TechStars Patriot Boot Camp: Arming Veterans for Entrepreneurship

Zach Davis Jul 18, 2012 Tweet

As part of the TechStars RisingStars program, today marks the opening of Patriot Boot Camp, a three-day educational and mentorship program aimed to empower 75 veterans with the entrepreneurial skills necessary to start their own ventures. Patriot Boot Camp is free for participants and is being held at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business.

Today’s agenda aims to help participants find their fellow co-founders in addition to selecting a business idea. Day two will include the feedback of a group of prominent mentors, including Zaarly founder, Eric Koester, and Brazen Careerist CEO, Edward Barrientos, to help the teams further refine their ideas – which will then be pitched in front of a group of investors and media at Demo Day, this Friday, July 20th (the event is free - register here).

Keynote speakers to the event include Aneesh Chopra and Todd Park, former and current CTOs of the US government, respectively, and former Chief of Staff of the US Army, General George Casey.

But Taylor McLemore, event organizer, believes the event to be much more important a lineup of big name speakers. ”What we’re facing is a serious problems. Returning veterans face a significantly higher unemployment rate. We have a responsibility to repay those who served our country, and this event is about providing veterans the help they need to build companies that will shape the US economy moving forward.”

A sentiment that is shared by Ray Jefferson, former Assistant Secretary for Veterans’ Employment and Training Service.