ESF Night Series: Lessons in Leadership, Innovation, Technology & Entrepreneurship
About Event:
We are excited to welcome Tim Rowe, founder and CEO of the Cambridge Innovation Center (CIC) as our first guest speaker for the ESF night sessions in the new year. The ESF sessions brings together EMBA and Sloan Fellow alumni from MIT, Stanford and Harvard to network over sushi and is centered around the theme of innovation, technology, entrepreneurship and leadership. We look forward to seeing you there!
📅 Date: 02/04/2025
🕖 Agenda:
05:00 - 05:30 PM: Check In
05:30 - 06:15 PM: Fireside Chat & Q&A
06:15 - 07:00 PM: Networking
📍 Location: Cambridge Innovation Center, One Broadway, Kendall Square, 02142, MA
Venue: Venture Café (Level 5)
About Speaker:
Tim Rowe is the founder and CEO of CIC, a global leader in building and operating innovation campuses in the US, Europe, and Asia focused on supporting the growth of entrepreneurs, startups, and young companies. Since 1999, CIC has grown into a global company that manages more than 1.2 million SF of shared workspace, wet labs, and event space. That includes the largest commercial shared wet lab hub in the world, which is located at CIC in Philadelphia. Among the notable organizations that spent their early days at CIC are Google Android and HubSpot. During the pandemic, Rowe co-founded CIC Health, the largest COVID-19 testing and mass vaccination company in New England. Rowe currently serves as the chair of Venture Café Global Institute, was the founding chair of LabCentral, MassRobotics, and the MassMobility Hub, and also launched and served as the first president of the Kendall Square Association. Prior to founding CIC, Rowe served as a principal with Boston Consulting Group, co-founded New Atlantic Ventures, served as a technology strategy lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management, and was an analyst with the Mitsubishi Research Institute in Tokyo. He is an inaugural honoree in The Boston Globe's Tech Power Players 50 list (2022), the recipient of The Margaret Fuller House 2022 Lt. Kinney Award for Exceptional Community Service, a past Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year, and a Boston Business Journal 40 Under 40 honoree. He holds an MBA from MIT’s Sloan School of Management and a BA from Amherst College. Rowe speaks fluent English, Spanish, and Japanese, as well as basic Mandarin Chinese.
This session will be moderated by Orkhan Javadli. Orkhan is currently in the MIT Sloan Fellows Program, class of 2025. He has over 12 years of executive experience in investment attraction and operational turnaround across tech, telecom, logistics, and financial institutions. Prior to founding SMARTNATION and achieving a successful exit from a logistics company, he was Chief Commercial Officer at Aztelekom (> 2 mln clients), where he led teams across commerce, digital transformation, strategy and investments. He also has track experience in leading valuations, strategy optimizations, and forging public-private partnerships. During his time in Cambridge, Orkhan is expanding his expertise in venture capital and AI to foster technological innovation in marketing. Together with his co-founder Anni from Stanford, he is focused on scaling AI-powered venture to make influencer marketing accessible in 3 easy clicks, empowering businesses to connect with audiences effortlessly. Orkhan is fluent in English, Russian, Turkish and Azeri, plays basketball, and loves to travel.
Don’t miss out on this chance to connect, learn, and be inspired! We look forward to seeing you there!
Note: by invite only (Executive Programs MIT, Harvard, Stanford). A symbolic $10 registration fee confirms attendance. Sushi, drinks, and more are provided by organizers.