A dear friend of mine came to visit me in Boulder today and within 20 minutes he changed my life and the trajectory of The Bold Academy.

His name is Ryan Allis. We became close friends last year when I helped him co-found a new division of his company. Most recently, as a 27-year old entrepreneur, his company iContact was acquired for $169M. I’m deeply grateful to say that Ryan has played a pivotal role in many of my business endeavors. Today, he agreed to be the Entrepreneur-in-Residence for The Bold Academy this July.

So back to those 20 minutes. It went something like this…

Me: “Ryan! We have SO MANY INCREDIBLE PEOPLE who’ve applied to Bold. We have EVEN MORE INCREDIBLE PEOPLE who deeply WANT and NEED this but cannot afford it, and they’re questioning whether they should apply. How can we ensure the most passionate, eager, caring and driven 24 change-makers are here this July? Oh, and there’s one caveat: we have to pay for a lot of expenses like operational costs and housing in the next two weeks.”

Ryan: “Oh, that’s easy. We shorten the application, create a fundraising platform for those who cannot currently afford it, pick the 50 most awesome finalists, and then bring the first 24 who submit tuition to Boulder this July.” 

And just like that… we had a solution. 

So here’s the deal… if you were thinking about applying but didn’t because of the cost, I would encourage you to apply today and we’ll work with you on a crowdsourcing campaign on the fundraising platform we select, enabling both you and us to reach out to sponsors and donors in our networks. The application deadline remains tonight, April 5, at Midnight PST. 

We’ll select and notify the 50 finalists on Monday, providing clear instructions for how to set-up the fundraising platform along with best practices for raising the cash. For those who have the $7,500 right now, we’ll have instructions for how to pay through Google checkout. 

And then, the first 24 to submit tuition will join us in Boulder this summer.

Think you’re crazy enough to change the world? Apply here. 

So, to wrap it up, here are our three big announcements:

1. Ryan Allis has agreed to be our Entrepeneur-in-Residence in Boulder this July
2. We’re creating a fundraising platform to help people pay for the experience
3. 50 Finalists will be selected and notified on Monday

Know you need to be part of this first class? Applications close today, April 5, at Midnight PST. Apply now. And please tweet and share this opportunity with your networks too.

#hellyes

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xoxo,
Amber Rae, Co-Founder
The Bold Academy