Whitman launches investment-focused Orange Business Angel Network
SU’s Whitman School launched the Orange Business Angel Network, which aims to prepare students for real-world investing. Fifteen students selected to participate will conduct analyses on real startups and help investors assess risk. Tara Deluca | Asst. Photo Editor
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When Greg Ackerman, chief financial officer and owner of Military Resale Solutions, reflected on his failure as a first-time entrepreneur, he said he lacked the experience and support to succeed.
Now, Ackerman has come full circle, returning to his alma mater Wednesday to celebrate the launch of the Syracuse University Whitman School of Management’s new Orange Business Angel Network program.
“I can’t even dream about having the opportunities that these kids have these days,” Ackerman said. “It would be a dream to be part of a network like this.”
Ackerman is the first angel investor — a donor that helps startups and young businesses — to join OBAN, a new experiential learning initiative launched by Whitman that connects students and alumni to prepare students for real-world investing.
The 15 students selected to participate in OBAN will have guidance from the program’s academic director Jeff Gish. The group will complete a class where they will conduct hands-on comprehensive analyses on real startups and help investors assess their risks. Here, students can connect SU-affiliated startups with SU angel investors.
During the semester-long course, OBAN’s first cohort of students will work directly with angels by leading pre-pitch discussions, according to the Whitman website. At the end of the program, which is led by finance experts, students will present the culmination of their work in a pitch deck, Whitman Interim Dean Alex McKelvie said.
Tara Deluca | Asst. Photo Editor
Whitman Interim Dean Alex McKelvie presents at the Orange Business Angel Network launch event on Wednesday.
While there are other entrepreneurship-focused university programs like the Couri Hatchery Student Business Incubator and the Blackstone LaunchPad, McKelvie said OBAN is student-centered.
“Maybe if I did have that and the resources that these students have now, that may have turned out different, the business would have been successful,” Ackerman said.
McKelvie hosted the launch event, which included a panel discussion with angel investors, including Innovation Venture Capital Fund Director Zachary Pecenak and Arcovo AI CEO and Co-founder Jeff Knauss, as well as SU Advisor for Strategic Initiatives Linda Dickerson Hartsock.
Moderated by Gish, the panelists discussed angel investments and gave students and entrepreneurs advice.
Tara Deluca | Asst. Photo Editor
The program’s academic director Jeff Gish moderates a panel at the Orange Business Angel Network launch on Wednesday.
When asked how new businesses could get on angels’ radar, Knauss advised the audience to attend more events like the launch.
“Coming to events like this, taking courses like the OBAN, it’s really just being present in the places that people, angels will be,” Knauss said. “And the more that you show up, the more that you put in the work, the more that you do, the more luck you’ll have because you’re just in the right time in the right place.”
Dickerson Hartsock echoed Knauss’ advice and encouraged students to engage with the business community on campus by developing their networks through other entrepreneurship programs.
“The great thing about the land is that you don’t have to have accidental collisions or figure out a complicated formula to get yourself in front of people like this,” Dickerson Hartsock said. “You just need to be part of the ecosystem. You need to be working across campus.”
Will Lewandowski, a junior and member of OBAN’s first cohort, said he first heard about OBAN when he spoke to Dean McKelvie about starting a venture capital club at SU. Lewandowski knew other schools had similar programs and was excited about bringing that opportunity to Syracuse.
Wednesday also marked the students’ first class with the program, which they headed to at the end of the event.
“I was super excited when I knew this was on their way,” Lewandowski said. “I think it gave students an opportunity that they really can’t get in many other places.”
