Links and Articles
Resources for the Columbia Business School Entrepreneur
Getting Started
Sample Business Plans and Research Tools
Incubator Space
Join a Community
For the Family Business
Human Resources
Showcase Your Concept
For the Female Entrepreneur
Marketing, Social Media and Web/Product Development
Legal Assistance, Legal Structures, Contracts, Tax Information, Protecting Rights, Domains, etc.
Social Entrepreneurship
Government Resources
Reading for the Entrepreneur
Resources for the Columbia Business School Entrepreneur
Are you a current Columbia Business School student serious about launching your venture and looking for a formal mentor to help develop your business? Learn more about the Columbia Mentorship Program for Entrepreneurs.
The Entrepreneurial Sounding Board provides opportunities for Columbia MBA students and alumni to meet individually with faculty members and practitioners affiliated with the Lang Center to discuss their entrepreneurial ideas and potential business opportunities.
Columbia Technology Ventures assists Columbia faculty, students, and research staff who wish to launch start-up companies. Venture Lab also helps assess the threshold questions involved in decisions such as whether there is an adequate commercial market for the technology and whether it is advisable to launch a start-up in the first place.
InSITE is an entrepreneurial mentorship program that brings together the best and brightest students from Columbia and NYU Business and Law schools to support New York entrepreneurs in the development of their businesses and pursuit of venture capital and angel investments.
Watch other Columbia Business School videos on the economy and others on YouTube, FaceBook Page, and The Lang Center's video library.
Want to know about the various competitions you can participate in at Columbia University, other schools, and institutions? Visit this list of business competitions spreadsheet frequently for updates.
Getting Started
Business Insurance: An Informative Guide to Small Business
Building a Business Start to Finish
Debt.org helping Entrepreneurs by providing them with information on small business finances, information on employment benefits and helping them understand the concept of starting a small business.
StartupNation.com presents an uncomplicated process to help first-time entrepreneurs get started. It helps people get over the 'but I don't know where to start' hurdle.
You have an idea. Make it happen. Discover local programs and online resources to launch and scale your business at Google for Entrepreneurs.
WickedStart is a free service to help you plan a successful launch. Get a personalized start-up checklist, community, and resources to set-up, fund, and market your idea. Site is especially good on legal and corporate structure.
Looking to hire a photographer or webmaster? Check out Mineeds.com, submit your request and compare bids. Odesk.com is also useful for longer term needs.
BuyerZone's mission is to help define the way successful business transactions are created and conducted online by connecting businesses to suppliers that can best match their purchasing needs.
Goodsie helps you create a basic online store front. Also check out Shopify.
SCORE is America's premier source of free and confidential small business advice for entrepreneurs. They offer a wealth of advice online and in-person at one of their 364 offices nationwide.
Sample Business Plans and Research Tools
Download 500+ Sample Business Plans
The Thomas J. Watson Library of Business & Economics has a wealth of resources and helpful tools for the small business owner. (related link: list from the School's librarian)
Columbia Ideas at Work includes research briefs that translate research ideas into practical applications businesspeople can use including in the area of entrepreneurship.
The Trade Secrets Institute (TSI) is a new initiative of Brooklyn Law School designed to provide comprehensive neutral coverage of key trade secret cases and legislative or regulatory initiatives throughout the United States.
The Research Initiative on Social Entrepreneurship (RISE) is a research project at Columbia Business School whose mission is to study and disseminate knowledge about the markets, metrics, and management of for-profit and nonprofit social enterprise and social venturing.
Note: A library of sample business plans is also available at the Lang Center (for current students and alumni only). Contact the Lang Center for information.
Incubator Space
Crain's New York Business Start Up Guide is the ultimate reference on incubators, accelerators, workspaces, and related resources in New York City.
The New York City Accelerator for a Clean and Renewable Economy (NYC ACRE) helps clean technology and renewable energy companies in New York City grow, advancing the City as a role model for environmental sustainability and smart growth. All tenants must have a focus on alternative energy and clean technology, or a product or service offering that has a clear linkage to a more sustainable urban environment.
WECREATE NYC provides members with a great physical space in a prime location, a strong community, and bespoke tools for business innovation.You can join the space like a gym membership and do it on a month to month basis. This not only allows for a more flexible work life, but it helps keep overheads manageable.
Corporate Suites is one of the largest serviced office space providers in New York. With over a decade of experience managing hundreds of executive office suites in NYC for thousands of satisfied clients, we will provide and professionally manage the perfect office rental solution for your business.
Green Spaces vision is to forward the sustainability globally through widespread local hubs that cultivate social entrepreneurs, startups, and freelancers alike.
Join a Community
The Columbia Venture Community (CVC) is a group for entrepreneurship focused students, alumni, and employees from all of Columbia’s schools. Through CVC you can attend demo, happy hour, panel, speaker, and other events that will connect you with the Columbia entrepreneurship community.
ChubbyBrain is the world's largest user-generated database of innovative startups, spanning a diverse array of emerging areas including social enterprise, clean/green tech, biotech, nanotech, web, mobile, and everything in between.
For the Family Business
The Family Firm Institute (FFI) is an international professional membership organization dedicated to providing interdisciplinary education and networking opportunities for family business and family wealth advisors, consultants, educators, and researchers and to increasing public awareness about trends and developments in the family business and family wealth fields.
Managingthegrowingcompany.com has a reference library of interesting and useful publications for executives managing a growing organization.
Carol Pepper ’89 is CEO of Pepper International, a family office in New York City. She has managed high-net-worth clients for over 25 years. In 2007, Institutional Investor named Carol Pepper a “Rising Star in Wealth Management.” A year later, Forbes.com tapped her as a member of their “Intelligent Investing” team and then asked her to write a weekly column, “High Net Words.”
Human Resources
G. Neil is a one-stop HR supply shop for your small business.The Department of Labor offers an easy to maneuver site covering many of the common questions employers ask, especially when it concerns employee wages.The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) is a professional association and the leading voice of the human resources profession.
SmartBrief publishes several B2B electronic newsletters for business owners, entrepreneurs, and specialized industries.
Showcase Your Concept
The Annual Fall Venture Fair provides students with the opportunity to present their ideas and receive critical feedback from successful entrepreneurs and other knowledgeable practitioners from our entrepreneurial community in a fun and energized forum. The Investors' Circle mission is to galvanize the flow of capital to entrepreneurial companies that enhance bioregional, cultural, and economic health and diversity.
For the Female Entrepreneur
The Eugene Lang Entrepreneurship Center at Columbia Business School has long been an active advocate for female entrepreneurs. One of the forums supported specifically for women entrepreneurs is the Women Entrepreneurs Network (WEN), a growing membership that brings alumnae and other women entrepreneurs together for learning, advice, and discussion.
85 Broads is a global network of 20,000 trailblazing women who are inspired, empowered, and connected.
Founded in 1999 in Silicon Valley, Astia is an innovative global not-for-profit organization that propels women’s full participation as entrepreneurs and leaders in high-growth businesses, fueling innovation, and driving economic growth.
Springboard Enterprises is a national not-for-profit organization dedicated to accelerating women's access to the equity markets. The organization produces programs that educate, showcase, and support entrepreneurs as they seek equity capital and grow their companies.
Golden Seeds was founded in August 2004. What began as a simple angel investing group has been purposefully recast into a disciplined investment organization. Today, with locations in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and San Francisco, their 100+ investors aid in all phases of the investment process with their resources and expertise.
“What Women Want in Business: A Survey of Executives and Entrepreneurs” (PDF)
Marketing and Web/Product Development
BusinessBlogs is designed from the ground-up to present your articles, press releases (and brand) professionally. Your content is presented with quality images, video, links to any other articles you have published and a “Connect with the Author” bio section for direct contact access.
PR Log is an online free press release distribution and free press release submission service.
WebWire distributes your business, organizational, and personal news releases and press releases on and over the Internet.
CMO.com’s useful infographic explaining how marketing officers should look at various social media channels’ impact on customer communication; brand exposure; traffic; SEO.
Icreon provides bespoke software development services using web technologies. We work in areas such as E-commerce website development, web enable-ment, product development, product migrations, web applications etc. Our solutions enable businesses to leverage leading-edge technology to gain sustainable competitive advantage in today's marketplace.
Animoto helps create product videos inexpensively.
Readwriteweb is a good place to look for tech tips.
100 Ways to Measure Social Media.
Case Studies that prove social media ROI.
24 Brilliant Facebook Brand Page Examples.
Facebook Markup Language page developer guide.
How to know if your Facebook Page is working.
CIO’s collection of tips for LinkedIn
Mashable on how to build your brand on LinkedIn.
T4BP.com: Twitter for Busy People.
The Ten Ways Twitter Will Permanently Change American Business.
TwitterSheep sees what are the common themes among the bios of the folks who follow you
ChirpStats gets aggregate stats about new and lost followers.
5 Ways For Small Businesses To Get In The Location Game.
How to make your company geo-location ready and 9 killer tips for location-ready services.
Legal Assistance, Legal Structures, Contracts, Tax Information, Protecting Rights, Domains, etc.
General Information: Legal Issues and Forms
Created by attorneys, LegalZoom helps you make reliable legal documents from your home or office.
The Trade Secrets Institute (TSI) is a new initiative of Brooklyn Law School designed to provide comprehensive neutral coverage of key trade secret cases and legislative or regulatory initiatives throughout the United States.
The Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts [VLA] delivers pro bono and low cost legal services and information to over 10,000 members of the arts community each year.
Related Links:
- How to Select Your Company’s Lawyer
- Sample Business Contracts and Forms
- About Domains
- About General Tax Information
- About Intellectual Property Rights
- About Occupations Requiring Licenses
- About Online Business Names
- About Trademark and Patents
- About Franchise Ownership
Social Entrepreneurship
International social entrepreneurship - from Ashoka
Community Wealth Ventures, and see the “Powering Social Change” report
Government (and local) Resources
The United States Small Business Administration (SBA) maintains and strengthens the nation's economy by aiding, counseling, assisting, and protecting the interests of small businesses and by helping families and businesses recover from national disasters.
Mayor Bloomberg has announced 11 initiatives to support New York City’s financial services sector and encourage entrepreneurial activity. Visit the New York City Economic Development Corporation for more information.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is the government agency that oversees lawful immigration to the United States.
Greater New York Chamber of Commerce's mission is to improve the business climate and quality of living in the New York Metropolitan Area for residents, workers, and visitors. It provides valuable services to over 7000 business and civic leaders who represent the backbone of the Greater New York business community.
The Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) at the U.S. Department of Commerce is the only federal agency dedicated to advancing the establishment and growth of minority-owned firms in the United States. Through a network of minority business centers and strategic partners, MBDA works with minority entrepreneurs who wish to grow their businesses in size, scale, and capacity. These firms are then better positioned to create jobs, impact local economies and expand into national and global markets.
New York City Business Solutions. FastTrac helps entrepreneurs hone the skills needed to start, manage, and grow a successful business. The City of New York has partnered with the Kauffman Foundation to provide two no cost FastTrac courses to New Yorkers: FastTrac NewVenture and FastTrac GrowthVenture.
Reading for the Entrepreneur
Tips on Pitching to an Investor
Recommended Reading for Entrepreneurs by Steve Blank
Forbes.com, Fast Company and Crain's New York Business are also good resources to review.
Inc.com and entrepreneur.com offer daily resources and tips for entrepreneurs.
The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is working to further understand the phenomenon of entrepreneurship, to advance entrepreneurship education and training efforts, to promote entrepreneurship-friendly policies, and to better facilitate the commercialization of new technologies by entrepreneurs and others which have great promise for improving the economic welfare of our nation.
The StartUp Journal online is the Wall Street Journal Center for Entrepreneurs.
The New York Enterprise Report features "how to" articles on topics from marketing to taxes to technology and everything in between.
Life After an Exit: How Entrepreneurs Transition to the Next Stage