Overview

Planet Startup http://www.PlanetStartup.org is an all-volunteer charitable institution - - - organized to mentor and coach unemployed young adults residing in developing, remote, or marginalized areas of the world to set up and run their own Internet-based companies as well as connecting them with investors, partners, and mentors to help them to succeed. We are listed as a 501(c)(3) public charity by the Government of the United States with the mission to foster job creation around the world. We are unique in what we do and how we do it - - - We have mentors/business leaders from all over the world who use WebEx and Skype over the Internet to lecture to, and work with, unemployed young adults in high poverty areas as well as isolated and neglected areas of the planet to help them build businesses and then try to link them up with investors, venture capitalists, and partners. Our classes meet in donated spaces in partner universities, schools, libraries, churches, Internet cafes, and hotel conference rooms. The mentors/lecturers also use WebEx and Skype for one-on-one time with students after classes or for tutoring and in helping them to transform their ideas into viable businesses. We also have a growing list of investors and venture capitalists that listen to participant presentations and, depending on their interest in the student projects, might offer an investment and partnership opportunity in the fledgling business. In the US, we are working with a school for young repeat offenders with a police arrest record, and in that model, successful students learn how to present their ideas to the investor group; however, as a minimum, they are offered a job. The original curriculum and set of classes for the program were developed at Harvard and The George Washington University.