Speaker Lineup for the ETL Seminar: Winter 2012

The winter 2012 edition of the Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders Seminar (ETL) kicks off Wednesday, January 18. Join us at ETL on Wednesdays from 4:30 pm to 5:30 pm, at NVIDIA Auditorium in the Huang Engineering Center at Stanford, to enjoy this quarter’s engaging mix of innovators and entrepreneurs.

Stanford students can sign-up for MS&E 472 to earn one unit of credit for the course.  Members of the public interested in earning credit for this quarter’s Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders Seminar should contact the Stanford Center for Professional Development. Visit their online catalog.

We invite you to take advantage of this opportunity to hear first hand from entrepreneurial leaders and pioneering trailblazers from different industries. And for those of you not able to attend in person, you can still enjoy the lecture podcasts and videos available for free on the Entrepreneurship Corner (ECorner) website. You can also enjoy ECorner on-the-go with our free iPhone app.

JANUARY 18
Deborah Hopkins – Chief Innovation Office, Citi

Twice named by Forbes as one of the most powerful women in American business, Deborah Hopkins visits ETL to discuss Citi’s approach to delivering client-focused innovations and building partnerships with venture capitalists, startups and universities to support emerging technologies and disruptive business models. Hopkins will also share insights gained from holding previous senior positions at The Boeing Company, Lucent Technologies and General Motors Europe.

JANUARY 25
Alexander Osterwalder  – Entrepreneur & Author

Alexander Osterwalder is an entrepreneur, business model innovator, and the co-author of the global bestselling book, Business Model Generation. Join us as Osterwalder discusses his dynamic tools for visualizing, challenging and re-inventing business models. Osterwalder is also the founder of The Business Model Foundry, which offers strategic tools for entrepreneurs and innovators, and he has served as a guest lecturer at Stanford, UC Berkeley and IESE in Madrid.

FEBRUARY 1
Ted Zoller – Senior Fellow, Kauffman Foundation

Ted Zoller has engaged in all aspects of the entrepreneurial experience, including time as an entrepreneur, an investor and as a leading entrepreneurship educator. In his current role at the Kauffman Foundation, Zoller performs research and advises the organization’s leaders on creating impactful entrepreneurship strategies and programs. Prior to Kauffman, Zoller oversaw teaching and outreach programs as the director of the entrepreneurship center at the Kenan-Flagler School of Business at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

FEBRUARY  8
Warren Packard – Founder & CEO, Thuuz

Warren Packard is the founder and CEO of Thuuz, a consumer platform for real-time sports discovery, tune-in and sharing. Packard is also a venture partner at Draper Fisher Jurvetson. He currently serves on the Boards of EoPlex, Microfabrica and SeaMicro and leads DFJ’s investments in BinOptica, Hola!, Primet Precision Materials, and YeePay.

FEBRUARY 15
Sukhinder Singh Cassidy – Founder & Chairman, Joyus

As the founder and chairman of Joyus, the web’s first premium video shopping network, Sukhinder Singh Cassidy continues to build on her dynamic career as a leading consumer Internet and media executive. Cassidy previously served as CEO of social commerce site, Polyvore, and as CEO-in-Residence with Accel Partners. Join us as Cassidy illuminates her entrepreneurial journey and shares wisdom gained from her roles with global and early-stage companies including Google, Amazon, Yodlee and News Corp.

FEBRUARY 22
Reid Hoffman – Co-Founder, LinkedIn; Partner, Greylock

Over the past decade, Reid Hoffman has become a leading voice in entrepreneurship, with successes in the consumer Internet and online payment spaces. Hoffman is the co-founder and executive chairman at professional networking company LinkedIn, and led the company through its first four years into profitability. Hoffman served as executive vice president at PayPal, where he was a founding board member. He is also an angel investor and a partner at Greylock Ventures.

FEBRUARY 29
Kristina Johnson – Former US Undersecretary of Energy

Kristina Johnson was the undersecretary for Energy at the United States Department of Energy, where she successfully brought greater cohesion to energy and environmental programs. Prior to that role, she served as provost at Johns Hopkins University, and as dean of the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University. Dr. Johnson holds dozens of U.S. patents and received the prestigious John Fritz Medal, the highest award in engineering. She earned her B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from Stanford University.

MARCH 7
Sandra Kurtzig – Founder, ASK Group; Founder & CEO, Kenandy
AND
Andy Kurtzig – Founder, CEO & President, JustAnswer

In a special event, technology pioneer and entrepreneur Sandra Kurtzig will speak at ETL, along with her son and fellow serial entrepreneur, Andy Kurtzig.

Sandra Kurtzig transformed the manufacturing software industry when she founded ASK Computer Systems in 1972. Over the next two decades, Kurtzig would go on to grow the company into one of the largest software companies in the world. As the current CEO and chairman at Kenandy, Kurtzig aims to drive innovation and collaboration for manufacturing management in the cloud. Kurtzig is also the managing partner of SLK Investment Partners, a private equity investment partnership.

Andy Kurtzig founded the expert answer website, JustAnswer, in 2003, in response to his need for accurate online medical information. Prior to his current venture, Kurtzig served as CEO and co-founder of eBenefits, which was acquired by an Inc. 500 company. As well as being a serial entrepreneur, Kurtzig is an active and successful angel investor and philanthropist.