Inside America's Most Elite Entrepreneur Organization

Becoming an entrepreneur is a career path more young people are seeking out than ever before. It’s not a path everyone excels or succeeds at, yet many colleges now offer students the option to major or minor in entrepreneurship. With it being such a highly sought-after career track, there are plenty of organizations for entrepreneurs to join and network with fellow entrepreneurs.

I want to talk about just one: The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), probably the most exclusive and elite of those organizations.

As a member of the YEC, I can share some of what goes on inside — but not everything.

Below is a sneak peek into America’s most elite entrepreneur organization.

What is the YEC?

The YEC was founded in 2010 by Scott Gerber, who came up with the idea after his first business tanked. He felt that if he’d had a group of peers to help him with that first venture, he might have been more successful — so the idea for a vetted, invite-only membership organization formed.

From its private mobile app allowing members to be even more connected no matter where they are, to the plans to provide even more deals, discounts and high-touch mastermind opportunities to hundreds (and eventually thousands) of businesses and service providers, the YEC today offers its members incredible advantages.

Plus, as a nonprofit organization, participating in the YEC means I get to give back through the YEC’s mission for social impact — which is to empower other young entrepreneurs by giving them the tools and resources they need to grow their business, expand their knowledge, and connect to some of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world.

In just the two years the YEC has existed, it has already managed to accomplish more than organizations that have been around for decades, from creating a virtual mentorship program that helps 50,000 young people a month to leading the grassroots #FixYoungAmerica campaign to end youth unemployment. Our last in-person mentorship event was co-hosted by the White House.

Heck, the YEC was even invited to close down the stock market one day during Entrepreneur month!

What makes it so elite?

The YEC is not an organization you can apply to join.

The only way in to the YEC is through a referral by a current member or by a wish-list recommendation from multiple members. Members are only given a limited number of invites, forcing them use them very selectively. In two years, more than 11,000 people have tried to join — but only slightly more than 400 made the cut.

YEC’s members, all under the age of 40, include the leaders behind some of the most buzz-worthy startups in the world, like Reddit, Klout, Airbnb, LivingSocial, 2tor, Rent the Runway, Threadless and KISSMetrics. They have created hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, tens of thousands of jobs, and are owners of companies in all industries and areas of the U.S. Many have exited or are en route to IPO.

And because the YEC acts as a concierge service for members, I get to connect with these people directly. The YEC opens a lot of doors.

The press opportunities alone are insane — I’ve been mentioned in almost every major publication there is since I joined. As a result, my personal brand has grown immensely; I now have over 12,000 Twitter followers, thanks in large part to the networking and outreach I’ve done through the YEC. This has helped me build credibility for other recognition, like my spot on the Inc. 30 Under 30 list.

Personally, I would never have started Ciplex (and bootstrapped it to success) without the support of my own mentor — so I know that what happens when you put this much knowledge and success together truly cannot be explained. I get to have 400 awesome entrepreneur-mentors a phone call or Facebookmessage away. Being surrounded by some of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs every day, and knowing they have my back, creates a drive to succeed unlike any other.

What makes it unique?

Though the exclusivity of the YEC is a big part of what separates the YEC from other entrepreneur organizations, there are several other factors as well.

While the members may be successes in their given field, when given access to other successful people across different business backgrounds, the opportunity for innovative collaborations is remarkable. This is something that I think makes the community at the YEC so special.

That brings me to another factor — community management. YEC’s staff members are highly connected and influential in their own spaces. Ryan Paugh, co-founder and Chief of Staff, has been instrumental in building the YEC community — you might know his name already. He co-founded and successfully built out the community at Brazen Careerist.

Ryan and the team make sure I am not just another face in the crowd of countless members. I can’t tell you how many times YEC members have mentored me through issues I thought couldn’t be solved at all, or how many times the community team has connected me to resources I couldn’t access alone.

I’ve formed major partnerships with other YEC member businesses, largely because of the YEC team knows how to connect me to the right people. I’ve met and been mentored by inspiring, influential people. And when I travel, I ping the group first — YEC members I’ve never met welcome me as if I were family.

In the startup world, people refer to the group as the “YEC mafia” because members are so well connected. Inside the organization, though, it’s just the YEC family.

Being a young startup founder can be hard, especially if you have success. What CEO or founder wouldn’t kill to have a second family like the YEC?