Massachusetts CEOs, VCs Launch “12×12” Mentoring Program

Prominent Massachusetts venture firms and CEOs have formally rolled out a mentoring program aimed at supporting “a new generation of technology entrepreneurs” in the state, in the words of an announcement this morning. Called 12×12, the initiative is supported by 12 local CEOs and 12 venture capital partners, and will match entrepreneurs with advisors for hands-on help launching 12 new companies. Michael Greeley, founder and general partner at Flybridge Capital Partners, debuted the idea (which was originally called “12 by 12 by 12 by 12 by 12”) in post for us in June 2009.

According to today’s announcement, which was issued at the Nantucket Conference on Nantucket Island, the participating executives are Colin Angle of iRobot, Jim Baum of Netezza, Jeff Bennett of NameMedia, Joe Chung of Allurent, Helen Greiner of CyPhy Works, Brian Halligan of HubSpot, Tim Healy of EnerNOC, Diane Hessan of Communispace, Scott Savitz of ShoeBuy.com, Brian Shin of Visible Measures, Ram Sudireddy of CHiL Semiconductor, and Michael Weintraub of Humedica.

The venture partners involved are Jon Auerbach, general partner at Charles River Ventures; Liam Donohue, general partner at .406 Ventures; Scott Friend, managing director at Bain Capital Ventures; Jamie Goldstein, general partner at North Bridge Venture Partners; Felda Hardymon, partner at Bessemer Venture Partners; Matt Harris, managing general partner at Village Ventures; Mike Hirshland, general partner at Polaris Venture Partners; Eric Hjerpe, partner at Kepha Partners; Bob Hower, general partner at Advanced Technology Ventures; Paul Maeder, general partner at Highland Capital Partners; Eric Paley, managing partner at Founder Collective; and Carl Stjernfeldt, general partner at Castile Ventures.

Author: Wade Roush

Between 2007 and 2014, I was a staff editor for Xconomy in Boston and San Francisco. Since 2008 I've been writing a weekly opinion/review column called VOX: The Voice of Xperience. (From 2008 to 2013 the column was known as World Wide Wade.) I've been writing about science and technology professionally since 1994. Before joining Xconomy in 2007, I was a staff member at MIT’s Technology Review from 2001 to 2006, serving as senior editor, San Francisco bureau chief, and executive editor of TechnologyReview.com. Before that, I was the Boston bureau reporter for Science, managing editor of supercomputing publications at NASA Ames Research Center, and Web editor at e-book pioneer NuvoMedia. I have a B.A. in the history of science from Harvard College and a PhD in the history and social study of science and technology from MIT. I've published articles in Science, Technology Review, IEEE Spectrum, Encyclopaedia Brittanica, Technology and Culture, Alaska Airlines Magazine, and World Business, and I've been a guest of NPR, CNN, CNBC, NECN, WGBH and the PBS NewsHour. I'm a frequent conference participant and enjoy opportunities to moderate panel discussions and on-stage chats. My personal site: waderoush.com My social media coordinates: Twitter: @wroush Facebook: facebook.com/wade.roush LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/waderoush Google+ : google.com/+WadeRoush YouTube: youtube.com/wroush1967 Flickr: flickr.com/photos/wroush/ Pinterest: pinterest.com/waderoush/