Startup Boot Camps Seek Digital Entrepreneurs

Business accelerators are a digital age phenomenon that has been spreading across the U.S. in recent years. They allow entrepreneurs to work with groups of mentors and peers to shorten the length of time from startup to viable digital age business.

Among those businesses that have benefited from accelerators are a service to help indie filmmakers distribute their movies and merchandise online, and a company that makes iPhone apps.

Unlike traditional business incubators, in which companies can share offices for years, accelerators are structured like camp sessions designed to turn inchoate ideas into prototypes or market-ready products in a matter of months. "Between where you come into the program and where you leave, there should be an exponential level of growth," says Kerry Rupp, managing partner of DreamIt Ventures, a four-year-old accelerator in Philadelphia. — Business Week