Startup Institute - CLOSED

I came to SI narrow-minded. I had my mind set on a startup company that wasn't quite yet ready to hire me and while they were ramping referred me to SI (then Boston Startup School for us OGs). I had my sights set on a specific job at a specific company... Read More and, to be honest, saw SI as a means to an end. How wrong was I.

SI not only changed my career path (I ended up at a completely different company where I have been for the past 2.5 years - on my third promotion there), it changed the path of my life and how I saw myself. I always knew that I was a hard worker and was itching to get in to the "real world" but it wasn't until about 2pm on Day 1 at Startup Institute that I saw that my life would never be the same. SI opened my eyes to a world of possibilities, opportunities, life-long learning, passion-driven career decisions and data-led company decisions. And I thrived. While I like to think I would have been fine had SI not stumbled in to my lap those three years ago, there is a part of me that would never been awoken. This part of my brain that is constantly challenged by my colleagues, constantly supported by my SI friends and constantly reminded how lucky I am that SI was there.

Not only did I learn the jargon required to jump in to a company, and the technical skills it took to really have a head start once I started, I received an immediate education in what it meant to be a startup, to be an impactful worker, to be a part of the vibrant tech community that is Boston and how important it was to become an integral part of the SI alumni network.

If you are thinking about whether you should apply or not, I will say "it's for everyone". And I think that's what makes it so special.

Prior to the Startup Institute, I worked for 6 years in what I thought was my destined biotech career. But I spent so many days devoid of enthusiasm and motivation. I wanted to transition to digital marketing but thought my skillset at the time was an... Read More obstacle in the way of my next job. The Startup Institute flipped my opinion and showed me that my skillset was actually an advantage. But more importantly it taught me to look past the skills of the next job and determine my goals for a lifelong career. A job can go either way: good, bad, and pretty much anything in between. But a career is the real legacy you want to carefully craft. Rather than spend time purely on hard skills, the Startup Institute equips you with the networking and navigational acumen to plot the trajectory of your professional life. If you want value that will never go obsolete, can endure hard times, and is self-propagating then apply to Startup Institute.

I'm a Startup Institute alumna-turned-staff member, and I have to echo the sentiments of so many other alumni here who've said that SI was a game-changer for me.

I came to SI from a four year career as a high school English teacher. I tried for about a... Read More year and a half to make the career change to marketing on my own, but I found the job search lonely and disheartening. On top of that, I'm very mission-driven, and I wasn't certain that marketing for a business would be the right place for me. By the time I found Startup Institute, though, there was no question in my mind that I had to do it. All I knew for certain was that what I had been doing (applying for countless jobs in an industry I had no experience in) was not working, and it was time to try a new avenue. I left my job and enrolled in Startup Institute for the summer 2014 cohort.

The Startup Institute experience was intense, to say the absolute least. You and the members of your cohort have each, if for a short time, sacrificed comfort and stability in search of something that you can be truly passionate about. You burn the candle at both ends to make it to evening networking events, complete lab work, and squeeze in an early-morning coffee chat before making it in time for morning standup. The staff and your classmates challenge you to explore your drivers and priorities, and to confront your own weaknesses in the team setting—offering tough love but also the resources to grow. You are fully submerged in the tech community, every step of the way knowing that the people and companies you engage with could end up being your colleagues and employers. It's exhausting and it's at times overwhelming. But, the people who are accepted into SI are people who want to stretch themselves and push themselves beyond perceived limitations, because they know they'll be better for it on the other side.

I never doubted my decision to join Startup Institute. The technical marketing track offered me a vast survey of the skills and tools that digital marketers use, allowing me to touch on analytics, content strategy, and landing page design so that I was able to find my "niche," so to speak, and dive in deeper from there. But, the Talent Expo—SI's culminating event—was the moment when I knew that I had truly incited the change I'd been working for. Following my pitch, I had countless hiring managers and startup CEOs approaching me to suggest interviews. Having just months before been writing my umpteenth fruitless cover letter, this was unbelievable empowering. When the opportunity to work for Startup Institute arouse, that mission-focused urge told me that I needed to be a part of growing this community, and helping more people to find their passions and make successful career changes.

Startup Institute is a wonderful program, made special by an active and engaged community that believes in paying it forward. Of course, I work here now. But you don't need to take my word for it—you'll find our alumni on LinkedIn, Twitter, Quora, and in the center of tech ecosystems in Chicago, NYC, Boston, and around the globe. Go ahead, ask them what they think.

The thing Startup Institute excels at the most is immersing you in a city's startup ecosystem. SI provides an extensive network of founders, engineers, designers, marketers, and biz dev folks for you to not only meet but work with. We had what was effectively... Read More a 2-month internship at startups that interested us, working out of their office once each week on a project. The partner company project was an awesome opportunity to hone our technical skills, network, and work collaboratively with our classmates.

I can't say enough good things about the staff here in Chicago. During the program we had weekly 1-on-1 sessions with our assigned staff member to discuss our technical progress, career goals, job search, and so forth. They did everything they could to point us to resources, introduce us to people/companies that would be of interest, and provide mentorship — and this continued long after graduation.

I came into the Web Design track with some development background, no design training, and very little knowledge of the Chicago tech scene. I ended up getting a job offer from a partner company on the recommendation of one of my classmates. It was a small company that was familiar with SI and understood that mine would be a learning role at first. This was exactly the type of job I needed, and one that would have been next-to-impossible to find without Startup Institute.

This course will definitely make a big impression on your life. I found myself completely immersed in an enjoyably intense learning experience that was led by a staff of inspirational human beings that made me really think about the work and behavioral... Read More aspects of my life. Every single day was different. Everyday I met new people, further bonded with my amazing cohort, experienced new things and was forced to get outside my comfort zone. I wouldn't hesitate for a second to recommend the course to anyone who is either looking to get into the startup world, wants improve themselves personally or wants to reignite their career.

I learned so much during my time at Startup Institute NYC and met so many incredible people. The NYC Startup Institute team is absolutely incredible and were there to help at every step along the way. Startup Institute is far and away the best value for... Read More money of any educational program I have ever done at any level.

First, the people who are running this program are incredibly passionate about helping all the students in the cohort succeed and do well. Startup Institute is one of the first to get involved in discovering and preparing talent for the startups back... Read More when, at least in Boston, it was still a budding community. My number one advice would be to choose the track that you are passionate about. How do you know what you love? By getting yourself in the weeds and doing it. If you're looking to get into for example coding and web development, make sure you start doing it on your own first. The greatest value of SI is in its far-reaching network of alumni, mentors, and instructors and you can make the most of it when you're prepared! However, if you're looking for something that is more technically intensive all throughout, other programs may be better suited as SI involves more working with the other tracks (Design, marketing, sales) time with slotted "in-track" periods. But if you're somewhat prepared, either you've taken 1 or 2 classes related to what you want to do or have work, it's a great program at 1/3 the cost of others.

After graduating college, I was sure that I'd be able to find a job with 5 full-time internships under my belt. Nine months of looking for jobs later, I decided to apply for Startup Institute: Boston, after hearing rave reviews about the program from... Read More a friend. I crossed my fingers and sent in my application. About a week later I found out I was in! Little did I know that applying for SIB would be one of the smartest decisions I've ever made. Within the program, I not only boosted my resume with technical marketing skills, I also made lifelong friends and learned invaluable "soft" skills, including how to work with people with very different personalities and working styles than me.

A few months after I graduated from SIB, I landed a job in San Francisco. After working at this job for 10 months, I decided to apply to a startup for a marketing generalist role - my dream job. It had been a little over a year since I left SIB (and Boston), but I knew that I could call anyone at SIB for anything, so I reached out to Allan for some interview advice. He called me within an hour of my email (not to my surprise) and gave me heartfelt and extremely helpful insight on the process of interviewing at a startup. I'm now working at the startup as a marketing generalist and I couldn't be happier. I owe a lot of my recent success to the skills, connections and friendships I made while I attended Startup Institute. This program is an invaluable experience, and I would recommend it to anyone.

Excellent level of immersion during a concise 8 week program! You will learn more in this 8 weeks than any other 8 weeks of your life! The network is caring, extensive, and always growing! This program will shape your life and career for many years to... Read More come!