While the military focuses on leadership development, entrepreneurship is not a top priority, says General John W. Nicholson Jr., a retired four-star general who last commanded U.S. Forces in Afghanistan and NATO’s Resolute Support Mission.Nicholson, who now serves as the president of the PenFed Foundation, a Washington, DC-based non-profit, talks about the value of providing seed capital to veterans who want to become entrepreneurs.A. Age is one thing.
Our goal is to select about 20 companies per year for a one-year period to help incubate them and get started. At the end, we select a handful and give loans of up to US$300,000 for their businesses. Then they repay loan, and we reinvest the money in another veteran entrepreneur's business.A. When we think of the military, we think of someone pulling a trigger, flying a jet or firing a missile.
Q. Veterans are 30per cent more likely to employ other veterans, according to your web site. Why is that?