Veteran entrepreneur and business consultant Joe Lieberman is launching a mentoring program for local entrepreneurs called Power of Two.
Sponsored by the Entrepreneurial Center of Johnson County, the nonprofit Power of Two will pair qualified mentors and mentees in a planned two-year program to help budding businesses achieve dramatic growth. Lieberman is a past 25 Under 25® winner for his digital agency/Web development firm, SPIDERtel.
“I’ve had 30 years of experience with entrepreneurism, and I understand what it takes,” Lieberman said. “Power of Two fits perfectly into a gap in the Kansas City area for support of companies that have traction and under $1 million in annual revenue.”
In addition, he said, “Power of Two will be a feeder program for awesome programs like HEMP and Pipeline.”
While there is no hard deadline to apply to Power of Two, the program is now accepting applications from potential mentors and mentees through mid-February, Lieberman said, and “we already have many slots filled.”
“If you meet the criteria, it’s open to anyone,” he said. “It’s pretty straightforward.”
In addition to regular “one-to-one” meetings and feedback sessions between mentors and mentees, the program will include other unique training, Lieberman said.
“We’re going to have a series of talks by special speakers who have jaw-dropping, life-changing stories for mentors and mentees,” he said. “They will not be recorded. They will be once-in-a-lifetime events. They will happen over the course of the entire program.”
To Lieberman, helping others pursue entrepreneurship is a great cause.
“I am absolutely committed to a thriving economy,” he said. “I believe it’s a moral cause, because it helps with our national security. By strengthening small businesses, we end up hiring more people. When people have jobs, they feel more secure.”
Power of Two mentors will volunteer their time, Lieberman said, because “they believe passionately in the cause, or they wouldn’t do it.”
There is a $150 fee for entrepreneurs seeking to become mentees in the Power of Two program. Accepted mentees will pay nonrefundable annual dues of $1,200.
For more information and to apply, go to twopower.org.
