To give the Cornell community an opportunity to hear from a wide range of entrepreneurs and venture capitalists from around the world, the Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Club, a student-run organization, is sponsoring the Entrepreneurship Symposium Feb. 16 at Cornell's Johnson Graduate School of Management.

About a dozen speakers, including successful entrepreneurs, young Cornellians running their first start-up companies, venture capitalists, intellectual property lawyers and business incubation specialists will be on hand from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. to discuss pressing issues central to the development of high-growth ventures. Teo Dagi of Cordova Ventures will discuss the state of the industry and an optimal market structure. Howard Lee of Crystal Internet Ventures will discuss the continued dominant role of the Internet in the market for start-up ventures.

Panel discussions will focus on three topics:

• "How Venture Capital Fuels and Shapes the Economy";
• "The New Venture Process: From Idea to IPO" [initial public offering]; and
• "Visions of Our Techno-Economic Future."

"Our primary objectives for the symposium are to inform the Cornell community about entrepreneurial and venture capital--related issues and to raise awareness within the venture capital community about Cornell ventures and initiatives," says Brian Silver, a first-year MBA student in the Johnson School and one of the symposium organizers. "We want to give Cornell students and faculty the opportunity to discuss the most relevant topics in our industry with industry practitioners. These include the state of the market for IPOs in the wake of the bottom falling out of the Nasdaq, how to nurture a business idea into a publicly traded company and the future of the startup community."

The symposium is open to the Cornell community and the general public. Tickets are $10 and may be obtained on the web at Johnson School Outfitters , a student-run venture funding Johnson School student initiatives. All ticket sales will be on-line.