Duke Entrepreneurship Education Series
Sponsored by Graduate Student Affairs
"Hear the story of Will Pearson '01, co-founder of mental_floss magazine & hear from Coach David Cutcliffe on the ways he has changed football at Duke"
Thursday, November 20
5:00PM-9:00PM
Fuqua School of Business

Hear the story of how Will Pearson, Trinity '01 and Mangesh Hattikudur, Trinity '01 co-founded mental_floss magazine as seniors at Duke. On a mission to "blur the lines between education and entertainment," the pair have grown mental_floss into a multi-million dollar company, publishing 7 bestselling books, a board game, Law School in a Box, Med School in a Box and a popular website, mentalfloss.com.

And hear from Coach David Cutcliffe on the ways he has changed football at Duke.

5:00-5:30 Registration and Networking
5:30-6:30 Will Pearson's talk about mental_floss magazine
6:30-7:15 Coach Cutcliffe's talk about Duke Football
7:15-9:00 Networking

Register here

 

About William E. Pearson 

El Presidente, mental_floss magazine 

Will is the obsessive compulsive oddball that every staff must have (at least he likes to think so). For as long as he can remember, Will has eaten M&Ms two at a time, always the same color, one on each side of the mouth. "It makes both sides of the mouth equally happy," he says. When he was twelve years old, Will began making lists of everything on his mind. World capitals, incredible works of art, great moments in sports history, left-handed Hollywood stars with tall pets ... you name it, he's got the list. But don't let his membership in the obsessive compulsive club fool you. Although he prefers to live by the rules, as most with OCD do, he's not afraid to make new rules when he's tired of the old ones (which is why we have mental_floss). Will co-founded mental_floss with Mangesh Hattikudur while both were still students at Duke.

About mental_floss magazine 

For the record: mental_floss magazine is an intelligent read, but not too intelligent. We're the sort of intelligent that you hang out with for a while, enjoy our company, laugh a little, smile a lot and then we part ways. Great times. And you only realize how much you learned from us after a little while. Like a couple days later when you're impressing your friends with all these intriguing facts and things you picked up from us, and they ask you how you know so much, and you think back on that great afternoon you spent with us and you smile. 

And then you lie and say you read a lot.

About Coach David Cutcliffe

Head Coach, Duke Football

David Cutcliffe, who led Ole Miss to four bowl games in six seasons and mentored Super bowl MVP quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning, was named Duke University’s 21st head football coach on December 15, 2007.

Cutcliffe, born September 16, 1954, came to Duke after serving the previous two seasons as assistant head coach and offensive coordinator at the University of Tennessee. His head coaching experience includes a six-year stint at the University of Mississippi from 1999-2004 where he compiled a 44-29 (.603) ledger with five winning seasons, five bowl game appearances and a share of the SEC Western Division championship in 2003. Cutcliffe was named the SEC Coach of the Year in 2003 after leading the Rebels to a 10-3 record including a 31-28 victory over Oklahoma State in the Cotton Bowl.

Cutcliffe has participated in 22 bowl games including the 1982 Peach, 1983 Florida Citrus, 1984 Sun, 1986 Sugar, 1986 Liberty, 1988 Peach, 1990 Cotton, 1991 Sugar, 1992 Fiesta, 1993 Hall of Fame, 1994 Florida Citrus, 1994 Gator, 1996 Florida Citrus, 1997 Florida Citrus, 1998 Orange, 1998 Independence, 1999 Independence, 2000 Music City, 2002 Independence, 2004 Cotton, 2007 Outback and 2008 Outback. He owns a 4-1 (.800) record as a head coach in bowl tilts with victories over Oklahoma, Nebraska, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech.

About the Duke Entrepreneurship Education Series

The Duke Entrepreneurship Education Series (DEES) is a comprehensive program designed to introduce all Duke students – from both graduate and undergraduate schools – to the key concepts necessary for a future in entrepreneurship or venture capital.

The inaugural series will take place from September 2008 to January 2009, consisting of twelve events. The majority of events will be front-loaded into September and October, with the express purpose of giving students a stronger foundation to participate in a variety of entrepreneurial activities in the Duke community, such as the Duke Startup Challenge, the Duke Entrepreneur, Markets and Management, EVCC, VCIC, Venture Fellows, and more. It will also better prepare students for networking and building key relationships more quickly in their careers.

The series intends to connect students from all parts of the Duke community, including the business, law, engineering, and bio-science fields, with the goal of increasing the likelihood that exciting developments in the lab will find the key collaborators needed to translate innovations into full-fledged companies.e

Learn more about the Duke Entrepreneurship Education Series

Register here