While some may think of Silicon Valley as the hub of startup activity, there’s no shortage of innovation and entrepreneurship on the East Coast. Participants in the Johnson Summer Startup Accelerator found that out firsthand during the annual JSSA NYC Trek on July 14. The startup teams convened in the city to connect with founders, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders for a day of education and discussion.
Offered through the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, JSSA is an intensive, summer-long program. MBA students with a budding passion for entrepreneurship programs have the opportunity to explore their ideas for a startup venture and go through three phases of entrepreneurship education — customer discovery, developing solutions, and testing.
Hosted in the Cornell ILR School space at 570 Lexington Avenue, the trek contained no shortage of inspiration. The first presentation of the day came from Randy Kane, managing partner at Profec Partners. Kane spoke about the dynamic between founders and angel investors, and gave the teams insight into the importance of finding the right fit when seeking investments.
“Randy taught us the power of an extremely pointed pitch, that you want to get to the point quickly and effectively. A strong pitch deck assists you in doing this while you explain the drivers behind your story,” said Trish Dessai MBA ’23, founder of GigUp. “I plan to apply his tips whenever I pitch in the future.”
Next, Loren Busby, director of the BioVenture eLab at Weill Cornell Medicine, led an interactive case study about a healthtech startup. Following the workshop, the cohort had the chance to participate in roundtable discussions with two early-stage founders. David Stein of Ash Wellness and Dorothee Grant of Kaveat each shared the details of their entrepreneurial journeys and imparted words of wisdom from the lessons learned along the way.
“I found the entrepreneur stories to be really insightful. There’s something about being in person that amplifies the impact of the startup stories,” said Adam Frenkel EMBA ’24, founder of Varyance.
Venture capitalist Momo Bi was next to present, speaking to the traits that investors look for when deciding to make an investment in a startup. Perry Solomon, operating partner at Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator (ERA), also made an appearance, sharing information about the opportunities and resources available at ERA with the cohort.
“It was great to engage actively with a multitude of speakers who brought so many different perspectives to the table,” said Dessai. “We got advice on pitching, advice on how investors value businesses, tips on problem solving while running a business, and more.”
The day ended with a dynamic conversation with Adam Kirsch ’15 MBA ’16. Kirsch exited a startup, Yorango, that he founded while at Cornell and currently works as a mergers & acquisitions consultant. He shared the ups and downs of his startup story, and detailed what makes a startup an attractive acquisition.
The JSSA cohort left the day with a renewed sense of enthusiasm for their ventures, ready to take the next steps towards bringing their vision to life.
“Hearing from a variety of entrepreneurs at various early stages was absolutely incredibly inspiring,” said Brandon Jernigan ’MBA 24, founder of Wholesome – Wellness Optimized. “I asked the same simple question to every presenter: what’s one thing you wish you did differently? The answer was the same, I wished I started earlier. I started the process of incorporating my business the next day, because I’m now ready to fail forward.”
