As a longtime Professor and Mentor at Columbia, Cornell, and NYU (and as far as I know, the only person at all 3 schools in the startup world!) I see terrific founders all the time. This syndicate will allow you to invest alongside me in a wide range of deals I see at the earliest stages, as well as a few where I am fortunate to get a later stage allocation in a larger or later stage deal. For me, it's a great way to leverage my smaller checks into a larger investment, having a bigger impact for the founders - and build a broader and more diversified portfolio of venture investments at the same time!
This is a great way to support founders from these New York schools and their ecosystems - with a a diverse range of industries and a diverse group of founders. I 'tag' deals with key information that might be important to your own investment plans - e-commerce, SaaS, green/sustainable, minority or female founders are some examples (and of course the school affiliation!) - really anything that seems like it might be helpful
As a Professor it's also worth pointing out that research suggests deep community connections provide an edge:
This paper shows investors with deep connections to communities that are consistently undervalued by VCs (whether minority groups or people without degrees from top schools), have an edge. They can learn better than outsiders who the most talented people are and invest in them.
As an entrepreneur myself and the former Managing Director of the Eugene Lang Center for Entrepreneurship at Columbia Business School, I have been very active in the startup ecosystem in New York City. Many of the founders I meet are current or former students. I have an informal advisory board of colleagues at Columbia, Cornell, and NYU scouting companies as well.
Currently, I teach Digital Marketing at Columbia and Cornell and Founding a Startup at NYU. I am on the board of the Lang Center and Strategist in Residence at the Columbia Startup Lab, as well as a Board Member of the Columbia Organization for Rising Entrepreneurs (CORE.). I host office hours, mentor, and regular present to the school communities on topics of interest.
