Knowledge, Training and Networks

From practical hands-on lessons in business development to a vast array of reliable online resources, we support the programs and networks that make entrepreneurs successful and make successful entrepreneurs more successful. The programs we support focus on leveraging best practices in entrepreneurial leadership and teaching. The goal is to foster the environment that allows men and women to pursue their dream of organizing and operating a business venture, creating good jobs and growing the economy.

Initiatives

  • Bizdom U provides comprehensive, real world training for aspiring entrepreneurs that have a burning passion and determination to build their own business.

  • With the aim of cultivating entrepreneurs from among the postdoctoral community, the Kauffman Foundation’s Entrepreneur Postdoctoral Fellows program educates and trains scientist-founders who will create the high-growth technology companies of tomorrow.

  • The Kauffman FastTrac® LaunchPad initiative is being offered in response to the many workers who have lost their jobs and entrepreneurs leading businesses that are struggling due to the current economic environment.

  • Global Entrepreneurship Week 2011, the world's largest celebration of entrepreneurship, will feature millions of people participating in thousands of events in more than 100 countries and all 50 United States. Events will be held November 14-20, 2011, to celebrate innovation, entrepreneurship and creativity. Now in its fourth year, Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) will bring together aspiring and inspiring entrepreneurs, helping them embrace originality, imagination and ingenuity through local, national and global activities.

  • Kauffman FastTrac™ is a practical, hands-on business development program designed to help entrepreneurs hone the skills needed to create, manage and grow a successful business.

  • The Kauffman Fellows Program provides firsthand experience in the venture capital process for exceptional men and women.

  • The Kauffman Global Scholars Program fosters international entrepreneurship by immersing top young entrepreneurs from around the world in America's entrepreneurial culture.

     

  • Kauffman Laboratories for Enterprise Creation draws on the best of the Kauffman Foundation programs that supported a wave of entrepreneurial activity and promises a new set of major innovations designed to develop the next generation of entrepreneurs.

  • KCSourceLink connects a network of over one hundred business resource providers to help entrepreneurs in the Kansas City region grow and succeed.

  • Postdoctoral scholars who take the entrepreneurial steps to get their research to market bring enormous potential benefits to society and the economy. To recognize and encourage postdoc entrepreneurial excellence, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) have launched the Kauffman Foundation Outstanding Postdoctoral Entrepreneur Award.

  • Science Commons, an organization that designs strategies and tools for faster, more efficient Web-enabled scientific research, identifies unnecessary barriers to research, crafts policy guidelines and legal agreements to lower those barriers, and develops technology to make research data and materials easier to find and use.

  • The Ice House Entrepreneurship Program consists of a book and an online companion course.  The book shares timeless lessons from the life experiences of Clifton Taulbert (successful entrepreneur and acclaimed author) while growing up in the Mississippi Delta.

  • Founded in 2002, the MIT Venture Mentor program supports innovation and entrepreneurial activity throughout the MIT community by utilizing mentors to educate early-stage innovators.

  • This initiative provides for the development of one-stop economic empowerment centers to provide business training, counseling, financing, and procurement opportunities to minority and urban business owners.

  • Women Innovators
    View video.   

    The Kauffman Foundation is working to unleash the latent scientific wealth of female scientists, ensuring that they have the support networks and financial means to start businesses and advance their innovations.

Highlights

Featured Resources

  • Find a comprehensive library of articles and videos with relevant insights and information for entrepreneurs here at Entrepreneurship.org.

  • Just as the "American Idol" television series is revolutionizing the music business by having amateurs compete for top spots, a group of entrepreneurs are quietly adopting a similar format to change the face of the venture capital and angel investing industry.

  • National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship brings you short summaries and analyses of various trends driving the innovation economy from the week of May 16 - May 20, 2005.