Venture Mentoring Service

What is the Venture Mentoring Service?

Venture Mentoring Service (VMS) is a Flywheel™ premier program offering at the Cabarrus Center, connecting business founders with exceptional advisory services. Through a competitive application process, we select the region’s top, most viable startup companies and a handpicked team of mentors who work together to further the development of the venture. We also help early-stage companies get “mentor ready” through our programs and coaching sessions. This program has been refined for over 20 years at MIT and is licensed to over 100 communities worldwide. It gives experienced professionals an opportunity to mentor our next generation of entrepreneurs and stimulate our region’s economic development.

Venture Mentoring Service and Cabarrus Center logos

Mentors

We are looking for experienced professionals and subject matter experts who want to make a meaningful impact in our local community by joining our mentorship program. Ideal mentors include founders, C-suite executives, and specialists in various aspects of business operations, such as finance, marketing, product development, human resources, legal assistance, and sales.

Mentoring offers a unique opportunity to empower aspiring entrepreneurs through practical, hands-on advice in a structured, ethical, and confidential environment. By guiding entrepreneurs through real-world challenges, mentors can leverage their skills, give back to the community, and help shape the next generation of innovative leaders.

Mentor Application

Ventures

Our mentoring program is ideal for scalable ventures in the early growth stage, with 1 to 10 employees. We focus on service-based businesses, products, and early-stage software startups. Founders will be matched with a team of mentors with diverse expertise to help scale their businesses and navigate growth challenges. Participants will be expected to meet with their team every month and submit reporting information based on their involvement in the program.

Venture Application

Team Approach

Based on the MIT model, our entrepreneurs are matched with a diverse mentor team of experienced entrepreneurs and business people, flexible to adjust with a venture’s changing needs.

Invaluable Mentorship

Our venture teams meet monthly in sessions that will both develop the entrepreneur and guide them through their business challenges and opportunities that they might encounter as they begin to grow.

Engagement

Our program makes it easy for mentors and founders to meet and collaborate. There is a formal process to onboard companies and mentors, so that everyone is on the same page in terms of expectations.