Past events
2024 Desmarais Global Finance Lectures
The Desmarais Global Finance Lectures is a conference series that brings together thought leaders and decision-makers from academia, public policy, and the business world with the goal of promoting thought exchange, dialogue, and the exploration of solutions to global challenges in finance and economics.
Date: Thursday, October 3rd, 2024
The topic for the 2024 Desmarais Global Finance Lectures is 鈥淣avigating the (Responsible) Uses of AI in Finance鈥�, and the conference is co-organized by the Desmarais Global Finance Research Centre and the Entrepreneurship & Innovation Initiative at the Desautels Faculty of Management. It featured an academic keynote address by Lin William Cong, Rudd Family Professor of Management and Professor of Finance at Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, and a private/non-profit sector keynote by Evan Miyazono, Founder and CEO of Atlas Computing. Lin William Cong holds a Ph.D. in Finance from Stanford University, and Evan Miyazono holds a Ph.D. in Applied Physics from Caltech.
The keynote speakers were joined by Mitali Banerjee, Assistant Professor of Strategy & Organization at 捆绑SM社区; Laurent F茅ral-Pierssens, Founder and CEO of BlockZero and Venture Studio & Advisors; and Marc Tass茅, CEO of SIRA International Risk Advisors and Professor at the University of Ottawa, for the panel discussion.
Yale Professor Jorge Torres 鈥� 鈥淰enture Capital and Beyond: How to Raise Money for Your Startup.鈥�
On Thursday September 19th, 2024, Yale Professor Jorge Torres came to 捆绑SM社区 to present a beginner-friendly sessions on how to fund early-stage companies and build long-lasting relationships with venture capitalists. Hosted in collaboration with Maxwell Kaspy, the 捆绑SM社区 Entrepreneurship Society, 捆绑SM社区 Ventures Club, and the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Initiative, this event brought over 140 students to listen to the talk.
Professor Torres gave a 1 hour and a half talk on his experience as a venture capitalist, and shared some invaluable insights to students on raising venture capital money, while navigating today鈥檚 competitive start-up ecosystem.
Dare to Venture Pitch Competition
On March 22nd, 2024, the 捆绑SM社区 Entrepreneurship Society (MES) in partnership with the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Initiative (E&I), and the Dobson Center of Entrepreneurship held a student-based start-up pitch competition. Five teams picked from a pool of fifteen presented their ideas in front of a panel of four judges, including Professor Robert Nason from E&I, Zehra Khoja from the Dobson Center, and industry experts in marketing and talent. The teams presented their ideas as a traditional venture pitch in front of potential investors, and they received live feedback from the judges.
The winning team presented an AI tool that empowered users when accepting terms and conditions by bringing to their attention any potentially suspicious clauses.
DTech鈥檚 Den Pitch Competition
On February 17th, 2024, the Desautels Technology Club (DTech) hosted a Dragon Den style pitch competition in collaboration with E&I. At the event, teams presented their business ideas to a panel of jury members, and received feedback.
The 1st place was awarded to a group of students who presented their business idea, 鈥淏loody Brilliant Solutions鈥�.
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Innovation4Impact Competition
On May 13th, 2024, the E&I Initiative, in collaboration with the Sustainable Growth Initiative, hosted the Innovation for Impact Master鈥檚 Student Project Competition with a prize budget of $5,000. This event showcased groundbreaking projects from master鈥檚 students, emphasizing innovative solutions with tangible, positive impacts.
Five teams competed in the final and the winning team was EcoRizz, comprising MMA students Arnav Gupta, Jatin Suri, Lakshya Agarwal, and Om Sangwan, who pitched LaunchLens, a web-based AI tool designed to enhance the venture evaluation process for 鈥済reen ideas.鈥� The runner-up was MBA team SystainStyle Collective, led by Amvrini Samadder Choudhury, Jaivik Mehta, and Shree Krupa Krishna Prasad, proposing a platform to address environmental and ethical challenges in the fashion industry. Third place went to MMF team FundMyFuture, with Clara Assouline, Michelle Poupart, and Siddharath Kansal, who presented a crowdfunding platform for student grants.
The competition was judged by an esteemed panel, including Kika Aramata (捆绑SM社区 Dobson), Jennie Coleman (Equifruit), Laurent F茅ral-Pierssens (BlockZero), Mitchell McEven (TD), Robert Nason (捆绑SM社区), Richard Pistilli (Gambit Rewards), and Ipek Yavuz (捆绑SM社区). Katrin Tinn (捆绑SM社区) chaired the jury
Design Jam
On February 16th, 2024, E&I hosted a Design Jam Event where students and faculty came together to imagine a School of Entrepreneurship at 捆绑SM社区. A total of 20 students participated in this event, sharing their vision of a school of entrepreneurship, and suggested ideas centered around the question: 鈥淗ow might we imagine an interdisciplinary School of Entrepreneurship鈥�.
This event allowed E&I to gather student voices in how best to shape the future School of Entrepreneurship by discussing the following topics: making it interdisciplinary, a practical curriculum, funding opportunities, and the school鈥檚 signature activity. Some key takeaways were the creation of a Design Thinking Bus; increased internship opportunities and talks from founders; courses on alternative funding strategies; and an emphasis on ethical business practices and social forms of entrepreneurship.
捆绑SM社区 Chancellor 鈥� John McCall McBain
On October 30th, 2023, E&I hosted a joint event with the 捆绑SM社区 Entrepreneurship Society (MES) where attendees had the privilege of listening to John McCall MacBain, 捆绑SM社区's Chancellor, and the accomplished Founder and Chair of the McCall MacBain Foundation, as well as the President of Pamoja Capital SA, its investment arm.
During the event, the Chancellor shared advice from his career, provided insights into what allowed him to succeed, and left students with his life of 50 life lessons. This list includes advice that span both personal and professional life. The event finished with a networking opportunity for students to talk with the Chancellor, express their gratitude for his shared lessons, and ask him any further questions.
A total of 90+ students attended this event, ranging from faculties across 捆绑SM社区.
Harley Finkelstein - Shopify
As part of the MGPO 364: Entrepreneurship in Practice course, led by Niels Billou, students had the unique opportunity to learn from Harley Finkelstein, President of Shopify, as a recurring instructor.
On September 12th, 2023, Harvey Finkelstein invited students from the MGPO 364 class to the Shopify offices where he gave a talk alongside 捆绑SM社区 Chancellor John McCall MacBain. He left students with three takeaways: to look for non-obvious mentors, to do things you love, and to start a business!
