Sheezan Bakali on the Entrepreneurial Internship Fellowship

Sheezan Bakali, in her second year of her Wharton MBA, talks about how a Wharton Entrepreneurial Internship Fellowship gave her the chance to spend the summer working for Proper Cloth, a New York-based startup company.

Julian Brodsky on the Launch of Comcast Interactive Capital

"I said, 'Holy Mackerel, this is it!' " - Upon viewing the first Web browser, Mosaic, Julian Brodsky, was immediate won over on the future of the Internet. He advocated that Comcast should form an in-house venture capital fund with ties to Silicon Valley. The result became Comcast Interactive Capital, one of the most successful corporate venture capital initiatives among the Fortune 500.

Julian Brodsky on Investing in Half.com

"I had a key role: providing the software developers pizza." - Comcast Interactive Capital's $700,000 investment in Wharton undergrad alumnus Josh Kopelman's start-up, Half.com, became one of CIC's first big payoffs when eBay purchased the company for nearly $500 million. Comcast's yield: $45 million.

Julian Brodsky - Full Interview

All three segments of our interview with Julian Brodsky, co-founder of Comcast Corp.

Joseph Ansanelli on starting his first business

"It was definitely scary, but we probably weren't smart enough to realize that what we were doing was risky." - Joseph Ansanelli (W'92) discusses how, as a student, he co-founded Trio, a software company ultimately acquired by Apple's software division.

Joseph Ansanelli on the birth of Vontu

"We actually had the first venture capital pitch from my living room." - a life-threatening accident during the early days of founding Vontu forced Joseph Ansanelli, W'92, to think about the atmosphere and priorities in his data loss prevention company.

What Wharton Means to Joseph Ansanelli

"My parents were immigrants, and sent three kids to college. My dad was a schoolteacher. And I'd like to figure out how to help other people come here and have that opportunity." - Joseph Ansanelli, W'92, talks about how Wharton gave him the network and the thinking skills to succeed as and entrepreneur, and how he's giving back.

Joseph Ansanelli - Full Interview

Our full interview with Joseph Ansanelli, W'92.

Developing Web-Based Services

Interview with Devin Griffin

Watch and listen to Devin Griffin, WG'09, talk about his experience gaining real-world experience as a Wharton Entrepreneurial Intern Fellow, working at Takkle, a New York City based start up co-founded by Wharton alumni.

Aydin Senkut - Full Interview

In this issue we speak to alumnus Aydin Senkut (WG'96), who joined Google, perhaps the fastest growing company in US history, as its 63rd employee. Senkut is now an angel investor supporting entrepreneurs with Google-like drive and vision. From the beginning at Google, when he worked amid dangling computer cables, to his exit years later when head counts reached the thousands, Senkut gained an appreciation for building a culture that values its people as well the innovation they create.

Aydin Senkut on the Early Days at Google

"We had wires sticking from the ceiling. We played soccer with tennis balls. We used to joke, 'Someday we will be a multi-billion dollar business.' [Looking back] it’s surreal." Aydin Senkut, WG'96, joined Google as its 63rd employee. The company, he says, embodied collegiality, filled with those who cared more about the company's mission to democratize the Internet than plush offices and lofty job titles.

Bob Greene - the origins of "Silicon Alley"

"Back then we used to say 'the Alley.' Back then we thought it was an underserved market opportunity and we think it still is." As a managing partner of Flatiron Partners, Bob Greene was part of the fervent entrepreneurial community in the Flatiron District of New York City known as Silicon Alley in the late 1990s. Greene says the business principles that made the area a good one for venture capitalists a decade ago still hold true today.

Farhad Mohit on Traits of Entrepreneurs

"Honesty, intelligence, curiosity and passion—if you don’t have that drive... you’re going to get overtaken." Farhad Mohit explains that, when it comes to entrepreneurial success, neither experience nor guile are as valuable as personal drive.

What Wharton Means to Farhad Mohit

"I didn't have a sugar daddy [to support me]. Wharton gave me courage, a network and time to develop my idea." Farhad Mohit explains the Wharton School was instrumental toward his development as an entrepreneur, one who had limited personal resources.

Josh Kopelman on Innovation

"I don't like to solve new needs, I like to solve existing needs." Josh Kopelman, who helped found Infonautics, Turntide, and Half.com, explains how he determines which business concepts have the greatest chance to win big in the marketplace.

Rich Riley on Corporate Venturing in Yahoo!

"When I joined Yahoo! I assumed it would [eventually] become too bureaucratic but…I get to focus on the business strategy and…the infrastructure [issues] are taken care of [for me]." Rich Riley (W'96) describes how, after seven years, his entrepreneurial ambitions are still met within Yahoo! as a corporate venturer, rather than as the head of a start-up as he once was.

Rich Riley's Story about his Accidental Dot-Com

"We were an accidental dotcom success story: with technology you need to pick the right moment---and get out." Rich Riley (W'96) on how he avoided some of the fatal mis-steps of late 1990’s technology start-up firms and guided Log-Me-On.com to a successful acquisition by Yahoo!.

James Furnivall on Atari's two lives

"Atari had two lives..." James Furnivall (WG'84) recounts his first-hand experience with one of the most storied tech companies of the past half century.