As part of Columbia College’s Fishman Center for Entrepreneurship, a day all about start-ups and entrepreneurship was held. It started off with a student pitch competition in the Brouder Science Center and ended with a panel event of real entrepreneur experts in Launer Auditorium.

The entrepreneur community heavily uses social media – what better way to brand yourself and your business? So, Twitter was the go-to place for live-tweets of the event as well as a way for online viewers to ask their questions. Here’s a compilation of the events that day, as well as some of the best information & comments from Monica Mehta, Jonah Lupton and Monika Rydzewski, who met with students that morning.

 

The day started with students competing for a $5,000 award from Steve Fishman, trustee of the college, to help them fund their business ideas. Six students pitched ideas, and Meg Goddard won with her business plan, Fresh Start, which would help international students easily transition to living in the United States. Here’s a look at the pitches:

After the pitch competition, everyone headed over to Launer Auditorium to hear from the three expert panelists. Mehta, Lupton and Rydzewski answered questions from the live audience as well as online viewers, who asked questions via Twitter. Here’s some of their best stories and advice: