We're eight-plus weeks into the program. Our biggest outcome thus far has been how hard the cohort has "leaned into" the program. Catherine wrote a post on this, and the behavior has continued, much to our delight.

Last week, we held the fourth JuntoClass on the topic of Growth Financing. Jason Henrichs, a serial entrepreneur and angel investor, led the session, covering everything from debt and equity financing, to valuation and options, to term sheets and participation rights. One of the biggest challenges of this class is catering to the different experiences and plans with regards to funding that the JuntoIII companies have.

Three of the companies are bootstrapped while two others have already raised a seed round. Of the bootstrapped companies, one has plans for outside financing only to manage cash flow fluctuations (likely to be funded by bank loans), another is curious about equity and debt, and the other believes it will need to raise a non-seed angel round or perhaps a series A institutional round. Of the two that have already raised a round, only one is planning for a Series A.

Amazingly, yet unsurprisingly, Jason met the challenge, as evidenced by the evaluations. We're delighted to announce that Remo Picchietti has joined the JuntoTeam on a full-time basis.

Remo brings a wealth of entrepreneurial and global operating experience in manufacturing, transportation, supply chain, logistics, and services. He has served as a JuntoMentor since our launch, and has been on the JuntoGlobal Advisory Committee since last fall.

Remo's role will be to help Junto grow by recruiting qualified companies, pursuing expansion opportunities, building the strength of the Tribe, and helping us maintain high operating standards. His affable nature, deep yet broad experience, and intimacy with Junto will all be an asset to our growth plans.

See our blog post welcoming Remo for more on his background. The early deadline for JuntoGlobal applications was April 17 and we received submissions from countries including Australia, Egypt, Jordan, India, Israel, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Serbia, and United Arab Emirates. We're grateful to the JuntoGlobal Advisory Committee and many partners (accelerators, incubators, publications, venture funds, and trade groups) who have helped spread the word about the program.

We're in process of interviewing the qualified applicants via Skype, after which we'll extend invitations to the most qualified to join the inaugural cohort. The late deadline for applications is May 15 for remaining slots.

With ten Alumni, five Apprentices, and many Mentors and Instructors who are running companies and hiring, there is an increasing number of job openings in the Junto family. We're pleased to market those to the Chicago community through a new page on our web site. The page will be updated on a weekly basis. For JuntoIII, we introduced a new buddy system where each Apprentice company is matched up with 1-2 Alumni companies. The purpose is for the Apprentices to learn how to optimize the program and the Tribe for their benefit. It's a casual, peer-to-peer mentoring program of sorts and will help strengthen the connections between our multiple cohorts. We're grateful to all the participating Alumni who are volunteering their time as a JuntoBuddy.
[null, null, null, {"document_url": "http://www.thejuntoinstitute.com/blog/2015/4/20/insidejunto", "unformatted_src": "https://static1.squarespace.com/static/50994637e4b0c4855be1d4b1/t/553f6dabe4b0cd6f7f71c55a/1430220311035/remo+picchietti+junto.jpg", "src": "https://static1.squarespace.com/static/50994637e4b0c4855be1d4b1/t/553f6dabe4b0cd6f7f71c55a/1430220311035/remo+picchietti+junto.jpg", "formatted_filename": "remo picchietti junto", "alt_text": "remo picchietti junto.jpg"}, null, {"document_url": "http://www.thejuntoinstitute.com/blog/2015/4/20/insidejunto", "unformatted_src": "https://static1.squarespace.com/static/50994637e4b0c4855be1d4b1/t/553b83cee4b05ab385de3962/1429964964824/JuntoGlobal.jpg", "src": "https://static1.squarespace.com/static/50994637e4b0c4855be1d4b1/t/553b83cee4b05ab385de3962/1429964964824/JuntoGlobal.jpg", "formatted_filename": "JuntoGlobal", "alt_text": "JuntoGlobal.jpg"}, null, null, null]