The Marla and Barry ILR ’90 Beck Entrepreneurship Fellows Program is for Cornell students who wish to spend a summer pursuing their startups (for profit or non-profit) free from the concern of supporting themselves in a traditional internship setting. Beck Fellowships are not available for students graduating prior to the summer that the stipend would fund. Summer funding up to $5,000 is provided to a student/group of students who present a startup company through the application process (for profit or non-profit) ready for intense summer progress. Recipients must plan to spend 90% of their time over the summer working on their startup. Funding can be used to support the startup as the founders deem appropriate (compensation, prototypes, legal expenses, web development, etc.).
The Beck Fellows Program is administered by the Entrepreneurship at Cornell Program and the ILR School. Successful applicants will show a demonstrated interest and involvement in entrepreneurship activity at Cornell. Along with their entrepreneurial activities, selected Beck Fellows will exhibit perseverance to move their startup forward and ideally some real business traction. Preference may be given to those students who are pursuing an entrepreneurship minor, involved with Cornell’s eLab program, the Blackstone LaunchPad, Life Changing Labs, Student Agencies, Inc., and/or currently working with other mentors. By encouraging and supporting the growth of entrepreneurial pursuits, selected Beck Fellows not only enrich the Cornell community but also lay the foundation for Beck Fellows to excel as entrepreneurs well beyond their college years.