Re: [businessnetwork-139] Institutionalizing Entrepreneurship at Columbia

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Tony Bacigalupo

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Jun 24, 2009, 3:42:50 PM6/24/09
to Darrell Silver, runwayprojectorganizers
Darrell,

Yeah, this sounds really cool! Perhaps we can get Runway Project involved in some capacity.

T


On Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 3:35 PM, Darrell Silver <dar...@darrellsilver.com> wrote:
This reminds me of what you're doing w/ Project Runway... I wonder if there's any overlap.

D


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From: Matt Mireles <mattm...@gmail.com>
Date: June 24, 2009 2:07:26 PM EDT
Subject: [businessnetwork-139] Institutionalizing Entrepreneurship at Columbia

Howdy BVCers,

I've had this idea percolating in my head for a while and I wanted to share it with you all. I'd love to hear your thoughts....

At Stanford, ambitious grads pursue adventure and join a startup. At Columbia, they go into i-banking. Given the regulatory and larger economic  changes facing both the financial services industry and the broader US economy––and because I think doing a startup is a lot cooler than ibanking––we should try to change this. And the way I think we can do this is to work with the university to create a quick-and-dirty summer training program in entrepreneurship and business management at Columbia, aimed squarely at the business neophyte and open to non-MBA grad students and undergrads of all stripes.

I actually attended a program very much along these lines at the Stanford Graduate School of Business right after I graduated. It was called the Summer Institute for General Management.  I can't say enough good things about the program. It was amazing.

The key thing about the Stanford program that I would love to see replicated at Columbia is that it not only introduced people to the basic tools and mindset of business in a very user-friendly way (accounting, marketing, strategy, HR, etc), but the organizers brought in all these entrepreneurs and startup CEOs and had them give these really inspiring and fun presentations about their businesses and how they got started. Interacting with these entrepreneurs not only made the idea of starting a company feel so much more attainable, but it also instilled in us the idea that startups aren't just business opportunities, they're adventures, with all the sexiness and fun and risk that accompanies such things. And if we're going to turn Columbia into a more entrepreneurially-minded school, this last part has gotta be a big part of the equation. 

I don't know what Mark and the other VCs/angels out there think of this idea, but riffing off the recent (and very awesome) VC bootcamp that DFJ Gotham put on at Columbia, I could even see a 5-week training program like this culminate in a day-long pitching contest to an assortment of venture investors, including folks like DFJ Gotham. Not only would it be a great venue for investors to be exposed to new opportunities, but it would also be the perfect way for innovators to learn about the entrepreneurial process and become more attractive investment prospects themselves. We're talking win-win here. 

Plus, from Columbia's perspective, I can only imagine that––over the long term––the entrepreneurial ventures that come out of a program like this would generate huge amounts of ROI, goodwill, and could, if one or more of those companies becomes the next Google (or scaled down version thereof), open up a firehose of cash into the university's coffers. Teach a man to fish and he'll reward you with lots of fishes when he hauls in a big catch.

I'm even thinking that the seed money for a venture like this could come from a combination of outside organizations like the Kauffman Foundation as well as from entrepreneurs inside the Columbia almuni community. 

Thoughts, anyone?

-Matt Mireles
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Matt Mireles






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