Roles
Proto Ventures teams are elevated through cross-disciplnary thought and expertise. Explore the roles the venture builders, fellows, faculty, and advisors play in building successful Proto Ventures.
VENTURE BUILDERS
DRIVE NEW VENTURES
Venture Builders are expected to perform as drivers of new venture formation by extending and applying deep technical knowledge. Venture Builders are not burdened by prior experience on how things should be done, but instead are totally dedicated to discovering the “right” answer and not making the problem fit a particular answer.
LEAD TEAM FORMATION
Venture Builders lead team formation and research through the early development phases. Venture Builders join for a period of one to two years. They are expected to oversee and develop multiple venture exploration and building projects and foster a multi-disciplinary problem-solving culture. The expectation is for Venture Builders to join a resulting Proto Venture as senior management.
OVERSEE VENTURE FELLOWS
Each Venture Builder oversees a team of Venture Fellows. In early phases, the Venture Builder trains, employs, and supervises this select group tasked with overseeing the management of projects.
A VENTURE BUILDER GETS:
Compensated like a venture capital associate
Autonomy and independence to experiment across MIT like a PI
IP rights and ownership like a post-doc
Leadership opportunities like a startup founder
Budget to create teams and run projects
We would love to talk with you about becoming a Venture Builder.
Venture Fellows are post-docs or graduate students in deep tech areas with a passion to change the world with technology that participate in the venture building process for a limited period of time. Many Venture Fellows will decide to join the Proto Venture full time.
Venture Fellows may be recruited from individuals that would have opted to post-doctoral positions elsewhere, technically savvy Sloan fellows, graduating masters or undergraduate students that have shown an unusual inclination for multi-disciplinary work straddling the academic-industry boundary. On the job “training” and supervision will supplement the background of these candidates with the skills necessary to succeed as Venture Fellows. Depending on their MIT status Venture Fellows and team may be supported by the Proto Ventures program to pursue the venture exploration.
Key faculty members from MIT are the source of big ideas and technologies that can create high impact. Most act as technical advisors and consultants to the Proto Venture.
The Proto Ventures Program has multiple channels. Each channel has an advisory board made up of experts from around MIT that are in related fields to the channel. In early stages, the board helps define the focus areas. Subsequently, the board will be the decision body that approves ideas moving through each phase and will select projects for Proto Venture funding.
Development, coordination, and administration of the Proto Ventures Program are executed by Mission Innovation X with oversight by the deans of engineering and Sloan School, and the MIT Provost. Governance of contracts, intellectual property, and other related subjects are handled through the normal MIT offices and processes.