CONNECTS
Our CONNECTS seminar series enhances the experiential education of any individual interested in innovation and entrepreneurship. Tailored mainly for students to help take their ideas from conception to commercialization, the seminars run throughout the fall semester. Teams looking for talent and talent looking for teams can CONNECT at these events.
McGinnis Venture Competition and Social Enterprise Prize Focused Seminars (Fall 2025)
- Applying for the McGinnis Venture Competition or Social Enterprise Prize? There are specific seminars tailored to help you prepare for these competitions. These are noted in the seminar descriptions
All CONNECTS events will be hosted in a hybrid format. If you attend in person, the event will be held in the Swartz Center on the 3rd floor of the Tepper Quad. If you wish to attend virtually, you can attend via zoom. Everyone will receive the zoom link when you register.
Advanced registration is required. Everyone will receive the zoom link when you register. Please note that the session will be recorded.
Join the CMU Entrepreneurship Slack to connect with fellow entrepreneurs
Fall 2025 CONNECTS Schedule
Designing a Product Culture
Tuesday, September 9, 2025
12:30 – 1:30 p.m. EST
In Person: Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, 3rd Level, Tepper Quad/Virtual
Presenter: Brad Eiben, Carnegie Mellon University
You'll learn:
- The critical importance of culture, especially for startups
- Applying design thinking to building culture
- When, "The customer is always right," is wrong
- Motivation, implementation, and reinforcement
Early-Stage User Acquisition and Marketing
Wednesday, September 10, 2025
12:30 – 1:30 p.m. EST
Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, 3rd Level, Tepper Quad/Virtual Option
Presenter: Matt Spettel & John LaGue, trainwell
Matt Spettel (CEO) and John LaGue (COO) of trainwell break down the basics of acquiring your first 10, 100, and 1000+ customers as a consumer business. The talk will cover the basics of growth hacking, channel experimentation (across advertising, influencers, and partnerships), acquisition funnels, and unit economics.
Business Model Canvas: A Practical Guide*
Tuesday, September 16, 2025
12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. EST
In Person: Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, 3rd Level, Tepper Quad/Virtual
Presenter: Craig Markovitz, CMU Swartz Center
*This seminar is recommended for anyone participating in the McGinnis Venture Competition.
Many aspiring entrepreneurs have heard of the business model canvas, but few actually use it correctly. This workshop will focus on the proper techniques to leverage the full value of this important tool for business planning and validation.
Understanding the Customer and Creating a USP*
Wednesday, September 17, 2025
12:30 – 1:30 p.m. EST
Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, 3rd Level, Tepper Quad/Virtual
Presenter: Bob Blattberg, Carnegie Mellon University
Please note: The speaker for this talk will be virtual
*This seminar is recommended for anyone participating in the McGinnis Venture Competition and the Social Enterprise Prize.
This workshop will explore how to understand the customer and then determine what the organization’s unique selling proposition (USP) is based on who the customer is. A critical source of failure of entrepreneurial enterprises is lack of understand the customer. A second source of failure is not having a unique selling proposition, also called unique value proposition in the business model canvas. Topics to be covered include learning the customer is more than just the end user and often is what Bob calls the customer chain - the different layers including the end user and intermediate customers such as a retailer that also is involved in the purchase decision. Additionally Bob will describe the three criteria for determining if the product or service has a USP, what is the difference between a benefit and a feature and why is this critical in determining a USP along with examples from both for profit and non-profit firms of USP’s.
Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition
Tuesday, September 23, 2025
12:30 – 1:30 p.m. EST
In Person: Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, 3rd Level, Tepper Quad/Virtual
Presenter: Len Caric, Carnegie Mellon University
Why interview for a job when you can be the CEO of your own company after graduation? No ideas for a business? No problem, acquire an existing business and be in control of your future.
Science vs. Art in Pricing and Revenue*
Thursday, September 25, 2025
12:30 – 1:30 p.m. EST
Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, 3rd Level, Tepper Quad/Virtual
Presenter: Laura Forth, Go Further, LLC
*This seminar is recommended for anyone participating in the McGinnis Venture Competition.
This seminar is recommended for anyone participating in the McGinnis Venture Competition. The science of pricing involves systematic analysis, data-driven methodologies and profit-maximizing techniques. The art of pricing encompasses the intuitive, creative and strategic aspects of setting prices. Every good revenue model requires a bit of both.
This workshop blends the 'science' of market-proven best practices with the 'art' of creative strategies, helping entrepreneurs build a confident revenue model.
CANCELLED: Pitching Innovation to the C-Suite
Tuesday, September 30, 2025
12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. EST
In Person: Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, 3rd Level, Tepper Quad/Virtual
Presenter: Melissa Murphy, Carnegie Mellon University
One of the most common complaints of corporate entrepreneurs is being blindsided by questions from outside their areas of expertise. Even well-prepared corporate entrepreneurs have higher-stakes conversations than traditional startup CEOs with stakeholders coming from narrower perspectives.
Before pitching the idea, think about it from the perspective of the functional areas of leadership in the C-Suite. Through what lenses will the most powerful decision-makers in the company view new ideas?
Join us for a lively discussion about better ways to prepare for pitching innovation to the C-Suite, the much higher communications burden placed on intrapreneurs in the early days of innovation and how to better leverage tools such as the Pitching Innovation to the C-Suite Canvas.
Customer Discovery*
Wednesday, October 1, 2025
12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. EST
In Person: Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, 3rd Level, Tepper Quad/Virtual
Presenter: Emily Moquin, Schmidt Market Research
*This seminar is recommended for anyone participating in the McGinnis Venture Competition.
Understanding the importance of customer-centricity in decision-making from concept to commercialization and practical tips for when and how to gather customer insights.
CANCELLED: Splitting the Founder’s Pie & Other Aspects of Equity Compensation
Tuesday, October 7, 2025
12:30 – 1:30 p.m. EST
In Person: Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, 3rd Level, Tepper Quad/Virtual
Presenter: Frank Demmler, Startup Whisperer, 2 X Frank Entrepreneurial Yoda-for-Hire
Equity compensation can be a very mysterious concept for first-time entrepreneurs. Learn how to make critical decisions from the division of the Founders' Pie through stock option grants.
Keys to Building a Successful & Sellable Startup: Cashflow Forecasting & Digital Organization
Wednesday, October 8, 2025
12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. EST
Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, 3rd Level, Tepper Quad/Virtual Option
Presenter: Kelley Lynch, Chief Financial Officer, sovaSage Inc.
After creating the right product and hiring the right people, a company's next most critical elements needed to grow, thrive and have a successful exit strategy are Cashflow Forecasting and Digital Organization. I initially created a Cashflow Forecasting model to help the company I was working with get out of the 2008 financial crisis. Since then, I have worked with numerous companies and have easily adapted the model for each company's needs, which also included three successful exits. You will learn how to make a 13-week rolling cash flow model that will give you better insights to your company’s operations, create different forecast scenarios, and be the basis of 12+ month cashflow forecast. We will also talk about how being disciplined with your Digital Organization is needed to do cashflow forecasting and is crucial if you plan to bring in investors, bankers or pursue an exit strategy. The best part – this modeling is not intimidating to the non-financial oriented entrepreneurs!
Nonprofit Finance and Funding*
Thursday, October 9, 2025
12:30 – 1:30 p.m. EST
Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, 3rd Level, Tepper Quad/Virtual
Presenter: Kim McCormick, McCormick Group
*This seminar is recommended for anyone participating in the McGinnis Venture Competition and the Social Enterprise Prize.
Social Enterprise and Nonprofit Financing: An overview of the structural options and some alternative funding strategies tailored for startups that are "social enterprises" (for-profits for good) i.e. companies that have social, economic, or environmental impact or targeting B-Corp status and nonprofits with revenue models. Topics will range from non-dilutive funding options to nonprofit M&As.
Pitch with Production Value*
Tuesday, October 28, 2025
12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. EST
Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, 3rd Level, Tepper Quad/Virtual
Presenter: Brian Staszel, Carnegie Mellon University
*This seminar is recommended for anyone participating in the McGinnis Venture Competition.
How to script, capture and edit quality video that looks more expensive than it was.
Outcome & Impact Measurement*
Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, 3rd Level, Tepper Quad/Virtual
Presenter: Bob Blattberg, Carnegie Mellon University
*This seminar is recommended for anyone participating in the McGinnis Venture Competition and the Social Enterprise Prize.
This workshop will focus on what and how to measure social enterprise’s impact. In the “for-profit” sector, there are numerous measures used to assess the success of the organization such as profit, EBIDA and sales increases. Measurements for non-profits are more difficult. Many non-profits use input measures such as number served or cost to serve. While important, it is necessary to also measure impact and outcomes. We will provide a measurement structure which focuses on inputs, intermediary measures and output and outcome measures. Examples will be provided showing how social enterprise organizations can compute these measures.
To Trust or Not to Trust: What Every Startup Needs to Know about Privacy and Cybersecurity
Thursday, October 30, 2025
12:30 – 1:30 p.m. EST
In Person: Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, 3rd Level, Tepper Quad/Virtual
Presenter: John Funge, DataTribe
Privacy and cybersecurity are no longer back-office tasks sequestered away from the core of a business. With a steady drum beat of high-profile security breaches and cases of customer data mismanagement, privacy and security are increasingly becoming board-level topics for companies large and small. They are both a threat and opportunity. This seminar will provide an overview of key privacy and cybersecurity regulations, trends and practices that every startup needs to know.
Avoiding Mentor Whiplash: How to Manage Conflicting Advice*
Wednesday, November 5, 2025
12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. EST
In Person: Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, 3rd Level, Tepper Quad/Virtual
Presenter: Jim Jen, CMU Swartz Center
*This seminar is recommended for anyone participating in the McGinnis Venture Competition.
Building a strong network of mentors and advisors can be incredibly valuable for your startup (and career). But as you talk to more people, how do you reconcile the differing feedback you receive? This CONNECTS talk will provide frameworks for assessing feedback and tips on how to build successful mentor relationships.
Financial Modeling
Wednesday, November 12, 2025
12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. EST
In Person: Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, 3rd Level, Tepper Quad/Virtual
Presenter: Phil Compton
If you’re going to start a company, mapping out your financial projections will be an important part of that process. Learn the basics and gain insight on how to incorporate assumptions and flexibility into a model. Understand and be able to discuss key terms such as burn rate, cash runway and EBITDA which will allow you to more confidently support projections to your investors, Board and fellow team members. Includes both a financial model template and a user-friendly simple cap table.
Fall 2025 Start Smart Legal Series Schedule
All Fall 2025 Start Smart Legal Series sessions will be held virtually from 5:00-6:15 P.M. on their respective dates. Start Smart Legal Series recordings will NOT be made available to the public due to the sensitive nature of the information shared.
Introduction to Startup Law
September 16, 2025
5:00 - 6:15 p.m. EST Virtual
In this session, our startup law team will present a lightning round of the key legal needs and issues for a startup: founders agreements, equity splits, company formation, handling IP, raising capital, building a team, etc. Then, you will get to ask YOUR most pressing legal questions. This session will be the basis of future Start Smarts which will go into each of the issues more in depth.
Starting a Business with an F-1 Student Visa
October 7, 2025
5:00 - 6:15 p.m. EST Virtual
Students with a Visa can legally start businesses as well as work on a startup team. Come learn the details of how to do this without violating your student status and immigration options after graduating.
How to Form Your Startup Company | 2 Part Workshop
October 28 & November 18, 2025
5:00 - 6:15 p.m. EST Virtual
Please note: How to Form Your Startup Company will take place over 2 sessions. In order to attend Part 2: The Workshop, attendees must first attend Part 1: The Basics. Attendees for Part 1 will receive information on how to log into Part 2 upon completion of session.
During Part 1 (October 28), you will learn the basic legal issues involved with new company formation, including choice of entity (LLC, C-Corp, social enterprise options such as non-profit 501c, Benefit Corporation, B Corps certification, and other company structure alternatives), basics of founders’ agreements, splitting equity, and employee vesting. Participants will receive a legal road map and checklist to begin working on prior to “How to Form Your Startup Company, Part 2: Workshop”.
In Part 2 (November 18), your team will be matched with one or more law students to design a “legal roadmap” that will recommend the best entity option for your startup and the basics of a Founders Agreement. You will also receive guidance on other legal issues on your ‘checklist’ – all under the supervision of experienced startup lawyers!
How to Handle Your (and others’) Intellectual Property
December 2, 2025
5:00 - 6:15 p.m. EST Virtual
Intellectual Property is an asset to be protected. This session will cover how to deal with IP issues including:
- Different ways to protect your company’s IP (copyrights, trade secrets, patents, trademarks, etc.)
- Do you really need a patent?
- Difference between a provisional patent and a formal patent filing
- Developing a patent strategy
- How to handle IP created by class projects when one or more of the student team members want to pursue commercialization
- Tips on searching the US Patent Office Database (for prior ‘art’ e.g. existing patents)
- What to expect after filing a patent (time and expenses)
CONNECTS Series Schedules
Thank you to our Swartz Center Patrons
