2009 Program Activities

Hard and Soft Skills Workshop

  • The first few months of Startup Leadership Program are designed to provide a baselining when it comes to basic skills. Several intensive day-long sessions, organized by the Fellows themselves, provide an introduction to fundamentals, in both hard skills (tending toward the analytical and quantitative) and soft skills (interpersonal and qualitative). Leading members of the local entrepreneurial community donate their time and share their expertise.
  • 2009 Hard Skills Workshop: Topics included Term Sheet Analysis (Shari Loessberg), Incorporation (Gene Barton and Roger Feldman), Intellectual Property (Lee Crews), How to Raise Money (Matt Hamilton and Pat Noonan), Entrepreurial Experiences (Srinivasrao Nandiwada) and Elevator Pitching (Jeff Hoffman, Brian Shin, and Al Kapoor).
  • 2009 Soft Skills Workshop: Topics included Marketing (Kim Ann King), Personal Entrepreneurial Strategy (Scott Rader), Negotiation (Diogo Teixeira), Hiring (Clark Curtis), and Networking (Diane Darling)

Venture Capital Competition

  • IF YOU LOOK LIKE A VC AND ACT LIKE A VC DOES IT MEAN YOU ARE A VC? The SLP Venture Capital Competition helps entrepreneurs improve their chances of success with their startups by giving them a taste of the life of a VC. Teams of 4-5 TiE SLP members assume the role of VCs for a day. They evaluate antrepreneurs' pitches and business plans and determine whether they should make an investment and on what terms. This competition is an intense day-long event that provides a great learning experience for entrepreneurs as well as those wishing to pursue a career in the field of Venture Capital.
  • 2009 Start-Up Companies: Mobile17, Mobinett, Authors' Globe, and MyCupid
  • 2009 VC Judges included Al Kapoor (CEO, Millenium Ventures), Joe Caruso (Angel Investor), Scott Yaphe (General Partner, ABS Ventures) and Jeff Moore (Vice President, MP Venture Management)

Founders' Salon

  • The early days of founding a company can sometimes feel like a solitary pursuit. The Founders' Salon is an open forum for SLP Fellows to share their progress in their entrepreneurial adventures, to get feedback on raw business concepts, to get brainstorming support, and to talk about the things they're learning "on the ground" as fledgling entrepreneurs. Other activities include pitching practice and business plan feedback. We meet monthly; someone brings wine.

Speaker Series

Stellar speakers are key to the educational experience for SLP Fellows. Members of each year's class select and recruit the speakers, drawing on an unmatched pool of talented and successful business professionals involved in entrepreneurship.

  • Aaron Sandoski, General Partner, Norwich Ventures
  • Andrew Jay, Managing Partner, Siemens Venture Capital
  • Dave Berry, Partner, Flagship Ventures
  • Desh Deshpande, Serial Entrepreneur & Chairman, Sycamore
    • Networks
  • Doug Fambrough, General Partner, Oxford Bioscience Partners
  • Joe Caruso, Advisor & Angel Investor
  • Marina Hatsopoulos, Founder & CEO, Z Corporation
  • Pravin Chaturvedi, Founder & CEO, Indus Pharma
  • Rick Chin, Director of Product Innovation, SolidWorks
  • Shari Loessberg, Director, National Finance Partners & Lecturer, MIT Sloan
  • Gene Barton, Partner, Fish & Richardson
  • Cowen & Company
  • Roger Feldman, Partner, Fish & Richardson
  • Srinivasrao Nandiwada, CEO & Serial Entrepreneur
  • Jeff Hoffman, President, MJ Hoffman & Associates
  • Jeff Carbeck, Chief Scientist, Nano-Terra
  • Brian Shin, Founder & CEO, Visible Measures
  • Kim Ann King, Chief Marketing Officer, SiteSpect
  • Scott Rader, CEO, Arsenal Medical
  • Diogo Teixeira, Founder, Tower Group
  • Clark Curtis, VP of HR, NameMedia
  • Diane Darling, CEO, Effective Networking Inc.

Field Trips

  • Cambridge Innovation Center