American Academy of Entrepreneurs

Applications will open in July for 2022 Program!

American Academy of Entrepreneurs Application

Benefits for Mentees
• Peer learning from business rockstars
• Grow your network
• Gain a sounding board for business issues
• Avoid challenges that others have faced

Benefits for mentors:
• Opportunity to give back
• Grow your network and business
• Learn from other panel leaders
• Build your legacy
Are you applying as a mentor or mentee*
Please select your stage of business:*
Thank you for your interest in the American Academy of Entrepreneurs. This program is limited to second-stage businesses for mentees. Please contact Tammie Sweet at tsweet@growfl.com for a referral to a mentor program.

First Name*
Last Name*
Company Name*
Title/Position*
Phone*
Email*
Website*
In which county is your company?*
Primary Business*
Please provide a brief bio and information about your company and what you hope to gain from this program.*
Maximum characters 1000
Please briefly explain why you should be selected to participate in this program.*
There are only 8 mentor and 8 mentee slots available for this program. It is a very competitive process, so the information you enter here is important to identify the candidates who are best suited to participate in this program. Maximum Characters: 2000

Phases of Second-Stage*
Read each Phase of Second-Stage below carefully and select the one that most closely aligns with your current leadership position. If you are applying as a mentor, select the one that most aligns with your most recent experience as a leader of a second-stage business.
- Overwhelmed - In early days, entrepreneurs tend to operate as lone wolves. In second stage, however, they begin to realize the needs of their business have outgrown their capabilities. This can be a painful period. Even though their companies are growing, they may feel overwhelmed and out of control. At some point they typically hit a plateau or encounter some type of turbulence and admit that they can’t go it alone. Recognizing they need external help is an important milestone, but getting the right kind is easier said than done. With an already exhaustive to-do list, second-stage leaders lack time and often don’t know where to turn. Depending on what’s keeping them awake at night, assistance could take the form of a peer or trusted adviser, service provider, entrepreneur support organization, consultant or combination of sources.
- Building the team - At this juncture, second-stagers need to bring on additional employees and senior managers, which enables them to delegate and fill in blind spots. Instead of being a technician immersed in their business, they now start working on their business. They move from being a manager of few to a leader of many; their role evolves into one of visionary and coach. Building the team means adding people with specific, professional skill sets, along with policies and procedures on everything from HR and communications to culture. This talent infusion and infrastucture helps entrepreneurs manage their growing business and increase employees’ accountability and performance. It creates an organization that can run efficiently even when they’re not around — which means they may actually be able to take a vacation.
- Growing to last - This phase is about developing strategic plans, processes and organizational structure to achieve sustainable — and profitable — expansion. Second-stage entrepreneurs refine their company’s core competencies. They set big, long-term goals, such as going public or scaling the business to sell to investors, along with specific tactics for reaching those goals. It’s important to not only consider the company’s internal strengths and weaknesses, but also the external environment and how changes in politics, the economy, technology and society can affect their firm’s growth. Bottomline, second-stagers are learning how to scale.
- Focused Opportunities - As the second-stage leader becomes more strategic, he or she begins to get better at recognizing very specific opportunities in which to invest time and resources. This could include moving to a new geographic market, expanding their client base in a new industry, adding a new product line or service division, investing in new technology or acquiring another company. At this point, they need to recruit outsiders for technical knowledge that is beyond their organization’s wheelhouse, such as expertise with regulatory and international policy, supply chain, marketing or financing.
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Breaking through your brick walls

The GrowFL American Academy of Entrepreneurs (AAE) is a unique mentoring program that pairs seasoned second-stage entrepreneurs with business owners who have entered second stage more recently. The goal is to share lessons learned, expand networks and accelerate growth.

Ed Lowe believed that entrepreneurs are the backbone of the American economy, and he often talked about the need to break through “brick walls,” referring to the challenges that entrepreneurs face as they try to scale their businesses. Ed also believed that great things happen when entrepreneurs come together. “Many were the times I wished for a mentor,” Ed wrote in his later years when sketching out ideas for his foundation and its programs. “A mentor to help me through those scary and challenging times. Someone who’d been there. Someone whose experience I could tap, to reassure me that I wasn’t alone in my obsession.”These guiding principles shape the AAE program.

Here’s how it unfolds:

Retreat — The program kicks off with a three-day retreat. Designed to be highly interactive, this workshop looks at mentoring best practices, helps participants prepare for their six-month engagement and pairs up mentors and mentees.

Monthly calls — After the retreat, each mentor-mentee pair meets for six 90-minute Zoom calls.

Midpoint check-in — After the third set of meetings, mentors get together for a Zoom session to share best practices. Similarly, mentees participate in a virtual roundtable to share their progress toward goals or issues they may be facing.

Annual conference — All participants will be invited to Big Rock Valley, the foundation’s 2,000-acre headquarters in Southwest Michigan, for an annual conference to celebrate their accomplishments.

An important part of the program is the caliber of participants, says Colleen Killen-Roberts, the foundation’s vice president of entrepreneurship: “AAE mentors are incredibly talented and successful second-stage entrepreneurs who are paying it forward by donating their time to help others on their entrepreneurial journey.”

Benefits for mentees:

Peer learning from business rockstars.
Grow your network and business.
Gain a sounding board for business issues.
Avoid pitfalls others have faced.

Benefits for mentors:

Opportunity to give back.
Grow your network and business.
Learn from other panel leaders.
Build your legacy.

Entrepreneurs’ pledge

I will be ever mindful of the future.
I will have an active mind whether awake or asleep.
I will be a helping hand to myself and to others.
I will omit the word “impossible” from my vocabulary.
I will do my best to improve, not to improvise.
I will exert my energy toward growth and progress.
I will communicate with others in thought, word and deed.
I will maintain a healthy body and mind.
I will recognize the power of love.
I will follow the golden rule: Do unto others as you
would have them do unto you.
— Edward Lowe