By: J.D. Ross
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A panel of 6 Syracuse University alumni entrepreneurs, moderated by School of Information Studies (iSchool) Associate Professor of Practice Jeffrey Rubin, discussed their ventures and provided advice at the iSchool’s Tech Meetup in New York City last week.
The panel followed presentations by seven student startup founders, who pitched their companies to an audience of Syracuse University alumni and friends at the event, hosted by Patch Labs.
Panel members included, Michael Brown ’94, president and CEO of HiTouch Business Services, Wiley Cerilli ’98-’99 vice president at Constant Contact, and founder and CEO of Single Platform, Trace Cohen ’10, president and co-founder of Launch.it, Lee Goldberg ’06, co-founder and president of Vector Media Group, Kenny Rosenblatt ’96, CEO and co-founder of Arkadium Games, and Alyson Shontell ’08, founder of Syracutie, co-founder of Collegespun, and an editor at Business Insider.
Rubin steered the panel through questions on funding, staffing, and getting a startup under way, and queried each panel member for thoughts on how to approach the process, asking what worked and what didn’t work.
“It was fascinating to see the depth and diversity of our devoted alumni network all in one room,” said Isaac Budmen, ’12 G’14. “I think students were able to benefit a lot from the kind of support and energy on the panel.” Budmen is the founder of Little Tinker Co., a student startup that spent the summer in the Syracuse Student Sandbox incubator program,.
In addition to the panel discussion, Tech Meetup attendees also heard pitches from seven student startups, all graduates from the Syracuse Student Sandbox.
Students and recent graduates pitched the following companies: BrandYourself, Craftistas, GraFighters, Little Tinker Co., PsyQic, Uvalue, and YouShouldDate.Me.
Camille Malkiewicz G’12, founder of Craftistas, commented on the event, “I think it's incredibly helpful that SU cares enough to plan events such as this one. It's a great way to meet alumni and to hear from entrepreneurial veterans. One of my biggest takeaways came from listening to what the panel had to say, since they've already been on this journey.”