A love letter to our IDEA Coaches

One of IDEA’s most important team is composed of coaches whose goal is to help ventures and give professional input. When ventures start in IDEA, they are paired with a coach so that they can receive meaningful advice on how to further develop their projects. These coaches have experience in their own fields and therefore, have the legitimacy to direct you and your projects.

There are about 30 coaches in IDEA, and all either young alumni or current students. These coaches volunteer their time and expertise to help ventures. They primarily work one-on-one with ventures to advise them as they move through the IDEA stage gates (Ready, Set, and Go). Throughout the IDEA stage gates ventures will use coaches as a major point of contact and a resource for any questions or concerns they might have.

In addition to being paired with a coach, coaches will hold “office hours” where ventures can come in and ask questions to any coach, not just the one assigned to you. During that time, you can expect to be advised to consider alternative perspectives, and challenged to further develop your business model. Amongst other topics, coaches will help define your target market or how to go-to market.

Basically, coaches are like a double edged sword (in a good way). They will be your best friend and devil’s advocate when you need it most. Ventures going to them need guidance and are looking for valuable, unbiased feedback during the Ready stage process.

On a monthly basis, our coaches regroup and connect with each other at Coaches roundtable to discuss big topics, ranging from venture struggles to potential scenarios that need further examination. The first one to kick off the semester was in September. It was here where I was able to meet existing coaches as well as new coaches, and understand and appreciate how dedicated they are to help their ventures.

I had the chance to chat with one of the newest coaches, Joydeep Singh, about his thoughts on becoming a coach and what he is most excited about. Joydeep joined IDEA as a coach about four months ago after hearing about the organization from a friend. Shortly after, he attended his first workshop as a coach, and has been holding office hours every week since then. He says that the coaches roundtables have helped him to deepen his understanding of early stage ventures and track important key milestones.

He recently graduated from the D’Amore-McKim School of Business, and is now pursuing a graduate degree in informatics here at Northeastern. Joydeep has had experience in helping others, especially when he worked for a company that mentored companies, or when he was involved with an NGO to educate underprivileged children.

I asked him what he was most excited about when joining the organization, which he confessed he really enjoyed helping others and giving powerful advice. More precisely, he was excited to be a main go-to contact for young entrepreneurs. He feels confident that his expert advice is genuinely taken in consideration, which it is.

Currently, Joydeep is working with 3 startups, including Zealery and Scent 2 Go, and looks forward to working with many more in the future.

On behalf of the IDEA team and its ventures, we’d like to thank you coaches for your dedication and time to guide ventures throughout the IDEA process and beyond.