CDL-Atlanta, in partnership with the Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business, launched the first session of its Commerce stream, bringing together a community of experienced mentors and scientists to help founders of massively scalable science-and tech-based companies move from the lab to the market.
The Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) is an international not-for-profit program that pairs founders with experienced entrepreneurs, cooperate executives, and investors to set focused, measurable objectives with the goal of maximizing equity-value creation. Founded in 2012 by Professor Ajay Agrawal of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, the program now operates in nine universities across four countries. CDL-Atlanta, located in the heart of the Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business, is the program’s newest location in North America.
Since its inception, companies that have participated in the CDL program have created more than $6 billion in equity value. The program combines four elements to help companies transition from science projects to scalable and financeable companies:
- Focused mentorship from experienced entrepreneurs who have founded, led, and sold significant tech companies
- Technical advice from world-leading scientists, engineers, and economists
- Hands-on support from top business students, who embed within the company to provide business support
- Opportunities to raise capital, including angels and VCs from Europe and North America
CDL Commerce focuses on technologies in which Georgia Tech and the Atlanta entrepreneurship ecosystem have particular depth, including retail tech and e-commerce, fintech, payments, logistics, and supply chain. “This focus has allowed us to gather together a superb set of mentors, not only from Atlanta but also from across the nation,” said Alex Oettl, associate professor, Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business and CDL-Atlanta co-site lead. “It was exciting to witness them in action as they met with and advised our cohort of founders. The depth and breadth of experience and entrepreneurial judgment is, I think, without parallel.”
Peter Thompson, professor, Scheller College and CDL-Atlanta co-site lead, adds, “It has been a challenging year to launch a new program of this magnitude. We have been able to do so with support from our founding partner Sid Mookerji and from the CDL network itself, whose early commitment to the program has been essential in getting us to this stage. We are also grateful for the many faculty in Scheller College and across Georgia Tech who have given generously of their time and expertise.”
CDL Commerce’s one-day objective-setting sessions will be held every two months. But the founders are not left on their own to attain the objectives they have been set. They will receive ongoing advice from mentors as well as practical support from a large contingent of MBA and PhD students working under the direction of Jonathan Giuliano, professor of the practice at Scheller College and academic director of CDL-Atlanta.
Learn more about the Creative Destruction Lab and Commerce stream.
About the Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business
Innovation and technology are at the heart of the Scheller College of Business. Incorporating Georgia Tech’s preeminence in innovation and technology with Scheller College’s leading-edge advancements in business and commerce, Scheller employs these exceptional strengths to develop business leaders equipped to leverage technology and create value in any global business setting.
In addition to its globally-ranked Undergraduate, MBA, and PhD programs, Scheller’s portfolio also includes the Business Analytics Center, the Institute for Leadership and Entrepreneurship, the Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business, TI:GER (Technological Innovation: Generating Economic Results), the Center for International Business Education and Research, and the Steven A. Denning Technology and Management Program.
Learn more about the Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business.