The Blueprint Technology Ecosystem Investment Certificate
Program at a Glance
The BTEI Certificate™ empowers emerging investors and ecosystem leaders with the tools, knowledge, and network to close capital gaps and expand access to high-growth opportunities.
Through a rigorous, on-demand 9-part curriculum, you’ll gain the skills to evaluate early-stage startups, assess risk, navigate key investment documents, and move capital with precision and purpose.
Developed during Dr. Rodney Sampson’s Keohane Distinguished Visiting Professorship at UNC Kenan-Flagler and Duke University—in collaboration with Stanford Technology Ventures Program and The Links, Incorporated—this program fuses top-tier insight with practical, systems-level application.
This isn’t just a course. It’s a blueprint for ownership, opportunity, and lasting impact.
Explore The BTEI Certificate™
In this nine-session certificate program, you’ll develop the foundational skills of early-stage investing, capital deployment, and ecosystem-level impact.
Most new investors are unaware of the structural barriers that shape access to capital across emerging markets—and even fewer are equipped to drive meaningful change. This program equips you to identify and evaluate early-stage investment opportunities within undercapitalized innovation ecosystems. You’ll gain practical insight into startup due diligence, SEC regulations, venture fund dynamics, and post-investment governance.
The program begins with a systems-level view of the innovation economy and its potential for job creation, inclusive growth, and long-term value creation. From there, you’ll explore the history of venture capital, key legal frameworks, and tools like term sheets, cap tables, and deal memos. Along the way, you’ll learn from leading investors and fund managers actively shaping the future of equitable innovation and economic development.
By the end of the course, you’ll have the clarity, confidence, and community to move capital with purpose—and position yourself on the ownership side of the future economy.
Lessons
Understand the System
Explore the importance of investing in the technology and startup ecosystem — and how doing so supports job creation, economic mobility, and inclusive innovation.
Trace the evolution of venture capital and explore the critical contributions of historically underrepresented entrepreneurs and funders in shaping today’s innovation economies.
Understand the roles of ecosystem builders—developers, founders, investors, and organizers—and how capital flows through innovation networks.
Evaluate the Deal
Understand SEC regulations, key risks, and the legal responsibilities associated with investing in this asset class.
Learn the fundamentals of due diligence, direct investing, and how to evaluate and support startups from the earliest stages.
Dive into how venture funds are structured, how they build investment theses, and how to participate in fund-level investing alongside experienced general partners.
Move Capital with Purpose
Get hands-on with investment documents, including accreditation questionnaires, deal memos, and term sheets — and learn what’s required to participate in private capital markets.
Understand the financial implications of investing, including 83(b) elections, K-1s, tax strategy, and how returns are realized.
Close the course with a strategic look at how affinity-based investing builds wealth, redistributes opportunity, and reshapes the future of capital through an equity-driven lens.
Featured Guest Lecturers
Learn directly from investors and fund managers who are deploying capital and building ecosystems in real time.
David Weild IV
Widely known as the “Father of the JOBS Act”, a landmark policy that expanded capital access for early-stage firms. As former Vice Chairman of NASDAQ, his work helped democratize investing. Today, he leads Weild & Co., helping entrepreneurs raise capital and build long-term financial strategies.
Bahiyah Yasmeen Robinson
Nationally recognized leader in inclusive investing. As founder of VC Include and Include Ventures, she catalyzes capital for diverse fund managers. Her work has supported firms managing over $4 billion in assets and shaping a more equitable investment ecosystem.
Marlon Nicolas
Marlon Nichols is an award-winning investor and cultural trend-spotter. As co-founder of MaC Venture Capital, he manages a portfolio of over $600 million and has backed more than 50 startups. His work centers on identifying inclusive, high-growth opportunities that reflect the future of innovation.
Most People Will Never Be Ready for the Future of Work
It’s not because they lack potential—it’s because they lack access to the right opportunities.
The global economy is shifting at an unprecedented pace. AI, automation, and digital disruption are reshaping industries, creating massive opportunities for those who are prepared—and leaving everyone else behind.
375 million jobs could disappear by 2030 due to automation (McKinsey), forcing entire industries to evolve overnight. Only 41% of college graduates feel workforce-ready (Gallup), proving that traditional education alone is no longer enough. And with less than 5% of business leaders prepared for digital transformation (Deloitte), the future will be defined by those who take action now.
The question isn’t whether change is coming—it’s whether you’ll be ready to lead or risk becoming invisible.
Are You Eligible for a special discount?
If you’re part of a nonprofit, employee resource group (ERG), or currently enrolled as a student, you may qualify for a significant tuition discount. Talk to us to find out!
Meet the Instructors
Learn from nationally recognized Investors, Fund Managers, & Founders.
Dr. Arzu Ozoguz
Clinical Associate Professor of Finance, UNC Kenan-Flagler
Ashley Flucas
Founder and General Partner, Flucas Ventures
Bahiyah Yasmeen Robinson
Founder & CEO, VC Include
Brad Feld
Cofounder, Foundry Group; Cofounder/Author, “The Startup Community Way: Evolving an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem” (Wiley)
Brandon Andrews
Cofounder, Value Partnerships
Bridget Chisholm
National Chair of Economic Development, The Links, Incorporated
Carmen Mays
Founder & CEO, Elevators
Chinedu Enekwe
Founding Partner, Fluxbook Ventures
Dave Parker
Serial Entrepreneur; Managing Director, DKParker LLC
David Weild IV
Former Vice Chairman of Nasdaq; Founder, Chairman & CEO of Weild & Co. Inc.
Davyean Ross
Cofounder & President, ShotTracker, Inc.
Dr. Dell Gines
Lead Community Development Advisor, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
Derrick Williams
Chief Financial Officer, Acuity; Founder & Principal, Williams & Williams Financial LLC
Devin W. Blackburn
Senior Vice President, Northern Trust Wealth Management
Donald Hawkins
Cofounder & CEO, KINLY (fmr First Boulevard)
Edward Maydew
David E. Hoffman Distinguished Professor of Accounting & Senior Executive Director of the UNC Tax Center
Emmit McHenry
CEO, NAE Holdings; Founder, Chairman & CEO, Netcom Solutions International, Inc.; Chairman, Archura LLC
Jervis Hough
Senior Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer, Blaylock Van LLC
Kimberly Jeffries Leonard, Ph.D
National President, The Links, Incorporated
Kisha Ward
Founder, R. Ward & Co; Tax Senior Manager, EY
Luke Cooper
CEO and Founder, FAT
Marcia Bowden
CEO, Point Group Enterprise; Co-Chair, Links Economic Empowerment Platform
Marcus Shaw
CEO, ALT Finance Corporation / ALTFinance’s
Marlon Nichols
Managing General Partner, MaC Venture Capital
Martha Legg Miller
Inaugural Director of the SEC’s Small Business Advocacy Office
McKeever (Mac) Conwell II
Founder & Managing Partner, Rarebreed Ventures
Nasir C. Qadree
Founder & Managing Partner, Zeal Capital Partners
Nick Jean-Baptiste
Founding Partner, Jacmel Growth Partners
Rodney Sampson
General Partner, SBC Black Angels & Allen Fund; Executive Chairman & CEO, Opportunity Hub
Scott Albert
Cofounder & Managing Partner, Nasdaq Funds; Angel Investor, Kenan-Flagler Professor of Practice
Scott Maucere
CEO, PushtoStart; Managing Member, Maucere Law Group
Sherrell Dorsey
Founder, Publisher, and CEO, The PLUG
The Links remain committed to our wealth building initiative in partnership with Opportunity Hub and 100 Black Angels and Allies Fund this includes syndicate investments via LEEP (The Links Economic Empowerment Platform), Black College Initiatives, Talent Partnerships with tech companies, and this very important collaborative.
We believe the more Black men, women, and institutions that are specifically educated on how to properly invest in this growing asset class- we will together help narrow the gap in early-stage capital that goes to Black fund managers, Founders, and ecosystem building organizations.
Kimberly Jeffries Leonard, P.h.D., The Links, Incorporated National President
As we know the future is diverse, and the new ideas, novel perspectives you know, the future product, services, and markets that we’re going to see in the coming years- they’re going to be invented by a much more diverse set of Black, Latinx, [and] female founders and we’re going to need more investors in the ecosystem that know how to play the entrepreneurship game- that have learned the lessons about how to become an angel investor and finance and help, support and mentor the next generation of entrepreneurs.
Charles (Chuck) Eesley, Stanford, Associate Professor and W.M. Keck Foundation Faculty Scholar in the Department of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University.
The mission of OHUB, the work of Rodney, and the certificate program are very much centered on how we get the private sector working for the public good and specifically for businesses that need capital-for Black and Brown businesses that need capital… To partner with him(Rodney) and OHUB on the certificate program- it’s the type of work we love to do. We can’t imagine having a better partner and really feel blessed to be in this relationship.”
Distinguished Professor of Finance, Sarah Graham Kenan Distinguished Scholar and Executive Director of the Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise