News Item

The Lang Center has launched a new alumni network to help support those in the Columbia Business School community new to entrepreneurship and with budding entrepreneurial aspirations.  

The Columbia Entrepreneurs Network (CEN) will provide members with a supportive venue to meet, network and partner with like-minded individuals.  Guest speakers will be invited to present a variety of topics relevant to an entrepreneur starting a business for the first time like testing the viability of a new idea, loan opportunities, leveraging technology, partnership and incorporation options for your business and practical operational, human resources, outsourcing, bookkeeping etc. advise.  The network will also be open to current MBA students.

The idea for the network came from Roy Bejarano '04 who tried to set up a few informal networking gatherings among his peers in the past year. “It occurred to me that many of my one-on-one discussions with my immediate peers were revolving around the same topic – ‘what now?’.  We were all 3-5 years into our post MBA professional lives and were getting enough experience to consider launching our own business”, said Roy. “Nearly every one of us thought it was worth the risk but none of us had ever really done it before. Every single ‘to do’ represented an overwhelming well-I've-never-done-it-before challenge.”

Hearing from other peers who were facing the same exact challenges, and from those who were further along the entrepreneurial path, became a solution to learning practical day-to-day advice.  Every event Roy put together with peers exceeded expectations in terms of participation and enthusiasm.  “The question arose, could Columbia, the school that nurtured us as MBA students, go one step further, and help nurture us as post MBA budding entrepreneurs? I am excited about the possibilities a formal network like CEN can bring to us.”

“We are pleased to offer this forum”, said Professor Murray Low, Director of The Eugene Lang Entrepreneurship Center. “Becoming an entrepreneur is a very personal decision, and the right time to start a business is when it’s right for you. We want to be able to support members of our community when they believe to be ready to launch a business.”

CEN is scheduled to meet every other month on the last Wednesday of the month.  The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, June 24th   from 7:00pm - 9:00pm in Uris Hall classroom 141. To Become a Member and RSVP for June event, request to join the CEN Facebook group.

This Facebook page will inform members of upcoming events including what topics featured guest speakers will cover.

For questions regarding this forum or other Lang Center offerings for alumni, please contact The Lang Center.

The Lang Center wishes to thank Kristin Fehrenbach of External Relations and Development for her contributions in helping launch this new network.