<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<style type="text/css" style="display:none"><!-- p { margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; }--></style>
</head>
<body dir="ltr" style="font-size:10pt;color:#000000;background-color:#FFFFFF;font-family:Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">
<div style="word-wrap:break-word; line-break:after-white-space">
<div>
<div class=""><span style="color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Dear MIT </span><span style="color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">postdocs,</span></div>
<div class=""><span style="color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><br>
</span></div>
<div class=""><b class="" style="color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"></b><span style="color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Are you considering </span><b class="" style="color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">entrepreneurship</b><span style="color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">?
Interested in learning more about the </span><b class="" style="color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">path from academia to venture creation</b><span style="color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">?
We encourage you to participate in the Venture Exploration Program this upcoming spring semester!</span>
<div>
<div class="">
<div class="WordSection1" style="font-family:Helvetica; font-size:12px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; letter-spacing:normal; text-align:start; text-indent:0px; text-transform:none; white-space:normal; word-spacing:0px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); text-decoration:none">
<div class="">
<div class="">
<div class="">
<div class="" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size:12pt; font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">
<span class="" style="color:rgb(33,33,33)"></span></div>
<div class="" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size:12pt; font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">
<span style="color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-size: 11pt;"></span></div>
<div class="" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size:12pt; font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">
<span style="color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-size: 11pt;">Offered by the </span><a href="https://innovation.mit.edu/about/" target="_blank" title="https://innovation.mit.edu/about/" class="" style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(149, 79, 114);">MIT Innovation Initiative</a><span style="color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-size: 11pt;">,
the </span><a href="https://icorps.mit.edu/" target="_blank" class="" style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(149, 79, 114);">NSF I-Corps node at MIT</a><span style="color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-size: 11pt;">, and in collaboration with </span><a href="https://www.engine.xyz/" target="_blank" class="" style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(149, 79, 114);">The
Engine</a><span style="color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-size: 11pt;">, the Venture Exploration Program (VEP) is a virtual program that helps you develop a business model for your research-derived product or service. VEP is the successor to the former Translational
Fellows Program (TFP) at MIT. </span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<span style="color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">​</span></div>
<div><span style="color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"></span><span style="color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Learn the fundamentals of customer discovery – the process of obtaining </span><b class="" style="color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">valuable,
firsthand feedback</b><span style="color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> on ideas for the use of a technology—and </span><b class="" style="color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">business
model development.</b><span style="color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> Hear firsthand from </span><b class="" style="color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">MIT tough tech founders</b><span style="color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> who
have successfully navigated the path from academia to venture. Explore topics such as </span><b class="" style="color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">technology and market, competition, building a team, intellectual property,
investment readiness, and more</b><span style="color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">.</span></div>
<div><span style="color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"></span><font color="#212121" face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><br>
</span></font>
<div class="">
<div class="WordSection1" style="font-family:Helvetica; font-size:12px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; letter-spacing:normal; text-align:start; text-indent:0px; text-transform:none; white-space:normal; word-spacing:0px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); text-decoration:none">
<div class="">
<div class="">
<div class="">
<div class="" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size:12pt; font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">
<span class="" style="color:rgb(33,33,33)"></span></div>
<div class="" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size:12pt; font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">
<span class="" style="color:rgb(33,33,33)"></span></div>
<div class="" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size:12pt; font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">
<span style="color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-size: 11pt;"></span></div>
<div class="" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size:12pt; font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">
<span style="color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-size: 11pt;">Upon completion of </span><b class="" style="color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-size: 11pt;">VEP</b><span style="color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-size: 11pt;">, you will receive certification demonstrating </span><b class="" style="color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-size: 11pt;">successful
completion of the MIT I-Corps program</b><span style="color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-size: 11pt;">, which may be helpful in future NSF grant requests.</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="">
<div class="WordSection1" style="font-family:Helvetica; font-size:12px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; letter-spacing:normal; text-align:start; text-indent:0px; text-transform:none; white-space:normal; word-spacing:0px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); text-decoration:none">
<div class="">
<div class="">
<div class="">
<div class="" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size:12pt; font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">
<span class="" style="color:rgb(33,33,33)"></span></div>
<div class="" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size:12pt; font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">
<span style="color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-size: 11pt;"></span></div>
<div class="" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size:12pt; font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">
<span style="color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-size: 11pt;">VEP is offered free of charge. All sessions will be hosted via Zoom. </span><b class="" style="color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-size: 11pt;">Application deadline is January 8, 2021 – learn more and apply <a href="https://innovation.mit.edu/vep-2/" class="" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114);">here</a>!</b></div>
<div class="" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size:12pt; font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">
<br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite" class="">
<div class="">
<div class="WordSection1" style="font-family:Helvetica; font-size:12px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; letter-spacing:normal; text-align:start; text-indent:0px; text-transform:none; white-space:normal; word-spacing:0px; background-color:rgb(255,255,255); text-decoration:none">
<div class="">
<div class="">
<div class="">
<div class="" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size:12pt; font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">
<span class="" style="color:rgb(33,33,33)"></span></div>
<div class="" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size:12pt; font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">
<span class="" style="font-size:11pt; color:rgb(33,33,33)"> </span><span class="" style="color:rgb(33,33,33)"></span></div>
<div class="" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size:12pt; font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">
<span class="" style="font-size:11pt; color:rgb(33,33,33)"> </span><span class="" style="color:rgb(33,33,33)"></span></div>
<div class="" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size:12pt; font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">
<span class="" style="font-size:11pt; color:rgb(33,33,33)"> </span><span class="" style="color:rgb(33,33,33)"></span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
<br class="">
</div>
</div>
</div>
</body>
</html>