What: "How I started a life sciences company at Duke" - T

he Story of GrassRoots Biotechnology

and a Duke Start-Up Challenge Information Session

When: Thursday, September 9th, from 7:00pm-8:00pm

7:00-7:10pm - Duke Start-Up Challenge Information Session

7:10pm-8:00pm – The Story of GrassRoots Biotechnology

Where: Fuqua School of Business, McClendon Auditorium

Who for: Open to any Duke University student

About GrassRoots Biotechnology

GrassRoots' mission is to employ cutting-edge expertise in agricultural biotechnology to create better biofuel, food and industrial crops. GrassRoots is an agricultural biotechnology company that utilizes a Systems Biology approach to develop novel and valuable crop lines for the biofuel, food and industrial markets. The company, formed in 2007, intends to commercialize innovations and expertise developed by Dr. Philip Benfey at Duke University. Dr. Benfey is one of the world leaders in the fields of genomics and development. His research in the areas of plant genomics and plant root development form the core of our technologies, which will provide a competitive advantage in bringing new products to the agricultural markets.

About Douglas Eisner, JD, MBA 

Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer 

Doug is an attorney and has been involved in a number of technology ventures. He worked as a consultant providing advice in marketing and business strategy to local technology startups Zycare and Bruce Technologies through the Small Business and Technology Development Center (all Chapel Hill, NC). He began his career as a prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office (New York, NY) and subsequently practiced civil litigation in New York City where he gained expertise in the areas of contracts, corporate law, and intellectual property. He was also Vice President and General Counsel at an Internet startup RiskContinuum (New York, NY). Doug received his BA from Brown University (Providence, RI), JD from Boston University (Boston, MA), and MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University (Durham, NC).

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Visit our website at http://www.dukedees.com/ to check for the latest schedule and for more information. All events subject to change.

Sponsors and Supporters

Hughes Pittman & Gupton

Hutchison Law Group

iContact

Intersouth Partners

Intuit

IDEA Fund Partners

Palo Alto Software

Smith Anderson

Square 1 Bank

Wyrick Robbins

To see the 2010-2011 schedule, go to http://www.entrepreneurshipatduke.com/schedule/2010-2011

To review past presentations, go to http://www.dukedees.com/session-downloads

Questions? Contact the event manager, Troy Ferrell, troy.ferrell@duke.edu