When Paul Olean retired and returned to his home state of Rhode Island, he was dismayed by the then-high unemployment rate. He wanted to do something to improve the economy.
Drawing upon his experiences with startups in the Boston area and as a volunteer mentor with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Venture Monitoring Service, Olean decided to use that knowledge to help entrepreneurs here.
He founded Venture Mentoring Service of Rhode Island, which provides free, unbiased mentoring to budding entrepreneurs in the Ocean State.
“I felt it was my responsibility to give something back,” Olean, a Westerly native, said recently.
The idea is that the new businesses created will invigorate the local economy, he said.
“In the short-term, I felt I could build a robust entrepreneurial talent pool,” Olean added.
The nonprofit started offering mentoring services in May 2018, fueled by $132,000 in grants it received, from R.I. Commerce Corp. ($81,000) and the Rhode Island Foundation ($51,000). It received an additional $20,000 through RIF this year.
VMS’ long-term challenge is sustaining its funding, Olean said.
He has one employee, his operations manager, and works with 22 volunteer mentors.
He finds his mentors through contacts at R.I. Commerce Corp. and RIF, as well as word-of-mouth.
“We’re always adding new mentors,” Olean said.
Olean said almost all the entrepreneurs who contact him face the same dilemmas about starting a business, from identifying the customer and obtaining financing to incorporating the business and testing the product.
“We were hoping for 10-15 … ventures in Rhode Island. … We reached that goal in three months,” Olean said.
Olean says VMS has two goals: to enhance and develop the entrepreneurial talent pool in Rhode Island and help the entrepreneurs become successful.
Entrepreneurs can contact VMS at the early stages of their business process, before a business plan is developed or before they receive any funding.
He makes sure entrepreneurs are not coming to VMS for funding, as that is something it does not do.
The entrepreneurs are paired with three mentors, all of whom have a specialty. The advantage for the entrepreneur, said Olean, is that they get multiple opinions. Plus, he said, the team has continuity. They meet at various locations, including Social Enterprise Greenhouse, The Hive RI and the Swearer Center at Brown University, among others.
Patrice M. Milos, co-founder and CEO of Medley Genomics Inc., in Providence, a data-analytics company focused on tumor cells and creating targeted and personalized cancer treatments, is a VMS mentor.
Milos said mentors realize not all ventures will be successful but do their best to guide them.
Jarrid and Sylvia Hall of Barrington, co-founders of GAB-on, a mobile platform that helps spark conversations between parents and their children about their school day, have used VMS’ services.
“It’s actually been amazing for us,” Sylvia Hall said. Mentors, she added, help them “prioritize their millions of ideas” and “ensure we’re evolving in the best way.”
OWNER: Paul Olean
TYPE OF BUSINESS: Mentoring services
LOCATION: Westerly
EMPLOYEES: Two (with 22 volunteer mentors)
YEAR ESTABLISHED: 2017
ANNUAL SALES: N/A
