About Entrepreneurship Week at Stanford, February 21-28, 2010

Why conduct a weeklong celebration of entrepreneurship at Stanford, when the entrepreneurial spirit is so completely pervasive here? After all, our university president, John Hennessy, is a very successful entrepreneur. Many of our faculty, staff, alumni and even current students have started businesses or somehow bring extremely entrepreneurial approaches to their work. There are at least two dozen organizations on campus related to entrepreneurship. And we took part in the birth of Silicon Valley, the breeding ground of some of the world's greatest innovations and companies.

The answer is simple. It's a chance to bring all of us together for a week and focus on a theme that we take rather for granted around here - the importance of entrepreneurial leadership and the role it must play in helping to solve some of the world's most pressing problems.

Entrepreneurship is of enormous interest on campus, because the Stanford community recognizes that the 21st Century will belong to innovators who can turn ideas into action. This applies more than ever to today's students and everyone else in society. We all need to be self starters and possess an entrepreneurial mindset, regardless of what we go on to do in life.

We'll see you there!

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Who can attend Entrepreneurship Week events?

It varies by event, but most are open to all students, alumni, members of the greater Stanford community, and the general public.

Do I need to register or RSVP?

For most events, no. See detail pages on the website for each event to get more information. Seating for all events is first come, first served, so plan to get there early!

Where can I park? What about public transit?

Parking on the Stanford campus is free after 4:00 PM. For information on daily parking passes ("scratchers") and parking meters, please visit the Parking & Transporation Services website. The Stanford Continuing Studies website has a great list of parking suggestions for campus visitors. You can also take the Marguerite Shuttle from downtown Palo Alto or the Caltrain station.

What is the cost?

Almost all events are free, but see event detail pages for specifics. For example, there is a fee for the GSB Entrepreneurship Conference on Friday, Feb 26.

How can I get involved?

Any student, teacher/faculty at other schools and members of the public:

Stanford students:

Here is how alumni, businesses and other members of the Stanford community can get involved; contact Belén Torres-Gil at belen@stanford.edu for details.

Can I pick and choose events?

Yes. You can come to any or all events.

May I submit event feedback or ideas for future Entrepreneurship Week celebrations?

We would love to hear your feedback, both positive and negative. We are also interested in innovative ideas for future topics and events. Please submit those to Theresa Lina Stevens at theresa.lina at stanford.edu. We would love to know if an Entrepreneurship Week event had a particular impact on you; what did/didn't work about a particular event or the week as a whole; general suggestions; etc.

What if I'm interested in speaking or putting on an event?

Only Stanford Entrepreneurship Network member organizations and their affiliates may host Entrepreneurship Week events. Each organization handles speaker selection for its own events and typically does not consider unsolicited offers. If you still feel strongly that you should be considered, you may send a brief inquiry/proposal (no more than one page) to support@stvp1.stanford.edu. On rare occasion, we consider requests that come directly from a speaking candidate. We do not consider inquiries from PR firms, speakers bureaus, publishers, administrative assistants or other representatives.

I'm confused. I thought you just did some events for Entrepreneurship Week in November, when you conducted the Global Innovation Tournament. How do those events relate to the February events?

We can see why this would be confusing... Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) is an annual celebration held in November at thousands of educational institutions in more than 70 countries. The timing presents several conflicts with the Stanford academic calendar, so we schedule our own local Entrepreneurship Week in late February, just after Winter Quarter mid-terms. However, we have a strong relationship with the organizers of GEW. To be supportive and make a contribution, we organize the Global Innovation Tournament in November, which is an official activity of GEW and involves dozens of institutions worldwide. We sometimes conduct a couple of events here on campus as part of that.

How do I find out about other Stanford events and resources related to entrepreneurship or get involved?

For other questions, please email Belén Torres-Gil at belen@stanford.edu.