Our Context
General Information
Purpose: Future Boston believes Boston’s future lies in a thriving creative economy. The Future Boston Accelerator Program will help twenty-five (25) people learn the fundamentals of business and funding. The program will teach people how to put a business plan together, seize market opportunity, and highlight their strengths when selling their business.
Future Boston is a new organization formed by Greg Selkoe, the CEO of Karmaloop.com. The mission of Future Boston Alliance is a non-profit organization seeking to revolutionize our city’s creative economy. By advocating for new talent and businesses and holding educational events, we aim to make Boston a hub for collaboration, innovation, and culture.
The accelerator program is designed for creative people to learn how to create and launch a successful business. Twenty-five innovators/entrepreneurs will be chosen through an application process to attend this once a month program. The accelerator program will end with a business plan competition.
Each class will be taught by experts and practitioners in the fields listed below. The classes will be interactive and allow for one-on-one time with successful business leaders. Childcare can be provided upon request.
The “creative economy” is an evolving concept based on creative assets potentially generating economic growth and development. The United Nations adopts the UNCTAD definition of the creative economy, where…
• It can foster income-generation, job creation, and export earnings while promoting social inclusion, cultural diversity, and human development.
• It embraces economic, cultural, and social aspects interacting with technology, intellectual property, and tourism objectives.
• It is a set of knowledge-based economic activities with a development dimension and cross-cutting linkages at macro and micro levels to the overall economy.
• It is a feasible development option calling for innovative, multidisciplinary policy responses and interministerial action.
• At the heart of the creative economy are the creative industries.
Our Goals
The goals of our creative class program are threefold:
1) To define and amplify the creative class in Boston beyond technical innovation.
2) To provide entrepreneurs and innovators with the tools to start their business.
3) Connect innovators/entrepreneurs with potential investors.
To achieve our goals for the first year we offer the following programs. These programs will allow for scalability and expansion:
1) Creative economies series: host a five part series facilitated by some of the most cutting edge parishioners, financiers and business development experts.
2) Networking opportunities
3) Space on our site to help innovators/ entrepreneurs connect, exchange knowledge and promote their work.
Program Overview
Future Boston will start with twenty-five diverse entrepreneurs. We will include underrepresented communities, especially veterans and the formerly incarcerated. Through an application process, Future Boston stakeholders will choose the first class.
Each four-hour class will start at 10:00 am, on the second Saturday of every month at the offices of Burns Levinson, 125 Summer St., 8th Floor, Boston, MA.
• The workshops will be conducted by our partners and will be a combination of lecture, storytelling and class-like environments.
• We will have a resource room for the city, state, chamber of commerce, and others, including our partners, to offer their resources. It should only be free resources, not business developers.
Follow Up
• Our website will continue to support the start up community by providing tool kits, message boards and weekly blogs to help. The site can be populated by our partners and self-run.
• Startup BLVD will facilitate an on line-networking platform for your business.
• Business Plan Pro Live will be provided for all participants.
• Future Boston will host a pitch contest for all attendees; winners get a cash prize, incubation space at Karmaloop for a year, and branding support.
Who is eligible?
We are looking to help Bostonians start business in the following industries:
1) Committee will evaluate all application submissions. The most qualified/interesting ideas will be asked to participate in an interview.
2) Emphasis will be placed on identifying Bostonians who demonstrate a working knowledge of their business idea and a commitment to serving the Greater Boston region.
3) You must commit to attending all classes, if you miss a class you will be asked to leave the program.
4) Based on an evaluation of the application and interview the top 25 most-qualified applicants will be asked to attend classes. (August 11, September 8, October 13, November 10 and December 8 all classes are from 10-2pm)