What’s Next for YouthHack — A Big Hairy Audacious Goal
When we first started YouthHack back in 2014, we started out with the goal of bringing the whole Silicon Valley culture to the Philippines especially for the youth. Without knowing anything else, our 17 and 18 year-old selves plunged into organizing a two-day startup challenge for students in the Philippines. Since then we’ve gone on to hold startup challenges, code weekends and several other programs all over the world including places like the Philippines, Singapore, Philadelphia, Hong Kong, Italy and more. However, there always seemed to be something missing.
While more than a thousand students have now gone through our programs, we’ve realized that while throwing these short events help people dive into the startup world, only a select few end up actually starting their own venture. While we understand that the startup life is not for everyone and that timing plays a key role in starting a startup, there have been students that have asked us what to do next with their ventures.
Simply put, building an MVP and pitching to judges with a pitch deck, things students have done in our programs, is just one part of the equation. There’s so much more that goes into building a startup. There is this sweet spot for students who are unsure whether or not they want to actually start building a startup but want to give it a try. Hence, we’re excited to be launching YouthHack Ventures.
Part Startup School, Part Accelerator
YouthHack Ventures will be part startup school, part accelerator. At its core, our goal is to educate students on how to build a startup, social enterprise or nonprofit. YouthHack Ventures will be the venture arm of YouthHack focused on helping student entrepreneurs go from idea to startup.
This is something new. This is something big. This is something scary. This is our big hairy audacious goal for the next year. We’re testing this here in Manila and in Philadelphia. We’re thinking big with this program. We want our students to be launching ventures that solve real problems and have the chance to scale into something bigger than themselves.
What do we bring to the table?
We’ve put together a startup curriculum that includes material from experienced entrepreneurs, workshops from local entrepreneurs, office hours, consultations and more. You’ll gain access to a network of mentors and startup coaches, and companies that have agreed to partner with us. You’ll gain access to peers who can help you with marketing, design, business and more. Finally, you’ll go through this program with some of the most talented students your age who also want to become entrepreneurs. We’re serious about this. We’re investing all our time, resources and networks in order to help you succeed.
We’re looking for students who want a fast-paced learning environment. We’re looking for students who have skills they want to put into use. We’re looking for problem solvers, entrepreneurs, hackers, hustlers and hipsters. Most importantly, we’re looking for the crazy ones because those who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who often do.
Two years ago, we had no idea what YouthHack would turn into but two years later and we’ve grown into a global organization with a goal of empowering students to pursue their ideas. This is a big next step we’re taking that will hopefully build on what we’ve done in the past two years.
Our goal for this first batch? We want these 8 teams to come in with an idea, and come out with a startup venture. Let’s make it happen.
You can find the overview here: bit.ly/YH-ventures-overview
You can find the application here: bit.ly/YH-ventures-application
For any questions, feel free to email david@youthhack.net.
