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Register for the Swartz Center's Entrepreneurship Bootcamp!
Date: Saturday, September 7, 2024
Time: 1:00 - 5:00 PM | ET
Location: Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, Tepper School of Business, 3rd Floor
4765 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Come join us for another exciting Entrepreneurship Bootcamp, a fall semester, one-day glimpse into entrepreneurship at CMU and Pittsburgh for all incoming CMU students. See the full schedule here.
At the recent CMU Graduate Resource Fair held on August 14, incoming graduate students from multiple disciplines flocked the Swartz Center table for information about Entrepreneurship Bootcamp
and how to register, as well as other programs.
Sponsored by: Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship and Graduate Entrepreneurship Club
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| Announcing our keynote speaker, Xunjie Zhang, founder of Shift Robotics Moonwalker Shoes!
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We are giving away two new pairs of Moonwalker Shoes!!
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TalkMeUp Founder JJ Xu Becomes an Adjunct Professor
at the Tepper School of Business and EIR for the
Corporate Startup Lab
JJ Xu, CEO of TalkMeUp, is now serving as an adjunct professor at Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business. At the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, she teaches practical strategies for launching and scaling startup ventures, offering students real-world insights into innovation and leadership in the startup world.
JJ will also start a new position as Entrepreneur-In-Residence for the Corporate Startup Lab.
Congratulations, JJ!.
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| Retired Duolingo Head of Finance Denis Meinert Dies at 64
The CMU Swartz Center is sad to announce the passing of our good friend, Denis Meinert, who passed away peacefully at his home, in O'Hara Township, Pittsburgh, PA, surrounded by his loving family on August 26, 2024 at the age of 64.
Denis had over 35 years of experience as an entrepreneur and finance executive. He was the retired Head of Finance for Duolingo, and served as CFO of 4moms from 2011 to 2013. He was also CFO and a Principal for H.B. Maynard and Company (acquired by Accenture in 2007), and as CFO-for-Hire for companies including CMU spin-offs reCAPTCHA (acquired by Google in 2009) and Blue Belt Technologies (acquired by Smith & Nephew in 2015). Denis loved life with a passion that inspired and enriched the lives of everyone around him.
Read the obituary for Denis here.
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Carnegie Mellon Core Partner in New Center To
Improve Robot Dexterity
Carnegie Mellon University will be a core partner in a new multi-institutional collaboration that has received $26M from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to launch an Engineering Research Center (ERC) dedicated to revolutionizing the ability of robots to amplify human labor. The new ERC will be run by Carmel Majidi, faculty co-founder of Arieca and Estat, Swartz Center supported startups.
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Apply Now: Tepper School of Business Peer Advising
Program for Family Business Owners
The Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship is thrilled to invite private business owners to apply for our Peer Advising Program at Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business and the Swartz Center for the 2024/2025 academic year. Building on the success of our inaugural Family Business Peer Advisory Groups pilot, we are expanding the program to include more business owners who are ready to collaborate, share insights and tackle real-world challenges in a supportive environment.
During our pilot, family business owners met~every six weeks in Pittsburgh, participating in facilitated sessions led by Tepper faculty. This peer advising format provided a space for candid conversations, shared problem-solving, and the exchange of valuable insights among fellow business owners.
Find out more about the program here (pdf).
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|  | 2023-25 Swartz Fellows in front of the Tepper School of Business
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Apply for the 2024-26 James R. Swartz Fellows Program!
The Swartz Center has opened applications for the 2024-26 James R. Swartz Entrepreneurial Fellows program. Applications will be open through Sunday, October 13, 2024 at 11:59 pm ET.
This highly selective, two-year program for CMU graduate students, develops the students entrepreneurial potential and leadership skills through hands-on experiences, networking, mentoring and courses in entrepreneurship. The program's core is a mentored summer internship with a top-tier VC-backed startup within the high-tech, high-growth environment of California's Silicon Valley and San Francisco.
Attend an Info Session to learn more about the program and to hear from current Swartz Fellows:
September 9 | 12:30 PM ET
Register
October 10 | 12:30 PM ET
Register
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Date: Thursday, September 5, 2024
Time: 12-1:30 PM | ET
Location: Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Ave, Scott Hall,
Bosch Spark Conference Room
Join the Scott Institute for Energy Innovation for an insightful session where CMU experts will discuss leveraging campus resources for startup creation and navigating Pittsburgh's dynamic startup ecosystem. Speakers include: Anita Jesionowski, Senior Director of Research Partnerships and Entrepreneurship at the College of Engineering; Dave Mawhinney, Executive Director of the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship and the Donald H. Jones Center for Entrepreneurship; and Cindy Chepanoske, Director of Technology Licensing at CTTEC.
Attendance is FREE. Lunch will be provided!
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The James R. Swartz Entrepreneurial Leadership
Series presents:
Beyond Models–Applying AI and Data Science Effectively with
Dr. Alfred Spector
Date: Thursday, September 12, 2024
Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM | ET
Location: Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, Tepper School of Business, 4765 Forbes Avenue, 3rd Floor
Join the CMU Swartz Center for a special James R. Swartz Entrepreneurial Leadership Series talk featuring Dr. Alfred Spector, Visiting Scholar at MIT and Senior Advisor at Blackstone.
Dr. Spector's career has led him from innovation in large scale, networked computing systems to broad engineering and research leadership. Recently, he co-authored a Cambridge University Press textbook, “Data Science in Context: Foundations, Challenges, Opportunities.”
This event is co-hosted with the CMU School of Computer Science.
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Family Business Leadership Speaker Series: Stuart Weitzman
An Entrepreneurial Journey on the Road Less Traveled:
Stuart Weitzman, Founder, Stuart Weitzman Shoes
Date: Monday, September 16, 2024
Time: 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. EST
Location: CMU Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, Tepper Quad, 3rd Floor, 4765 Forbes Avenue
The CMU Swartz Center is excited to announce the next Family Business Leadership Series talk, featuring Stuart Weitzman, founder of Stuart Weitzman shoes. Stuart Weitzman’s passion for design has been a lifelong pursuit, leading to the internationally renowned company that bears his name. He has been honored extensively for his unique approach to entrepreneurship, and for his uncompromising commitment to prioritizing function as an integral element of fashion.
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VentureBridge Demo Day 2024: Three City Tour
San Francisco Bay Area, Pittsburgh and New York
The CMU VentureBridge (VB) program, an initiative of the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, is excited to present VentureBridge ’24 Demo Day in three cities: San Francisco Bay Area (September 18), Pittsburgh (September 25), and New York City (October 2).
The in-person events will feature presentations from the VentureBridge ’24 cohort of startups and select VentureBridge alumni startups. The presentations will be followed by a networking reception. Learn more about the VB portfolio here.
(Please note that the San Francisco Bay Area and New York City events are investor only events)
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Register for the VentureBridge Tech Talk & Job Fair
on September 24!
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Date: Thursday, September 26, 2024
Time: 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM | ET
Location: Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, Tepper School of Business, 4765 Forbes Avenue, 3rd Floor
Join the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship for the 2024 AI & Robotics Venture Fair. Meet the region's leading AI & Robotics companies & explore investment opportunities.
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| CONNECTS/START SMART LAW SEMINARS
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|  9/10
REGISTER
Designing a Product Culture (Brad Eiben, CMU Tepper School of Business)
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REGISTER
Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (Len Caric, George J. Howe Co./CMU Tepper School of Business)
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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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| CMU T&E End-of-Summer Mixer!
Date and time: Saturday, September 7
Time: 5:30 - 7:30 PM ET
Location: East End Brewing Co.
Join us immediately following the Swartz Center's Entrepreneurship Bootcamp to unwind, connect, and celebrate the end of summer with fellow entrepreneurs and CMU alumni.
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Date: Tuesday, September 10, 2024
Time: 6-8 PM EST
Location: Boston, Massachusetts (Exact location provided upon registration)
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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
Steptoe & Johnson PLLC
Steptoe & Johnson PLLC is a multi-jurisdictional, full-service law firm that takes a progressive approach to providing counsel at each stage of a client’s life cycle. Their dedicated team works closely with its clients to form entities, advise on the most advantageous entity type and design, and negotiate joint ventures and mergers and acquisitions. If a client has a dispute, Steptoe & Johnson has a team of business and product liability litigators and labor and employment lawyers to guide clients through these often stressful and disruptive situations. Steptoe & Johnson brings a strong skillset for data privacy, cyber security and intellectual property matters which are frequent concerns for startups and technology companies. It offers competitive and flexible rates and aims to provide value to its clients.
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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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