Polsky Global Forum: Launch Your Venture

The Polsky Global Forum: Launch your Venture is intended for entrepreneurs in the initial phases of launching businesses. The program focuses on some of the key-building blocks of starting a new business – opportunity validation and entrepreneurial selling. Attendees will have the opportunity to engage with other entrepreneurs working through similar challenges, and learn from the experiences of guest speakers and instructors.

This one-day workshop is meant for UChicago and Chicago Booth alumni that have an entrepreneurial idea or are in the early stages of developing a venture. Those not affiliated with the University of Chicago are also encouraged to join! You do not need to have revenue, customers, or even a solidified business model. The purpose of the Forum is to provide attendees with some of the fundamentals necessary to start a business. Participants will register for the program with a business idea and develop their idea throughout the sessions.

The goal of this program is to provide early-stage entrepreneurial education to those who are working on their own business ideas. By the end of the Forum, attendees will be armed with the skills necessary to start identifying customers for their business, learn how to present their business and sell their ideas, and develop a network of peers in the region that may be facing similar challenges.

Instructor:

Waverly Deutsch, PhD
Clinical Professor of Entrepreneurship, Chicago Booth School of Business
Polsky Director for the UChicago Global Entrepreneurs Network

AGENDA:

*Subject to change

8:00 – 9:00am                    //           Registration and Breakfast

9:00 – 9:15am                    //           Welcome Remarks                                                         
     Madhav Rajan – Dean, Chicago Booth

9:15 – 10:00am                  //           Attendee Introductions

10:00 – 12:00pm               //            Session I: Opportunity Validation
     Waverly Deutsch – Clinical Professor of Entrepreneurship, Chicago Booth

12:00 – 1:00pm                 //           Lunch

1:00 – 3:00pm                    //           Session II: Entrepreneurial Selling
     Waverly Deutsch – Clinical Professor of Entrepreneurship, Chicago Booth

3:00 – 3:15pm                    //           Break

3:15 – 4:15pm                    //           Early-Stage Funding Opportunities in Latin America

4:15 – 4:30pm                    //           Break

4:30 – 5:30pm                    //           Fireside Chat with Mariana Castillo, MBA ’16 – Cofounder and Co-CEO, Ben & Frank

5:30 – 6:30pm                   //            Reception

Questions? Contact Cerise Miller at cerise.miller@chicagobooth.edu