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.
As the Chief Strategy Officer, Tien Tzuo brings to Salesforce.com over 16 years of experience in the enterprise software industry. Since he joined the company in 1999, Tzuo has been responsible for setting the vision, strategy, direction and design of Salesforce.com's award winning product line, including overseeing the launch of Salesforce, Supportforce, Customforce, Sforce, and Wireless Edition. In 2004, Tzuo was named CMO of the Year Finalist by the CMO Council and BusinessWeek Magazine. Tzuo came to salesforce.com from CrossWorlds Software, where he spearheaded CrossWorlds product, marketing and sales push into the Telecommunications vertical worldwide. Prior to CrossWorlds, Tzuo spent over six years at Oracle Corporation in a variety of sales and professional services roles. Mr. Tzuo holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Cornell University and a master's in business administration from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
A veteran media industry executive, Ron Bloom is the visionary CEO and business leader behind the founding of PodShow. Ron is ultimately responsible for PodShow's business units, team building, operations, financing and hyper-growth. Bloom was the chief strategist in securing PodShow's elite private investors, including venture firms Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia Capital and Sherpalo Ventures. Bloom is often referenced as the author of the media industry's "5/50" rule and Fart's Law of consumer technology adoption. Ron Bloom is a former Chairman and Chief Executive Office of THINK New Ideas, a company he founded with PodShow co founder Adam Curry. He helped to build the Company to over 500 employees working out of 8 offices in the US and abroad, driving revenues from a start-up to approaching $100 million in less than three years. He led the company through venture rounds, an IPO, multiple acquisitions, a private placement of public equity, and, eventually the sale of the company for an estimated 350 million dollars. Prior to joining THINK New Ideas, Bloom again partnered with Adam Curry, acting as President and Chief Operating Officer of On Ramp helping it to become one of FORTUNE Magazine's "Top 25 Emerging Technology Companies of 1995. In recent years, he has worked with a range of companies, helping to develop technologies for the cable industry as well as helping to launch a company that provides technology solutions for Homeland Security. In his first career, Ron Bloom was a celebrated song writer and recording artist, having collaborated on several Top 10 hits, including Into the Night, which was a hit single twice. His musical talents and artistic perspective have helped to shape PodShow's products, marketing, services and talent relationships.
Tina Seelig is the Executive Director for the Stanford Technology Ventures Program where she is responsible for the management, operations, and dissemination efforts of STVP. In addition, Tina is the Director of the Stanford Entrepreneurship Network and the co-Director of the Mayfield Fellows Program. Tina also teaches a course in the Department of Management Science & Engineering on Creativity and Innovation. Prior to joining STVP, Tina worked as an entrepreneur, management consultant, author, and scientist. Tina received her Ph.D. from Stanford University Medical School in 1985 where she studied Neuroscience. Tina has worked as management consultant for Booz, Allen, and Hamilton, has written several popular science books and has designed a series of educational games. Her books include The Epicurean Laboratory, Incredible Edible Science, and a series called Games for Your Brain. After Tina's first book was published in 1991, she became interested in how books are marketed. This led her to start a company designed to help match books with buyers. The product was a multimedia system for bookstore customers, called BookBrowser. BookBrowser was a kiosk-based system that allowed customers to identify books of interest. With the help of a team of engineers and graphic designers, Tina built the business and sold the company in 1993. After selling her business, Tina worked as a Multimedia Producer for Compaq Computer Corporation. In this position Tina led a team of engineers, artists, scriptwriters, and education specialists through the design and implementation of a series of multimedia titles. Tina's current position as Executive Director of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program takes advantage of her technical background, in addition to her experiences as a manager, entrepreneur, and educator.
Chairman and President, Products Reid was LinkedIn's founding CEO for the first four years before moving to his role as Chairman and President, Products in February 2007. While CEO, Reid built the company to over 9 million members and profitability. He now drives product and business strategy for LinkedIn. Prior to LinkedIn, Reid was Executive Vice President of PayPal. At PayPal, Reid was in charge of all business relationships: business development, corporate development, international, government relations, and banking/payments infrastructure. During his tenure at PayPal, Hoffman was instrumental to the acquisition by eBay and was responsible for partnerships with Intuit, Visa, MasterCard and Wells Fargo. Reid also has held management roles in large technology companies, including Fujitsu Software Corporation and Apple. Currently, in addition to LinkedIn, Reid serves on the Board of Directors for SixApart and Mozilla Corporation. Reid graduated with distinction from Stanford University with a B.S. in Symbolic Systems and from Oxford University with a Master?s degree in philosophy.
In this candid entrepreneurial narrative, Reid Hoffman describes his journey from academia to PayPal, to finally founding the professional networking site LinkedIn. Hoffman suggests that to be a successful entrepreneur you have to take risks where others wouldn't and be willing to deviate from the beaten path.
Greg was the founding investor in eHarmony and as CEO he has overall responsibility for leading all aspects of eHarmony's business. He has been closely involved with the company since its inception in 2000, recruiting several members of the executive management team and contributing to many areas of the company's development and growth. Greg brings extensive experience working with high growth companies as an entrepreneur, investor, and executive. Greg holds a BA from the University of California at Los Angeles, and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He has been cited on matters relating to investing and technology in the New York Times, San Jose Mercury News, and BusinessWeek among other publications and he has made numerous broadcast appearances on CNBC. Greg's entrepreneurial endeavors include being a co-founder of Startup, an East Palo Alto non-profit that has provided business training for nearly 500 aspiring entrepreneurs in that community since 1994. Additionally, Greg is a founding member of the Stanford Graduate School of Business Management Board.
Greg Waldorf, CEO of the online matchmaking service eHarmony.com, describes the essential components of a successful entrepreneurial career. He believes that working with great people, taking risks, adaptability, passion and timely execution of plans can lead to success for entrepreneurs. He draws parallels between the satisfaction found through finding the right career path and a fulfilling relationship.
This article suggests that there are five key relationships that entrepreneurs running growth companies should work on developing: relationships with customers, employees, vendors, bankers, and mentors.
G. Steven Burrill has been involved in the growth and prosperity of the biotechnology industry for over 40 years. An early pioneer, Mr. Burrill is one of the original architects of the industry and one of its most avid and sustained developers. He currently serves as Chairman of the Boards of Pharmasset, and is a member of the Boards of Directors of Catalyst Biosciences, DepoMed (Amex: DMI), Targacept (NASDAQ: TRGT), Proventys and Phytomedics. Prior to founding Burrill & Company in 1994, he spent 28 years with Ernst & Young, directing and coordinating the firm's services to clients in the biotechnology/life sciences/high technology/manufacturing industries worldwide. In 2002, Mr. Burrill was recognized as the biotech investment visionary by the prestigious Scientific American magazine (The Scientific American 50). Mr. Burrill is a founder of the Foundation for the National Medals of Science and Technology and currently serves on its Board of Directors. Some of his not for profit activities include serving on the Boards of Directors for the Bay Area Science Infrastructure Consortium, BayBio, the California Healthcare Institute, the Exploratorium, The Kellogg Center for Biotechnology, Research America, Campaign for Medical Research, The National Health Museum, and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Foundation. He is also the Chairman of the Mayor's Biotech Advisory Committee (MAYBAC).
Steve Burrill, CEO of Burrill & Co., provides an overview of the life sciences industry, reflecting on insights he has gained throughout his career. Along the way, he shares his laws of survival and anecdotes that relate the keys to his success in the areas of biotechnology, venture capital and merchant banking.
Want to get connected? Sign up to receive regular news, polls and updates from The Kauffman Foundation.
