What to know about Global Entrepreneurship Week

Next week, Northeastern will host a series of workshops, venture expos, and other events in celebration of Global Entrepreneurship Week, which is aimed at celebrating innovators, inspiring entrepreneurial spirit, and connecting the university’s entrepreneurs from across generations.

More than 130 countries worldwide participate in Global Entrepreneurship Week, which is sponsored by the Kauffman Foundation.

“Global Entrepreneurship Week is an opportunity to showcase all the great entrepreneurial activity happening at Northeastern—in our classrooms, in our community, and beyond,” said Dan Gregory, a faculty member in the D’Amore-McKim School of Business and co-director of the Northeastern University Center for Entrepreneurship Education, which is hosting the university’s celebration this year. “Our goal is to bring the whole university forward and encourage students, alumni, and faculty to get involved and learn about all the resources we offer.”

Global Entrepreneurship Week at Northeastern will be held over three days, each with activities featuring students, faculty, staff, and alumni, along with representatives from businesses and other organizations. Each day is organized around a different theme: educate, incubate, and launch—the three steps for stimulating entrepreneurial activity. The events begin on Monday, Nov. 18 with two afternoon panels and a kickoff reception at 6:30 p.m. featuring alumnus Richard D’Amore, co-founder and partner at North Bridge Venture Partners.

For the full Global Entrepreneurship Week lineup and to register for individual events, go to http://www.northeastern.edu/eweek/.

This is the first year Northeastern’s Center for Entrepreneurship Education is overseeing Global Entrepreneurship Week. The center empowers students, faculty, and alumni to start new companies and become leaders in the innovation economy. Through classroom learning, co-op, and incubation, participants learn real-world skills and get the support to realize their entrepreneurial dream.

IDEA, Northeastern’s student-run venture accelerator, is a major part of the university’s entrepreneurship education. IDEA provides student and alumni entrepreneurs with guidance, gap funding, and connections to investors. In the 2012-13 school year, IDEA had 125 active ventures in its portfolio.

“Northeastern has been so successful in developing entrepreneurship on campus because it empowers students to take ownership—not just of their own businesses and ventures, but of the organizations the support those efforts as well,” said Max Kaye, CEO of IDEA.

Monday’s events will highlight the various programs at Northeastern that educate entrepreneurs, with one panel discussion focusing on partnerships between students and faculty and another highlighting potential careers in entrepreneurship.

Incubate is the theme of Tuesday’s events, which include a presentation from 1:30-3 p.m. in which panelists will discuss the challenges of incubating a venture in its early stages. Husky Startup Challenge Demo Day will take place later on Tuesday, when student entrepreneurs from across Northeastern will unveil the startups they’ve been working on all semester.

The event’s final day, Wednesday, is all about how prospective entrepreneurs can get their venture idea off the ground. Northeastern’s Center for Research Innovation is sponsoring a discussion on strategies for licensing intellectual property, while Health Science Entrepreneurs and NUCEE will sponsor “The Power of Mentoring: Inside the Mentor/Venture Experience at Northeastern.”

The week’s events will culminate on Wednesday evening with NEXPO, an exposition of IDEA’s top ventures from all industries and stages as well as an opportunity to meet the entrepreneurs, learn about their services, and demo their products. In addition, the Northeastern Entrepreneurship Pavilion will showcase the many resources available to Northeastern entrepreneurs.