The entrepreneurial bug is busy in Indy.

It almost sank its teeth into me this summer (and I don’t have any entrepreneurial bones in my body!) as I chatted with folks at several start-ups. All were graduates of gBETA Indy – a free, seven-week program for early-stage companies.

gBETA Indy, Indiana’s first public accelerator, is a program of nationally-ranked start-up accelerator gener8tor. It provides start-ups with co-working space and access to mentors, legal experts and potential investors.

The cast of characters (an apt term given their vigorous personalities) included, among others:

  • Josh Driver, co-founder and CEO of Selfless.ly (corporate social responsibility online platform). I laughed out loud (forgive the cliché) more than once as he offered his spin on the rewards and woes of entrepreneurism. Comedy and passion rolled into one. He valued how gBETA Indy’s fast pace mimicked business frenzy: “We were – and still are to a great extent – in a situation where we have a million things going on, a million meetings to go to, a million lines of code we have to develop – which is the perfect storm to make big mistakes.”
  • Christine McDonnell, co-founder and CEO of Codelicious (coding curriculum provider): “It’s about working on your business instead of in your business. Of all the things you need to do to run your business, take a step back. Look at where all of those things are and where you need to take them. Again, I call it working on your business, because it’s all about driving yourself to and through that next phase of growth. Looking at all aspects of your business. Developing metrics. Focusing on the end game.”
  • Chelsea Linder, gBETA Indy director: “I absolutely love working with the founders. Every founder I talk to is so passionate about what they’re doing. They’re energized. They’re excited about the future and it just rubs off on you. It’s so much fun to work with these companies and support the founders!”

The second gBETA Indy cohort will kick off in mid-September.

Read more about gBETA Indy in the current issue of BizVoice®.

Symone Skrzycki is the communications manager for the Indiana Chamber. She is also a writer for the Chamber’s award-winning BizVoice magazine and has been with the organization for 18 years.