes, “I think the best part of PBC is the overall snapshot of being a founder and what is looks like. While we do focus on the technology aspect of business, we also make sure the “whole” entrepreneur is being supported while at the 3-day program and then with the outreach and connections we continue to foster after the 3-day program."
Patriot Boot Camp Fun Facts:
- 800+ alumni
- 450+ community mentors
- 14 Programs (3-day boot camp) in 9 cities since 2012
- 800 + companies with over 1600 employees
- Over 100 million in capital raised
- Diversity
- 50% Service - Disabled Veteran - Owned
- 35% Ethnically Diverse Founders
- 15% Female Founders
PBC Austin 2019 By the Numbers:
- 49 registered
- 78% USAA members
- 18 states, 0 international
- 81% Veterans
- 11% active duty
- 7% Milspouse
- 10% female
Follow the conversation LIVE from Austin using the hashtag #PBCATX @patriotbootcamp twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
*** A special thanks to Jen Pilcher, CEO of Patriot Boot Camp, for her time & energy ***
Share your story – what did you learn from a business boot camp experience?
More about Patriot Boot Camp: Patriot Boot Camp was co-founded by Taylor McLemore, Governor Jared Polis, and Techstars Co-Founder David Cohen as a volunteer effort organized under the Techstars startup accelerator to address the gaps in entrepreneurial support that military members, Veterans, and their spouses often encounter.
More about Jen Pilcher: Jen serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Patriot Boot Camp, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization out of Denver, Colorado. Jen is also a proud Patriot Boot Camp alumna class of 2013. Jen was the Founder and CEO of Strategic Military Communications, LLC and MilitaryOneClick, as well as the creator of MilSpouseFest, the largest series of events for military spouses held across the country. Jen’s husband, Ed Pilcher, is (still 23+ years) active duty Navy and their children, Katie is a sophomore, and Griffin is in seventh grade. They have two English bulldog rescues, who are currently eating their way through their home.
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About the Author: Chad Storlie is a Retired US Army Officer, the author of Combat Leader to Corporate Leader and has published over 360 articles in over 185 publications on military veterans, career advancement, business, leadership, strategy, education, financial planning, and national security topics. Chad excels as an author, mentor, speaker, and teacher showing business leaders and military veterans how military skills make lives, careers, and businesses better. Chad is an adjunct Professor of Marketing at the University of Minnesota – Carlson School of Management. Chad has a BA from Northwestern University and an MBA from Georgetown University. Follow Chad @CombatToCorp and www.CombatToCorporate.com.
