Entrepreneurship Week 2010, sponsored by the Stanford Entrepreneurship Network, runs this week through Sunday, Feb. 28. Organizers say that, despite the recession, E-Week features the strongest lineup of speakers offered since the event began four years ago. Activities include a start-up job fair on Wednesday, networking events, a water technology expo and more. The program of events is designed to bring the campus community together to focus on entrepreneurship and the role it plays in helping to solve some of the world’s most pressing problems.
Among the featured events is “Ladies Who’ve Launched,” a panel discussion on Wednesday evening with three Stanford alumnae:
GINA BIANCHINI, co-founder and CEO of Ning, has led the social networking platform from its inception in 2004 to its current position as an exponentially growing top 100 global website and one of the world’s most valuable startups. She has been featured in Fortune’s “40 under 40,” Huffington Post’s 10 technology “Ultimate Game Changers,” the New York Times and Forbes. Prior to founding Ning, she was co-founder and president of Harmonic Communications and held positions at CKS Group and Goldman Sachs. She graduated with honors from Stanford as an undergrad and received her MBA from the Graduate School of Business.
JUDY ESTRIN, CEO of JLABS LLC, is the author of Closing the Innovation Gap. She co-founded seven successful technology companies and became Cisco’s chief technology officer in 1998. Estrin has been named to Fortune’s list of the 50 most powerful women in American business and sits on the boards of Walt Disney Co. and FedEx Corp., as well as privately held Packet Design Inc. She holds a BS in math and computer science from UCLA and an MS in electrical engineering from Stanford.
MAE TAI O’MALLEY is the founder and managing attorney of Paragon Legal, one of the nation’s fastest-growing alternative model law firms. O’Malley began her career at Morrison & Foerster and then worked in-house for Symantec and Google before founding Paragon in 2006. She has been featured in numerous publications, including the Wall Street Journal, National Law Journal and SF Business Times, and was named a “legal rebel” by the American Bar Association Journal in 2009. She graduated from Stanford with honors and received her JD from Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law.
Panel moderator will be GARTH SALONER, dean of the Stanford Graduate School of Business and director of the school’s Center for Entrepreneurial Studies. Cost for the program is $30 for Stanford Professional Women members and $25 for Stanford students.
Most E-Week events, however, are free, including “VC3: Venture Capital Speed Dating” from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. Friday in Wallenberg Hall. The event gives Stanford students a chance to pitch their business ideas to Silicon Valley venture capitalists.
For more about E-Week, visit the website.
