Prospective Student Chat - Entrepreneurship and Social Enterprise Wednesday, November 9, 2011 12:00-1:00 p.m. mba_julie(p) mba_alex(p) Hi everyone! My name is Julie and I m currently a second year full-time MBA student at Stern. Prior to Stern, I worked in consulting, and over the summer I worked in education reform with Education Pioneers. I m active in the Social Enterprise Association on campus, and look forward to answering your questions! Hi everyone! My name is Alex, and I m a full-time MBA1 here at Stern. Prior to school, I worked in nonprofit program management at the Food Bank for New York City, overseeing a nutrition education program run in public schools throughout the city. I currently work with the Social Enterprise Association as VP of Admissions, and am hoping to pursue a summer internship in education reform or community development finance. mba_samir(p) MadhukarB(Q) mba_julie(a) Hey guys! My name is Samir Mirza and I'm focused on Entrepreneurship here at Stern. My background is Computer Science and IT Consulting, and last year I co-founded a Tech Startup with two guys I met at Stern and we've been building mobile applications for the past year. Excited to answer your questions! What is the kind of global exposure I can expect at Stern in regard to working with Social enterprises? Hi MadhukarB, there are many different opportunities to work globally in Social Enterprise at Stern. There are class options that provide the opportunity to work hands-on with international social ventures, such as 'International Social Impact Strategies' where students consult with social entrepreneurship-focused companies in Colombia, or Social Entrepreneurship Incubation where students launch and incubate a series of social ventures in India. In addition, I ve had several classmates secure international social focused internships in South America, Asia, Europe, and Africa both over the summer and the January break. Also, Stern and the Social Enterprise Association bring in numerous social-focused speakers, many of whom work internationally. From classes, to speakers, to internships, there are many ways to achieve global exposure in Social Enterprise.
candidate(q) How many candidates are taken into Entrepreneurship program? There is no limit on how many people can specialize in Entrepreneurship at Stern. If your question is regarding NYU's New Venture business plan competition, there is also no limit there. In fact, the competition is open to anyone to apply to (the only stipulation being you need at least one NYU student or alumn on your team). I was in the competition last year and was a Semifinalist, and when it started there were 180 teams. Victor_Cabral(Q) Hello, Can you talk a little bit about the Entrepreneuriship center at Stern and the resources available to students? Stern's entrepreneurship center (The Berkeley Center) is definitely an awesome resource for students here. I primarily utilized it during the business plan competition where we were assigned mentors (Angel and VC investors in NY), had workshops for different facets of the business plan (financial forecasting, marketing, etc.), and also mixer events to find other cofounders. Outside of Stern, NY is a wonderful place for entrepreneurship (tech in particular) with several events such NY Tech Meetup and the new startup center that was built nearby called General Assembly. Another organization that has been valuable to my experience is InSITE which is a club that spans NYU and Columbia and is focused on students wanting to go into Entrepreneurship or VC. MMichaud(Q) What are some of the social enterprise organizations where Stern students have interned? Stern students have completed social enterprise-related internships in a wide variety of industries and functions, ranging from national education reform organizations - such as Education Pioneers, and those focused on international development - with the Clinton Global Initiative and Endeavor to impact investing firms. jcorn(q) What kind of classes would you take in an Entrepreneurship focused degree vs. a Finance focused degree?
Great question. I actually came to Stern thinking I initially wanted to do Investment Banking or VC, but I quickly realized that my passions are still in tech and what I love doing is building things. That being said, I am still specializing in Finance as there are many Entrepreneurial related Finance courses such as "Entrepreneurial Finance" and "New Venture Financing". I'd say the entrepreneurial classes differ from the finance classes in that they often involve you building your own startup in class (Foundations of Entrepreneurship), actively consulting with a real company (Brand Strategy), or knowing how to manage innovation and a rapidly growing company (Managing Growing Companies). NYU Stern is obviously a strong Finance school but the school has made great strides forward in being a strong player in Entrepreneurship in NY. nmarwil(q) The website mentions the opporunity to sit on the board of a local non-profit. Can you explain this process? Hi nmarwil. I believe you re referring to the Stern Board Fellows program. The program is a 9-month fellowship, during which MBA students are matched with local nonprofits and serve as non-voting board members, serve on committees and complete a strategic project for the organization. For those interested in the social sector, nonprofit leadership and strategy, it is a great opportunity to gain experience in these areas outside of the classroom. Linas(Q) Hi, are you involved with the Entreprenur Exchange Club? If so, how connected is this club to the city and community? Yep I am a part of the Entrepreneur Exchange Club (EEX) and the club does a wonderful job of getting speakers to come to the school and helping the student entrepreneurs network with each other. Just a few weeks ago we had Eric Ries speak and the club has helped bring many other titans to school such as Dennis Crowley and Fred Wilson. A club I mentioned before that I would highly encourage you to look into is InSITE as it is another great way to extend your network and is looked upon favorably in the startup and VC scene in NY. Additionally you guys should check out http://nyuentrepreneur.org/ which is NYU's new home page for entrepreneurship. There's info there about the huge NYU Entrepreneur festival this weekend. It's definitely a great time to be here for entrepreneurship.
cortina(q) For someone who really want to become an entrepreneur, will Stern entrepreneurship help its students to really start doing their own business after business school? Hi Bangmarlon, Stern is definitely supportive of students looking to launch their own venture after graduation. From Professor support and business plan review, to available resources in the Berkeley Center and through the EEX there is a strong commitment to entrepreneurship and support for students looking to start new ventures. aissatou_bah(q) Hello, besides Board fellows program, are there other programs that students with a concentration on Social Entreprise can participate in? Hi aisstou_bah. There are several programs that students interested in social enterprise can participate in. For instance, the Stern Consulting Corps is a 10- week internship offered each semester for students interested in consulting with the nonprofit sector. Teams of students are matched with local nonprofit organizations, and work with experienced mentors from leading consulting firms to complete projects in marketing, finance and strategy. 3G4F484S8(Q) Hi Samir, nice to e-meet you! I was curious on whether a lot of students come in with an entrepreneurship background? Nice to meet you too! There are definitely people that come here with an entrepreneurship background but I wouldn't say it is that many. That being said, several people are looking into getting into the startup scene after the MBA (and most people in the class will end up getting an Entrepreneurship specialization since those classes are very popular at Stern). So if you don't have an entrepreneurial background, don't let that stop you from trying to get into entrepreneurship as I'm sure you have valuable skills you can bring to the table from your work experience. jn86(q) Hi, can you speak a little bit about popular classes as well as Stern initiatives outside the class for students interested in entrepreneurship?
Sure! Professor Okun is one of our very popular Entrepreneurship professors and he teaches popular classes such as Foundations of Entrepreneurship and Managing Growing Companies. What you'll find with him and other professors, is that they have long and deep career experience which they often utilize during class discussions. The nuggets of wisdom that they dispense have been quite invaluable. Honestly, I was skeptical on whether you can really "teach" entrepreneurship in any school, but I have certainly learned so much. Another class I am in right now that I love is Digital Media Marketing and it is taught by Greg Coleman who was the head of global sales for Yahoo and was the president of the Huffington Post. Each week we have a different speaker which all comes from his network - Dennis Crowley, Fred Wilson, Lee Brown (head of National Sales for Groupon who came in right before their IPO), and next week we are having the former CEO of Yahoo come in and we are going to pitch him presentations on how we think Yahoo can fix itself right now. It's really very cool. viviancn(q) Can you list other successful startups by nyu stern mba alum? Hi viviancn, there are many successful ventures started by Stern Alum follow this link to check out just a few of them: http://www.stern.nyu.edu/programs-admissions/full-time-mba/career/careerpaths/entrepreneurship-family-business/index.htm JustinMah(Q) Hi Alex & Julie, could either of you provide some detail on the classes you're taking to support your long term goals in Social Enterprise? Hi Justin. Because I am interested in community development finance, I plan to take the Foundations of Social Entrepreneurship, and Examining the Nonprofit Capital Markets and Social Venture Capital courses. Stern offers a range of electives to suit your specific interest within Social Enterprise, for a sampling of these classes, please visit our website. J_Trott(Q) Hi Samir, my name is Joshua. I was curious as to how you think the new Entrepreneurship Festival will effect the students experience/opportunities?
Great question. The Entrepreneurship festival is an example of one of the strides forward that the school is making. The school doesn't just talk about Entrepreneurship but is an active player in the NY scene. I think the festival will not only be a way for students to interact with successful entrepreneurs and investors, but to also network with each other across the different schools of NYU. NYU is a huge university and each of the other schools have their own great entrepreneurship clubs as well. So when you think of entrepreneurship at Stern, you should not only think about what you get at Stern but the resources you will gain from NYU and New York as a whole. nooz(q) raulsananes(q) Hey are most startup ideas tech-based? And do these get more attention? Tech is popular, but these are certainly not the only ideas that get attention. If you look at the past winners on the web site for the business plan competition, you will see that it can span multiple areas. There is also money and funding awarded specifically for social enterprise if your interest lie in that area. Hello, what are the subjects in the field of entrepeneurship that makes this NYU program unique? One facet that I haven't mentioned yet but is unique to Stern is the Innovation Venture Fund that Frank Rimalovski manages. It is a multi million dollar fund that was set up to invest in startups built by NYU people (more info on the web site). Frank has also been a very strong spearheader of new entrepreneurship initiatives such as the festival this weekend. Again, I feel like facets such as this are real examples of Stern being a real force for entrepreneurship in New York City. mhalpert(q) What are the opportunities to link sustainability and business at Stern? Many Stern students have an interest in this area, and either have experience in or have completed internships in such areas as sustainability consulting and CSR. Within the Social Enterprise Association, there are opportunities to get involved with NYU s own sustainability efforts through the the Stern Campus Greening Initiative. Christopher_Nash(Q) Samir - What was the overriding reason you chose Stern for Entrepreneurship versus other schools you might have applied? What separates the program?
We're nearing the end so I just wanted to stress a few points. In all honesty, the entrepreneurship program here has blown me a way (and I'm not just saying that because I was skeptical at the beginning on if you could actually teach entrepreneurship!). I believe the school achieves this by being a reflection of the New York entrepreneuship scene. The city lives and breathes it, and the school is not an observer but an active participant. Many investments are being made now and it is a great time to take a risk and start your own company. There are several people about to do this in my class and it is an exciting time. I hope you all come to Stern and take the leap into cofounding the next big thing! rao(q) mba_julie(a) Does NYU's Social Enterprise specialization allow you room to take courses in other areas of interest? Hi rao, of course! Regardless of specialization, all Stern students complete Core Classes (http://www.stern.nyu.edu/programs-admissions/full-timemba/academics/curriculum/index.htm), and are encouraged to take classes outside of their specialization(s) as well. Many students will earn multiple specializations, so you will certainly have lots of room to take classes that interest you across the curriculum. Madhav_Sharma(Q) Does Stern have a program for those interested in joining their family business? Had a couple questions regarding family business - there are definitely people in the program looking to go back to manage their family businesses. Stern definitely has offerings for students that fit this background such as classes like "Family Business Management". Some cases in my entrepreneurship classes also revolve around building and growing a family business. Tgranger(Q) I'm working with a non-profit in a particular sector, could I assist SEA in developing additional partnerships to enhance the scope of the program? Absolutely. The Social Enterprise Association is always looking to engage nonprofits and businesses. Whether it be through visiting the organization on a local Trek, bringing an expert in a particular field to speak at one of SEA s weekly Knowledge Management sessions or the annual Social Innovation Symposium, SEA is constantly looking for ways to provide students exposure to the diverse opportunities within the sector.
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