Venture for America is a new two-year fellowship program that places selected recent college graduates from the "top 30 national institutions" with start-up companies in "low-cost" cities such as Detroit, New Orleans or Providence, Yang said.
"[Venture for America] thinks that too many of our smart and talented people have blindly gotten into finance, consulting and law," Yang said, "Not enough have chosen to go the business and entrepreneurial route."
Yang revealed that about 50 percent of Harvard undergraduates pursue law school, medical school, finance or consulting internships or other offers from organizations such as Teach for America. Several audience members nodded and verbally expressed agreement when Yang said Dartmouth probably has the "exact same statistics."
Over half the needed number of companies have already committed to the program, and another couple dozen companies are finalizing their plans to join with Venture for America, which will give participants "a wide range of exciting opportunities," Yang said.
Jason Laster '11, who has been involved in six start-ups including one of his own in the last four months, said he came to support the growth of entrepreneurial spirit on Dartmouth's campus.
"[Yang] is right," Laster said in an interview with The Dartmouth. "I have so many friends who have great entrepreneurial ideas, but they choose to do a two-year finance or consulting internship because it's expected of them."
After spending a summer with 500 Startups, a seed fund and incubator program in California, Laster became very familiar with the "big players" of the start-up world, he said.
"The Board of Directors, the venture capitalists and the entrepreneurs who are involved with [Venture for America] are all all-stars," Laster said, "[Yang] has the best of the best behind him."
Other students who had less experience working with start-ups also attended the event. Gary Le '15 said he came to the meeting because of initial interest, but was not convinced he was ever going to seek out more information on the program.
Some students said they attended Yang's discussion for ideas on future job prospects.
Drew Tunney '12 worked in investment banking last year, and although he gained valuable knowledge and experience from the internship, he said was not excited by the job and instead would look to a program like Venture for America as a post-graduate option.
"There are such few resources on campus that have anything to do with start-ups," Tunney said, "Now I'm interested in applying to [Venture for America].
As economics continues to be one of the most popular majors on campus and students flock to job fairs that host companies like Goldman Sachs and Bain Capital, Venture for America offers a "creative" alternative, according to Laster.
"Once people start working for start-ups, they get addicted," Laster said, "It's a lot more creative, flexible, and engaging than structured corporate jobs and you get really invested in the success of what you're doing."
Yang said he understood students' hesitation with start-up programs and the difficulty that comes with turning down a job at an established corporation. Start-ups are hard to find because there are no networks, money or prestige to entice recent college graduates, according to Yang.
"Financial or consulting jobs are not going to be secure in upcoming years even though people apply thinking it's going to be stable," Yang said. "My friends who went into law are also having a terrible time."
The Venture for America fellowhip has already received over 850 applications for 50 spots, and expects to receive over 5,000 total by the end of the process, Yang said. The top 1,000 finalists will receive assistance in placement at start-up companies, even if they are not selected as the final 50 fellows, Yang said.
Salaries for Venture for America positions are estimated to be between $32,000 and $38,000, plus health benefits paid by the host company, according to Yang. One fellow will receive $100,000 in seed investment for his or her own start-up.
Yang said the organization aims to positively impact the country by contributing an estimated 100,000 jobs by 2025.
"The internet bubble' burst and pretty much wiped out a lot of small businesses," Yang said, "[Venture for America] is trying to rebuild the country."
Yang said he believes that if more graduates were not afraid of getting involved with start-ups, the country could be in a "much better" place economically.
"We're consolidating all this talent that hasn't been put to work for our country," he said.
