The largest cohort of the Johnson Summer Startup Accelerator (JSSA) in program history pitched their startups to members of the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management community in New York City on August 8.
This Demo Day event also included keynote addresses from Vishal Gaur, the Anne and Elmer Lindseth Dean of the Johnson School, and Manoj Thomas, Associate Dean of NYC Initiatives and Demir Sabanci Professor of Marketing and Management.
“Your success depends on finding the fit between the product and the market, and it’s a very complex concept,” said Thomas in his opening remarks. “You will not understand this unless you try to create a product and sell it, and this program gives you the opportunity to do that.”
Through JSSA, MBA student-led teams are empowered to follow their entrepreneurial dreams in a structured 10-week program. The program is designed to support students as they grow their startups without requiring them to sacrifice internship or full-time job opportunities with established firms.
Participants spend their summer developing a business plan, conducting customer discovery interviews, attending weekly workshops on various entrepreneurship topics, attending networking events to connect with other entrepreneurs as well as potential industry partners and funders, and meeting regularly one-on-one with a Johnson Entrepreneur in Residence.
The program culminates with JSSA Demo Day. Before the pitch event, participants spend the day watching presentations from service providers, venture capitalists and fellow entrepreneurs. This year’s presenters included:
- Loren Busby, Director of BioVenture eLab at Weill Cornell Medicine, discussing how to partner with medical centers;
- Momo Bi, MBA ’15, Partner at Watershed Ventures, sharing advice from a venture capitalist;
- Sakib Jamal ’19, Principal at Crossbeam Venture Partners, recounting insights he has learned as a young venture capitalist;
- Marla Beyer, MBA/MHA ’20, co-founder and CEO of Hopscotch, telling her entrepreneurial story;
- David Stein, MBA ’20, co-founder and CEO of Ash Wellness, telling his entrepreneurial story;
- Adam Kirsch ’15, MBA ’16, M&A Director of West Monroe, discussing exit strategy
At Demo Day that evening, 22 teams in the 2025 cohort pitched their businesses to an audience of over 100 people. Program co-leads Gregory Ray Ph.D ’14, the Don and Margi Berens Professor of Entrepreneurship, and Ken Rother, Director of Rev: Ithaca Startup Works, took turns introducing the entrepreneurs before their pitches.
Following the pitches, Dean Gaur commended the participants and challenged them to tackle the next steps for their startups after completing JSSA.
“After listening to these pitches, I feel a lot of pride,” he said. “I feel inspired to see what you are all doing. This is what business school is all about: educating students for the future and making an impact on society through the work that they do.”
Gaur continued, “You are not just entrepreneurs; you are problem-solvers. Every pitch identified a problem, and the problems are so diverse. They are dealing with healthcare, with manufacturing, with consumer goods, with food and beverage, and so many other areas of business. Your work on those problems is not the shallow work of a layperson. The depth and the deep understanding of the industry context and the research that has gone into these ventures is amazing to see.”
The evening ended with a casual reception, giving attendees the opportunity to connect with entrepreneurs after their pitches.
