Explorer

For those who may not yet know what they want to do or where they might fit in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. At Venture Lab, explorers can learn about innovative approaches, gain exposure to the entrepreneurial ecosystem and its key players, and get help in defining their goals and interests.

Top Resources For Explorers

Meet with experts in law, tech, design, research, PR, communications, and more who can help you with the practical problems of launching a startup.
Don’t know where to start? Meet with one of our knowledgeable staff and craft your entrepreneurial path.
The Startup Internship Awards are awarded to select students who will spend the summer interning at a startup and who demonstrate both a commitment to entrepreneurship at Penn and to pursuing an entrepreneurial career.
The Food Innovation Lab is an 800-sq. ft. facility that supports a unique cohort of food and beverage startups at Penn.
Now Accepting Applications For Fall 2022
The Digital Design Studio at Venture Lab offer its services to the students, faculty, and staff engaged in entrepreneurship and innovation at the University of Pennsylvania and alumni who are part of the global Penn entrepreneurship ecosystem.
The Studios @ Venture Labs are a collection of workspaces and labs that house digital and analog fabrication technologies that empower the Penn community to make their ideas a reality.
Our Retail Lab is a flexible retail space to showcase successful alumni and student ventures, to inspire Penn students and provide active learning opportunities.
Missed our Entrepreneurship Expo? No problem! Check out our recap video and galleries from our kickoff event at Tangen Hall.

Explorer Events & Workshops

21
March
Yujiro is an entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience building companies that have delivered innovative therapies to patients. In June 2015, he launched and incorporated IDEAYA Biosciences as its first employee and Chief Executive Officer and led the company’s IPO in May 2019 (NASDAQ: IDYA). From 2015 to 2018, he served as an Executive-in-Residence at 5AM Ventures. From 2014 to August 2015, he served as Chief Operating Officer at Flexus Biosciences, which he led through its acquisition by Bristol-Myers Squibb in April 2015, and then served as Chief Operating Officer at FLX Bio (renamed RAPT Therapeutics, NASDAQ: RAPT), a spinout of Flexus Biosciences.
27
March
Goodbay Technologies provides outsourced customer support for leading growth-oriented companies. Goodbay Technologies is more than just a call center company – they partner with clients to drive customer retention and increase their profitability. Goodbay is part call center, part management consulting. In Sapan's role, Sapan focuses on creating strategic alignment between Goodbay Technology's team and the clients that they serve
28
March
Andrew and George’s careers in the intersection of health-tech, life sciences and entrepreneurship showcases the complex and often contradictory incentives of players in the healthcare industry. Learn more about the hardships and complexities within health-tech entrepreneurship by listening to Andy and George’s stories about Proteus and their other health-tech ventures and what they learned from the experience.
19
March
Howard recently joined Ultragenyx, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of novel therapies for serious rare and ultrarare genetic diseases, and is responsible for leading the company’s global finance, accounting, corporate strategy and investor relations functions. Howard received his B.A. in Economics from Princeton University and his M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
28
November
This session will explore the variety of alternative entrepreneurship through acquisition and search fund models with Professor Charbel Zreik.

Founder Fireside Chat with Jim Bankoff, WG'96, Founder & CEO, Vox Media

Moderated by Lori Rosenkopf,Vice Dean of Entrepreneurship and Simon & Midge Palley Professor of Management

A twenty five year veteran of the online industry, Jim developed and led dozens of the most popular websites on the internet including AOL.com, Mapquest, Moviefone, AOL Music, Netscape and AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) as an Executive Vice President at AOL. He initiated and oversaw the drive to open up AOL's content and services onto the web and was the first executive of a major portal to embrace professional blogging with his acquisition of Weblogs Inc. and development and leadership of sites such as TMZ, Fanhouse, BloggingStocks and Engadget.
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Video Companion

Related Articles & Stories

Find out what's happening with founders across the #entrePENNeur community! Want to tell your story? Contact us at venturelab@upenn.edu.
News
August 17, 2023 11:29 AM
No surprise here, but the University of Pennsylvania has produced a whole bunch of venture-backed companies.
1 Min Read
May 03, 2022 10:33 AM
Left to right: Rob Goergen, WG’00, Founder and Chairman of G5 Capital; Udit Garg, ENG’25; Andrew Diep-Tran, W’25; Aravind Krishnan, C’25, W’25; and Aarush Sahni, C’25.
4 Min Read
December 21, 2021 12:00 PM
Venture Lab is pleased to announce the creation of a new Entrepreneur in Residence program, a marker of the continued growth for the newly-formed entrepreneurship center. The newly-established position is a long-term engagement with the center to provide workshops, office hours, and general advising/mentoring to support early-stage student and alumni ventures in our Venture Initiation Program. Open to all Penn alumni, the role doubles as a meaningful way for former participants of the program to return to their innovative roots and support the development of the entrepreneurial ecosystem at the university. After a strict selection process, the center is delighted to announce that Doug Baldasare, CEO and Founder of ChargeItSpot, a world leader in cell phone charging stations, will serve as the inaugural Entrepreneur in Residence. Baldasare developed the concept for ChargeItSpot during his time in the program as an MBA student at the Wharton School and continues to serve as CEO.
5 Min Read
October 12, 2021 04:32 PM
EMBAs are no longer the preserve of corporate high-flyers, as alumni go it alone
1 Min Read
By  Dee Patel
, October 12, 2021 02:29 PM
Legend, an undergraduate alumnus, was recently honored by Venture Lab, the University’s entrepreneurship center, during a virtual livestream event.
1 Min Read
September 23, 2021 01:34 PM
This article was originally published in 2019.
3 Min Read