Wharton Entrepreneurial Programs Public Information

Wharton Magazine: “Making Waves on Their Own Ship”

whartonentrepreneurship — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:07:29 +0000

Lots of familiar names in the Wharton Magazine’s inspiring article about alumni “pursuing their entrepreneurial dreams”! Great read featuring the founders of Warby Parker Eyewear, Stylitics, Kembrel, cater2.me, PayDivvy, Wantworthy, Sparkology, Open Air Publishing & Fair Observer. (1/27/2012) MORE

India Knowledge@Wharton: “Snapdeal’s Kunal Bahl on Creating a ‘Discovery Platform’ for Indian Consumers”

whartonentrepreneurship — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:46:50 +0000

“In less than two years, SnapDeal, a group discounting site in India, has grown to become one of the leading e-commerce sites in the country. According to co-founder Kunal Bahl (W’06/ENG’06), deals are only an entry point into the customer’s life. The vision, he says, is to build a brand that participates in consumers’ lives every day, across product and service categories.” (1/26/12) MORE

Knowledge@Wharton HS: “Generation Microfinance: Charlie Javice Believes in the Power of Students to Alleviate Poverty”

whartonentrepreneurship — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 20:31:08 +0000

Charlie Javice W’14, founder of Wharton Venture Initiation Program company PoverUP, discusses “the concept of “financial inclusion,” the true value of a small amount of money, and the technological challenges of building an online platform.” (7/20/2011) MORE

Flying Kite Media: “Why everyone loves CloudMine’s backend solution for mobile apps”

whartonentrepreneurship — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:41:45 +0000

“CloudMine’s goal is to take care of backend programming for mobile apps so you don’t have to. Their tagline is ‘The mobile developers’ backend-as-a-service-done-right company.’” (10/25/2011) MORE

Tech Crunch: “DreamIt-Backed CloudMine Lets App Developers Bypass The Backend Pain, Focus On Their Product”

whartonentrepreneurship — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:39:16 +0000

“CloudMine has developed a service that will allow developers to reduce the pain by providing a set of RESTful APIs that allow them to quickly create back-end solutions for their apps. Specifically, the startup is offering schema-free data structure storage, user account creation and management, and server-side business logic for computations that are too complex or data-intensive to run on a mobile device.” (10/15/2011) MORE

NY Times Dealbook: “Rejecting Wall Street, Graduates Turn Entrepreneurs Instead”

whartonentrepreneurship — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 18:07:04 +0000

[Davis] Smith [G'11/WG'11], who attends the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and [cousin Kimball] Thomas, of Harvard Business School, are part of a growing number of business school students rejecting traditional postgraduate paths like investment banking, hedge funds and consulting. (5/2/2011) MORE

PE Hub: “Aydin Senkut Recalls a Game of Pool with Aaron Levie Led Him to Milo.com”

whartonentrepreneurship — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:32:16 +0000

Wharton Entrepreneurial Programs Board Member Aydin Senkut (WG’96) believes that “Ninety percent of success is showing up.”

Reuters: “How to feel good about scheduling doctor visits on the fly”

whartonentrepreneurship — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 15:25:25 +0000

Reuters: Wharton alum Cyrus Massoumi W’98 , ZocDoc founder, discusses how scheduling doctor appointments online can be beneficial for patients and providers. (1/25/2012) MORE

BlogDoEcommerce features Wharton alum founded start-up

whartonentrepreneurship — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:36:05 +0000

BlogDoEcommerce: olook (founded by Peter Ostroske WG’12) launches unprecedented platform for fashion ecommerce (article in Portuguese) (1/25/12) MORE

Huffington Post: “Tech, Tech, No Tech”

whartonentrepreneurship — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:32:25 +0000

Serial entrepreneur & Wharton lecturer, Patrick FitzGerald C’97, writes about why tech ventures are not the only route for committed entrepreneurs. (1/23/2012) MORE

INC Magazine: “May the Best Business Win”

whartonentrepreneurship — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:11:37 +0000

Inc. Magazine: “‘Contests like this bring benefits like set timelines and deliverables that focus you as a business owner to get something on paper, a prototype, and something out the door,’ says Megan Mitchell, senior associate director of Wharton Entrepreneurial Programs at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.” (1/24/2012) MORE

Of a Kind: “Emerging Thing of the Week: Stylitics”

whartonentrepreneurship — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:25:22 +0000

2011 Wharton Business Plan Competition winner Stylitics (co-founded by Rohan Deuskar WG’11 and Zach Davis) chosen as the “Emerging Thing of the Week” by Of a Kind (1/20/2012) MORE

ElectNext featured in multiple media outlets

whartonentrepreneurship — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:14:26 +0000

Wharton Venture Initiation Program company ElectNext (co-founded by Keya Dannenbaum WG’12 and Paul Jungwirth PhD’18) featured in the Philadelphia Inquirer and on WHYY’s Newsworks.org for their involvement in the celebration of the 225th anniversary of the US Constitution.

The Daily Star Lebanon: “Lebanese team brings people closer with new app”

whartonentrepreneurship — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:48:08 +0000

Wharton Venture Initiation Program company and DreamIt Ventures alum OneAway, co-founded by Nadim Gharios (WG’12) and Anis Harb (WG’12), is profiled in Lebanon’s The Daily Star. (1/21/12) MORE

Daily Pennsylvanian: “Entrepreneur-In-Residence program offers one-on-one mentoring for students”

whartonentrepreneurship — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:30:01 +0000

Today’s issue of The Daily Pennsylvanian features WEP’s Entrepreneur in Residence program and includes quotes from alum Nat Turner W’08, Venture Initiation Program member Samir Malik WG’13 and Wharton senior Tyrone Thomas W’12. (1/23/2012) MORE

India Knowledge @ Wharton: ‘Amid Worries of a Slowdown, Charting India’s Future Growth Trajectory’

whartonentrepreneurship — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:52:13 +0000

Wharton alum Kunal Bahl (W’06/ENG’06), founder of SnapDeal, comments on the availability of funding for Indian entrepreneurs. (1/19/12) MORE

Christian Science Monitor: ‘Warby Parker may have a better ‘buy one, give one’ model’

whartonentrepreneurship — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 17:06:33 +0000

“Toms Shoes popularized ‘one for one’ giving. Warby Parker adds training low-income local entrepreneurs to start their own businesses selling glasses at affordable prices.” (12/22/11) MORE

New York Times: “On Spec: Vintage-Style Glasses Online”

whartonentrepreneurship — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:19:42 +0000

In New York Times Fashion & Style article “On Spec: Vintage-Style Glasses Online”, writer Alex Williams says Wharton alum founded Warby Parker “sets the standard”. (1/18/12) MORE

Huffington Post: ‘Top 10 Products for a Purpose’

whartonentrepreneurship — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 20:52:21 +0000

Wharton alum founded Warby Parker Eyewear named one of the ‘Top 10 Products for a Purpose’ by The Huffington Post (1/18/12) MORE

New York Times: “For Some Internet Start-Ups, a Failure Is Just the Beginning”

whartonentrepreneurship — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:32:14 +0000

Wharton professor Kartik Hosanagar talks about “Starting Up by Failing” – “In the legal and entertainment industry, you can only fail so many times,” Professor Hosanagar said. “But the culture of Silicon Valley is one where failure is embraced.” (1/18/12) MORE

Zealyst: “An Out of this World Networking Start-Up”

whartonentrepreneurship — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:32:18 +0000

Zealyst: “One the the most fascinating parts of Meeteor’s recent release is the ability to visualize your networks and explore connections one or two degrees removed.” Meeteor’s co-founders are Wharton alums Philip Cortes & Chris Lee (both WG’11) and is a Wharton Venture Initiation Program alumni company. (1/17/2012) MORE

NY Daily News: 12 people to watch in 2012

whartonentrepreneurship — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:53:13 +0000

Wharton Venture Initiation Program alum company Coursekit’s co-founder & CTO Dan Getelman one of 12 People to Watch in NY Tech (1/15/2012) MORE

Ben Franklin Approves $1.7 Million for Early-Stage Companies

whartonentrepreneurship — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 19:40:41 +0000

Wharton Venture Initiation Program and DreamIt Ventures alum company CloudMine (founded by Brendan McCorkle, EMTM’11) one of the companies approved for funding by Ben Franklin Technology Partners. (1/11/2012) MORE

Inside Higher Ed: “What does the LMS of the future look like?”

whartonentrepreneurship — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 18:41:07 +0000

Wharton Venture Initiation Program alum Coursekit is “Cracking Up the LMS” (1/11/12) MORE

The Daily Pennsylvanian also features Coursekit in “Coursekit receives $5 million investment” (1/11/12) MORE

Creme Magazine: Top Entrepreneurs To Watch In 2012

whartonentrepreneurship — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 14:27:43 +0000

Creme Magazine names Rohan Deuskar WG’11 – co-founder of Stylitics (winners of the 2011 Wharton Business Plan Competition) – as one of their top entrepreneurs to watch. He says, “Wharton has been an incredible resource for us. We have a professor who is an advisor and investor, the entrepreneurial center has made key introductions, and my classmates have gone out of their way to help in any way they can. Most people would be surprised to learn how entrepreneurial the Wharton community is. There are 8 startups founded by my classmates focused just on the fashion industry!” (1/4/2012) MORE

NPR: “Seeking Female Founders In The Tech Startup Scene”

whartonentrepreneurship — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 14:19:34 +0000

NPR All Things Considered: Veronika Sonsev WG’05, co-founder of Women Innovate Mobile, says Silicon Valley may be missing some great opportunities, especially in the mobile space. (1/9/2012) MORE

Flying Kite Media: “Wharton MBA candidates size up online clothes shopping experience”

whartonentrepreneurship — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 16:48:27 +0000

Flying Kite Media interviews Ian Campbell WG’12, co-founder (with Mona Safabakh WG’12) of Wharton Venture Initiation Program company SizeSeeker. “Size Seeker’s technology may have the power to bring the clothing industry up to speed with items such as computers, of which 50 percent are now sold online.” (1/10/12) MORE

SizeSeeker also featured on Newsworks WHYY

Givology: “Focus on Giving”

whartonentrepreneurship — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:52:13 +0000

Givology interviews Wharton Venture Initiation Program member Lenny Fishman (WG’12), co-founder of Pledge4Good. (1/9/2012) MORE

The Daily Muse: “12 Women to Watch in 2012″

whartonentrepreneurship — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 18:46:23 +0000

Wharton MBA student and co-founder of Wharton Venture Initiation Program company ElectNext, Keya Dannenbaum, named one of “12 Women to Watch in 2012″ by The Daily Muse. (1/6/2012) MORE

TECH Cocktail: The Future of Technology in Elections: An Interview with ElectNext’s Keya Dannenbaum

whartonentrepreneurship — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 13:54:38 +0000

TECH Cocktail: Keya Dannenbaum, co-founder & CEO of Wharton Venture Initiation Program company ElectNext, says that the goal of ElectNext is “building up data on campaigns to empower voters.” (1/6/2012) MORE

VentureBeat: “Student startups show off business solutions at Demo Enterprise”

whartonentrepreneurship — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 16:35:59 +0000

VentureBeat: Samir Malik (WG’13), co-founder of Wharton Venture Initiation Program company 1DocWay, presents at the first-ever DEMO: Enterprise Disruption event. (1/5/2012) MORE

Philadelphia Business Journal: “Don’t let the VC vibe pass us by”

whartonentrepreneurship — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 15:00:00 +0000

According to Wharton Entrepreneurial Programs faculty member Patrick FitzGerald, “Philadelphia is looking at a major opportunity to attract and maintain the next generation of entrepreneurs [as] the combination of some of the top business schools in the country and phenomenal incubator programs like DreamIt Ventures and Wharton’s Venture Initiation Program have laid the groundwork for an entrepreneurial and job creating boom.” (1/6/2012) MORE

Mashable: “How 4 Business Students Took on the Eyewear Industry [VIDEO]“

whartonentrepreneurship — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 13:34:05 +0000

Mashable: Wharton Venture Initiation Program alum Dave Gilboa (WG’10/ENG’10), co-founder of Warby Parker, talks about how they are disrupting the eyewear industry. (1/5/2012) WATCH HERE

Tech Crunch: “SV Angel, Founder Collective And Others Put $850K In Customer Retention SaaS Custora”

whartonentrepreneurship — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 19:57:25 +0000

Tech Crunch: “Roberto Medri, Etsy’s Analytics Lead, said that Custora’s (founded by Wharton alum Corey Pierson WG’10) segmentation was key to the company’s big holiday marketing push. As retailers emerge from the holiday shopping frenzy, most want to figure out a way to help keep the consumers who bought from their sites. Custora could be the answer.” (1/5/2012) MORE

New York Times: “A Chicer, Cheaper New Outlook”

whartonentrepreneurship — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 15:42:25 +0000

New York Times Fashion and Style section features Wharton alum founded Warby Parker’s pop-up bazaar. (1/4/2012) MORE

WAMDA ME: “Lebanese Wharton Students Create a New Way to Connect with Friends”

whartonentrepreneurship — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 15:25:44 +0000

Wharton Venture Initiation Program company Oneaway “came from the founders’ idea to leverage communities to facilitate new connections and relationships, and to make it easier to connect with your friends in your current networks.” (12/23/2011) MORE

Philadelphia Inquirer: “More U.S. pet owners turn to pet insurance to protect four-legged friends”

whartonentrepreneurship — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 14:10:09 +0000

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Petplan Pet Insurance (USA) – founded by Chris & Natasha Ashton (both WG’03) – featured in article about increase in popularity of pet insurance among US pet owners. (1/3/2012) MORE

Philadelphia Inquirer: “Inquirer owner picks 3 tech firms for incubator”

whartonentrepreneurship — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 21:35:40 +0000

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Three companies founded by Wharton/Penn alums – CloudMine, ElectNext and Snipsnap – chosen by Inquirer owner for Project Liberty Digital Incubator. (1/3/2012) MORE

Philadelphia Business Journal features Wharton Venture Initiation Program company Embrace Hearing

whartonentrepreneurship — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 18:51:23 +0000

Philadelphia Business Journal: Embrace Hearing (co-founded by Sam Tanzer WG’12 & Ross Porter) is working to make hearing aids more affordable and accessible. (12/30/2011) MORE

Philadelphia Business Journal features Charlie Javice (W’14), co-founder of PoverUP

whartonentrepreneurship — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 17:13:14 +0000

Charlie (W’14) and Elie Javice (W’15), co-founders of Wharton Venture Initiation Program Company PoverUP, discuss the student-run microfinance platform and their goal of “break[ing] the cycle of poverty through capital, research and education, and social engagement.” (12/30/2011) MORE

whartonentrepreneurship — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:25:28 +0000

Wharton Venture Initiation Program alumni company Baby.com.br (co-founded by Davis Smith G/11/WG’11) featured on Webholic’s Top 10 List of startups in Brazil. (12/28/2011) MORE

New York Times Bits Blog: “Coursekit Raises $5 Million to Reinvent the Classroom”

whartonentrepreneurship — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 15:26:00 +0000

Wharton Venture Initiation Program alum company Coursekit raises $5 million in venture funding and seeks to “revitalize the education experience”. (1/2/2012) MORE

Washington Post On Small Business: “In trying to meet venture capitalists, will an online introduction suffice?”

whartonentrepreneurship — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 15:12:26 +0000

Washington Post On Small Business: Wharton Entrepreneurial Programs instructor Patrick FitzGerald and Wharton Venture Initiation Program alum Phil Cortes, WG’11 and co-founder of Meeteor.com, discuss early stage networking. (12/30/2011) MORE

VC Circle: “Snapdeal Bets On Lifestyle E-commerce”

whartonentrepreneurship — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 15:51:42 +0000

SnapDeal founder Kunal Bahl (W’06/ENG’06) talks about the company’s move into product sales. “According to Bahl, there are 11 million registered users on Snapdeal and about one in eight online users ‘browse and buy’ from Snapdeal.” (12/23/2011) WATCH INTERVIEW

Third Wave Fashion: “Startup Seven: Stylitics’ New Path to Market Research”

whartonentrepreneurship — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 21:20:03 +0000

Third Wave Fashion interviews Zach Davis, co-founder (along with Rohan Deuskar WG’11) of Stylitics, winners of the 2011 Wharton Business Plan Competition (12/21/2011) MORE

Entrepreneur Magazine: “How Entrepreneurs with Social Vision Secured Venture Capital”

whartonentrepreneurship — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 15:17:03 +0000

Entrepreneur Magazine: According to Lee Fixel, Managing Director of Tiger Global Management, Warby Parker (co-founded by Wharton alums Neil Blumenthal WG’10, Dave Gilboa GEN’10/WG’10, Jeff Raider WG’10 and Andy Hunt WG’10) “had developed great products and figured out new and cost-efficient ways to build and market them. This is a large industry that has been starved for innovation.” (12/22/2011) MORE

Fast Co. Design: “Coursekit Aims To Overhaul How Teachers Run Their Classrooms”

whartonentrepreneurship — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 18:47:12 +0000

The Coursekit team (a Wharton Venture Initiation Program alumni company) is “always asking ‘how can we make it feel living and human?’” (12/21/2011) MORE

Tech Crunch: “Social Video Broadcasting Platform Spreecast Raises $4 Million”

whartonentrepreneurship — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 15:56:00 +0000

Spreecast – founded by Wharton alum Jeff Fluhr (W96/ENG96) – “has raised $4 million in seed funding” (12/21/2011) MORE

Washington Post – On Small Business: “For start-up jobs, graduates taking American degrees to India”

whartonentrepreneurship — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 15:26:27 +0000

Wharton alum Kunal Bahl (W’06/ENG’06) – founder of Snapdeal.com – talks about India’s entrepreneurial climate. (12/20/2011) MORE

Forbes: 30 Under 30 – Techology

whartonentrepreneurship — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 21:23:00 +0000

Wharton Venture Award winner and founder of Milo.com (acquired by eBay), Jack Abraham, named to Forbes 30 Under 30 – Technology list. MORE

USA Today: Zynga CEO Mark Pincus (W’88) “calls Zynga his ‘crowning achievement’”

whartonentrepreneurship — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:37:59 +0000

“‘This is a (seminal) event for an Internet boom,’ says John Doerr, a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, the largest venture investor in Zynga, who spoke before Zynga started trading. ‘Zynga’s IPO is a commencement of a new phase (for Internet companies), and a springboard for the company.’” (12/18/2011) MORE

Forbes.com: “How crafty startups handle job recruiting”

whartonentrepreneurship — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:34:05 +0000

Wharton Entrepreneurial Programs’ Start-Up Auction featured as “an easier way for MBA students and [start-up] companies to pair up.” (12/19/11) MORE

Forbes: “Today’s ‘G’ Generation: Replacing Greed With Generosity”

whartonentrepreneurship — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 21:17:45 +0000

Forbes: “The generosity factor [is a] value that is increasingly important to the public” and the buy-one-give-one business model, as exemplified by Wharton Venture Initiation Program alumni company Warby Parker, is “a most effective approach for doing good.” (12/14/2011) MORE

TechCrunch: “Seva Search Raises $1.3 M To Connect Consumers With Local Businesses”

whartonentrepreneurship — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 17:58:48 +0000

TechCrunch: “Investors in the Series A round include Fortify.vc, Ed Mathias, Tim Sykes, Jay Virdy, David Eisner, Andrew Bachman, Jigar Shah, Krishna Subramanian, Vishal Gurbaxani, Arjun Dev Arora, Saket Saurabh, plus angels Paul Silber, David Krauskopf, John Lapides, Roger Richter, Glen Hellman and John Cammack. Badder Alghanim, James and David Dingman, Alex Edmans and John Villa were listed by the company as ‘supporters.’” Seva Search was co-founded by Manpreet Singh WG’09. (11/1/2011) MORE

Harvard Business Review: “Four Reasons Why an Online Retailer Decided to Open Stores”

whartonentrepreneurship — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:19:14 +0000

In “Four Reasons Why an Online Retailer Decided to Open Stores”, Warby Parker (a Wharton Venture Initiation Program alumni company) co-founders Neil Blumenthal WG’10 and Dave Gilboa GEN’10/WG’10, discuss their unique approach to selling eyeglasses and connecting with customers. (12/14/2011) MORE

New York Times: “For Fashion Start-Ups, a Bridge to Investors”

whartonentrepreneurship — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:09:51 +0000

New York Times: “Last week, FashInvest held its second annual Capital Conference at F.I.T., a daylong event at which fashion and retail companies were given eight minutes to promote their brainchild to more than 50 possible backers. … After Jenny Wu and Nina Cherny (both WG’11/G’11), founders of Stylyt, pitched their company, they said they were approached by Daniel Schultz, a founder and marketing director of DFJ Gotham Ventures. He said that Stylyt was one of the companies that leverages technology to enhance the consumer experience. (12/14/2011) MORE

CMIO Magazine: “FDA OKs handheld device to detect skull bleeding”

whartonentrepreneurship — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 14:24:55 +0000

The Infrascanner Model 1000 was developed by 2004 Wharton Business Plan Competition winner InfraScan, Inc. From the 2004 press release: “[the original technology, the HematoScope is based] on the patent of co-founder, 90 year old University of Pennsylvania Medical School Prof. Britton Chance.” You can read more about InfraScan, Inc. in the Wharton Magazine and to read the full CMIO article, please go here.

TechCrunch: “Entrepreneurs Debut $2.5M Accelerator To Invest In India-Focused Startups”

whartonentrepreneurship — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 18:22:20 +0000

Wharton Venture Initiation Program company EkSMS (co-founded by Anirudh Suri WG’12 and Vikas Sekhri WG’12) 1st company to join Indian startup accelerator India Internet Group (12/13/2011) MORE

VentureBeat: “Shop online, try it out in person: Kembrel gives hybrid retail sales the old college try”

whartonentrepreneurship — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 13:43:57 +0000

Wharton Venture Initiation Program alum company Kembrel – co-founded by Aymeric de Hemptinne G’11/WG’11, Cherif Habib WG’11 and Stephan Jacob G’11/WG’11 – hopes to “marry offline and online commerce in a way that hasn’t been done before.” MORE

TECH Cocktail: “Chimp Flix: A Win-Win for Movie Theaters and Moviegoers”

whartonentrepreneurship — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 14:47:18 +0000

TECH cocktail: If you love movies and saving money, check out Wharton Venture Initiation Program company Chimp Flix, co-founded by Casey Rosengren W’13. (11/13/2011) MORE (Chimp Flix was also featured in the Washington Post)