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Working with entrepreneurs on writing business plans to finding affordable office space and everything in-between is big business. And, as with most services, they vary in value and effectiveness.

But venture firm Highland Capital Partners (Boston and Silicon Valley) is doing something different. Instead of charging the promising entrepreneurs they pay them.

“The program was designed as a sort of summer camp for entrepreneurs. Open to undergrad and graduate students, it offered aspiring entrepreneurs a $7,500 stipend, free office space, and access to Highland’s staff and outside contacts.”

The greatest value to the entrepreneurs isn’t the cost or the pay, but Highland’s knowledge and network.

Last year, “Michael Sullivan was trying to figure out how to add some mojo to his startup. As a graduate student in applied mathematics at Harvard, Sullivan had co-founded Affine Systems in 2006 with classmate Bobby Impollonia. Working out of their homes, the two computer whizzes had whipped up a software program to let media companies know if their copyrighted videos show up on the Internet.”

Anyone who follows the news knows that copyright on the Net is beyond hot.

So what did Sullivan and his partner get out of their ten weeks?

Highland’s partners helped Affine craft a business strategy, land their first test customers, and hire two senior executives. Ultimately, last winter, Highland put venture money into Affine, one of two companies in the program to get funding.

Highland isn’t the only program, Lightspeed Venture Partners (Silicon Valley) also runs a camp as do several other VCs. As with conventional startups, not all attendees’ ideas fly, but that’s OK, the connection is made and the next idea could be the next big thing.

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