About us
RVA Works connects, inspires, educates, and empowers entrepreneurs!
RVA Works holds public events, provides cohort-based business acceleration. Through our Open Trellis technology emerging entrepreneurs attend educational events, receive business advice, credit counseling, and referrals to lenders.
RVA Works is also a promotional partner for 1 Million Cups events, a national program of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation that is designed to help entrepreneurs identify opportunities and overcome challenges.
In Richmond, Virginia the Robins Entrepreneur Series (formerly 1 Million Cups) is hosted by the Robins School of Business, University of Richmond, and pro bono events are offered on a hybrid basis to benefit those outside of our region.
RVA Works Enterprise Support is an independent Virginia public charity that supports this series and other free, public events through promotional support. Open Trellis, Inc is a technology firm that supports entrepreneurs through education, mentorship, and financial serices.
Speakers include entrepreneurs and those creating systems that support them. These entrepreneurs share their individual stories and motivation, their business model, and their growth strategy. Plus, attendees work to find ways that we can help the speaker.
Entrepreneurship provides society a way to change the economy and cultivate social impact through inclusion. The entrepreneurs who participate in our programming span industry sector, experience and education level, age groups, and ethnicity.
Join us, and learn more...
Upcoming events
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Vernon T. Foster II, Founder & Influencer
·HybridRobins School of Business, Univ. of Richmond, 1 Gateway Road, Rm 224, Richmond, VA, USThe Fall 2026 Robins Entrepreneur Series rolls on — and next up...
Some founders build a product. A few build something rarer: influence that opens doors most people never even see. 🎙️
We're hosting someone who's made that his entire craft.
👉 Vernon T. Foster II — 3x founder, 2x author - joins us Friday, September 25th.
Vernon has spent 15 years building communities, agencies, and media — from pioneering Orlando's dance music scene to launching one of the first podcast agencies for small and midsize businesses.
Today he runs two ventures at once: Growth Dinners, an invite-only community for founders past $1M in revenue, and WebinarRev, which helps B2B companies turn presentations into real pipeline.
He also hosts the Rooms of Influence podcast, documenting how founders and builders create disproportionate influence — the kind that compounds. His work's been featured in Entrepreneur, Built In, and The Good Men Project.
Here's what we'll get into:
🔹 How to build community as a real growth engine — not just an audience
🔹 Turning content and presentations into pipeline and revenue
🔹 What "disproportionate influence" actually means, and how founders earn it
🔹 The reality of running multiple ventures at onceWhether you're building a startup, a personal brand, or a book of business, this is a rare look at how modern founders turn attention into opportunity.
Quick question for the builders here: what's done more for your growth — the product itself, or the community around it? Curious where people land. 👇
📍 EY Innovation Lab, Robins School of Business, University of Richmond
🗓️ Friday, September 25th, 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM📖 Full Fall 2026 lineup: https://robins.richmond.edu/professional-experiential/career/events/entrepreneur-series.html
The Discussion. This series of hybrid events is perfect for budding entrepreneurs, experienced executive mentors cultivating an entrepreneurial mindset, early-stage investors, and students exploring innovative product design.
At each session, business founders serve as guest speakers share about their career, their firm's business model, as well as the successes and challenges in the product development process. Participants learn from the speakers’ experiences, discuss valuable insights, and connect with other entrepreneurs, students, faculty, and investors.
Logistics. A light lunch is served, as entrepreneurs connect with one another, learn from peers, and contribute to the conversation:
- Friday, Sept 25, 2026
- 11:30am EST - Coffee & Connection
- 12:00pm - 1:00pm EST - Presentation & Discussion
No pre-registration is required. Join us:
Robins School of Business
102 UR Drive, iLab Room 123
University of Richmond, VA 23173Parking. Free parking is available in the U5 and U6 lots immediately adjacent to the Robins School. Please enter the main foyer, turn to the left and proceed to room 123 (EY Innovation Lab) on the ground floor.
Please note that visitors have a two-hour parking window.
Please sign in when you enter the room, providing your license plate number.
On Zoom Webinar:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86930744337?pwd=Yb4mzm4hNYboKII0f94aFbo4wVRnSz5 attendees
Past events
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