to page content
to site navigation
The Foundation's primary site.
Global news, events, and resources.
The national learning program for entrepreneurs.
A new approach to developing the next generation of high-growth firms.
Access to university research and innovation.
The Kauffman Foundation's charter school serving Kansas City.
Encouraging the aspirations of young people.
The platform for business plan competitions.
College preparation and access for urban youth in Kansas City.
A guide to Kauffman Foundation and partner resources, for aspiring entrepreneurs.
News and announcements from the Foundation.
From our vice president of Entrepreneurship.
From our vice president of Advancing Innovation.
News from Global Entrepreneurship Week
News about this education program for entrepreneurs.
Tweets for the eMed Community at Entrepreneurship.org
News from the Kauffman Labs program.
From our business plan competition service.
Contribute to the community seeking to improve entrepreneurship and innovation measurement.
A look at entrepreneurship from the Kauffman Foundation's Thom Ruhe.
Tracks research and policies that are accelerating economic growth and changing the world.
Brings to light various policies and initiatives to advance innovation and drive economic growth.
A selection of our videos
Take our video and audio with you.
Explore many of our publications.
Join the discussion on our LinkedIn site.
Join us on Google's social service.
The Resource Center has all the info you'll need From content to user feedback, the resource center has the information you need for every level of the entrepreneurial process.
Martin Eberhard is the Co-Founder, President of Technology, and former CEO of Tesla Motors, a company that produces the Tesla Roadster, a battery-powered electric sportscar. Martin brings with him 20 years of start-up, management, and development experience from his time as co-founder of NuvoMedia and Network Computing Devices. At NuvoMedia, Martin helped create the market for electronic books with the 1998 launch of the Rocket eBook. As Chief Engineer of Network Computing Devices, Martin spearheaded the development of X Window-based network terminals for Wyse Technology, where he began his career as an electrical engineer at Wyse Technology. There he designed his first product, the WY-30 ASCII computer terminal. Martin received his bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering and Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Martin lives in both Northern and Southern California with his college sweetheart, Carolyn, and their two children, along with an old Siamese cat.
Judy Estrin is CEO of JLABS, LLC, formerly known as Packet Design Management Company, LLC. She is the author of Closing the Innovation Gap, published in September, 2008. Prior to co-founding Packet Design, in May 2000, Estrin was chief technology officer for Cisco Systems. Beginning in 1981 Estrin co-founded three other successful technology companies: Bridge Communications, Network Computing Devices, and Precept Software. In 1998 Cisco Systems acquired Precept, and she became Cisco's chief technology officer until April 2000. Estrin has been named three times to Fortune Magazine's list of the 50 most powerful women in American business. She sits on the boards of directors of The Walt Disney Company and FedEx Corporation as well as two private company boards - Packet Design, Inc. and Arch Rock. She also sits on the advisory councils of Stanford's School of Engineering and Stanford's Bio-X initiative. She holds a B.S. degree in math and computer science from UCLA, and an M.S. in electrical engineering from Stanford University.
Kauffman FastTrac presents FastTrac Entrepreneurship WordCloud.
Jesse Fink is a founding partner of MissionPoint Capital and President and CEO of Marshall Street Management. In 2004, MSM established MSM Capital Partners to manage its investment activities in the clean technology and environmental finance sectors. Jesse was the COO of Walker Digital Inc. and Priceline.com and previously worked at Georgia-Pacific, Citicorp, and CUC International. Jesse received a B.S. in Resource Management from the State University of New York's College of Environmental Science and Forestry and an MBA from Syracuse University's School of Management. In February of 2007, Jesse received the Cleantech Venture Network's "Leader of the Year" award.
Carleton S. (Carly) Fiorina was president and chief executive officer of Hewlett-Packard Company from 1999 to 2005. She served as chairman of the board from 2000 to 2005. Prior to joining HP, Fiorina spent nearly 20 years at AT&T and Lucent Technologies, where she held a number of senior leadership positions and directed Lucent's initial public offering and subsequent spin-off from AT&T. Fiorina was named an honorary fellow of the London Business School in July 2001. In 2002, she was honored with the Appeal of Conscience Award, and in 2003 she received the Concern Worldwide "Seeds of Hope" Award in recognition of her worldwide efforts to make global citizenship a priority for business. The Private Sector Council honored Fiorina with its 2004 Leadership Award for her contributions to improving the business of government. Also in 2004, the White House appointed her to the U.S. Space Commission. Fiorina has a bachelor's degree in medieval history and philosophy from Stanford University. She holds a master's degree in business administration from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland at College Park, Md., and a master of science degree from MIT's Sloan School.
Juan Andrés Fontaine, Chile's Minister of Economy, Development and Tourism, discusses his government's recent practices and programs that strive to develop Chile's entrepreneurial ecosystem. Topics touched upon include government incentive programs to attract international investment, growth and development to Chile's university research and development, and a desire to build the nation into the innovation hub of South America.
ooma is the result of Andrew's desire to combine his technical expertise with his passion for innovative and fun consumer products. Andrew Co-founded his first technology company, an ISP in Las Vegas, at age 15. He then joined Cisco as a full-time employee, and at 17 he became the youngest person ever to earn Cisco's top technical honor - a CCIE certification. He also earned a second one that same year, making him one of just eight people at the time to do so. At age 19, he moved to Cisco's Global Center of Expertise to focus on critical networking issues for large service providers in the Pacific Rim and Latin America. After several years at Cisco, Andrew joined start-up core router company Procket Networks as an engineer. He remained there until 2004, when he decided to return to his entrepreneurial roots as the founder of ooma. Andrew was recently named by the editors of Businessweek as one of the top entrepreneurs under the age of 30 most likely to shape the world's digital future.
Dr. Donald Francis is currently doing research to develop a vaccine for HIV at Genentech, Inc. In February of 1992 he retired after 20 years in the U.S. Public Health Service. At the time of his retirement he was the Centers for Disease AIDS Advisor to the State of California and Special Consultant to Mayor Art Agnos in San Francisco. In the latter capacity he served as the Chair of the Mayor's HIV Task Force. Dr. Francis is a Californian having done his undergraduate studies at the University of California at Berkeley. He received his M.D. from Northwestern University and his Doctor of Science from Harvard. Before beginning his work on AIDS, Dr. Francis was involved in epidemic control around the world. He was instrumental in eradicating smallpox from Sudan, India and Bangladesh. He was also on the front line of the cholera epidemic in Nigeria in the early 1970's and the Ebola epidemic in Sudan in 1976. Dr. Francis also did some of the early developmental work on the hepatitis B vaccine, both in the United States and in the People's Republic of China. He began his work on AIDS in 1981. He was one of the first scientists to suggest that AIDS was caused by an infectious agent. As director of CDC's AIDS Laboratory Activities, he worked closely with the Institut Pasteur to prove that HIV was the cause of AIDS. He was also one of the earliest scientists to realize the impact HIV would have on the United States and has been an indefatigable advocate for a logical public response.
Janice Fraser is the CEO and a founding partner of Adaptive Path. She has worked in high-tech media for more than 15 years as an entrepreneur, interaction designer, and editor. She joined the internet back when the blink tag was big, and began to pioneer consumer Web applications for Netscape in 1996. Her current work focuses on leadership for user experience managers and the role of user experience in the changing landscape of product innovation. Janice has been a featured speaker at nearly every Web-centered design conference, from the Nielsen/Norman world tour to South by Southwest Interactive. She is the founder of four startup companies and was previously managing editor for IDG Communications. For many years Janice taught interaction design at San Francisco State University's Multimedia Studies Program. Although Time magazine once called her a "grizzled and cynical veteran" of the dot-com era, she remains an unapologetic champion of user-centered design as a value-producing investment.
Want to get connected? Sign up to receive regular news, polls and updates from The Kauffman Foundation.
