University of Marylands Smith School of
Business and TiE-DC
Continue Unique Program to Help
Entrepreneurs Succeed
College Park, Md. October 9,
2006 The University of Marylands
Robert H. Smith School of Business and
TiE-DC, one of Washington, D.C.s
largest entrepreneurship and business
networking organizations, have announced
the start of the second TiE-Smith
Fellows Program. The program, which aims
to help area entrepreneurs succeed,
first launched in fall 2005. The 11-week
series of workshops and small-group
mentoring sessions for the 15
participating entrepreneurs who have
already launched their businesses but
not yet received venture capital funding
are hosted at the Smith Schools
Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship from
September through December 2006.
The program creates a powerful
catalyst via an ideal combination of
education, mentorship and networking,
said Anil Gupta, research director for
the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship
and a co-director of the TiE-Smith
Fellows Program. Combining Smith School
and Dingman Center expertise, with local
VC community funding and contacts, with
TiE mentorship, is a great recipe for
optimizing an entrepreneurs chance for
success.
The program will offer intensive
learning opportunities via the weekly
workshops which will combine insight
from top Smith School faculty members
and guest entrepreneur and financier
speakers and small-group mentoring
meetings that will include case analysis
of fellows actual business challenges
and scenarios by venture capitalists and
successful area entrepreneurs.
The TiE-Smith Fellows Program offers
a great environment for members to
exchange ideas and information. For
example, two participants in last years
inaugural program combined efforts to
create a single, more competitive firm,
said Robert Baum, Smith School professor
and a co-director of the TiE-Smith
Fellows Program. I expect the program
will result in local talent, ideas and
businesses that we will be hearing about
for some time.
The Dingman Center for
Entrepreneurship at the Robert H. Smith
School of Business, University of
Maryland, is one of the first and
leading entrepreneurial centers in the
nation. The Dingman Center has
facilitated, supported and guided
entrepreneurs in the mid-Atlantic region
since 1986. More information about the
Dingman Center can be found at
www.rhsmith.umd.edu/dingman.
About TiE-DC
TiE-DC is Washington's largest
organization of entrepreneurs, dedicated
to fostering entrepreneurship and
innovation throughout the Mid-Atlantic
region, from Richmond, Va., to New York.
TiE stands for The Innovative
Ecosystem and is a not-for-profit
global network of more than 40 chapters
in nine countries with more than 10,000
entrepreneur and professional members.
TiE-DC is a recognized leader in
promoting entrepreneurship in the region
through networking, mentoring and
education. More information can be found
at
www.tie-dc.org.
About the
University of Marylands Robert H. Smith
School of Business
The Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized
leader in management education and
research for the digital economy. One of
13 colleges and schools at the
University of Maryland, College Park,
the Smith School offers undergraduate,
full-time and part-time MBA, Executive
MBA, MS PhD and executive education
programs, as well as outreach services
to the corporate community. The school
offers its degree, custom and
certification programs in learning
locations on three continents North
America, Europe and Asia.
