Columbia Technology Founder’s Track (CTech)
Founded by Dr. Song Li, PhD ’92, CTech gives technical Columbia MBA and graduate Engineering students the tools to become world-class entrepreneurs by providing them with curriculum, mentorship, and networking opportunities, guiding the launch and growth of Columbia-founded and venture-scale technology startups.
CTech is a selective, cross-disciplinary program open to Engineering graduate students and rising second-year MBA students with technical backgrounds who are dedicated to launching and growing a venture-scale technology startup while at Columbia.

CTech represents a university-wide collaboration between the Business School’s Lang Entrepreneurship Center, the Engineering School’s IEOR Department, and Columbia Entrepreneurship.
Prerequisites for Application
- MBA student candidates:
- Rising second-year CBS students
- Currently enrolled in or have completed Foundations of Entrepreneurship (CTech 101) prior to applying, or have received an exemption from this course
- STEM undergraduate degree or relevant work experience in a technology role
- Engineering graduate student candidates:
- Rolling admissions
- Preferably in first semester of Masters program and have taken Entrepreneurship Bootcamp (IEOR 4570), however:
- Students in their second or third term are nonetheless encouraged to apply. Requirements for entrepreneurship coursework and/or independent study will be determined on a case-by-case basis.
CTech Program Components
For MBA Students:
- Enrollment in (CTech 201) Launch Your Startup (3 credits).
- Must be accepted to and subsequently complete the (CTech 301) Greenhouse Accelerator program.
- NOTE: CTech students are not guaranteed acceptance into Greenhouse and must go through the application and pitch process with all other candidates.
- Attendance of the Dr. Li Distinguished Technology Entrepreneurship Speaker Series.
- VC coursework or VC-related experience. This requirement could be satisfied by one or more of the following:
- Enrollment in Foundations of VC and/or VC Seminar
- A qualifying VC Workshop
- Acceptance and participation in the Columbia Venture Fellows program (administered by the Lang Center)
For Engineering Graduate Students (details decided on a case by case basis, but generally):
- Enrollment in CTech 201: either “IEOR E4578 Startup Fundamentals – Build and Launch” with Prof. Owen Davis, 3 credits; B8519-002 “Launch Your Startup”, 3 credits; or an independent study arranged by CTech leadership during the upcoming fall semester.
- Must be accepted to and subsequently complete of the (CTech 301) Greenhouse Accelerator program.
- NOTE: CTech students are not guaranteed acceptance into Greenhouse and must go through the application and pitch process with all other candidates.
- Attendance of the Dr. Song Li Distinguished Technology Entrepreneurship Speaker Series.
- VC coursework or VC-related experience. This requirement could be satisfied by one or more of the following:
Apply to CTech
Applications are open until September 26, 2022.
Note: If there is more than one student in the same startup who qualifies for CTech and wants to apply (e.g. each team member is either a rising second-year MBA with a technical background or an Engineering Masters student), team members should apply separately.
Questions? Please reach out to Lara Hejtmanek at [email protected] and Dave Lerner at [email protected].
CTech Team Leaders

Angela Lee
Faculty Director, Lang Entrepreneurship Center
Angela's Bio
Angela has spoken at the White House and NASA and is a sought-after expert on CNBC, Bloomberg TV, MSNBC, and Fox Business. She was recognized by Inc. as one of 17 Inspiring Women to Watch in 2017, by Entrepreneur Magazine as one of 6 Innovative Women to Watch in 2015, and by Craine’s as a Notable Women in Tech in 2019. Angela received her BA from the University of California, Berkeley and her MBA from Columbia Business School. ”

Dave Lerner
Director of Entrepreneurship at Columbia University
Dave's Bio
By background he’s an entrepreneur (2 exits) and angel investor in 100+ companies. His personal blog, www.davelerner.com/blog, explores the worlds of university entrepreneurship, angel/venture investing, and startups and he’s a frequent contributor to many other publications, including Business Insider, whose SAI group recently named him both one of the “top 100 most influential New Yorkers in the digital business community” and “one of NYC’s top 100 early stage investors.”

Lara Hejtmanek
Director, Lang Entrepreneurship Center
Lara's Bio
Prior to joining the Lang Center, she worked at several early stage companies in strategy and planning roles, and has over 20 years of experience in digital marketing. Most recently she founded and led the Insights & Planning practice for 360i – named the #1 digital agency in the country by AdAge for four years in a row – serving major brands for clients in CPG, travel and retail. There she led her team in bringing together consumer insights with emerging technologies to identify high impact opportunities for clients, spanning social media, mobile, search, paid media, and overall brand strategy. Lara holds a BA in Art History from Vassar College and an MBA from Columbia University.

Yvette Miller
Director of Marketing and Communications at Columbia Entrepreneurship
Yvette's Bio
Yvette has 13+ years of experience in the public, private, and education sectors. She started her career leading communications at an early-stage startup, and has built outreach strategies from the ground up a few times since. She has prepared senior staff at startups and major companies for media interviews, congressional testimony, and events, and garnered coverage in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, USA Today, Reuters, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, CNET, and more.
CTech Mentors

Greg Marsh
Founder & CEO at KeyMe

Keith Gonzales
Director of Product of Artificial Intelligence at Dataminr

Agapitos Diakogiannis
Founder & CEO at Seafair

Saron Yitbarek
Founder & CEO at Disco

Sameer Maskey
Founder & CEO of Fusemachines Inc

Apoorv Agarwal
Founder & CEO of Text IQ
Meet the 2021-2022 Cohort

Benjamin Markham ’22SEAS
Founder of ASBPN LLC
Benjamin's Bio

Alec Glassman ’22BUS
Founder of CrowdConnect
Alec's Bio

Arpana Chaudhary, ’22BUS
Founder of Sheo Health
Arpana's Bio

Peter Rhines ’22BUS
Founder of Jupiter Card
Peter's Bio

Tilak Pasala ’22BUS
Founder of PasalaTech, Inc
Tilak's Bio

Aurore Gosmant ’21SEAS
Founder of SheepMe