Staff Archives - Venture Lab

Respect & Inspiration: The Legacy of Therese Flaherty

By Nadine Kavanaugh, Associate Director, Wharton Entrepreneurship

“We’re not the experts.” That’s what Therese Flaherty told entrepreneurs over and over again in her 14 years as Director of the Wharton Small Business Development Center (SBDC). Therese believed in the power of entrepreneurs to transform their businesses, and she created a consulting framework based on asking thoughtful questions and challenging assumptions—with the entrepreneurs themselves making decisions, because they’re the experts in their businesses.

Therese 600x450 — Therese Flaherty, Director of the Wharton Small Business Development Center

The Wharton Warriors & Intrepid INSEAD in China

By Manisha Gupta WG’16

Manisha Gupta recently participated in a MBA Program for Executives Global Business week trip to China, along with students from INSEAD. Here she recounts her many experiences which influenced her mind, body and soul.

China: a country of beliefs, where an army of life size terracotta warriors accompanied Emperor Qin into immortality. A country of creative courage, where once dividing inter-province walls were united as the “Great Wall” to shield against Mongolia. From the forbidden city of the past to the pearl tower of the present, a trip to China offers nourishment to the mind, body and the soul.

China group pic sm — Wharton and INSEAD students in China.

The Wharton Network At Its Best

By Clare Leinweber, Managing Director of Wharton Entrepreneurship

In early January 2005, Josh Kopelman W’93, Founder of half.com and First Round, was spending the day as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Wharton Entrepreneurship, meeting one-on-one with Penn student entrepreneurs for 30 minutes each.

A Business Meeting for Clare

Only the finest business attire will do when Wharton Entrepreneurship Managing Director Clare Leinweber has a meeting with Ben. All made by alumni entrepreneurs, of course!

A Day Out for Clare

When Wharton Entrepreneurship Managing Director Clare Leinweber has a day out, she uses only the finest products. Those made by alumni entrepreneurs, of course!

Clare Leinweber: “It’s an Exciting Time for Entrepreneurship at Wharton”

By Nadine Kavanaugh, Associate Director, Wharton Entrepreneurship

“Wharton Entrepreneurship is important both across Penn and Wharton. I think it’s important to the world. We are in the business of helping students launch businesses. And the potential there for taking very smart, talented Wharton and Penn students and having them found companies is that they end up creating employment and economic development and growth across the country, perhaps across the world.”

— Clare Leinweber, Managing Director of Wharton Entrepreneurship

Watch Clare Leinweber, our new Managing Director, talk about why this is such an exciting time for entrepreneurship at Wharton, what she sees in the future for Wharton Entrepreneurship, and how much she loves working with our entrepreneurial students:

Big Changes for VIP

By Nadine Kavanaugh, Associate Director, Wharton Entrepreneurship

This month, we welcome a new class of student entrepreneurs to the Venture Initiation Program, and along with them, several exciting changes to the program.

$1000s in Free Market Research—At the Library!

By Cathy Ogur, Business Research Librarian at the Lippincott Library

Come see Cathy Ogur talk more about the amazing resources available to entrepreneurial Penn students at WE Weds, October 15, 12-1:20 pm, JMHH 265.

As an entrepreneur on campus, you will be impressed and excited by the types of resources the library provides. Are you looking for trade journals to read to develop ideas; industry research to learn about sectors; demographics databases to identify customers; company directories to create a list of possible competitors; financial benchmarks to draft projections; or deal summaries to understand the funding climate? The library can help! We strive to purchase resources used across academic and corporate settings, including more than 120 business related databases, most of which are available to students, faculty and staff of Penn with their PennKey and password, anywhere they have an internet connection, through the library website.

Honoring Excellence at the SBDC

By Erin McGowan, Associate Director, Wharton Small Business Development Center

The Wharton Small Business Development Center celebrated its annual recognition and leadership event on April 24. Over 70 guests gathered to recognize the accomplishments in 2013-14 of Wharton SBDC’s small business clients, Wharton MBA and Undergraduate consultants, professional advisors, and many organizational partners and friends – programs and accomplishments that are a mainstay of Philadelphia’s small business community.

Katlyn Grasso & Leslie Mitts - sm — Leslie Mitts, Managing Practice Leader of the Wharton Small Business Development Center, and Katlyn Grasso W’15, founder of GenHERation.