During my summer at Halcyon, I researched key strategic-related questions that the CEO was tracking. This related to how to best support the organization’s startup fellows, alternative funding sources, and the strengths of impact investing.

Halcyon focuses on supporting social entrepreneurs in three key areas: climate, health, and equity tech. It offers fellowships for founders through its eight-week residential programs and one-week residential intensives where fellows reside in the house, receive community and training, and network with industry leaders and investors. My research outcomes were directly connected to the organization’s mission as I worked to study the organization’s programming strengths and areas for improvement. I also studied ways for Halcyon to broaden its guidance for founders on fundraising by researching venture capital alternatives. Finally, I strengthened support for its thesis on the strength of impact investing. During this internship, I worked closely with the CEO, Daniel Barker, to map out phases of the research and identify key resources and individuals to interview.

Investing in Social Ventures, Foundations of Venture Capital, Capital Markets, Valuations, Corporate Finance, and Food Entrepreneurship from Columbia Business School (CBS) were just a few classes that helped inform my research this summer. Both Investing in Social Ventures and Foundations of Venture Capital touched on general entrepreneurial terminology and processes from ideation to funding, to the guidance that founders should have and the value of social entrepreneurship. This assisted in my ability to make more meaningful connections with staff, founders, and others that I networked with during my internship. Finance related classes such as Capital Markets and Corporate Finance helped with my understanding of financial concepts that I encountered in discussions or research during the internship. Finally, Food Entrepreneurship, while not always entirely focused on social entrepreneurship, provided countless examples of local entrepreneurs and their journeys. This enabled me to draw parallels between experiences and bolster my research.

The research project I worked on was challenging at times due to its inherently independent nature. Outside of interviewing Halcyon staff and the startup fellows, I looked for feedback from others I interacted with. I would often come prepared to discuss questions for staff or during informal settings with founders so that I could validate or invalidate findings from my research. It was difficult working independently, as I would have valued input from a larger team. However, I greatly utilized those around me to supplement my research and provide new perspectives. Specifically, I set up weekly check-ins with the CEO, my supervisor, where in addition to general updates, I would ask for his thoughts on certain items. He was a great resource that supported my efforts this summer as he provided a unique perspective and often pointed me in the direction of useful resources.

It was an incredibly valuable experience to work within the ecosystem of a startup accelerator like Halcyon. I learned so much about leading accelerator business practices and the experiences of Halcyon’s fellows. With support from the Tamer Institute, I was able to fulfill my overall summer research goals and produce a final findings report. I pursued an internship opportunity at Halcyon because I wanted to work more closely within the startup ecosystem. Through this, I was able to learn about challenges faced by entrepreneurs, opportunities they look to seize, ways that accelerators can best support founders, and network with others in the space. Throughout the experience, I realized that my research enabled Halcyon to more accurately describe the “special sauce” that it is able to provide for entrepreneurs and areas to bolster to help them thrive. This was a wonderful opportunity to work at a great organization within the startup ecosystem and I am excited to stay connected moving forward.