Built by vet founders, for vet founders
Veteran entrepreneurship has three honest paths.
Small Business. Startup. Nonprofit. Five minutes will tell you which one fits.
Free. No signup to start the assessment. 94 programs tracked and counting.
Monday Deadlines
The week's grant deadlines, accelerator cycles, and SBIR cycles in your inbox every Monday at 6am ET. Pick your path. Free.
The thesis
Three paths, not one curriculum.
Most vet entrepreneurship programs teach small business, startup, and nonprofit as one thing. Same pitch deck template for a services firm and a hardware startup. Same fundraising track for a SaaS founder and a 501(c)(3) executive director. Same loan product recommended to a franchise buyer and a mission-driven social enterprise.
That's wrong, and it costs you time.
A Provider's first year is selling. A Builder's first year is customer discovery. A Mission Continuer's first year is forming a 501(c)(3) and writing the first grant. Different jobs in a different order. The right resources for one path are the wrong resources for the next.
Year-one priority order
- 1Get certified (SDVOSB if eligible, otherwise VOSB)
- 2Land your first paying customers
- 3Open the SBA 7(a) Veterans Advantage facility if you need capital
- 4Hire your first employee
- 5Build past-performance record for federal contracting
Year-one priority order
- 1Validate the problem with 20+ customer discovery interviews
- 2Build the minimum thing that tests your solution
- 3Submit SBIR Phase I (DoD, NIH, NSF, depending on tech)
- 4Iterate on product with real users
- 5Decide on Phase II, seed round, or revenue bootstrap
Year-one priority order
- 1File Form 1023-EZ or 1023 for 501(c)(3) determination
- 2Recruit a working board with real expertise
- 3Send Letter of Inquiry to your first foundation
- 4Deliver a pilot program at small scale
- 5Apply for CFC participation in year three
Read across the rows. Nothing matches. That's the point. LaunchVets is organized by which of the three paths you're actually on.
Pick the path you're actually on.
Or take the five-minute assessment if you're not sure which one fits.
The Provider's Path
"Find a comfortable path to supporting your family."
Build a business that supports your family with autonomy and reasonable risk. Services, contracting, and franchises.
The Builder's Path
"Explore a problem. Validate a solution. Test. Iterate."
Explore a problem you see clearly. Build the solution. Hardware, software, defense tech, and the long arc.
The Mission Continuer's Path
"The mission didn't end when you took off the uniform."
Stand up an organization to serve people and a cause you care about. Direct service, education, social enterprise.
Open right now
A handful of programs accepting applications across the three paths. See all 94 in the library.
SBA Office of Veterans Business Development
Service-disabled veteran (10%+ rating) with 51%+ ownership and control of the business. Self-certification ended in 2026 — SBA VetCert is now the only path.
Department of Defense
Small businesses (<500 employees) with majority US ownership; Phase I funds feasibility studies.
Bob Woodruff Foundation
501(c)(3) organizations serving post-9/11 vets in employment, education, rehabilitation, recovery.
From the founder
Built by someone who's bootstrapping a company right now.
LaunchVets is founded and edited by Steven Kelly, a Navy veteran. CPA, MBA from Tuck. Co-founded a behavioral healthcare company that raised $38.2M and was acquired. Currently bootstrapping two consumer product companies and a SaaS company.
Nothing on this site is a polished marketing version. The work is hard. The runway is real.
Why three paths and not one?
Most vet entrepreneur sites pick a lane and ignore the others. We don't. A Provider isn't a Builder who didn't make it. A Mission Continuer isn't a Provider with bad financial discipline. They're separate paths, with separate infrastructure, capital sources, and failure modes.
Read the cornerstone guide →