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Register Now for the 6th Annual Corporate Entrepreneurship Forum!
Date: Thursday, October 24, 2024
Location: Tepper School of Business, 4765 Forbes Avenue, Pgh, PA 15213
The Corporate Entrepreneurship Forum is the Corporate Startup Lab’s signature event, part of Corporate Startup Week, that seeks to help companies build and create transformative growth opportunities by applying venture best practices to corporate innovation and entrepreneurship projects. The theme of this year's Forum is "Accelerating Innovation: Driving Value to Scale."
Leaders in industry, venture and academia will share the latest ideas, trends, example case studies and impactful conversations in corporate innovation.
Join us and share the event details with any colleagues whom you think would benefit from attending.
There is no cost to attend thanks to our sponsor, Deloitte!
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Carnegie Mellon Startups Among Semi-Finalists
in the UpPrize Social Innovation Challenge
This year's semi-finalists for the UpPrize BNY Social Innovation Challenge have been announced, and several of the companies hail from Carnegie Mellon University such as: Galen Health, founded by Logan Nye, MD; VentureBridge startup velo.AI, founded by Clark Haynes, PhD, Kloopify, co-founded by COO Ignacio Osio and Peoples Energy Analytics, founded by CMU Professor and CEO Destenie Nock, PhD.
The companies will present at the UpPrize Final Showcase on October 17, 2024.
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| Meet the CMU Swartz Center's Skilly AI, Winnie!
The Swartz Center recently partnered with Skillbuilder.io to launch our custom Skilly AI, Winnie. Ask Winnie all of your questions about the Swartz Center, its programs, resources and how to
get more connected!
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Get Ready for Hack-A-Startup, November 2-3!
On October 2, an Info Session for this year’s Hack-a-Startup Competition was held with 150 students in attendance. Last year's winner, Ram Potham, founder of SiteWiz and an Innovation Scholar, shared how Hack-a-Startup jump-started his entrepreneurial journey, inspiring ten students to pitch their ideas on the spot and get the creative energy flowing.
Amanda Manget, Daniela Decoud, and Nisarg Doshi from the MIIPS program and GEC are co-directors this year. Co-organized by the GEC, UEA, and Scottie Ventures clubs, Hack-a-Startup unites students from all disciplines to develop and pitch startup ideas in a fast-paced, two-week competition.
What sets Hack-a-Startup apart is its focus on accelerated customer discovery and business validation through hands-on mentorship from founders and industry leaders. Participants also have the chance to compete for over $3,000 in prize funds and receive direct feedback from real investors.
The kick-off weekend takes place November 2-3, 2024 and all students are welcome to join.
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Special Spotlight: 'In the words of Sandeep Shelvan'
First-ever Space Launch System Spin-off in the History of CMU and Only Core Aerospace Start-up at CMU, Seeking Equity-based Crowdfunding
As a particle physicist, Sandeep Shelvan is an alumnus of the prestigious Indian school IIT and a May 2024 graduate from CMU's Mellon College of Science. Sandeep is interested in building a non-rocket launch system, which is a green tech, that catapults or slingshots payloads to space at the 1 by 15 cost of SpaceX. That is $100/kg vs $1500/Kg. He would like to keep the vision of CMU alumnus J R Powell, inventor of superconducting maglev and startram. As an international student, Sandeep is constrained in many ways, especially financially. As a ‘child’ in a new country, he has to start from scratch, which has been extremely difficult.
By soliciting equity-based crowdfunding from the community, Sandeep hopes to demonstrate a small MVP to help him build traction and reach out to VCs. In his words, "I have a solid plan to make a great business for fifty years. I don’t want to make a billion-dollar company. My aim is a trillion-dollar company. I want to make a global currency and tax code for minerals mined from asteroids and other planets.”
Visit the crowdfunding site here.
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|  | 2023-25 Swartz Fellows in front of the Tepper School of Business
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Apply to the 2024-26 James R. Swartz Entrepreneurial Fellows Program by Sunday, October 13!
The deadline to apply for the 2024-26 James R. Swartz Entrepreneurial Fellows program is on Sunday, October 13, 2024 at 11:59 pm ET!
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Join the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, Project Olympus and Samsung Next and Radical Ventures on October 29, 2024 for an exclusive event bringing together investors, founders and academics to explore cutting-edge AI/ML topics, including on-device AI, agent/action models and synthetic data. Speakers include Tianqi Chen (OctoML), Matt Fredrikson (Gray Swan) and Vyas Sekar from Carnegie Mellon University, who will discuss the practical applications of their research in real-world settings.
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Fireside Chat with Rohyt Belani and Mirza Baig
Date: Thursday, November 14, 2024
Time: 12:30 - 1:30 PM | ET
Location: Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, Tepper Quad, 4765 Forbes Avenue, Pgh, PA 15213
Hot startups are often pursued zealously by multiple venture capitalists. The entrepreneur, in this case, has a difficult decision to make on choosing their partner. This fireside chat is with one such investor-entrepreneur pair that navigated and nurtured their relationship with care and respect. The outcome— a bumper 5x money on invested capital in three years.
Mirza Baig (the VC) and Rohyt Belani (the entrepreneur). The pair will discuss why they each chose to work with one another, how they navigated challenging times together and where they are now
in the relationship.
Sponsored by: Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, Graduate Entrepreneurship Club, Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Association and Scottie Ventures.
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| CONNECTS/START SMART LAW SEMINARS
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|  10/24
REGISTER
START SMART LAW: How to Form Your Startup Company, Part I (David Lehman, K&L Gates; Stephanie Dangel, Pitt School of Law)
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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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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
Goodwin
Goodwin is a full service law firm with practice areas and expertise specifically tailored to represent startup companies in all of their legal needs, including IP, corporate, employment, contracts, transactions, litigation and much more. The Firm has put in place special startup-friendly pricing packages uniquely designed for Carnegie Mellon University companies.
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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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