Vanderbilt launched its first Convoy Conference, bringing together almost 400 alumni and over 350 students and faculty with the goal of energizing Vanderbilt’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Featured alumni included current and former entrepreneurs and founders, venture capitalists, investors and managerial and C-suite executives.
The conference featured a series of panel discussions, student and faculty showcases and networking events centered on entrepreneurship and innovation topics. Keynote speakers included founder and Chief Executive Officer of Mark Cuban Companies and investor on ABC’s “Shark Tank” Mark Cuban, vice president of engineering for Facebook and co-founder of Veritas Software Jeffrey Rothschild (B.A. ‘77, M.S. ‘79) and co-founder and managing director of Sante Ventures Doug French.
Director of the Owen Center for Entrepreneurship Baxter Webb said he believed the event’s overall turnout represented the Vanderbilt community’s enthusiasm for innovation, especially among the alumni network.
“It felt like a big win. The bigger win is the buzz that it’s created, especially in the alumni base,” Webb said. “The depth of founders and investors that we have — and them wanting to get together — was a big win for showing our commitment to the entrepreneurial ecosystem as a university.”
Spencer Eyen, a senior double majoring in economics and human and organizational development, attended Cuban’s session. He said he was excited to hear about the concept of “compassionate capitalism,” which proposes that businesses may maintain social responsibility even in their pursuit of profit.
“The future is bright. Whether you’re an entrepreneur or somebody going into the medical industry, new advances are being made every day,” Eyen said. “[Cuban showed] there is such a thing as a humanitarian billionaire.”
Outside of the keynote speakers, alumni shared their insights about topics from talent acquisition to accelerating growth across a range of industries including aerospace and the creative economy.
Zach Wu, a sophomore on the Convoy Conference committee within the Owen Entrepreneurship Student Advisory Board, attended a panel that featured four alumni unicorn founders, or founders of private startup companies worth more than $1 billion. He said he felt listening to the founders’ journeys was insightful.
“I think having all these people here and being able to hear from them was really revelatory,” Wu said. “Becoming a unicorn is one of the hardest things you can do in business, yet Vanderbilt has done that more than almost any other school. It was nice being able to hear firsthand how that has played out for founders who have actually done it.”
Among the range of topics and industries highlighted during the conference, artificial intelligence and complex technology development were among the most frequently discussed. Anka Pop (M.A. ‘12), founder and CEO of cybersecurity consulting firm 365 Striker, spoke on the cybersecurity industry panel during the second day of the conference. She said it was exciting to connect with other Vanderbilt peers.
“I met a lot of new professionals and Vanderbilt graduates that are working on exciting, cool projects in blockchain and security,” Pop said. “It’s been good to see that [these topics have] been growing and that people are more focused on them. There’s so much energy.”
Mislav Tolusic (M.A. ‘05), managing partner of aerospace and defense investment firm MarlinSpike, also spoke on the panel. He said he enjoyed being back on campus.
“This is actually my first time back [at Vanderbilt] after 20 years or so. It’s always good to be back to see how the place has changed and younger faces and all of that,” Tolusic said. “Vanderbilt needs an ecosystem like this, where students can come together with professionals who have good insights into the industry.”
Webb said the university plans to continue Convoy into the future, likely as an on-campus event every few years with smaller alumni-hosted satellite events at other times. He believes the conference represented one step toward the university’s larger mission to promote entrepreneurship and innovation.
“Convoy is not going away. It’s a concept that’s going to happen again and again,” Webb said. “It’s not a one stop shop, there are other things we need to do. But I think it’s a really important cog in helping achieve that vision.”
