Mentoring is a significant component of PIPELINE, a year-long "immersion experience" based on the studying many nationally renowned fellowship models. PIPELINE equips high-growth entrepreneurs with training, networks, resources, and mentors.

Now in its fifth year, PIPELINE is very selective and chooses entrepreneurs whose companies have shown a track record of success rather than startups that are in the proof-of-concept stage. Last year the organization was reported by both Inc and Fast Company magazines as a top entrepreneur program in the nation.

"Pipeline has evolved into a systematic way to identify our state's highest potential high-growth entrepreneurs and then pour on the resources to give those entrepreneurs the best chance of accelerating their companies' growth while avoiding the pitfalls that are common early in a company's life." says Joni Cobb, PIPELINE president and CEO.

PIPELINE works with about ten entrepreneurs per year.

"We have a laser focus on that subset of entrepreneurs who have the highest chance of making the most dramatic impact on the economy," says Cobb. "Our end game is to dramatically increase the success of these entrepreneurs to scale their companies right here at home."

Intense and flexible curriculum includes three levels of mentoring

"Entrepreneurs are very driven and heads down by nature. It is one of the reasons they often have such substantial success in the early phases of their company growth," says Cobb.

"As a result, it often takes the intensity of many experts, mentors, and peers pointing out areas for change for entrepreneurs to look up and reach that aha moment," she says. "Then we are right there to help them do something about it."

PIPELINE's featured mentors are from the private sector and most of the participants are funded by angel investors.

"In the Midwest, we work very hard to find motivated and capable investors and mentors," says Cobb. "These are usually successful entrepreneurs or someone with expertise around accelerating new ventures. Most of our best mentors are also engaged angel investors, people who have been there and done that and provide advice from hard-won experience."

PIPELINE's second layer of mentoring includes a network of stakeholders in the PIPELINE program, typically organizations and programs whose day-to-day business is to assist entrepreneurs

"We want to ensure that our entrepreneurs know how to avail themselves of all regional resources," Cobb says, "from the Kansas state tax credit for angels to the region's incubator system."

The third level of PIPELINE mentoring includes a national board of advisors and national mentors for each entrepreneur.

"We focus heavily on building that national or even global network of high-trust relationships," Cobb says. "For a life science company that plans to rely on SBIR funding for growth, we might find a mentor who is extremely steeped in the SBIR community in Washington, DC. Or for a software company, it might mean finding someone in Silicon Valley to make connections or give advice on trends."

Formal sessions with third level mentors are typically held during PIPELINE modules, which occur four times a year, with one session out of state.

"During modules, we bring in experts from around the country as well as locally. Additionally, we have the added excitement of a day where all PIPELINE alums come in. These are extremely intense experiences that propel entrepreneurs through business issues and knit them together," says Cobb.

While many programs work on the "start" of a business, PIPELINE focuses on companies that have made it down the field and show signs of significant growth. "There is all the logic in the world to pouring resources at the twenty yard line; that's what we are all about," Cobb says.

PIPELINE peer mentoring creates entrepreneurial bonds

Between PIPELINE modules, participants have peer assignments and alum mentors. "The PIPELINE alums coach the new entrants on managing the year," says Cobb. "They also open up their own portfolios of contacts and investors."

Current participants and graduates, now a group of 48, have developed into a close and connected group. "The peer relationship component is the glue that holds it all together," Cobb says.

The Kauffman Foundation recently announced a three-year challenge grant of up to $800,000 to expand the reach of PIPELINE. Kauffman will match the funds that PIPELINE raises.

"When we received the grant, the first donation was from PIPELINE alums," Cobb says. "They are driving the fund raising work and have contributed more than $200,000 of money that they pulled from their private sources, not from their companies. This is a clear statement of the enormous sense of ownership they have in the ecosystem we are trying to build."