Welcome to our Advisory Office Hours program! Our Lang Center advisors are experienced investors, entrepreneurs and industry veterans who generously give their time to provide a very valuable service to our students and alumni community. As such, we are here to help make the most of these one-on-one sessions. 

Please carefully review our guidelines below before making your appointment:

Eligibility

Office Hour appointments are only for Columbia University students and alumni who are seeking entrepreneurship-related advice and guidance. Preference may be given to Columbia Business School students and alumni. 

Booking Appointments

• Appointments can be booked online at bit.ly/lang-advisors

• Carefully review the skills, experience, and background of each advisor before making an appointment, to ensure the best fit for your questions.

• Asking directly for funding, contacts, or sales/business leads is NOT a valid reason for making an advisory appointment. The Advisory Office Hours program is only for advice and guidance.

• Only one appointment can be held at a given time. 

  • After booking an appointment, you must wait until after that appointment has passed if you’d like to make another. 

  • If you do hold multiple appointments at a given time, we will do our best to reach out to you and ask you to cancel all but one. However, please note that multiple appointments held at one time are subject to cancellation without notice. 

  • For exceptions to this rule, please email us at langcenter@gsb.columbia.edu and clearly state your reasoning.

• It is imperative that you fill out the questionnaire that is required during sign-up as completely and honestly as possible. This will help ensure that the meeting is productive and that expectations are met on both sides.

Cancellations

• You are required to cancel any appointments you can no longer attend at least 1 business day in advance of the meeting. Failure to do so will result in the inability to schedule future advisory office hour appointments.

• Be advised that your advisor is also asked to give 1 business day notice of cancellation. You will be notified of any cancellations or changes via email or phone. 

During Your Appointment

• Be on time! Your appointment may be cancelled if you are more than 5 minutes late. In most cases, the 30 minutes time slot for your appointment will be strictly adhered to.

• Come prepared with questions and any relevant research, background information, etc. This is very important, as preparation will help ensure a fruitful meeting for you.

• Be respectful. The advisors are highly accomplished professionals, most of whom are CBS alumni who have volunteered their time to the community. Please be courteous and thoughtful at all times with your words and actions, which reflect on our community.

• Note that advisors are not Lang Center staff. If you have questions about specific Lang programming or offerings, please contact the Lang Center directly.  (langcenter@gsb.columbia.edu). 

The Lang Center reserves the right to refuse further appointments to any individuals that do not adhere to the above guidelines.

For further questions, comments, or feedback, please contact us at langcenter@gsb.columbia.edu.