NYU Stern: Entrepreneurship & Startup Association (ESA)

Last week, we hosted our inaugural ESA Pitch Competition event where students got to hear their peers practice their startup's pitch and receive feedback from top judges. Our contestants featured not just Stern MBAs, but also graduate students from other colleges, NYU undergrads, alumni, and more! This is a great showing as part of our ongoing effort to have more events that bring students from different NYU colleges together. Our judges included: ? Kiran Panjwani (CEO of?FounderWay) ? Allan Boomer (Chief Investment Officer at?Momentum Advisors) ? Hillary Bush (Founder and CEO, Groundswell) ? Geoffrey Schwartz (Chief Strategy Officer (North America) at?Frog) We had two winners of the competition! ? Winner of the Development Track was Swayze, ?with NYU representative Dilan Fein ? Winner of the Early Spark Track was "Corridor," presented by Rushil Johal?and?Audryssa Tarigan. The turnout of the event was incredible and we're so excited to be able to connect with so many in the entrepreneurship community. A big thanks to FounderWay for providing 30 days of their service for free to the candidates, so that they could use it to build out their ideas and pitches. Looking forward to the next one!

Swayze Takes 1st Place at New York University! Huge thanks to NYU Stern: Entrepreneurship & Startup Association (ESA) for inviting us to pitch Swayze at their competition. Stepping into NYU and getting the chance to showcase what we’ve built was incredible. Seeing the excitement from students and judges in New York confirms the project is on to something big!

Hosting an AMA with Scott Galloway for NYU Stern: Entrepreneurship & Startup Association (ESA) on Saywise at 12 PM ET tomorrow, 2/27. RSVP and submit your questions here: https://lnkd.in/ehnAxZy5.

Had a great time judging the NYU Stern: Entrepreneurship & Startup Association (ESA) pitch competition last week! Always fun to work with founders in the early days of building.

Executing a dream starts with an early spark. I had a great time at my alma mater's startup pitch competition on Friday. I had the chance to share my vision to help teachers translate high school curriculum into exciting career possibilities for their students, every unit of the way.? The event was a win for aspiring builders. ??Expert feedback from investor/founder judges ??Exposure to potential partners/supporters ??Quality networking with contestants Big thanks to NYU Stern: Entrepreneurship & Startup Association (ESA) for hosting an inspiring event. Special bonus—leaving with an honorable mention for my pitch.?? #HomeworktoDreamWork

Congrats! Wishing you the best with your upcoming NYC launch!

This past Friday NYU Stern: Entrepreneurship & Startup Association (ESA) hosted their inaugural ESA Pitch Competition! 12 early-stage startups pitched their ideas to a panel of accomplished founders & investors. Here are the top four that 'sparked' my interest: ? Around - the Uber Eats of local services & products from small businesses ? Corridor - a ride sharing app for long-haul distances for rural and suburban college students ? Homework to Dream Work - helps students explore future career opportunities through their existing ELA curriculum ? Minx - a holistic sexual wellness platform Kudos to everyone involved in the pitch competition! I always love seeing what students at NYU are cooking up ??

Many thanks to Chad Dickerson for joining us at the first Tech Leadership Lab of 2025, and to the NYU Stern: Entrepreneurship & Startup Association (ESA) for helping make this happen!

2024 was a very special year for Context Data. During our first year of full operation, we: 1. Had the privilege of being accepted to and successfully completing Techstars' and Northwestern Mutual’s accelerator programs. 2. Achieved a major milestone with the successful launch of our SOC 2 certified platform, ensuring top-tier data security and compliance for our clients. 3. Helped 6+ businesses unlock the power of generative AI by enabling seamless, AI-ready integration of their diverse data sources, empowering them to drive innovation without changing the ways they work. Every win this year has been fueled by our mission: to empower businesses to leverage generative AI by seamlessly connecting all their data, no matter where it resides, without forcing a change to the way they do business. In 2025, we’re doubling down on: 1. Expanding our integrations to cover an even broader range of data sources and tools. 2. Entering new markets to support small and medium businesses in their AI adoption journey. 3. Delivering unmatched results by enhancing our platform's capabilities and offering personalized solutions for our clients. If you’re a business leader looking to harness generative AI without disrupting your current processes, we’re opening up limited demos for Context Data. We guarantee you’ll walk away with a clear understanding of how we can make your data AI-ready and drive measurable impact for your organization. cc Jide O.

We had the opportunity to host Liza Landsman on campus this week! Former CEO of Stash, Liza shared the rewards of unwavering commitment to learning and seeking new experiences—from tech giants to financial firms to startups. She broke down the challenges she’s taken on throughout her career including?navigating Jet.com's acquisition and Stash's rapid scaling, revealing the wealth of opportunities that emerge from welcoming change. Super inspiring session, thank you Liza!