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
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
28
February
"No-nonsense Guide to Early Stage Entrepreneurship" with Justin Silver, WG’19, Co-Founder, AAVRANI
Justin will be at Tangen Hall to meet with students and share his experience starting skincare brand while in school and taking it through bootstrapping and utilizing school resources to successful Series A fundraising.
SIGN UP to attend the session.
Justin will be at Tangen Hall to meet with students and share his experience starting skincare brand while in school and taking it through bootstrapping and utilizing school resources to successful Series A fundraising.
SIGN UP to attend the session.
01
March
Matt Jacobson has more than 20 years of experience in financial services, digital media and mobile software and services.
Matt is the COO & CFO at Gravy, the leading provider of location intelligence for marketers. The company AdmitOne engine verifies consumer attendance at millions of places, points-of-interest and local events, providing unprecedented visibility into the offline consumer journey. At Gravy, Matt leads all finance, operations and administrative functions and develops new business opportunities for the company.
Register Here for a IN-PERSON 1:1 Session
Register Here for a IN-PERSON group AMA session
Matt is the COO & CFO at Gravy, the leading provider of location intelligence for marketers. The company AdmitOne engine verifies consumer attendance at millions of places, points-of-interest and local events, providing unprecedented visibility into the offline consumer journey. At Gravy, Matt leads all finance, operations and administrative functions and develops new business opportunities for the company.
Register Here for a IN-PERSON 1:1 Session
Register Here for a IN-PERSON group AMA session
13
February
While most people’s definition of entrepreneurship only involves starting a venture from scratch, the strategy of buying an existing business, known widely as Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA), is an accessible, potentially lucrative, and often overlooked path for aspiring entrepreneurs.
Join us on Monday, February 13, at 5:15 pm as Venture Lab launches its Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition program with an ETA Fireside Chat. The event will take place at Steinberg-Dietrich Hall 351.
The conversation will be moderated by Professor Richard Perlman (W’68), Co-founder and Executive Chairman of ExamWorks Group, Inc, and Professor of MGMT 2130 – Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition.
Professor Perlman will be joined by Max Francois and Jason Vahn (both C’11, WG’19), Managing Partners and Co-Founders of Fidelity Memorial Group. The pair will share their pathway to ETA and their experiences purchasing their first business. Specifically, they will discuss how they acquired businesses that had already found product market fit, allowing them to flip the startup model on its head and become CEOs of revenue-generating businesses on day one.
The conversation will provide valuable concepts to inspire newcomers to explore acquisitions as an entrepreneurship pathway and tactical insights for those already exploring the space.
Register Here
Join us on Monday, February 13, at 5:15 pm as Venture Lab launches its Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition program with an ETA Fireside Chat. The event will take place at Steinberg-Dietrich Hall 351.
The conversation will be moderated by Professor Richard Perlman (W’68), Co-founder and Executive Chairman of ExamWorks Group, Inc, and Professor of MGMT 2130 – Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition.
Professor Perlman will be joined by Max Francois and Jason Vahn (both C’11, WG’19), Managing Partners and Co-Founders of Fidelity Memorial Group. The pair will share their pathway to ETA and their experiences purchasing their first business. Specifically, they will discuss how they acquired businesses that had already found product market fit, allowing them to flip the startup model on its head and become CEOs of revenue-generating businesses on day one.
The conversation will provide valuable concepts to inspire newcomers to explore acquisitions as an entrepreneurship pathway and tactical insights for those already exploring the space.
Register Here
20
January
Richard L. Cohen concentrates his practice in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, securities, venture capital/emerging companies, private equity, general corporate law and business counseling. His client base includes a broad range of business entities, both public and private, including biotechnology and technology companies, telecommunications companies, energy companies, manufacturing companies, insurance companies and venture capital firms. He is a 1995 graduate of New York University School of Law and a graduate of The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is a member of the firm's governing Partners Board.
Schedule In-Person 1:1 Meeting
Schedule In-Person 1:1 Meeting
02
December
Focused only on Intellectual Property (IP) Questions
Josh Slavitt is a Founding Partner at Slavitt IP Law, LLC and he's been a registered patent attorney for almost 20 years.
At his firm Josh helps clients protect and profit from their intellectual property through the use of IP creation/acquisition strategies, the management of IP portfolios, and the development and implementation of patent enforcement/monetization campaigns.
Prior to starting Slavitt IP Law, Josh was a partner in the Philadelphia office of Gordon & Rees, Scully, Mansukhani.
Josh holds a B.A from the University of Pennsylvania and his J.D. from Boston University School of Law.
Register Here for 1-on-1 session
Josh Slavitt is a Founding Partner at Slavitt IP Law, LLC and he's been a registered patent attorney for almost 20 years.
At his firm Josh helps clients protect and profit from their intellectual property through the use of IP creation/acquisition strategies, the management of IP portfolios, and the development and implementation of patent enforcement/monetization campaigns.
Prior to starting Slavitt IP Law, Josh was a partner in the Philadelphia office of Gordon & Rees, Scully, Mansukhani.
Josh holds a B.A from the University of Pennsylvania and his J.D. from Boston University School of Law.
Register Here for 1-on-1 session
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.
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.
HILADELPHIA, MAY 3, 2022 – The University of Pennsylvania’s Venture Lab is pleased to announce the winner of the sixth annual Startup Challenge, sponsored by Eric Aroesty, C’92: ToxiSense, co-founded by a team of four University of Pennsylvania freshmen, Aravind Krishnan, C’25, W’25; Udit Garg, ENG’25; Andrew Diep-Tran, W’25; and Aarush Sahni, C’25. The Startup Challenge was held on April 29, 2022 at Tangen Hall, the University of Pennsylvania’s hub for student entrepreneurship and innovation.
1 Min Read
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
EMBAs are no longer the preserve of corporate high-flyers, as alumni go it alone
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Legend, an undergraduate alumnus, was recently honored by Venture Lab, the University’s entrepreneurship center, during a virtual livestream event.
1 Min Read
This article was originally published in 2019.
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News
With a new name and a new home, Venture Lab — formerly known as Penn Wharton Entrepreneurship — is the culmination of a nearly 50-year journey to help aspiring founders at Wharton and across the university realize their visions.
1 Min Read