NEW YORK, NY, April 1, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Columbia University has announced its inaugural, University-wide festival, " #StartupColumbia ," in celebration of profound entrepreneurial success across the University and throughout its alumni community. The event will foster and encourage a culture of entrepreneurship and collaboration across the university.
#StartupColumbia will be held on April 11th, 2014 on Columbia University's main campus in New York City and will feature a full day of dialogues and panel discussions, interspersed with the finals of the $50,000 campus-wide business model competition. Lead sponsors include Andreessen Horowitz, Accel Partners and WeWork.
#StartupColumbia was organized by the University President's Columbia Entrepreneurship office and two student organizations: the Columbia Entrepreneurship Organization (CEO) and Columbia Organization for Rising Entrepreneurs (CORE). The Athena Center for Leadership Studies at Barnard College, the Eugene Lang Entrepreneurship Center at Columbia Business School, and the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science are supporting the festival as well.
Speakers include:
- Columbia Journalism School alumnus, and former Wall Street Journal veteran and founder/co-executive editor of Re/code Walt Mossberg, in conversation with Drew Houston, founder of DropBox
- Venture capital pioneer and Columbia Business School alumnus Alan Patricof, alongside David Tisch, founder of NYC TechStars on New Venture Landscape; Then and Now
- Harlem Children's Zone Founder Geoffrey Canada (the recipient of an honorary doctorate from Columbia) in conversation about social entrepreneurship with Dr. Vishakha Desai , Special Advisor for Global Affairs to the President of Columbia University and ABC News' Good Morning America contributor and Columbia College alumna and University Trustee Claire Shipman
- Fortune Magazine's Erin Griffith alongside Columbia alumni Doug Imbruce, founder of Qwiki, Zach Sims, founder of Codecademy, Jared Hecht , founder of GroupMe, and Jocelyn Leavitt, CEO and founder of Hopscotch, on growing a startup out of college
- Columbia Business School alumnus Shazi Visram, founder of Happy Family
- Columbia College alumnus Joel Klein discussing innovation within government organizations
To purchase tickets and view the full agenda, please visit StartupColumbia.org .
"Entrepreneurship at Columbia is catching fire." Noted Bill Campbell, Intuit Board Chair, Columbia University Trustee Co-chair and 1962 graduate of Columbia College. "Our students, faculty and alumni entrepreneurs are brilliant, incredibly innovative and fully engaged in this programming. It is personally exciting and very satisfying to participate in this dynamic and robust process at one of the finest research universities on the planet."
About Columbia Entrepreneurship (CE)
Columbia Entrepreneurship is a new organization that resides in the President's Office in close partnership with the University Office of Alumni Relations and Development. The straightforward mission of the organization is to encourage Columbia's students, faculty, and alumni to launch Columbia-born ventures, and enhance an environment of entrepreneurial thinking and problem solving at Columbia. Columbia Entrepreneurship enjoys collaborations with all the student group and school-based centers of entrepreneurship across the University.
About The Eugene Lang Center for Entrepreneurship (The Lang Center)
The Eugene Lang Center for Entrepreneurship was established at Columbia Business School in 1996 with a gift from Eugene M. Lang, MS '40. The Lang Center's mission is to foster entrepreneurial thinking in all Columbia Business School students, and to serve as the hub of entrepreneurship at Columbia Business School by providing students access to the business, management and leadership skills needed to start a business, grow a business, or simply apply entrepreneurial thinking to improve the world around them.
About the Columbia Entrepreneurship Organization (CEO)
The Columbia Entrepreneurship Organization (CEO) unites Columbia University's MBA candidates with today's most influential entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. Selected members of the Columbia Business School community have access to prolific discussions and interactive workshops with the leaders who can help them convert their concepts into profitable companies. The annual #StartupColumbia business competition and Lang Fund provide CBS students with the capital and guidance necessary to permeate the world of venturing. CEO also supports experiential trips, events, and the MBA entrepreneurial management curriculum. The Columbia Entrepreneurship Organization is based in New York City within the Columbia Business School, at the very center of business.
About Columbia Organization for Rising Entrepreneurs (CORE)
As one of the largest student societies at Columbia, the Columbia Organization of Rising Entrepreneurs (CORE) works to inspire, educate, and launch the next generation of student entrepreneurs. CORE serves 1,850+ student subscribers to its weekly newsletter, 1500 unique visitors to its Jobs Board, and over 1,000 students following its page on Facebook. Among other programs, CORE hosts the University's popular Startup Internship Program (SIP), a partnership with the Columbia Center for Career Education that pairs students with startup employers, and supports them with workshops and regular events.
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Meghan Cross:
