http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/04/enstitute-a-school-for-entrepreneurs_n_1403036.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003
Kane Sarhan first realized there was a gap between college and the real world as an undergraduate working part-time for the owner of a large bar and restaurant chain. He recalls going back and forth between courses and corporate meetings, wondering when the skills he learned in the classroom would apply to the boardroom. They rarely, if ever, did.
After graduation, Sarhan took a job under the founder and CEO of a New York technology startup, and within two years, became the leading salesperson at the firm. His rise within the company prompted the CEO’s fiancé to one day ask Sarhan why more Millenials didn’t eschew traditional higher education and dive right into apprenticeships at startups.
The question festered inside Sarhan’s head for months. Eventually, it led to his departure from the company earlier this year, along with one of his co-workers, Shaila Ittycheria, to start E[nstitute], a two-year school that inserts college-aged entrepreneurs into New York’s hottest startups.
Already, some of the city’s most high-profile startup CEOs have agreed to take E[nstitute] students under their wings, including Ben Lerer of Thrillist, Neil Blumenthal of Warby Parker and Hilary Mason of Bit.ly. Their participation comes as Silicon Valley sets its sights on alternatives to college, including a venture capital firm’s recent $25 million bet on a new startup that aims to deliver an Ivy League education over the web.