2008 Headlines
Johnson School Announces New Entrepreneur-in-Residence
Steve Benjamin to help Cornell community develop and refine new business ideas
August 29, 2008 | Ithaca, NY | The Johnson School at Cornell University is pleased to welcome Steve Benjamin ('80, MEng '81 and MBA '82) as Entrepreneur-in-Residence. Benjamin brings more than 25 years in business and consulting to the post and will mentor and advise entrepreneurially-minded members of the Cornell community including current students, faculty, staff, and alumni. Benjamin will be on campus throughout the academic year and will also assist Cornell alumni entrepreneurs on the West Coast from his California residence.
The Entrepreneur-in-Residence works with the Cornell community to develop and refine new business ideas including: reviewing business plans, solidifying business strategies and market positions, strategizing intellectual property issues, and developing fundraising plans. The EIR helps entrepreneurs move potential ventures from the idea phase to startup, as well as assists Cornell inventors, including professors and PhD students, to create businesses around technologies developed at Cornell and independently.
"I'm excited about the progress Cornell has made in educating its students about entrepreneurship," Benjamin said. "Having access to entrepreneurs was something I always wished I had when I attended Cornell, and I'm pleased to offer the opportunity for the current generation of Cornell entrepreneurs."
For more than 25 years, Steve Benjamin has successfully grown businesses, both his own and others. He has worked in the air freight industry where he managed the purchase and lease of more than $300 million in cargo airplanes; he launched and sold a public relations agency that had grown to four locations and 115 employees; worked with a market research company on customer loyalty consulting; and is currently an active real estate investor, property manager and developer in California and Canada.
Benjamin is an active Cornell alumnus, serving as the Vice-Chair of the Entrepreneurship@Cornell Alumni Council, as well as a member of Cornell Council, Cornell Silicon Valley and the Cornell Real Estate Council. He is currently Chair of the Board of Trustees for Hillbrook School, an elementary school that his children attended, and has helped the school raise $9.0 million to rebuild the campus.
The Entrepreneur-in-Residence program began in 2006 with Brad Treat (MBA '02), whose new business venture Mezmeriz won first place and $100,000 in New York's Creative Core Emerging Business Competition held in April 2008. In 2007, Cliff Lardin (MBA '07) held the post while also working as a principal at Cayuga Venture Fund, an early-stage technology fund based in Ithaca, NY. Lardin will be continuing at the Johnson School as VC in Residence.
