Aashna Madan, KC HIGH SCHOOL, CHENNAI, December, 2022
The Venture for All program was very insightful as it taught me; a beginner to the business industry, the many facets of innovation. I learnt extensively on topics and words that I had never heard of before and was intrigued by the way of teaching; which was predominantly based on interactive learning. I explored many concepts from market sizing to branding and I found this process immensely intriguing . This course peaked my interest in the vast field of business and I am grateful that I got to participate in this eye opening course.
Youngju (Julia) Paek, New York
I took Dr. McGourty’s class in hopes of finding a direction for a business I had been working on, and after learning about the process of creating a business plan deck, I was able to prepare for launch. A couple months after the classes ended, I was able to get funding from NSHSS.
Federico Ruiz, ASFM, Mexico
“I loved taking the entrepreneurship course. Not only is it fun, interactive, interesting, and you get to meet people from around the world, but you learn a lot as well!”
Kezo Zeraia Wibisono, Jakarta
“Before the class i knew nothing, but after tha class i came out with more knowledge and new friends”.
Lara Nahcivan, Hissar Okullari, Istanbul
“I had a great time at this program. I’ve had dreams of making my own start-up company, and this program was very helpful since it showed me the process of creating and launching a venture in a very comprehensive way. In the span of one week we accomplished so much! Our instructors were very helpful, knowledgeable, and friendly, so I really enjoyed working with them. Overall I’m very glad I took this program! I definitely will recommend this program to my friends if it happens in Istanbul again”.
Sofia Arango, Colombia
“The class really helped understand that venture development isn’t just a linear path in which you always advance. Instead, it has various factors that come into play as you progress, so most of the time that means you have to go back, and going back to check and correct is just as important if not even more than simply advancing. I also learned about the importance of not falling in love with your idea but instead making the customer fall in love with it. That means everything you do must be thought out from the perspective of the clients you want to reach and what’s most appealing to them whilst still feasible for you.
I loved the program and my only feedback where that at some point (around module 5) since we really picked up the pace it was hard to follow through all the worksheets and we got confused about what we needed to put from them into our rolling slide deck”.
Miguel Duran, Panama
“Through every module I learned multiple concepts or ideas that I had never even heard of. I think this course is a great one for high school or college students to take. It gives you a very strong background about the business area and every step to launch your startup”.
Arnav Bajaj, Chennai, India
I have had the immense pleasure to attend the Global entrepreneurship and
innovation program by VFA and Columbia Business School taught by Dr.Jack McGourty. Through this course I
have learnt various skills which have helped me immensely increase my understanding of entrepreneurship
and innovation. The connections I have made through this course were extremely valuable and I have learned
a great deal through my peers and instructors.
Thomas Chase, The International School Nido de Aguilas, Chile
“I would like to thank you everyone and profesor Greg for this experience, it was a wonderful experience and taught me a lot about successful entrepreneur and the details and important things to start a business”.
Vanessa Carvajal, Colombia
“This course was great, and i really enjoyed it. It was so fun to meet people from all over the world, and work on something completely original. Thank you so much for everything!”
Yasmeena Baarma, Dar Al Fikr Schools, Saudi Arabia
“ It was an amazing experience and I learnt about innovation and leadership. The course helped me a lot”.
Vir Bhagat, British School, India
“I am grateful to have been a part of this great program; it has helped me grow and kick start my journey towards an entrepreneurial career. The subject matter, philosophies, and content were all very gripping and studied in-depth. I can’t thank the professors enough for sharing their knowledge, being kind and patient, and addressing all our doubts over the few days we got to spend with them.
Being given the opportunity to serve as a TA was also a great experience. Overall, I met people from around the world with whom I have forged great friendships, will always be in touch with, and meet when we travel”.
Bram Woo, Trinity Classical Academy, New York
“This was an excellent experience and I again am very thankful. It helped me in learning business and leadership ideas”.
Francisco Garza Saldaña, PrepaTec Santa Catarina, Mexico
“I helped me learn a lot about business, but most importantly to work with others even if they are from different parts of the world”.
Joseph Chien, The International School Nido de Aguilas, Chile
“The course has helped me to refine the skills I already have and got more insight of the ways other think and their approach”.
Kyra Pahwa, Sat Paul Mittal School, Punjab, India
“It was just such a new perspective about social enterprise. I absolutely loved it. Professor Greg gave us links to such amazing videos of young change makers which inspired me to make this world a better place”.
Sammy Tin, The International School Yangon
“I enjoyed taking this course, It was an enriching experience! The TA opportunity helped me to enhance my leadership skills”.
Nasiya Tandino, Jakarta
“I started not knowing much about entrepreneurship or business, but this course taught me a lot about entrepreneurship and starting up a business so that students can get a better understanding of them, and are better equipped for business and entrepreneurial matters later on.
This course gave me the understanding and ability to pursue a career in the field of business”.
Alessia Chehab, Levant
“I started this course with small to no knowledge on venture development. By assisting to all of the classes during these two weeks, I learned so much on business and entrepreneurship, and I intend to use all of the knowledge I gained in the future.
Working in groups and building the slide presentation step by step was what really helped me put to practice what I learned, hence improving my learning experience.”
Manuel Vallejo Munoz, Escuela International Sampedrana, Honduras
“This entire experience has been life changing for me! I want to thank you again for this entire experience, since the moment I registered for this course I knew that it was going to be amazing and I made a promise with my father that I would give my absolute best towards it and I am continuing to do so with the TA participation. Therefore I want to continue participating with your wonderful program and organization. This entire experience has been life changing for me!”
Isebrand Kaldewei, Germany
“I really liked the class. I think having this class online did not diminish the experience at all. I learned a lot in the face to face sessions with professor Beston and I learned even more by “learning by doing” in the groups with our T.A. Also the aspect that we had to prepare our business for launch and that all of our research needed to be profound made the experience come alive. This really sucked me in and gave me the motivation to work on this project for hours. The only improvement I would suggest is maybe that the actual classes per day are a little longer since we were always a little rushed at the end of the day and I would have welcomed a deeper dive into learning how to pitch and present your business”.
Sofia El Fakhoury, Levant
“Honestly, I entered the class knowing nothing about entrepreneurship and innovation. However, this course has greatly enriched me around this subject and have learned about all the aspects of these topics (financials, marketing, branding, etc.). I am deeply thankful for Professor Sarah, all the TAs and my colleagues for helping me during this course. It was a great experience! Just would advise on going a little faster with the modules, but no worries, this program is really dense and requires a lot of time”.
Pablo Santo, Colombia
“I really love this course this class. I learned a lot thank you very much for all the tips strategies and structure that you gave me, so in ventures to come and hopefully thisone I will have a better comprenhension and a much more structure mind with more tools to affront all the challenges”.
Rohan Chadha, TSRS, Moulsari, India
“I have learnt so much from Prof. Dan. I learnt that customer is the most important part of any business venture”.
Aurora Gianese, Ecuador
“The aspects of the class that enhanced my learning experience associated with entrepreneurship and venture development is that I learned a lot on how to organize a business plan and work as a team to create a venture”.
Max Schaldach, Germany
“The course was a completely new experience for me. While courses in Europe tend to be more theoretical, we were able to “learn by doing”. I call this the “American way”, which is one of many factors, why I want to study in the US. Thanks for the great experience!”
Amira Chanana, Wycombe Abbey, England
“ I would recommend this course to someone who is planning to take up business. It is a professional course that teaches you a lot.” Amira Chanana, Class 10”.
Christopher Foea, BINUS International School Simprug, Jakarta, Indonesia
“Most ideas are simple in nature. The key to success is adjusting to the needs and the problems that arise. I learned how a lot of businesses succeed or fail. I learned how to brand and market products, how to do the financial calculations and how to pitch. It was fun learning how to start a new venture and I enjoyed my time in this course”.
Nicholas Cheng, BINUS International School Simprug, Jakarta, Indonesia
“What I found most valuable would be the whole of this program because everything was just great for me as I have always had some sort of huge reliance or friend in previous programs but this was refreshing. But asides my personal experience, the most valuable experience we manage to have is the great professor and his teachings. The program didn’t fully meet my expectations because I saw it in such a negative way thinking it was going to be filled with a bunch of extraordinary students and basically I saw everything the wrong way. The one thing was I was expecting a bit more content because most of the things talked about in class was already talked by my father…. but I still learned a few new things so im very grateful”.
Eugenia Agne, BINUS International School Simprug, Jakarta, Indonesia
“This entire program has been a blast, it reached my expectations, it taught me a lot in business and ways to scale and grow our company. The program was very interactive and it required a lot of group work and the assignments we get were very fun as we get to execute the theory we learned for ourselves. Although I hope that in the future the time would be extended and so we could have more thought in our venture and assignments to obtain the best results but otherwise, I thought that the program was fantastic”.
Ananya Khandwala, India
“I thought this course was extremely informative as well as helpful for us, the younger generation, since the future lies in our hands. With the skills and knowledge that we have acquired, I believe we are better equipped to tackle social entrepreneurship head on. Thank you!”
Rishika Tannan, India
“I loved every part of the workshop. It really opened my eyes and gave me a great insight on the key dynamics and the plethora of aspects to look out for while designing ones social venture. Thank you very much for making learning interesting and a lot of fun”.
Devansh Bhartia, Oberoi International School, Mumbai, India
“I just wanted to write to you to thank you for giving me this once in a lifetime opportunity to do a course under you and learn so much. Thank you for giving me such a great team which supported me and helped throughout. Thank you for allowing me to participate in a course with such great people from 12 different countries”.
I also wish to thank you for always pushing me beyond my comfort zone so I could learn and grow as a person. This course has been so much fun and honestly so humbling. I would like to thank you and professor McQuade for all your teachings and support over the years.”
Rianna Wadhwani, The Sri Ram School, Moulsari, Gurgaon, India
“It was an honor and my pleasure to work with you as your TA. We were really comfortable working with you and you made the whole course feel so simple and enjoyable. Thank you for all your guidance and I’m glad that my hard work with my team paid off and we stood 2nd.Would love to stay in touch with you and would love to be your TA for future programmes as well. Will look forward to meet you someday in person.”
Saeed Alserkal, Gulf Cooperation Council
“The most enriching aspect of this course in not only that we learn how to start-up a business, but also a step-by-step guide on how to do that. The only suggestion would be to make the course longer”.
Natan Kadoch, Colombia
“I learned lots of things during this course. it was amazing! special thanks to Vir and Devansh. they were extremely helpful. I definitely know that being one step ahead of the rest is always better. With this course i put myself 10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 steps ahead!”
Darrian Tedja, BINUS International School Simprug, Jakarta, Indonesia
“The most valuable learning experience that I had is to be very confident on myself to accomplish challenges and jobs. Yes, this entrepreneurship program, met my expectation Darrian Tedja, Class 9”.
Manoj Gopinath, Vidya Niketan School, Bengaluru, India
“Thanks for taking the initiative and organizing the event. Yes the course met the expectations. Manoj Gopinath Father of Meera Manoj, Class 12”.
Vikhyat Devireddy, Hyderabad, India
“The program was an amazing learning experience. I had a lot of fun learning about the various aspects of business. The lessons learnt were invaluable and will aid me in my future pursuits”.
Preithy Reddy, Hyderabad, India
“My Personal Reaction to this program experience is wonderful. This program trained me for my upcoming future and gave me a foundation for entrepreneurship. During this program, I was introduced to normal classes that seemed like MBA classes. With Prof. Daniel McQuade, every piece of information was stored inside my brain and I will always remember to keep myself relevant in this world”.
Dinakaran G, Indus International School, Bengaluru, India
“Romikka enjoyed the course and Craig training approach. Hope to see you again Thanks & Regards Dinakaran G, Father of Romikka Dinakaran, Grade Class 10”.
Bani Kohli, American Embassy School, New Delhi, India
“I expected to develop a plan for my venture, learn more about pricing and market policies, and get exposed to some of the problems real-world entrepreneurs face. My expectations have been met. I learnt a lot in these 5 days.” Bani Kohli , Class 10”.
Aditya Jain, The British school, New Delhi, India
“It was great. They provided us with useful input for carrying forward our venture ideas. They were all friendly and extremely approachable. They were so enthusiastic that they would come around and ask us if we had any questions, instead of us approaching them.” Aditya Jain , Class 11”.
Rishab Soni, Step by Step School, Noida, India
“It was a great exposure for the kids and they really enjoyed participating in it. Look forward to more such exciting programs going forward- Rishab Soni -(Father of Himmaj Soni , Class 9”.
Mr. Namboothiri, Hyderabad, India
“Let me thank the entire team for organizing such a wonderful course which definitely has a great impact on the life of the participating students. The course content was really superb and I felt my son finished an MBA course in just five days”.
Chaitya Jain, JBCN School, Mumbai, India
“My Personal Reaction to this program experience is: I really liked the program and I think everyone should do this not even once but a multiple times as every time you will have a new venture idea and you will be clear about it. It is really helpful and informative which really impresses me”.
Jyotsna Sharma, New Delhi, India
“Ranvir had a great time and enjoyed every day of the class. Thanks for organizing such a great program at AES”.
Mr. Anik Sahani, Surat, India
“My heartiest congratulations to the entire team for giving such a wonderful opportunity to both my daughters, Navya & Dhwanikta”.
Heiyya Kapoor, TSRS, New Delhi, India
“The program worked really well for me and I really never imagined we would be successful in making a product so effortlessly”.
Sreedharan Namboothiri, Oakridge International School, Hyderabad, India
“Let me thank the entire team for organising such wonderful course which definitely has a great impact on the life of the participating students. The course content was really superb and I felt my son finished an MBA course in just five days”.
Ananya Malhotra, Vasant Valley School, New Delhi, India
“Prof. Dan’s teaching is so effective, it added so much value to my venture idea and I learnt to co-ordinate well with my team”.
Saatvik Garg, Modern School, Barakhmaba Road, New Delhi, India
“I learnt basic knowledge of business and how to focus on the product and customer satisfaction”.
Pradyum Aggarwal, Pathways, Noida, India
“The program taught me about venture creation and I know it will help me a lot in the near future”.
Aarya Bhatia, TSRS Aravali, New Delhi, India
“Thanks to Prof. Dan,I got to explore my creativity and I could design my own website”.
Samarth Agarwal, Modern School, Vasant Vihar, New Delhi, India
“Prof. Dan is very versatile and teaches the program based on his own experiences”.
Mannan Singh, TSRS, Aravali, Gurgaon, India
“Prof. Dan breaks down the abstract topics in terms which are more understandable and one enjoys the class”.
Bhavya Goel, TSRS, Moulsari, Gurgaon, India
“It is a mini MBA course that offers so much from basic knowledge of business to implementation”.
Armaan Aggarwal, Modern School Barakhamba Road, New Delhi, India
“I learnt to turn my business module into a venture idea with the guidance of Prof. Dan”.
Alina Hamirani , JBCN School, Mumbai, India
“It was a challenging program. However, it improved my knowledge and skills”.
Iashaan Mohan Puri, Vasant Valley School, New Delhi, India
“Prof.Dan is very cool and brings a lot of energy into the class. We were very comfortable all five days and learnt so much”.
Siddarth Venkatesh, Hyderabad, India
“The program was excellent and I had a wonderful time with both, the professor and the friends I just acquired”.
Nishant Rajkumar, Hyderabad, India
“I believe this program was very useful to me, and I got exactly the learning I expected”.
Shivika Khanna, Modern School, BK, New Delhi, India
“I am immensely grateful to you for having sent me a letter of recommendation from your esteemed institution which I received last week. I’m sorry that I could not thank you earlier as I was a bit unwell. This letter greatly encourages me to work harder and I’m sure it will be of great help while applying for my under- graduation program in the USA. I once again thank you for the wonderful experience of attending the program conducted by Dan and look forward to more such programs with Columbia Business School in the near future”.
Charu Munjal, The Shri Ram School, Gurgaon, India
“It was truly a great experience for my son to be a part of this course. He enjoyed working on his project and also working in team was a lot of learning. Dr. Jack was very friendly and he taught in a very grasping manner. It was easy to understand and there was clarity of the subject being taught. The tremendous support extended by your team is commendable. Look forward to such programs”.
Sanjiv Kaura, Vasant Valley School, New Delhi, India
“Wonderful 5 Days…Lakshya enjoyed comprehensively, many congratulations to all!!! Sanjiv Kaura (Father of Lakshya Kaura”.
Jash Bhagatji, JBCN School, Mumbai, India
“I learned a lot of new things which would further help me in Business Management, and different business tools and strategies”.
Suhani Mehta, JBCN School, Mumbai, India
“I am extremely lucky to have been given this opportunity to learn about the reality of the business world and how many steps a company has to go through in order to launch a product. This entire experience was absolutely one of a kind and I enjoyed it thoroughly!”.
Ishaan Kulkarni, JBCN School, Mumbai, India
“My Personal Reaction to this program experience is very informative and practical”.