Stephen Blum

Are you familiar with #SkipGenerationEntrepreneurship? It involves #FamilyBusiness partnerships between grandparents and grandchildren, and it’s becoming increasingly popular. Lauri Union, founding executive director of the Bertarelli Institute for Family Entrepreneurship at Babson College, says if you’re looking to make one of these partnerships work, it’s critical to: - Be curious  - Take a delight in learning  - Share your future vision More advice from Union in Next Avenue: https://lnkd.in/eB5ApsHq  #FamilyEntrepreneurship 

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Massachusetts is charting a thoughtful path forward with its newly unveiled strategy for artificial intelligence in K–12 schools. As reported by Government Technology, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has released a multiyear roadmap to integrate AI into classrooms. This includes developing educator training, creating centralized guidance on safe and effective AI tools, and embedding AI literacy into the curriculum over the next two years. What stands out is the intentionality behind this plan. Rather than rushing to retrofit generalized tools, Massachusetts is focusing on building a strong foundation—ensuring that educators are well equipped, students are protected, and equity remains central. At Imagine Learning, we share this commitment to enhancing learning experiences in a responsible, student-centered way. Our Curriculum-Informed AI philosophy is designed to support teachers, not replace them. It’s encouraging to see state leaders taking steps to prepare students for an AI-enabled future with care and foresight. https://lnkd.in/gwPQyfhi #AIinEducation #K12Education #Massachusetts #ImagineLearning

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For more than 25 years, Babson’s Diana International Research Institute, co-founded by Professor Candida Brush P’14, has been the central place for all aspects of #WomensEntrepreneurship. Its newest faculty director, Professor Diana Hechavarria, has made it her goal to continue the institute’s legacy. Read the Q&A with Hechavarria, where she discusses what drew her to Babson, emerging insights on women’s entrepreneurship, and much more: https://lnkd.in/e6vZ4sAw Frank & Eileen™ Center for Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership

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The Private Company Strategic Alternatives Symposium co-produced by Private Directors Association®- New England and Rose & Company at Babson College (The C. Dean Metropoulos Institute for Technology and Entrepreneurship / Stephen D. Cutler Center for Investments and Finance) brought together a powerhouse mix of advisors, investors, and operators to explore one pressing question: What’s the smartest path forward in today’s capital markets? Here are a few of the top insights that stuck with me: 🔁 M&A vs. IPO? It’s not either/or. Dual-track is alive and well. As companies seek to maximize value, they’re weighing IPO readiness and M&A interest in tandem. Especially in biotech and healthcare, flexibility is power. 📈 IPOs are back... slowly. JP Morgan noted a cautiously optimistic tone: expectations for a $50B IPO year have tapered to $30–40B amid continued macro uncertainty (tariffs, rates, geopolitics). But positive signals in May and June are helping to rebuild momentum—and investor confidence. 💡 Capital is more creative than ever. The line between equity and debt is blurring. There’s a spectrum of capital alternatives—from structured private placements to employee liquidity tenders—that didn’t exist just a few years ago. Private markets are no longer "junior varsity." 🧭 Being prepared = optionality. From IPOs to M&A, readiness is everything. Build audit committees, engage IR early, and think beyond the S-1. If your comms, legal, and finance teams aren’t aligned—your valuation will pay for it. 🧠 Valuation is a time series, not a moment. Smart companies are proactively educating investors years in advance of a public debut. This allows them to shape both the narrative and the business to meet the moment—and the market. 💬 Liquidity means different things now. Nasdaq Private Markets highlighted a growing trend: companies staying private longer, using tender offers as HR benefits, and questioning the need to go public at all. Still, when liquidity is the goal, nothing beats being ready when the window opens. 🎯 Investor readiness = operational maturity. Today’s investors are laser-focused on profitable growth, scalability, and the strength of the management team. They want to see that the CFO has weathered a few storms—and that the team is built for what comes next. The capital markets aren’t closed—they’re just more nuanced, more selective, and more demanding. But for companies who embrace this complexity, the path forward is extremely exciting. Massive thanks to our brilliant speakers from Babson College, EY, Jones Day, J.P. Morgan, Nasdaq, Nasdaq Private Market, Kirkland & Ellis, and Winston & Strawn LLP. Let’s keep the conversation going. Personally, I enjoyed working alongside Karen Snow and many who made this day a reality, moderating the M&A panel, and sponsoring via StephenUncorked, also curating the wine selection! #StrategicAlternatives #IPO #PrivateMarkets #MergersAndAcquisitions #Governance #StephenUncorked #PDA

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For decades, “college-ready” math has meant calculus. A new study from The Thomas B. Fordham Institute shows what many educators have long believed: one path doesn’t serve all students. For some students, calculus is the right choice. For others, statistics or data science can be just as rigorous and more relevant. Math should expand choices. That starts early—when kids build confidence, curiosity, and problem-solving skills in elementary and middle school. At Illustrative Mathematics, we’re designing those early learning experiences that nurture curiosity and problem-solving skills, which strengthens students’ math identities—so they see themselves as capable mathematicians and statisticians and are successful in whatever pathway they choose. Thank you to Matt Giani, Franchesca Maria Lyra, and Adam Tyner for elevating this important question and helping to broaden the conversation about what math success can—and should—look like. Read the study: https://lnkd.in/gm_DNgpG

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Academic research has a lot to offer in practice, but the biggest challenge is that academia and business often operate with two different incentive systems that aren’t aligned in timescale or rigor. Is the solution simply translating research into practice? Sebastian Fixson, Faculty Director of Babson's DBA Program, thinks differently: "It's not translation we have to aim for, but integration. We have to design research where we involve the practice perspective from the start, all the way through to the end. That way, the relevance of the problem that the research addresses is maintained, and the implementation is not guaranteed, but has a much higher probability to actually occur." In his appearance on DBA Chronicles, Professor Fixson elaborates on how Babson’s DBA Program was developed to sit at the intersection of applied research competence, entrepreneurial leadership, and learning facilitation. Give it a listen: https://lnkd.in/eR5zsgdq

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Lowenstein’s Ed Zimmerman, Chair and Co-Founder of the firm’s Emerging Companies & Venture Capital group and Adjunct Professor of Venture Capital at Columbia Business School, will speak at CFA Society New York on navigating capital-raising challenges for emerging fund managers. Ed co-founded First Close Partners, which actively invests as an LP in venture capital funds. For more information, please visit: https://bit.ly/4mNf1U1 Read Ed's bio: https://bit.ly/466x6VW #venturecapital #fundraising #privateequity #startups #techcompanies

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I had the pleasure of attending the NACD New England Chapter event on September 17 in Boston, “Leading Minds of Governance & Tech” for Board members. A big thank you to Ellen Richstone and the organizers for putting together such an insightful event. The CEO panel featured incredible perspectives from CEOs like Tamara Lundgren from Radius Recycling, Sean Keohane from Cabot Corporation, Greg Smith from Teradyne, and Gary Cohen from iRobot. The discussions were rich and thought-provoking. Corporations must be nimble and think long term but be prepared to react promptly in a high frequency environment. Routine jobs are at risk. People are excited about Ai to replace someone else’s job.  Discussion of "New Collar jobs". As manufacturing jobs try to make a comeback in the US, many of them are going to be New Collar Jobs instead of the traditional blue-collar jobs. US companies will have to be competitive with their cost structure, so the New Collar Jobs will be created in reimagined manufacturing settings.  New-collar jobs will require advanced technical and soft skills for emerging tech fields like AI, cloud computing, and data science, but do not always necessitate a four-year degree. These roles combine the hands-on approach of blue-collar work with the higher earning potential and stability of white-collar jobs, emphasizing practical training, apprenticeships, certifications, and continuous upskilling rather than traditional degrees. The concept of new collar jobs, mentioned by the panel, was coined by former IBM CEO Ginni Rometty, based on the rise of new technologies like AI, cloud computing, and data science, which create jobs demanding different skill sets.  There was another great panel discussion moderated by Ellen Richstone on the Governance Expert Panel consisting of Robyn Bew  Richard J. Bannister, Jr. Elyssa (Emsellem) Kutner and Matt Talcoff  Key takeaways from the panel – is your company ready for new international trade; Boards need to be agile to manage the human capital and technology tradeoff. Boards should be prepared to consider more scenarios (short and longer term) to manage their risks. Many institutional investors are getting quiet about what they expect from companies especially in the context of ESG. The 2026 proxy season will be quite different  Also a great discussion between Rich Lesser from Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Richard Fields from Russell Reynolds Associates. Boards should be factoring Ai, geopolitics and resilience in their discussions.  The world is evolving from “Just in Time” to “Just in Case” Four steps for resilience: prepare, absorb, adapt and reimagine.  Deborah Rosenthal Larissa Ravetto Jim Dodge Sharon Rossi Bryan McCorry Ozge Kurtoglu  #Governance #TechLeadership #NewCollarJobs #AI #BoardMembers #CorporateAgility #ESG #Resilience #ContinuousLearning https://lnkd.in/eQhYT6vd

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