John Veihmeyer, chairman and CEO of the global accounting firm KPMG, has some advice for anyone interested in knowing what’s really going on in the world. “Don’t believe anything you hear on CNBC or MSNBC,” Veihmeyer told students at the Freeman School. “All you do if you watch those programs is get really depressed about the state of the world.”
Rob Lynch (MBA ’12) didn’t just start a new business in New Orleans. He helped start a new industry. Lynch is the founder of Bike Taxi Unlimited, which last year became one of three companies awarded the right to begin operating pedicabs in New Orleans.
A Freeman School-based venture with a plan to turn algae into crude oil was one of the big winners at the 2012 Tulane Business Plan Competition. ReactWell, developer of a patent-pending technology that uses underground geothermal reactors to convert biomass into synthetic crude oil, earned the top prize at the second annual Domain Companies New Orleans Entrepreneur Challenge.
The Freeman School honored Jerry M. Greenbaum (BBA ’62) as Tulane Distinguished Entrepreneur of the Year and Jay Altman as Tulane Outstanding Social Entrepreneur of the Year at the 2012 Tulane Council of Entrepreneurs Award Gala, which took place in April at the Audubon Tea Room.
John Elstrott’s name has been synonymous with entrepreneurship education at the Freeman School for more than 25 years. Now, thanks to a California-based company, Elstrott’s name is synonymous with education in rural India as well.
If there was an overriding theme at this year’s Burkenroad Symposium, “Taming the Dragon: The Ethics of Doing Business in the World of Social Media,” panelist David Vinjamuri summed it up best. “Just because you can doesn’t mean you should,” said Vinjamuri, founder of ThirdWay Brand Trainers and “Brand Truth” columnist for Forbes magazine. “There are many things that are perfectly legal and not at all ethical.”
