our IEC staff is expert at market development

The United States represents an enormous market opportunity with a population of over 300 million.  Channels of distribution and marketing media choices are efficient and accessible.  However, competition in the US market is fierce and must be studied carefully in order to understand the real potential for any new entrant.

Often, the value statements that work in one country are not successful another and must be modified.  Our goal is to facilitate a detailed study of the market, and tune the message to best fit the opportunity.  Often, we will make specific recommendations for the modification  of product features so as to better fit the US market.  

Each unique market has a complicated set of constituencies that we refer to as an ecosystem.  In most cases, any particular new product or service has the potential to disrupt the entire ecosystem.  Our goal is to best understand where the value offered to a potential US partner can be maximized.

IMAP: the IEC international market acceleration program

IMAP is designed for medium sized non-US based companies (of $2M to $200M in annual revenue) who want to establish their businesses in the US market.  Many successful companies in Latin America, Africa, Europe and Asia seek access to the US market, market services and employees.  IMAP simplifies the process and reduces the risk and cost.  The Program typically has an annual commitment but it can be cancelled at any time at the discretion of the client.  Fees include a small monthly retainer plus a success fee that is based upon the building of real revenue for the client.  More information...

some case studies from the IEC

The International Entrepreneurship Center (IEC) was established in early 2012 by a team of seasoned professionals who are individually experienced in starting up businesses across a range of industries and geographies.  Today the IEC is working with over two dozen businesses, many of which are from Latin America.  

View IEC Case Studies...

capital for growth

As companies attempt to grow, they need nourishment in the form of working capital, intellectual capital, brand capital, etc.  Finding resources that offer the highest return and lowest risk is difficult.  Often, entrepreneurs are limited in their thinking about how to fund their businesses, simply believing that the process involves writing a business plan and then finding a venture investor.  However, few companies actually successfully raise venture funds and most of the ones that do, fail to provide any return to the founders or investors.

At the IEC we offer a wider array of methods to fund your growth, ranging from conventional equity financing to using the ecosystem around you, and obtaining needed forms of capital in exchange for various things that you can bring your partner, which is not always stock.

GRID investments

The IEC is partnered with GRID Investments, a Venture Capital company that invests in high-impact, high-growth companies and entrepreneurs with above average performance.

GRID is a lean, efficient company that is committed to the results and transparency of invested companies. All GRID’s efforts are characterized by professional ethics and are implemented based on the highest standards of Corporate Governance, assuring compliance and transparency for its investors.

alternate forms of capital

At the IEC, we offer help with finding the working capital needed for growing your business. There are many alternatives including customer financing, channel financing, vendor financing and traditional venture and angel investment. We help you analyze these choices in order to minimize your personal risk and maximize your return.  More information...

at the IEC, we offer several educational programs for businesses that are seeking growth

Most business schools teach the writing of business plans as the way to start a new product or venture. But experience teaches us that most venture-backed startups fail and most new products created by established companies have a similarly poor track record. Our methodologies focus on the customer instead of the product. We use the "Challenger Sales" method to learn the customer’s business model, and then identify technology-based innovations that can lead to clear growth for the client. Risk is substantially lowered and funding is often available directly from the customer.

We also offer a collection of task-oriented classes that are tailored to the operating entrepreneur who is confronted with a specific set of operational goals and needs a compact and timely educational experience that is not oriented to a degree but rather to an operational objective.

custom programs

Our Programs can be custom designed specifically for your enterprise.  They can be delivered at your site or in Boston at one of our classroom facilities.  We also have dorm and classrooms at Boston College, dependent upon availability.  Class size can be as large as 45 students.

These world-acclaimed programs have been delivered as part of graduate and undergraduate MBA programs offered by IBMEC, FGV and UDD and through NGOs like Endeavor Brazil. A typical program might consist of six individual classes plus two half-day workshops.

Please contact Danielle Padua, or go here for more information and to register.

open enrollment

At the IEC, we run a wide variety of open enrollment classes on various nights of the week from 6pm to 9pm.  Class size is limited to 40 students.  Most courses are $50 per class per student.  Students can enroll through our website.  Check out our calendar and enroll by clicking here.  Course materials are included.

class selection

Most of our classes are available as either Open Enrollment or as part of a one-week custom program. All of our classes are action-oriented and, as such, offer a step-by-step approach to understanding the subjects.

Topics include "How Technology is affecting business innovation", "The Impact of Social Media on Businesses", "What it means to be an Entrepreneur", "Creating a Value Proposition", "Pre-existing Category Development", "New Category Development", "Venture Finance", "Strategic Partnerships", "The Challenger Sales Method", "The Market Ecosystem", "HTML5 & CSS3 for Entrepreneurs with Web-based Businesses", and many more!

networking events

At the IEC, we offer a variety of FREE networking events.  We post these events on Meetup.com as well as on our IEC calendar.  They include:

IEC Pitch Night: Entrepreneurs are welcome to pitch their business ideas to an open forum and receive feedback from other attendees and our mentors.  This is a great opportunity to meet other team members, investors or simply to practice your pitch in a safe and fun environment.

Networking Night: This is a pizza and beer event that is held monthly as a way to simply mix with other entrepreneurs.  Looking for a job, a partner or an investor, this might be the place that it happens.

be a part of the IEC family

The IEC is a shared office facility in an attractive brick building located in Newton, Massachusetts that offer flexible options with no capital investment and choices in terms.  Rental agreements can be by the day, month, quarter or year.  We provide shared conference, teaching and support facilities along with the basic infrastructure needed to meet fundamental business needs.  The IEC attracts entrepreneurs who are starting up small businesses who also benefit from the shared experience and the availability of mentorship and education that is uniquely available at this facility.  

working at the IEC

This link should go to existing IEC website page with pricing since it will eventually go away.