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Distinguished Entrepreneurs Lunch Program Offers Students an Important Pipeline to Network

By JP Bertinet | Photography by JP Bertinet

December 14, 2020

The fall semester saw the return of an event that has become a fixture in programming over the years: the Distinguished Entrepreneurs Lunch. While students were no longer able to congregate in a room to listen to the week’s featured entrepreneur over Ian’s pizza, the adapted online format allowed for a variety of speakers from both coasts to share their entrepreneurial journey with those in attendance. The fun, approachable environment allowed students from all disciplines to ask questions and seek advice.

We heard from 11 entrepreneurs representing all different walks of life including venture capital, artificial intelligence, products empowering women, peer-to-peer marketplaces, pay-per-streaming platforms, and more. Almost 300 students participated in the lunch program learning firsthand how entrepreneurs start, grow and pivot their businesses especially in a pandemic.

We are grateful to all of our featured entrepreneurs that participated in the lunch program this fall. We thank our devoted and gracious sponsor Neider & Boucher, S.C., who started off each lunch with a video from co-founder and alumnus Joe Boucher, for making this lunch program available to our students.

Joe Boucher

Featured speakers of the Fall 2020 Distinguished Entrepreneurs Lunch included:

September 9: Michele Boal, Kadima Forward Inc.

Michele Boal

September 16: Bharat Pulgam, pkup.io

Bharat Pulgam

September 23: Sarada, Elektrifi

Sarada

September 30: Robert Phillips, an AI company focused on electric utility data

Robert Phillips

October 7: Darryl Schoen, Manufacturers Financing Services

Darryl Schoen

October 14: Stephanie Biegel, Key

Stephanie Biegel

October 21: Debbie Lessin, Lessin & Associates/ Balancing Act Productions, Inc.

Debbie Lessin

October 28: Joe Coyne, Studio VC

Joe Coyne

November 4: Ernie Hu, CAST

Ernie Hu

November 11: Craig Schedler, Northwestern Mutual Future Funds

Craig Schedler

November 18: Johanna Wolfson, Prime Impact Fund

Johanna Wolfson

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