(+1) Sterling Proffer joins our Entrepreneurs in Residence

The Brown Institute has recruited an impressive list of Entrepreneurs in Residence including Diane Chang, Ethar El-Katatney, Jennifer 8. Lee and Shazna Nessa. To the ranks we are pleased to add Sterling Proffer.

Sterling is a business strategist and entrepreneur focused on designing and building sustainable systems to support creative work. He recently founded CEOS, a company he says does two things: 1) it works with ambitious people at growing companies who want to win the hearts and minds of creators, and 2) it’s building the missing manual for navigating the business of creativity, The Creative Industry Database. The Database is the guide Sterling said he wishes he had — it’s designed for creators, executives, and entrepreneurs looking to make business decisions with greater speed and confidence. Previously, Sterling spent a decade at VICE where he helped launch several media properties including its technology vertical, Motherboard; and built out the group’s business structure — establishing departments for Growth, Business Strategy, Strategic Partnerships, Data & Analytics.

Sterling joins a group of professionals having significant experience with media startups, and impressive journalism credentials. Their full bios and calendars are available on our website — feel free to schedule an appointment and talk to them about your venture ideas!

Diane Chang is a journalist-turned-product manager with a decade of experience building products that empower people, media businesses, and social platforms to be active and sustainable participants in strengthening our civic fabric.
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Ethar El-Katatney is a digital newsroom manager and strategist with over fifteen years of international journalism experience working on news, features and investigative stories in multiple mediums on multiple platforms. She is currently the Audience & News Product Strategy Lead for the Americas at Bloomberg.
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Jennifer 8. Lee is an entrepreneur, documentary producer, journalist, seed investor and emoji activist. She has been a reporter for the New York Times. She has co-led an Angel List seed investment fund for Y Combinator. And she was a 2018 Fast Company Most Creative Person in Business.
To Book Office Hours send email to browninstitute@columbia.edu

Shazna Nessa has a storied history of working across technology, design and journalism in both for-profit and nonprofit organizations. She has most recently been a masthead editor at The Wall Street Journal, where she was responsible for unique digital experiences and the visual journalism produced by the publication.
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Sterling Proffer is a business strategist and entrepreneur focused on designing and building sustainable systems to support creative work. He spent a decade at VICE where he launched its technology vertical, Motherboard.
To Book Office Hours send email to browninstitute@columbia.edu