Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Business & Economy
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Business & Economy

Entrepreneurs Wiley Cerilli, Patrick Ambron to participate in Blackstone LaunchPad Grand Opening

Wednesday, April 13, 2016, By Pamela Whiteley McLaughlin
Share
entrepreneurship

Two high-profile entrepreneurs who attended the University will be featured guests at the grand opening of the Blackstone LaunchPad at Syracuse University on April 19.  The 1 p.m. event at Bird Library includes a formal ceremony, ribbon cutting, reception and student venture demos.

As part of the LaunchPad kick-off, Wiley Cerilli, co-CEO and founder of Good Uncle, and Patrick Ambron ’09, co-founder and CEO of BrandYourself, will join Interim Vice Chancellor and Provost Liz Liddy in awarding $60,000 in prizes to Syracuse University student winners of the CompeteCNY business plan competition.

More than three dozen Syracuse University student ventures are pitching their business concepts at the LaunchPad on April 14 at the regional qualifier for the New York State Business Plan Competition, considered the country’s premier collegiate contest. Teams are competing in: Information Technology/Software; Energy/Sustainability; Products/Services; and Social Entrepreneurship/Nonprofit Ventures.

Cerilli and Ambron will recognize student teams advancing to the New York State finals and award $60,000 in CompeteCNY prizes to Syracuse University student ventures to help take their innovations to the next stage.  The statewide competition, hosted by Syracuse University, SUNY Polytechnic Institute and University at Albany’s School of Business, will be held April 29 in Albany, with a $100,000 grand prize.

The CompeteCNY awards are part of student demos following the LaunchPad opening ceremony and ribbon cutting. Cerilli and Ambron will be on hand to meet, mingle and host an intimate, informal conversation in the LaunchPad with student entrepreneurs on lessons learned as they started and scaled their successful businesses.

Wiley Cerilli

Wiley Cerilli

Cerilli, who attended the iSchool, founded SinglePlatform in 2010, raising $4.5 million in two rounds, then selling the two-year old start-up to Constant Contact for $100 million. Following the sale, he became vice president at Constant Contact, then venture partner for First Round Capital in New York, and was named a “Top 25 CEO” in New York and “Top 10 People to Watch” by Crain’s.

He recently co-founded Good Uncle, which raised $2.2 million from institutional investors including First Round, Box Group and tech law firm Gunderson Dettmer. The new venture is a food delivery service featuring items from the world’s most iconic restaurants and chefs, ordered through an immersive, content-rich mobile app.  It builds on his experience as an early employee at Seamless, a food-ordering site created by Jason Finger.  As one of the original employees, Cerilli spent 10 years at Seamless, helping it become one of fastest growing companies in the country before being acquired by ARAMARK.

Patrick Ambron

Patrick Ambron

Ambron ’09, a dual major in advertising (Newhouse School) and psychology (College of Arts and Sciences), co-founded BrandYourself with a team of Syracuse University students and went on to become a nationally recognized expert in online reputation management and search engine optimization. He was honored by the White House as one of Empact’s 100 Top CEOs under 30, named Young Entrepreneur of the Year by the SBA and selected as Inc. Magazine’s Top 35 Entrepreneurs Under 35. Entrepreneur Magazine picked BrandYourself as a Top 5 Collegiate Startup, PCWorld named the company a Top 5 Hottest Web Apps at SXSW and the company won the SXSW Accelerator Competition as Best Bootstrapped Startup.

Most recently, Ambron represented BrandYourself on ABC’s Shark Tank, where he walked away from a $2 million offer, one of the highest in the show’s history. He has led BrandYourself to raise several rounds of venture capital and grown it from a student start-up to more than 75 full-time employees. His ideas have been featured on ABC News, CBS News, Huffington Post, Fast Company, Mashable, TechCrunch, WSJ, the NY Times, US News & World Report and many others. He helped co-develop the new media curriculum at Syracuse University’s iSchool.

The Blackstone LaunchPad opening ceremony starts at 1 p.m. in the Peter Graham Scholarly Commons on the first floor of Bird Library. It will include remarks by: Syracuse University Chancellor Kent Syverud; David Seaman, University Librarian and Dean of Syracuse University Libraries; Liddy; Erik Lisher, managing director in Blackstone’s Investor Relations & Business Development Group and member of the Blackstone Charitable Foundation Board of Directors; Robert Simpson, president and CenterState CEO; Judy Mower, Syracuse University Trustee, chair of the Libraries Advisory Board; Erin Miller ’16, Out There Productions; and Linda Dickerson Hartsock, executive director, Blackstone LaunchPad at Syracuse University.

Following the 30-minute ceremony, guests are invited to stay for the ribbon cutting, reception and student venture demos in the LaunchPad from approximately 1:30-3 p.m., with the opportunity to meet and speak with Cerilli and Ambron.

RSVP’s are requested to assist with planning:  LaunchPad@syr.edu.

  • Author

Pamela Whiteley McLaughlin

  • Recent
  • Chancellor Syverud Addresses Athletics, Benefits, Sustainability at University Senate
    Wednesday, September 27, 2023, By News Staff
  • Setting the Agenda in Biology Research: 2 Professors Join NIH Peer Review Committees
    Wednesday, September 27, 2023, By News Staff
  • iSchool Student Selected for Highly Competitive Data Librarianship Internship
    Wednesday, September 27, 2023, By Anya Woods
  • Exploring the Existence of Life at 125 Degrees Fahrenheit
    Tuesday, September 26, 2023, By Dan Bernardi
  • How Climate Warming Could Disrupt a Deep-Rooted Relationship
    Tuesday, September 26, 2023, By Dan Bernardi

More In Business & Economy

Whitman School of Management Climbs in Bloomberg Businessweek Rankings

The Martin J. Whitman School of Management has again been listed among the best MBA programs for 2023-24 in the U.S. by Bloomberg Businessweek, improving its ranking by seven spots to No. 61 nationally, up from  No. 68 last year….

Falk College, UNLV to Launch Sports, Entertainment and Innovation Conference Next Summer

On July 14, University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) Sports Innovation and Syracuse University’s David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, in collaboration with the Las Vegas-based guest experience agency Circle, proudly announced the launch of a first-of-it-kind Sports,…

Syracuse University to Offer Google’s New Cybersecurity Certificate

Syracuse University’s College of Professional Studies today announced it will offer Google’s new Cybersecurity Certificate. The Google Career Certificates prepare learners for in-demand fields including cybersecurity, data analytics, IT support, project management and UX design—with no experience required. This offering…

Whitman School Announces Panasci Local Leadership Initiative

The Martin J. Whitman School of Management announces the creation of the Panasci Local Leadership Initiative, which will support professional connections and career building for students to remain in Central New York beyond graduation. This new initiative is made possible…

College of Professional Studies Faculty Member Co-Authors Project Management Textbook

Arthur Thomas, Ph.D., executive director for the Office of Professional Acceleration and Microcredentials in the College of Professional Studies, co-authored the textbook “Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) Exam Official Cert Guide Premium Edition and Practice Test” with Vijay Kanabar…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2023 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.