VIP in the News

Wharton and Venture Initiation Program alumna and founder of ElectNext dispels the myths that being a for-profit civic business distracts from doing good and being mission-driven is a barrier to “real” success. WATCH HERE

“Springboard Collaborative is gearing up to bring its summer-reading model to four district schools in North Philadelphia that will serve 480 mostly K-3 pupils, at least half of whom will be arriving from three recently closed district schools.” MORE

“Since Verbalizet, a technology start-up, was featured on a TV show, daily revenue has more than tripled.” MORE

“Now entering its third year, Springboard Collaborative (an alum of our Venture Initiation Program) has secured a vendor agreement with the Philadelphia School District, expanding their reach from a couple hundred kids to over 900 students at eight schools.” MORE

Venture Initiation Program alum Doug Baldasare (WG’12) “hopes to place 76 kiosks in the region by year’s end – enough to ensure that people are never more than two blocks from a free power source.” MORE

Venture Initiation Program company ProfessorWord, founded by Betty Hsu (WG’14) and Ivan Chang, joins GoodCompany Group’s business accelerator program. MORE

Charlie Javice (W’14), founder of PoverUP, answers the question What Is A Risk Not Worth Taking? MORE

The ZenKars founders “hope consumers who are confident shopping for all sorts of things online will be bold enough to buy a car that gets delivered to their door for a flat $299 fee – without ever test-driving it.” MORE

Wharton alum David Klein, co-founder of CommonBond Co, “stresses the importance of having MBA alumni fund students to create a sense of community.” MORE

“Neil Blumenthal [WG'10], co-founder of Warby Parker, says it’s important to teach your staff to be aware of others. Here’s why.”

An “encouraging step was taken when the SRC [School Reform Commission] green-lighted a four-school, 480-student pilot program. The Springboard Collaborative is an innovative summer-reading curriculum, the brainchild of 24-year-old Alejandro Gac-Artigas [Venture Initiation Program alum and Master of Education degree holder from the University of Pennsylvania].” MORE

“Not many entrepreneurs would reject an investment from Mark Cuban, but Ryan Frankel and Kunal Sarda, graduates of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, did—and on national television.” MORE

Article mentions CommonBond, founded by Wharton MBA alums David Klein and Michael Taormina, and Jessup Shean (L’12/WG’12). MORE

Region’s Business – Philadelphia highlights Wharton Entrepreneurship programs for “inspiring creative thinking”. MORE

AdhereTech [founded by Josh Stein WG'12] receives $50,000 grand prize in global diabetes innovation challenge funded by Boehringer Ingelheim. MORE

In “Pimp My Robot”, Venture Initiation Program member Dick Zhang (ENG’15) talks about winning Penn’s Y-Prize for his plan to commercialize flying robot technology from GRASP Lab – UPenn (with co-founders Kelsey Duncombe-Smith EE’15 & Andy Wu GRW’16). MORE

Professor Kartik Hosanagar gives his thoughts on ecommerce in India. MORE

“Highland Capital Partners has announced the names of the 9 student companies participating in its sixth annual Summer@Highland program.” List includes Skylbridge, founded by Brett Lewis (WG’13) & Raj Jeyakumar (WG’13). MORE

Skylbridge also featured in PandoDaily: Summer@Highland is like success camp for student entrepreneurs.

How the Penn alumnus (Samuel Reeves W’05) behind Humanistic Robotics, Inc. is saving the world one landmine at a time—and making money doing it. MORE

Zenkars, founded by Jim Chabas (WG’13) and Venkat Jonnala (WG’13), is an online retailer of used cars. For the consumer, Zenkars sells the best-priced used cars online with a peaceful buying experience.  The company removes middlemen and gets cars directly from commercial sellers – bypassing auto auctions, wholesalers and dealers. For the corporate seller, Zenkars offers the first direct to consumer remarketing channel.

Zenkars is the winner of the 2013 Wharton Business Plan Competition Perlman Grand Prize. The WBPC Venture Finals event and Zenkars’ win has been featured in India West, the New York Times You’re the Boss blog, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the New York Daily News, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Times of India, Knowledge@Wharton, Penn News, Silicon India, Technically Philly and ClearAdmit.

CNBC: Wharton alum founded Warby Parker opens first flagship store in New York City. MORE

Vogue Magazine covers the flagship store’s opening celebration – PHOTOS HERE

“1DocWay’s [founded by Samir Malik C'08/W'08/GEN'13/WG'13] telehealth service focuses on telepsychiatry and has given a boost to health care IT in the Philadelphia area.” MORE

“Pricing is the hidden challenge of entrepreneurship. It’s a topic that no one talks about, even though (or perhaps because) it involves difficult decisions that hugely impact the success of your business.” MORE