The next generation of entrepreneurs, supported by you!

Hello Fellow Entrepreneurs!

My name is Courteney Real, and I would like to invite you to join me on my journey — the 119 Days Project.

Would you believe me if I told you women make up only seven percent of investing partners at the Top 100 venture firms? I am not looking to be just another number in that percentage. Instead, I am on a journey to see that the percentage continues to grow. I want to be a part of the movement to grow the number of women in the entrepreneurship and venture capitalist space.

As a senior at Arizona State University studying Entrepreneurship, Finance, and Business Management, I am navigating my own path within the startup community. I began my entrepreneurship journey in my home state of Colorado by interning with Colorado-based startups, such as the ZAYO Group and Photobucket, and attending the Boulder Startup Summer Program. Through different educational opportunities in the Czech Republic and Australia, I have also been able to gain an international business mindset. Currently, I am diving into the local Phoenix startup community by working with Galvanize, a community of entrepreneurs, and taking part in organizations such as Women Who Startup and Startup Grind. Along the way, I have been inspired by so many female entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. They have empowered me to continue on my path, and I strive to do the same for any females pursuing this dream.

The next chapter in my story leads to Silicon Valley this upcoming fall semester. I have been selected as one of seventeen students to participate in the Entrepreneurship Incubator Program through Arizona State, in collaboration with Draper University.

For 119 days, I will be completely immersed in the startup world of Silicon Valley. The 4-month long program is designed to take students out of a traditional classroom and challenge them to become entrepreneurs. Through mentorship and real-world experiences, we will learn the technical, business, and leadership skills required to be an entrepreneur. Students are also given an opportunity to learn from top executives at companies, such as Tesla, Airbnb, Uber, and Google.

The program also comes with an additional fee on top of my normal tuition. As an entrepreneur, I wanted to find a new approach to raise money to help finance the program. These next four months will be jam-packed with exciting experiences I want to share with the rest of the world through a blog. For each day of the program, I will write a blog post about topics like up and coming startups, company site tours, and the role models I find along the way. I am asking for a sponsor a day, for 119 days. As a sponsor, you have the option to select the topic of the blog post or allow me to provide a general update on the activity at Draper and include a paragraph about your organization.

Please see the resources below to learn more about the project and how to contribute: