McCarthy ’75 Leads Social Entrepreneurship Boot Camp

“Being called a salesperson is not a perjorative term,” said Stephen McCarthy ’75. McCarthy, senior vice president of KCG Capital Advisors and co-founder of Wesleyan Alumni in Philanthropy and Public Service, led 10 students in a “Social Entrepreneurship Boot Camp” March 28 at the Patricelli Center.

The session on “business plan essentials” covered what it takes to sell an idea, get funding and launch a project. McCarthy stressed the importance of knowing your audience when pitching ideas, leveraging funding to attract new investors, lining up advisors and measuring success.

He also sampled and critiqued proposals he is currently reviewing for the N.Y.U. Stern School of Business $200K grant competition, and encouraged aspiring Wesleyan entrepreneurs to study that type of competition to learn what funders are looking for in start-ups.

The boot camp is the first in a series of sessions designed to foster social entrepreneurship sponsored by the Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship, Wesleyan Alumni in Philanthropy and Public Service (WAPPS) and the Wesleyan Career Center. To learn more, follow the Engage blog at  http://engageduniversity.blogs.wesleyan.edu.