Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Park Fellowship Alumni Dinner in NYC
March 13th. On the bus to New York City for the annual Park alumni dinner. The Park alumni meet every year in New York City to do a service project and share dinner. Just a quick up and back. We left at noon today and will be back by 1pm tomorrow. Ah, the life of a jet-setter.
Mid-Term Business Plan Presentation
March 12th. This Friday, my group presented the current status of our business plan start-up to a panel of two professors and a Cornell entrepreneur. We are working on a Cornell technology that can be used to measure the health and production of grape vines - to help vineyards that grow wines.
Although we had a deck of slides, this quickly turned into a typical VC pitch, in that we made it through barely one slide before we had a barrage of questions about our plans. It quickly turned into more of a conversation than a presentation – which is fine by me.
The liked our idea so I’m happy...
Although we had a deck of slides, this quickly turned into a typical VC pitch, in that we made it through barely one slide before we had a barrage of questions about our plans. It quickly turned into more of a conversation than a presentation – which is fine by me.
The liked our idea so I’m happy...
Leveraged Buyouts Class
March 7th. Spent the entire weekend (Saturday and Sunday from 9-5!) in a leveraged buyouts class. We focused on building LBO spreadsheet models and understanding how doing a leverage buyout would impact your balance sheet. Was taught by an instructor from Wall Street Prep. Very practical training for the spreadsheet inclined.
SGE Club Retreat
February 28th. The officers of the SGE Club and the different Affinity Groups met at Mark Milstein's house this weekend to talk over our agenda. Mark heads the Sustainable Global Enterprise Program at Johnson with his wife Monica Tousnard.
We talked about goals for the upcoming year and ways to improve. We split into three groups to work on different areas.
We had a potluck lunch that was fantastic too...
We talked about goals for the upcoming year and ways to improve. We split into three groups to work on different areas.
We had a potluck lunch that was fantastic too...
Entrepreneurship & Venture Capital Club
February 15th. I am an officer in the EVCC club. I was elected to handle the Entrepreneurship@Cornell symposium. E@C is a big three day event held in April that brings together the entrepreneurship community from across Cornell - current and past. Johnson is responsible for putting on four panels. The EVCC club handles two and the SGE (Sustainable Global Enterprise) Club handles another two. Our panels are "Bootstrapping" (how to start a company with just your own personal resources) and "Young Entrepreneurs." The SGE Club is doing a panel on "Sustainable Investing" and "Turning Rubbish into Products."
We finally agreed on a theme that encompasses all of these items: "Beating the Odds: Big Payouts from unconventional Strategies". Next up is doing the marketing for our panels and the conference as a whole.
We finally agreed on a theme that encompasses all of these items: "Beating the Odds: Big Payouts from unconventional Strategies". Next up is doing the marketing for our panels and the conference as a whole.
Reaching Out MBA Conference
February 7th. Continuing my LGBT interest, I spent the weekend in Los Angeles with Reaching Out (www.reachingoutmba.org). Reaching Out is the annual national conference for LGBT MBA students. We meet every October. Last year's conference had about 1000 participants (60% MBAs & 40% alums/professionals). Every year they have a major job fair with all the big banks, consulting firms, and marketing firms that typically hire MBAs.
I am one of the organizers of next year's conference that will be held in Los Angeles. We spent the weekend hearing from last year's organizers and also from the Board which consists of organizers from other years. The conference started in 1999.
I am on the sponsorship committee and we are looking to raise about half a million dollars to run the conference.
I am one of the organizers of next year's conference that will be held in Los Angeles. We spent the weekend hearing from last year's organizers and also from the Board which consists of organizers from other years. The conference started in 1999.
I am on the sponsorship committee and we are looking to raise about half a million dollars to run the conference.
Out For Business (LGBT club at Johnson)
February 1st. I'm one of the new co-Presidents of the Out for Business group which is the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and transgendered) group at Johnson. We've got a solid group at Johnson between those that identify as LGBT and supporters.
At the first meeting of 2010, we decided that we were going to work on a number of items including: 1) hosting a Sage Social, 2) running a panel discussion of specific LGBT issues and how they relate to the business world, 3) rework the website, 4) bring in the Industrial & Labor Relations School grad students and Hotel School grad students into our club, 5) Find some way to connect with Alumni and 6) working on incorporating a checkbox option on the application where applicants could self-identify as LGBT.
We had about 10 people at our first meeting and another 5 to 6 that said they would like to be there. I've also met with an ILR grad student and a Hotel grad student who will be attending in the future.
At the first meeting of 2010, we decided that we were going to work on a number of items including: 1) hosting a Sage Social, 2) running a panel discussion of specific LGBT issues and how they relate to the business world, 3) rework the website, 4) bring in the Industrial & Labor Relations School grad students and Hotel School grad students into our club, 5) Find some way to connect with Alumni and 6) working on incorporating a checkbox option on the application where applicants could self-identify as LGBT.
We had about 10 people at our first meeting and another 5 to 6 that said they would like to be there. I've also met with an ILR grad student and a Hotel grad student who will be attending in the future.
Entrepreneurship & Private Equity Immersion (EPE)
January 30th. I worked on political campaigns before coming to business school. I really enjoyed all the aspects (and the excitement) around beginning a new organization, raising money, and turning an idea into a living and breathing campaign. I came to Johnson to learn how I could do this in the business world.
I am part of the Entrepreneurship and Private Equity Immersion (EPE). So far, I couldn't be happier. Our coursework focuses around Prof. David BenDaniel and Prof. Steve Gal's Business Plan class where you are asked to create either: a) a business plan for a new company or b) a buyout plan for a current company. So far in the class we have discussed how to create a start-up, distressed companies, and leveraged buyouts. Our other coursework is a mix of finance and strategy classes - including "Strategic Alliances" and "Financial Modeling." I'm taking a brand new course also taught by Prof. Gal titled "Entrepreneurial Marketing." Lastly, I am taking a class called "Entrepreneurial Executives" with former Johnson alum, Jason Hogg, who recently sold his business to American Express for $300 million.
There is a wealth of opportunity to learn about entrepreneurship at Johnson (I am less knowledgeable about private equity resources but can connect you with someone if you need that information.) Entrepreneurship@Cornell is a campus-wide initiative that in many ways is headquartered in Sage Hall and at the Johnson School. Prof. Zach Shulman is leading a series of 10 lectures this spring focused on how to start a business -- "The Start-up Series" -- that breaks down the different components of beginning a business into smaller lectures. Some of the lectures are focused on Idea Generation and Validation or on Intellectual Property issues or on 10 things that kill a new company. It is a practical and hands-on series of classes. Beyond coursework there is: Big Red Ventures (venture capital fund run by Johnson), Big Red Incubator (which is a small business consulting shop run by Johnson students), the Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Club, trips to local start-ups including Kionix, CCTEC mixers, and the Entrepreneurship@Johnson symposium in April. Whatever you are looking for, you can find it at Johnson and at Cornell.
I am part of the Entrepreneurship and Private Equity Immersion (EPE). So far, I couldn't be happier. Our coursework focuses around Prof. David BenDaniel and Prof. Steve Gal's Business Plan class where you are asked to create either: a) a business plan for a new company or b) a buyout plan for a current company. So far in the class we have discussed how to create a start-up, distressed companies, and leveraged buyouts. Our other coursework is a mix of finance and strategy classes - including "Strategic Alliances" and "Financial Modeling." I'm taking a brand new course also taught by Prof. Gal titled "Entrepreneurial Marketing." Lastly, I am taking a class called "Entrepreneurial Executives" with former Johnson alum, Jason Hogg, who recently sold his business to American Express for $300 million.
There is a wealth of opportunity to learn about entrepreneurship at Johnson (I am less knowledgeable about private equity resources but can connect you with someone if you need that information.) Entrepreneurship@Cornell is a campus-wide initiative that in many ways is headquartered in Sage Hall and at the Johnson School. Prof. Zach Shulman is leading a series of 10 lectures this spring focused on how to start a business -- "The Start-up Series" -- that breaks down the different components of beginning a business into smaller lectures. Some of the lectures are focused on Idea Generation and Validation or on Intellectual Property issues or on 10 things that kill a new company. It is a practical and hands-on series of classes. Beyond coursework there is: Big Red Ventures (venture capital fund run by Johnson), Big Red Incubator (which is a small business consulting shop run by Johnson students), the Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Club, trips to local start-ups including Kionix, CCTEC mixers, and the Entrepreneurship@Johnson symposium in April. Whatever you are looking for, you can find it at Johnson and at Cornell.
CCTEC
January 18th. I came straight from India back to Ithaca. After 5 days of recovery, I spent this week visiting all of the representatives at CCTEC (Cornell Center for Technology Enterprise and Commercialization) looking at potential ideas for starting a business. CCTEC is a Cornell run entity that patents all of the technology created at the university and tries to commercialize it - either with entrepreneurs or selling the technology to bigger companies. All the reps have been great and spoke about some of the promising technologies that they have that might fit my background.
I'm also fishing for ideas for my Business Plan class where we have to create a start-up.
(sorry for all the catch-up blogs, I really do enjoy writing them:) )
I'm also fishing for ideas for my Business Plan class where we have to create a start-up.
(sorry for all the catch-up blogs, I really do enjoy writing them:) )
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