Let's scout collegiate entrepreneurs the way the NFL scouts future players

By Scott Kirsner, Globe Columnist

This week's Boston Globe column suggests that we need to think differently about identifying high-potential entrepreneurs while they're in college. What if we created a Massachusetts Founders League that inducted 100 new students each year, and helped them in all kinds of ways, from funding to office space to visas to mentorship? (Thanks to Quintin Adamis for the playful logo at right.)

There are a number of great programs in this vein already (such as RoughDraft.vc and MassDigi's Summer Innovation Program), but nothing that acts as a comprehensive scouting program across all industries, covering the entire state.

The opening:

With the National Football League’s draft ­approaching next month, you can bet that every team has carefully constructed its list of the most promising college players they hope to add to their rosters.

What if Massachusetts devoted the same resources to scouting the next generation of entrepreneurs as NFL teams devote to finding their next great wide receiver? (The Patriots alone have 21 employees focused solely on identifying and cultivating future players.) Entrepreneurs, after all, can have a far bigger impact on the local economy than football stars, no matter how many seats they fill or jerseys they sell.

I’ve been brainstorming lately about how a scouting program might operate, soliciting input from entrepreneurs who got their educations here, as well as start-up coaches like Katie Rae of TechStars Boston and Jeffrey Bussgang of Flybridge Capital Partners. Here’s how we might identify high-potential future founders, and also what we’d do once we identified them.

Here's some of the Twitter conversation that the column sparked. I'm also interested in your comments below. How would you try to identify the top future entrepreneurs? What should we do for them?