Embedding entrepreneurs in collaborative, long-term programs accelerates revenue growth, job creation and leadership development. Unsplash+
For decades, U.S. economic development has leaned heavily on one-off grants, subsidies and incentive packages. While these tools inject capital, they rarely provide the long-term scaffolding small businesses need to thrive. Cohort-based programs like Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses (10KSB) are redefining the landscape, trading transactional aid for transformational, community-driven growth models that emphasize peer support, continuity and applied learning.
How cohort models foster success
Unlike one-off grants, cohort programs embed entrepreneurs in structured peer-learning environments. This distinction matters. Peer-to-peer education and mentorship can build accountability and accelerate real-world application of business strategies. Rather than offering capital in isolation, these programs combine coursework, advising and alumni networks to create durable growth engines. The outcomes stand out. According to the 10KSB’s program 2024 Impact Report, 67 percent of participants increased revenues within six months, and 44 percent created new jobs, results that far outpace the national survival growth and survival rates for small businesses. The U.S. Small Business Administration notes that only about half of all small businesses survive beyond five years.
“The cohort-based model creates a learning environment that fosters peer support, accountability and dynamic exchange of ideas,” said Sandra Mejia, alumni manager at the 10KSB New York program site hosted at LaGuardia Community College. “The cohort structure promotes sustained growth by combining education, business advising and a supportive peer community.” For Dr. Sheetal Desai, CEO of Dynamic Physical Therapy & Rehab Servicesthe shared environment was pivotal: “Being in a room of entrepreneurs from diverse industries who shared similar challenges helped me feel less isolated. The collaborative environment sparked both innovation and confidence. It shifted my mindset from local operator to visionary leader.”
Others echoed the same theme. Mary Piven, CEO of Clean2cleana woman-owned commercial cleaning company, said, “I developed close connections that I know will last well beyond graduation. It wasn’t just about business development—it was about personal transformation.” Alice Kim, founder of PerfectDDa fuller-bust inclusive fashion brand, noted that 14 weeks of structured in-person work allowed “me to step out of my day-to-day and see my business through fresh eyes.” Fernanda Daudt, founder of Atelier time, which employs migrant artisan women in Brazil to create upcycled leather bags, highlighted how it sharpened her vision: “Before 10KSB, I didn’t think I fully realized what I had accomplished. The program gave me the tools to see my company’s value and a path to improve organizational gaps while aiming much higher than I imagined.”
Sam Silverman, founder of BagelUpsummed up the difference: “Outside these walls, a lot of the fellow small business owners that I interact with on a regular basis are either competitors or clients, so it’s difficult to completely lift the veil. In this environment, we can be totally open, honest, and vulnerable. The relationships built in this cohort feel like a long-term support network I can lean on well beyond when the program ends.”
Olga González, founder of Pietra Communications and 10KSB alumna, at work with her team. For González, the program’s structured peer learning mirrored the precision of her own craft: building strategy and the confidence to scale with intention. PATRICK T. FALLON
Survival rates and capital access, the broader context
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that only 25 percent of small businesses survive 15 years or more. Access to capital remains one of the top barriers: minority-owned companies, for instance, are significantly less likely to receive bank loans, and when they do, they receive smaller amounts at higher interest rates. Cohort-based models help level this asymmetry by pairing entrepreneurs with pathways to funding. 10KSB alumni have accessed more than $1 billion in capital since the program’s inception. This is sticky or stable capital, deployed with guidance, informed by strategy and supported by peer networks that help ensure its impact lasts.
The broader training ecosystem underscores why this model resonates. The U.S. business coaching sector, which underpins the methodology of cohort-based programs like 10KSB, has grown to $20 billionwith more than 75,000 enterprises. Meanwhile, business certification and IT schools, a parallel training ecosystem, expanded at a 7.6 percent CAGR between 2020 and 2025driven by demand for upskilling in fields such as A.I. and cybersecurity. Both industries point to a growing preference for structured learning and networks over unstructured financial aid alone.
Entrepreneurs credit these environments with changing the trajectory of their businesses. Sasha Millstein, founder of Aunt Ethel’s Pot Piesbuilt a data-driven roadmap that cut costs by over 35 percent: “It shifted my mindset from ‘we need more sales to survive’ to ‘we can engineer profitability and scale strategically.’” Deb Flashenberg, founder of the Prenatal Yoga Centernoted that the program “reinvigorated” her at a moment of burnout: “I got excited again to see what changes I could make, not just to revenue but to the whole culture of my company.” And Yasiris Ortiz, founder of Spin & Learna Bronx-based youth development nonprofit integrating table tennis with academics, emphasized leadership lessons: “Scaling isn’t just about numbers—it’s about people, values and building a strong culture. That shifted the way I see growth.”
Andrew Ingkavet, founder of the Musicolor Method and 10KSB alumnus, with students at a recital. Like his teaching method, the cohort-based model emphasizes structure, creativity and community. Megan Proctor
Why traditional models fall short
Traditional economic development strategies—tax abatements, municipal grants, isolated accelerators—often fail for one reason: they don’t provide continuity. Once funds are spent, entrepreneurs are left to navigate systemic barriers alone. Fragmented, competitive coaching and training markets face high churn without embedded communities.
By contrast, cohort-based designs sustain momentum through layered support, combining education, networks and capital access. Cathy Hobbs, Emmy Award-winning TV host and CEO of Cathy Hobbs Design Recipesa leading home staging firm, described her experience as “almost like a mini MBA,” adding: “The 10KSB program has taught me that truly no dream is too big. In many ways, I am just getting started!” Andrew Ingkavet, founder of the Musicolor Methodcontrasted it with other initiatives he’d tried. “This program was different. It is comprehensive, strategic and offers a truly holistic approach to building a successful, sustainable business. It’s not about turning you into something you’re not, it’s about helping you grow into the leader your business needs.”
Other participants noted how the structure unlocked scalability. Shabbir Arif, owner of Sign Forest Hillssaid it reframed his vision “from incremental growth to strategic expansion.” Lorenzo Graziano, CEO of Jewel Precision, described the experience as foundational: “This is the gold standard. The detail and dedication the program takes with each cohort member is life-changing.” Segun Olaniyi, CEO of Priority Group Serviceswhich provides staffing and home care solutions, pointed to “The financials and growth planning sprints forced discipline: margin math by line of business, contract-by-contract scorecards, and weekly operating rhythms. It reframed us from hustling contracts to productizing our contracting capability.”
City-level shifts and the stakes ahead
At the city level, the implications are clear. Small businesses accounted for 55 percent of total job creation between 2013 and 2023, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Yet metro areas with uneven access to training and financing see higher closure rates, deepening local inequality. Cohort-based programs operate as micro-clusters of resilience, seeding not just individual growth, but citywide economic spillovers.
The difference is visible: 10KSB alumni businesses report revenue growth rates outpacing the national average for small firms, and 63 percent of graduates have hired additional staffdirectly countering local job losses. As Millstein put it, “The program gave me the tools and confidence to scale with intention—so our growth is now strategic and margin-focused, not just reactive.”
Members of Cohort 45 of Goldman Sachs 10KSB. The program aims to trade isolation for accountability and growth fueled by shared experience. Courtesy Olga González
A blueprint for the future
As a scholar of Cohort 45, I experienced the program as both participant and observer. With a background in art connoisseurship, I was struck by how much the 10KSB program resembled curating a collection: each entrepreneur was selected with intention, not by chance. The group was comprised of business owners at an inflection point, each with the potential to scale, and the program’s advisors worked to draw out and support that potential.
The cohort was diverse in industry and approach, yet what stood out was the common thread of persistence and commitment to growth. The program’s modular structure reinforced this: beyond financials and strategy, it consistently pushed participants to step back, assess their role as founders and refine how they worked on their businesses rather than just in them.
For many participants, the transformation goes beyond strategy or balance sheets. Rena Paul, founder of The Paul Firm, reflected: “I came to the program thinking I would learn the ‘hard skills,’ which we did, but from the beginning, there was a focus on the founder. This course has taken me from being an owner-operator of a business to learning how to work on the business and not in the business.”
The impact was both practical and lasting. The mix of structured learning and peer accountability helped clarify growth opportunities while surfacing blind spots. The experience highlighted how intentional design—in the form of curriculum, advising and peer exchange—creates the conditions for sustained business growth.
As policymakers and business leaders debate how to revitalize local economies, cohort-based models provide a clear lesson: survival and growth are not guaranteed by capital alone. They require skills, networks and sustained peer accountability. Cohort models—through their mix of education, funding access and alumni collaboration—offer a blueprint for scaling businesses and, in the process, reimagining economic development itself.
What emerges are not just stronger businesses but stronger leaders, equipped to build cultures, chart visions and inspire those who will carry their companies forward.
