Beta Bowl is an extracurricular program for adolescents ages 13 through 18 who have an interest in startups and entrepreneurship. The program is broken up into ~12 week rolling sessions and you can start any package (Silver, Gold, or Platinum) at any time, during which participating teens will have the hands-on experience of taking an idea from inception to minimum viable product, ready to launch (and launch it in beta), as well as complete an investor pitch deck and learn every aspect of building, marketing, and pitching a business. 

Beta Bowl is both an educational experience and a real-world introduction to building a business. The program covers everything from marketing to branding to business models and startup finance. Participants will be guided through every step of turning their idea into a reality on weekly group calls (Silver) and by their 1-on-1 startup mentor (Gold and Platinum), with whom they will have weekly working calls. Startup mentors will provide strategic advice, as well as technical alternatives and easy-to-implement resources to enable participants to bring their ideas to life, regardless of the idea's niche or industry. (no additional expenses required)

P.S. Students don't need an idea or product coming into Beta Bowl - they will be coached and given the tools and resources to prepare a sound business idea, service, or product and bring it to fruition. (Idea exploration and validation are a part of week 1 of the Beta Bowl curriculum)

Beta Bowl is founded and run by current entrepreneurs and investors who have real-life experience, building, scaling, and selling companies.

All Beta Bowl participants will receive a Successful Completion Certificate and will come away with a full portfolio of their business-building projects, all of which can be a great addition to a resume and college application. Platinum participants will also receive a custom letter of recommendation from the Beta Bowl founder and CEO, specific to their journey throughout the program, which can be a huge asset and differentiator in their college applications.

Each Beta Bowl session with culminate in a startup competition, in which all Gold and Platinum session participants will submit their pitch deck (and optionally a pitch video) to be evaluated by the startup judges for review, feedback, and possibly funding. The startup judges are qualified investors and successful entrepreneurs, and they will assess ideas based on soundness of the business plan, profitability of the financial model, actual progress to date (i.e. beta launch traction and feedback from target customers) in selecting a winner. The annual competition winner will be awarded $1500. (Based on volume of participants and the quality of pitches received, additional prize funding may be awarded to second and third place winners, as well.)

No! Every participant in Beta Bowl will be coached and guided every step of the way and given all the necessary tools and resources to turn their idea into a viable business and launch it! There is no advanced math involved, and the simple startup math included in the financial model will be thoroughly explained to all participants. All calculations will be handled in excel. There is also no need for participants to have any advanced technical or coding skills. If they do, that's fine and they can use those in their startup if they choose, but participants will have just as good a chance of success in startups and in Beta Bowl lacking that knowledge.

Success in entrepreneurship is really not about IQ or any specific skill-set taught in schools (like math or science), though those skills CAN influence bright and ambitious entrepreneurs and help them on their journey to success.

Yes! You can participate as many times as you want! That said, you will be given all the tools and resources, as well as 1-on-1 mentorship, to take your idea to launch each time. If you are a repeat participant with the same idea, we can provide you a customized "advanced" curriculum for you.

Yes - here's how these calls work: After submitting their intake form, Gold and Platinum participants will be matched up with a startup mentor and given a milestone tracker (along with their other intake materials). Each week, the students will have calls with their mentor (via phone, Zoom video chat, or Skype video) that will move participants forward in turning their idea into an MVP - some weeks will focus on market research, the financial model, the marketing strategy, the pitch deck, etc. The calls, along with the milestone tracker, keep all participants on track so they come away with their completed MVP, financial model, marketing plan, pitch deck, and are prepared for the end-of-session startup competition.

If a participant wants his or her parents to sit in on the calls (OR if a parent wants to be present for the calls), that is completely fine. If a parent wants to be more involved in their teen's startup, that's great, but throughout the Beta Bowl session, we will be sure to equip all participants (the teens) to build and launch their own business. That's the goal. 🙂

The startup mentors assigned to each Beta Bowl enrollee (or team) are full-time entrepreneurs and/or top business school performers at esteemed universities. Some of our mentors have backgrounds in finance, some have come from accelerators, and some have transitioned from entrepreneur to investor/advisor.

A note to parents (and students): We vet every startup mentor for their academic acuity and personal integrity – mentors include entrepreneurs and current top performers at esteemed business schools. Additionally, Beta Bowl student participants have opportunities to give feedback along the way to ensure they’re getting the positive learning experience and value add from their weekly mentor sessions.
*Select participants will be mentored by Rachel Greenberg, the Beta Bowl founder & CEO, based on her availability at the student's time of enrollment.

What if I want to guarantee Rachel as my student's mentor or get a higher level of ongoing support?
Please send an email to info@beta-bowl.com with the subject line "CONCIERGE" to inquire about options and pricing for concierge mentoring with Rachel Greenberg. We are able to customize the program to best meet you and your teen's needs and requests.

Participants can sign up solo or with friends as a "team" if they'd like to build one startup together (in which case the weekly calls can be group calls with all team members). You will each enroll individually, but in your application (which you will receive just after enrolling), you will be asked to select "Solo" or "Team" participant, and if you select "Team" will indicate the name and email address of your friend(s) who you would like to work with. Teams of any size can be accommodated, but most successful startups began with founding teams of 5 or fewer members.

As a Beta Bowl enrollee, you will be given all the tools you need to build and launch your MVP. That said, there are always multiple options (paid and unpaid) when it comes to getting a product or website built. IF you choose to spend additional money on bringing your idea to life, that is completely fine and up to you, BUT your startup mentor will always give you FREE alternative tools and resources you can use to accomplish the goals of the program and take your idea from zero to pitch-ready (and market ready).

The only tools students need access to include:

• A computer with internet (to access video lessons and collaborate)
• Excel or Numbers (to access and complete the financial model tasks)
• PPT, Keynote, or similar presentation editing program (pitch deck tasks)
• Email (and optionally phone OR computer audio chat) for weekly startup mentor calls and to receive Beta Bowl communications