The Center for Entrepreneurial Studies (CES) hosts and co-hosts a variety of events to help entrepreneurial Stanford students and alumni connect and collaborate—bringing together innovators from engineering, law, medicine, and other programs.

Conference on Entrepreneurship

The highlight of the winter quarter is the annual campus-wide Conference on Entrepreneurship (E-Conference). Celebrating the power of the entrepreneurial spirit at Stanford, E-Week is presented annually by the Stanford Entrepreneurship Network (SEN), a federation of two dozen entrepreneurship-related campus groups.

Read more about past Conferences on Entrepreneurship here.

E-Provocateurs Speaker Series

This CES signature program is a quarterly conversation with leading entrepreneurs. Our most recent speaker was Steve Blank, Stanford Professor, Entrepreneur and Author, in conversation with Stanford GSB lecturer Andy Rachleff talking about The Lean Mean StartUp Dream. Students and GSB alumni are welcome to attend E-Provocateur events and can RSVP as they are announced.

E-Provocateur speakers challenge students, alumni and the community to think differently about the world. Past and future speakers include: Bill Campbell, Chairman of Intuit and coach to Silicon Valley entrepreneurs; Eric Ries, entrepreneur and author of The Lean Startup; and more.

Nuts & Bolts of Entrepreneurship Series

Designed to complement the formal entrepreneurship curriculum, this series of workshops offers practical guidance on the “nuts and bolts” of starting a company from entrepreneurs, investors, and local Silicon Valley service providers. Attend Nuts & Bolts to learn from experienced practitioners about legal issues; fundraising and investor relations; stages of investing; equity allocation; HR fundamentals; outsourcing; distribution and customer acquisition; making the first sales; and more. 

Nuts & Bolts sessions are held monthly at the GSB and are open to all Stanford graduate students and alumni.

Entrepreneur Alumni Reunion

The CES convenes entrepreneurial GSB alumni to connect, learn, and celebrate together. Highlights from the 2012 GSB Entrepreneur Alumni Reunion include: Chip Conley, MBA '84, founder of Joie de Vivre Hospitality; Scott Cook, founder and Chairman of the Executive Committee, Intuit; and interactive workshops with Stanford faculty, such as Professors Bill Barnett and Irv Grousbeck.