Students and Entrepreneurs Meet at Dingman Center’s Start-up Night

In March 2008, the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship hosted its annual Start-Up Night, bringing together entrepreneurs, students, venture capitalists and community members to network and share ideas. The event presented wonderful opportunities for entrepreneurs to get advice, share ideas and make contact with top MBA talent at Smith. Students had the chance to network with the entrepreneurs and speak with them about potential job opportunities.

The evening started with a 30-minute panel discussion about everything from what it takes to work for a small company to the difference between the service industry and product industry. Melissa Carrier, director of venture investments and social entrepreneurship at the Dingman Center, acted as the moderator for the panel. She was joined by Scott Lincke, vice president of product management at Hillcrest Labs, and Kiran Hebber, a partner at Vahallah Partners. Both panelists were able to offer their viewpoints from the differing sides of entrepreneurship. Their insight helped the attendees understand the differences between large and small companies, current trends in the marketplace and what VCs look for in a start-up. They also offered advice on how to approach risk when working for a start-up. The panel ended with Q&A from the audience.

Following the panel, each of the start-up companies represented at the event had the opportunity to describe their companies and the positions they were trying to fill. Some of the companies that were in attendance were Inspire, an online health community, Mom Made Foods, an organic baby food company, and Idalis Software, an e-mail security company. The event ended with an hour of networking that allowed everyone to connect. “I really enjoyed being able to meet face to face with the founders of these companies and speak with them about job opportunities,” commented second-year MBA student Brett Weinrieb.

Available positions included sales, marketing and product development positions. Start-Up Night is a unique event offered to Smith. Finding a job with a start-up company is often a difficult task because they do not have the same means of recruitment. The Dingman Center is able to help connect students and entrepreneurs each year with this event.

www.rhsmith.umd.edu/dingman

▓ Loretta Goodridge, MBA Candidate 2008, Smith Media Group