For Students
- Goergen Entrepreneurial Programs
  
  Penn Wharton Innovation Fund
  
  Startup Challenge
  
  Startup Internship Award
  
  Venture Initiation Program
  
  Visiting Experts
  
  Wharton Scale School
- Signature Programs
  
  Bet on Entrepreneurship
  
  Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition
  
  Snider Consulting
  
  Social Entrepreneurship
  
  Penn ELITE Fellowship
  
  Venture Lab Practicum
- Innovation Spaces
  
  Digital Design Studio
  
  Engineering Studios
  
  Food Innovation Lab
  
  Retail Lab
- Student Services
  
  Join VLAB Membership
  
  Book a Team Room
  
  Get Access to the Studios
- Not sure where to begin? Start here.
  
  Start Here Mondays connects Penn students with Venture Lab staff for personalized guidance on programs, resources, and opportunities across the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Whether you are exploring an idea, building a venture, looking to join a team, or simply curious about entrepreneurship, we’ll help you understand your options and identify a practical next step.
  
  Book Your Appointment
For Alumni
- Careers & Recruitment
  
  Penn Career Services
  
  Wharton MBA Career Management
- Resources For Alumni Startups
  
  VIP-X (Accelerator)
  
  Wharton Scale School
  
  Wharton Alumnae Founders & Funders Association
  
  Wharton Alumni Angel Network
- Support the Next Generation of Entrepreneurs
  
  Visiting Experts
  
  Give To Venture Lab
- Wharton Scale School
  
  Hosted in conjunction with Wharton’s Lifelong Learning Initiative in San Francisco, Scale School guides Bay Area entrepreneurs from successful startup to scalable enterprise.
  
  Bringing Wharton research together with the experience of founders, operators, investors, and industry leaders to help growing companies navigate the decisions that come after early traction from customers and capital to people, systems, technology, and culture.
  
  More
Events
- Entrepreneurship Expo 2026 by Venture Lab
  
  Discover the paths to entrepreneurship at Penn! VLab's Expo brings together Penn's programs, resources, clubs, ventures, and more!
  
  More
Education
- Courses & Majors
  
  Education Entrepreneurship
  
  Engineering Entrepreneurship
  
  Wharton MBA Major
  
  Wharton UG Concentration
  
  Wharton Online | Entrepreneurship Certificate
  
  Wharton Scale School
- Entrepreneurship Certificate
  
  Entrepreneurship is one of the most effective ways to create value, whether you are launching a venture, building something new inside an organization, or exploring a next chapter in your career. Wharton Online’s Entrepreneurship Certificate guides you through a clear three-stage progression — Inspiration, Identification, and Implementation — helping you cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset, evaluate opportunities with rigor, and build the relationships and systems that move an idea into action.
  
  Led by Lori Rosenkopf, Simon and Midge Palley Professor; Professor of Management; Vice Dean of Entrepreneurship, The Wharton School
  
  More
Tangen Hall
- General Information
  
  Visit Us
  
  Building Policies
  
  Emergency Procedures
  
  Event Request Form
  
  Security
About
- Meet Our Executive Director
  
  Shalini Nag, PhD believes anyone with the drive to solve problems can be an entrepreneur and is building Venture Lab into the place where Penn students turn that drive into reality.
  
  More
Getting Started Start Here
More

For Students
- Goergen Entrepreneurial Programs
  
  Penn Wharton Innovation Fund
  
  Startup Challenge
  
  Startup Internship Award
  
  Venture Initiation Program
  
  Visiting Experts
  
  Wharton Scale School
- Signature Programs
  
  Bet on Entrepreneurship
  
  Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition
  
  Snider Consulting
  
  Social Entrepreneurship
  
  Penn ELITE Fellowship
  
  Venture Lab Practicum
- Innovation Spaces
  
  Digital Design Studio
  
  Engineering Studios
  
  Food Innovation Lab
  
  Retail Lab
- Student Services
  
  Join VLAB Membership
  
  Book a Team Room
  
  Get Access to the Studios
- Not sure where to begin? Start here.
  
  Start Here Mondays connects Penn students with Venture Lab staff for personalized guidance on programs, resources, and opportunities across the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Whether you are exploring an idea, building a venture, looking to join a team, or simply curious about entrepreneurship, we’ll help you understand your options and identify a practical next step.
  
  Book Your Appointment
For Alumni
- Careers & Recruitment
  
  Penn Career Services
  
  Wharton MBA Career Management
- Resources For Alumni Startups
  
  VIP-X (Accelerator)
  
  Wharton Scale School
  
  Wharton Alumnae Founders & Funders Association
  
  Wharton Alumni Angel Network
- Support the Next Generation of Entrepreneurs
  
  Visiting Experts
  
  Give To Venture Lab
- Wharton Scale School
  
  Hosted in conjunction with Wharton’s Lifelong Learning Initiative in San Francisco, Scale School guides Bay Area entrepreneurs from successful startup to scalable enterprise.
  
  Bringing Wharton research together with the experience of founders, operators, investors, and industry leaders to help growing companies navigate the decisions that come after early traction from customers and capital to people, systems, technology, and culture.
  
  More
Events
- Entrepreneurship Expo 2026 by Venture Lab
  
  Discover the paths to entrepreneurship at Penn! VLab's Expo brings together Penn's programs, resources, clubs, ventures, and more!
  
  More
Education
- Courses & Majors
  
  Education Entrepreneurship
  
  Engineering Entrepreneurship
  
  Wharton MBA Major
  
  Wharton UG Concentration
  
  Wharton Online | Entrepreneurship Certificate
  
  Wharton Scale School
- Entrepreneurship Certificate
  
  Entrepreneurship is one of the most effective ways to create value, whether you are launching a venture, building something new inside an organization, or exploring a next chapter in your career. Wharton Online’s Entrepreneurship Certificate guides you through a clear three-stage progression — Inspiration, Identification, and Implementation — helping you cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset, evaluate opportunities with rigor, and build the relationships and systems that move an idea into action.
  
  Led by Lori Rosenkopf, Simon and Midge Palley Professor; Professor of Management; Vice Dean of Entrepreneurship, The Wharton School
  
  More
Tangen Hall
- General Information
  
  Visit Us
  
  Building Policies
  
  Emergency Procedures
  
  Event Request Form
  
  Security
About
- Meet Our Executive Director
  
  Shalini Nag, PhD believes anyone with the drive to solve problems can be an entrepreneur and is building Venture Lab into the place where Penn students turn that drive into reality.
  
  More
Getting Started Start Here
More

Venture Lab ETA Fireside Chat

November 03, 2026 03:31 PM

w/Prof. Richard Perlman (W'68)

Venture Lab held its Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA) Fireside Chat with Professor Richard Perlman (W’68) and alumni of the Perlman ETA Fellowship on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, from 6:00–7:15 pm at Tangen Hall (2nd Floor Colloquium). As part of the discussion, students left with a greater understanding of entrepreneurship through acquisition as a viable career path for entrepreneurs through discovering practical next steps to explore ETA at Penn and beyond.

Professor Perlman has spent his career acquiring more than 150 companies and building market-leading businesses across industries. He was be joined by ETA Fellowship alumni who shared stories from their journeys: how they prepared at Penn, the challenges they faced during their search, and what motivated them to become CEOs through acquisition rather than founding.