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The Dog Eats the Dog Food!!
Jim Swartz Starts a New Indie Film Streamer
Jim Swartz has been an inspiration to us all throughout his Hall of Fame venture capital and World Championship yachting careers. He is also a two-time Oscar winner in the Documentary category. Jim now has started Jolt.Film to create access to audiences for indie filmmakers and documentarians.
Thank you for continuing to show us the way Jim!
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HubSpot to Acquire Frame AI, Unlocking the Power of Conversational Data with AI
HubSpot, the leading customer platform for scaling businesses, today announced it has signed an agreement to acquire Frame AI, an AI-powered conversation intelligence platform. "We’ve always admired HubSpot for its early and distinct choice in unifying customer data. It has been the heart of their platform, and we’re ready to help take it to the next level,” said Carnegie Mellon University alumnus George Davis, co-founder and CEO of Frame AI.
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Family Business Leadership Speaker Series Hits
the Road in San Francisco, CA
Featuring Carnegie Mellon University alumni Bart and Barb O'Brien
A very special talk, featuring Bart (MSIA 1981) and Barb O'Brien, founders and owners of O'Brien Estate Winery, has been organized by Meredith Meyer Grelli during the week of the CMU Swartz Center's January Entrepreneurship Trek on January 8, 2025 in San Francisco, CA.
During this special event, Bart and Barb will dive into their journey of navigating the challenges and triumphs of a family-owned estate winery in the competitive spirits industry. This session, part of the 2024-25 Family Business Leadership Speaker Series, promises valuable insights for anyone interested in family enterprise dynamics and entrepreneurship.
The Family Business Initiative is a joint program of Carnegie Mellon's Tepper School of Business and the CMU Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship. The Initiative is made possible through the generous support of alumni George Tong (MSIA 1990), Gemini Food Group, Jimmy Minor, (MBA 2024), Swank Construction and Helen Hanna Casey, Howard Hanna.
Carnegie Mellon alumni and students are invited to attend. Light refreshments will be available.
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Duolingo Partners with Netflix for Squid Game Tie
Carnegie Mellon University founded Duolingo has partnered with Netflix for a major cross promotional campaign for the second season of the latter's hit Korean dystopia drama Squid Game.
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|  | The 2023-2025 Swartz Fellows and Innovation Scholars visiting Accel last year
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The 2024-26 James R. Swartz Entrepreneurial Fellows and Innovation Scholars Prepare for the Annual Entrepreneurship Trek
Anticipation is growing as the 2024-26 cohort of graduate Swartz Fellows and undergraduate Innovation Scholars, twelve in each cohort, prepare to travel to California's Bay Area the week of January 6-10 for the annual Entrepreneurship Trek. Among the many visits planned throughout the week, the students will visit several Carnegie Mellon University alumni founder offices, multiple VC firms and attend networking events with alumni.
For the past several years, a highlight of the Trek is the visit to Accel, founded by Tepper School of Business alumnus Jim Swartz, in which the students meet and spend time with Jim and attend a networking mixer hosted by the firm. Alumni Swartz Fellow and Innovation Scholars are also invited to attend the networking event.
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41239APPLICATION DEADLINES
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Calling ALL Current CMU Student Entrepreneurs!
Registration opens today for the 2025 McGinnis Venture Competition, a platform exclusively for Carnegie Mellon University's community of student entrepreneurs. This competition brings together Carnegie Mellon's best and brightest student entrepreneurs to compete for $60K in investments. All participants receive crucial interaction with alumni entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, an opportunity to raise capital and valuable feedback about ventures.
New this year: Social Enterprise Prize Track!
Ready to create a company that makes an impact on the world's biggest challenges? The Swartz Center Social Enterprise Prize is a new competition at Carnegie Mellon University designed to empower students to develop entrepreneurial solutions for social and environmental challenges.
Learn more about the competition and hear from previous participants at an info session:
Info Session - January 8
Register
The round 1 deadline is January 14, 2025.
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| CONNECTS/START SMART LAW SEMINARS
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| Can't make a CONNECTS? Watch on our YouTube channel.
Find out more and see the full schedule.
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|  1/14
REGISTER
How to Manage Raising Capital and the Requirements that Follow (Jen Wallner, PwC)
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REGISTER
Insurance for Startups
(Laurie Kuzneski, Kuzneski Insurance Group)
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The mission of 99 Tartans is to partner with the highest potential, early-stage CMU alumni companies and accelerate their success through access to capital and networks. Find out more.
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CMU ENTREPRENEURSHIP CLUBS
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| Click the images to see upcoming Club events!
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The CMU Tech & Entrepreneurship group aims to build a bridge between CMU students and alumni across the startup and tech continuum. With main chapters in NYC, Pittsburgh, and SF, we offer a range of in-person and online events and programming in the form of panels, workshops, founder/investor engagements, startup support, and socials to foster collaboration, innovation, and networking opportunities.
Join 7,000+ Tartans on our Slack workspace and mailing list for resources and updates on how you can engage in the community and CMU entrepreneurial ecosystem. Find out more and
get involved!
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The following companies help directly support our programming and entrepreneurs.
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| Pillsbury and Steptoe & Johnson, PLLC are holding office hours for the CMU Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship. The office hours are for any interested CMU graduate, undergraduate or alumni interested in entrepreneurship or connecting with members of the Swartz Center network.
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Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
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Legal Services Weekly Virtual Office Hours with Matt Kirmayer
Mondays 1:00-3:00 PM ET (10-12 PT)
Matt Kirmayer of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, is offering office hours for newly established startup and emerging companies. Matt specializes in representing technology startups and emerging growth companies, assisting with entity formation, fundraising and overall growth needs. Startup companies with a founder who is a CMU graduate, undergraduate or alumni is eligible to register for
an appointment. Complete the Signup Form for a 30 minute session by the Thursday prior to your
desired appointment.
Contact Daria Stokes for office hours outside of these regular hours.
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| PATRON SPOTLIGHT
Founders Hub
Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub is a digital platform that provides free access to the latest AI tools and 1:1 guidance from experts to help founders solve challenges as they grow their business. We provide the right resources at the right time in a startup’s journey so founders can build faster and dream bigger. Sign up for Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub!
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HOW TO WORK OUT OF THE SWARTZ CENTER
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Swartz Center Education and Resources
No matter what phase of the entrepreneurship cycle you're in, there are programs and resources at the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship that will take your idea to the next level. Find out more.
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Project Olympus Incubator Program
Want more help with finding product/market fit, developing your business model, making connections and attracting funding? Project Olympus will team you up with a business coach to develop a personalized ‘roadmap. Find out more.
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COMMUNITY OPPORTUNITIES/RESOURCES
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FIND OUT WHAT OUR PARTNERS ARE DOING
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Have startup news or opportunities to share? Have questions about the Swartz Center Weekly Bulletin? Send news, opportunities or questions to Sonya Ford, Program Manager.
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Carnegie Mellon University Swartz Center For Entrepreneurship
5000 Forbes Avenue | Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890 |
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