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Startups seeking mentoring through Milwaukee
​Venture Mentoring Service

The goal of the Milwaukee Venture Mentoring Service (MKE VMS) is to build a supportive startup community by accelerating the number of Milwaukee founders who are successfully scaling their startup. We do this by forming mentor teams around entrepreneur needs.

Eligibility:
  • Startup located in the Milwaukee area
  • Startup is scalable, venture-backable, high-growth potential (MKE VMS is industry agnostic)
  • Startup is an established business with an MVP (ideally with some revenue)
  • Entrepreneurs are expected to commit to a sustained relationship with the mentorship program and to be professional, open, and responsive to the volunteer mentors who work with them.
 
To apply:
Please contact Linda Walsh. 
​
Quick links:
  • Apply for Mentoring
  • ​Learn more about Mentors
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Frequently Asked Questions:

​What is team mentoring? What makes MKE VMS unique is the team mentoring approach. Each entrepreneur is assigned 2-4 highly experienced mentors with diverse backgrounds who meet as a team to provide practical, day-to-day professional advice, coaching, and support. Entrepreneurs meet regularly with their mentor teams (usually monthly) in order to maximize value of these sustained relationships that entrepreneurs can depend on long-term.
 
Our mentors have senior leadership experience in launching, growing, and managing successful businesses. All MKE VMS mentors have served previously as a founder, CEO, chairman, chief technical officer, or another senior leader of a successful enterprise.
 
Team mentoring allows entrepreneurs to receive broader insight from varying experiences and strengths.
 
What is the mentoring process?
  • This is a free service, and we do not take equity.
  • We provide face-to-face, team mentoring.
  • All interactions with MKE VMS are confidential and under nondisclosure. Mentors follow a strict code of ethics, which guards against conflicts of interest, and controls financial involvement with the entrepreneurs and their ventures. In addition, all mentors sign a blanket non-disclosure agreement ensuring that all their interactions with mentees are confidential. Mentors may not solicit business from ventures or invest in ventures they are mentoring.
  • Mentors help with all aspects of building a startup. Our goal is your success and development as an entrepreneur. All business decisions remain under the full control of the participating entrepreneur. In other words, we are here to help; we cannot do it for you. We provide practical mentoring that is focused on what your next steps should be.
  • Generally, mentor teams meet monthly.
  • Mentor teams can be long-term relationships as long as: 1) entrepreneurs are getting value from mentoring and 2) entrepreneurs are making progress with growing their startups.
 

For more information, contact Linda Walsh.


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301 W Wisconsin Ave., Ste. 220 | Milwaukee, WI 53203 
414/287-4100
  • What we do
    • Advocacy >
      • Local & State Priorities
      • 2023-2024 Legislative Scorecard
      • Political Giving
    • Networking Groups >
      • Leadership Council
      • President's Huddle
      • Executive roundtable program >
        • Roundtables for high-growth companies
      • Networking Forum for referrals
    • Regional economic development >
      • Milwaukee 7 Regional Partnership
      • Expand or relocate your business
      • Supporting local startups >
        • MKE Venture Mentoring Service
        • New business planning guide
      • Milwaukee Development Corp. >
        • Milwaukee Urban Strategic Investment Corp. (MUSIC)
      • Milwaukee EB-5 Visa program
    • Education >
      • 2025-2027 MMAC Education Strategy
      • Ranking Milwaukee County Schools
    • Talent >
      • Student career development program
      • Leadership development program
      • Young professional network
      • ROC: Improve the recruitment, retention & advancement
  • Membership
    • Become a member
    • Benefits
    • Marketing & visbility
    • Member directory
    • Member resources >
      • Cost saving programs
      • Member Orientation
      • Sponsorship
      • Advertising
      • Customize email preferences
      • Need more info?
  • Newsroom
    • Milwaukee Commerce magazine
    • Members of the media
    • Member Spotlights
    • Member Appreciation Tour
    • State of Manufacturing
    • Impact Report
  • Demographics
    • Business climate
    • Business and industry
    • Cost of Living
    • Milwaukee region education
    • Population and housing
    • Transportation and infrastructure
    • Workforce
    • Peer metro comparisons
  • Events
    • Upcoming events
    • Community Calendar
  • About
    • Board of directors
    • Our Team
    • Partnerships