Duke Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Congratulations to the 35 Duke University students who completed the Duke Innovation and Entrepreneurship LBO Model Workshop this fall at Duke University - The Fuqua School of Business. In this 5-part series, students build an LBO model from scratch. They are assigned a public company "target" and then dig in to do the real work that a banker or private equity investor would conduct to create a fully functioning, three statement financial model with debt tranches a cash sweep and IRR/MOIC data tables. This workshop is not for the faint of heart....140 students started out on the first day and only 25% finished the race, which included modeling assignments that take 3+ hours in advance of each session. You'll see the digital badge pictured below in the certifications section of LinkedIn for these students going forward. Be on the lookout for these future investors from Duke! Zac Abud Ayo Agbaje Burcak Agridag Harrison Alim Alexander Dankyi Asare, CFA, ACCA, CPA Michael Baravarian Eric Benson Jason Doan Rex Evans Zachary Fennie Stiv Fico Ross Fly Jamie Fobel Deyan Ganchev Neeraj Gilani Evan Greer Seneca Griffin Haimei Hu Kamila Iskakova Jun Jang Maxwell Jewell Jack Kovach Jack Kwit Juan Pablo Larrain Michael March Mišel Marovt Maggie McCarthy Srida Moua Takunda Mutee Jose Panameño Alger Hrit Parikh Santiago Serna Emil Westling Matthew J. Yanchek Andrew Zhang #lbo #privateequity #buyouts

Sophie Ashley '25 shares her experience interning with the CED (Center for Entrepreneurial Development), providing marketing support for CED's work supporting Triangle-area startups. The application for Spring 2025 Startup TNT internships is open until December 16, 2024. https://lnkd.in/ejxmMzBQ

Innovation inspiration from Sima Sistani ’01—outgoing CEO of Weight Watchers who previously held leadership roles at Epic Games, Tumblr, and Yahoo—paraphrased from her recent visit with I&E 201 students. Thanks for your insights, Sima! -Define success not by the things you acquire, like money or titles, because then there's never an endpoint—someone will always be richer or smarter than you. Instead, define success by understanding your purpose and value and aligning your work to support them. -Entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs need similar skills, but intrapreneurs need to work within the existing organization's structure, culture, and debts. -As a leader, failure happens when you're driven by ego and seek what's best for you, rather than for the organization.

Looking for that perfect gift? Make your 2024 holiday shopping extra meaningful by supporting Duke University entrepreneurs! Check out the Duke I&E Holiday Gift Guide, featuring standout products and services from companies founded or owned by Duke alumni, students, faculty, and staff. 💙 Shop Blue Devil-made. Celebrate innovation. Spread holiday cheer. https://lnkd.in/eTbgEXty

An entrepreneurial mindset and skills support any career—not just startup jobs. Thanks to Sam Ramey '23 for sharing his workplace experience!

How do you identify opportunities in venture and get access to founders? It's not easy, but there are ways to "manage the uncertainty through disciplined action," which is one of our anchors at Duke Innovation and Entrepreneurship. A special thanks to Christopher Steed, Chief Investment Officer at Paladin Capital Group for spending the evening with 60+ Duke students in the VC Foundations Workshop to share strategies and advice on connecting with others and building relationships. Paladin's "dual use model" operating at the intersection of governments and the private sector brings an information and economic edge to their investing approach. However, their foundation is built on relationships and initiating with founders that are doing groundbreaking work within their focus areas of digital enablement, monitoring, cyber & AI security and AI safety. Here are some of my key takeaways from the discussion: 1) Use all of your channels for dialogue and bring an attitude of learning, while remaining data-driven and informed 2) A genuine partnership approach seeks to find ways to add value for the other party 3) No pride of authorship - know when to bring in senior leaders internally to leverage the full value of the firm For the students, the message was that there is no need for them to wait. Begin the dialogue now with founders and experts in the sectors where you have interest to invest. The more conversations you have, the more you will bring to the table. The VC Foundations Workshop is a new co-curricular offering in a five-part series to give Duke University students exposure to the world of venture by learning from veterans in the industry. #innovation #venturecapital

☄️Duke I&E defying the space-time continuum. Four events on the same night in four different locations. The Duke Innovation and Entrepreneurship team representing with: 1) a standing-room only info session about our Ludwig Duke in Silicon Valley program, 2) a packed house at the NYC alumni event with Mark Peter Davis, 3) a full Luby Family Bullpen for the VC Practioners Workshop with Christopher Steed of Paladin Capital Group, and 4) Duke students presenting their final project after their CED (Center for Entrepreneurial Development) internship. The Duke University entrepreneurial ecosystem is rich and thriving. All of this is possible because of our incredible and committed team: Kevin Hoch, Erin Gasch, Sarah Morrison, William Rogers, Anna Jacobs, Aaron Dinin, Kimbra Kamille, Melissa Smith, Abigail Grubbs, Kyle W. Williams, Solomon Valentine, Amy Ryan Linnane, Nikki Hevizi, Kelley Downey, and shep moyle. You all rock! 💙

🎉Happy National Entrepreneur's Day. Check out how Duke Innovation and Entrepreneurship celebrated... To all the #duke 💙😈 founders out there, we salute you. It's not an easy road, but the impact you are having is worth it. #proud #entrepreneurship #nationalentrepreneursday Garrett Steck, Alonzo Jones, Jr., Max Stern, Amy Wyron Robinson, Avihan Jain, Arshaan Sayed, Patti Kamara, Jenny Y.

What an incredible evening celebrating the vital role of entrepreneurship in Duke’s past, present, and future! We’re so grateful to our inspirational panelists: WNBA legend turned nonprofit leader Alana Beard ’04 (318 Foundation, Inc), who encouraged us to approach relationships with authenticity, curiosity, and openness; fintech trailblazer Aaron Schumm MBA ’07 (Vestwell), who reminded us of our own power to create unique paths and opportunities; and iconic product designer Melissa Bernstein ’87 (Melissa & Doug toys, Lifelines, LLC), whose insights spoke to all of us seeking to make meaning with our work. Thanks too to our amazing featured student entrepreneurs Sarah Houston ’24 (Aurganics Skincare), John Buxton ’26 (Helian), and Ben Neubert PhD ’27 (DownLoad)—the future of Duke entrepreneurship is bright!

Sarah Houston will pitch her startup Aurganics TONIGHT at Entrepreneurship at Duke: Our Past, Present & Future. Wednesday, November 13 from 6-8pm at the Fuqua School of Business. Can't join in person? Watch via livestream! https://lnkd.in/eNXmVWaB