All mentors sign a contract ensuring that they will maintain strict confidentiality over any proprietary information entrusted to them by U of A VMS entrepreneurs.

After the VMS application is signed and submitted, we contact you and ask questions pertaining to your venture’s mentoring needs. We then create a compatible mentor team and connect you with them.

We select our mentors on their level of business expertise, experience in operations, and passion to give back to start-up companies. The mentors are chosen from a wide variety of non-profit and for-profit organizations and includes a pool of serial entrepreneurs, CEOs, COOs, CTOs, CSOs, SVPs, and experts within the worlds of finance, marketing production, sales, and team formation.

The singular goal of our program is to support entrepreneurs in their ability to develop and sustain successful ventures that align with their own personal and professional goals. Benefits of the program include the growth of the entrepreneurial talent pool in Arkansas, the creation of high-paying jobs, and improvement in the vibrancy and diversity of our communities.

Entrepreneurs and mentors typically meet monthly and these sessions are scheduled and documented by the Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation so that the mentor need only “show up,” with the promise that entrepreneurs in the program will uphold commitments and make efficient use of the mentors’ time.

While there is no monetary compensation for mentoring, we hope you find value in offering your time and knowledge to assist new companies in their start-up journey.