#7 - Phil Weiser, Dean of Univ of Colorado Law School. Teaching entrepreneurial mindset to everyone.

Hey Sue

Phil Weiser is the outgoing Dean of the University of Colorado Law School, and there are countless reasons why he deserves a place on a podcast about early and mid-stage growth companies. Phil has created a climate at CU Law that essentially renders "town" and "gown" completely indistinguishable. He has brought together the entrepreneurial leaders, venture capitalists, large companies, government officials, and key service providers in the burgeoning business ecosystem of Boulder and made them an intimate part of the educational experience at CU Law. Why are these busy people so attracted to Phil's mission? Because Phil talks the talk and walks the walk of instilling an entrepreneurial mindset in the law students (and students from other parts of the university) he works with. Phil is a genius networker, and if he doesn't readily have a way to inject an influential leader into the law school, he creates one. In this podcast, Phil shares his guiding principle for his work -- that everything he does and has done in his career is an experiment. Phil is a "Lean Startup." Phil also discusses the ways that under his leadership -- and with the partnership of so many others -- CU Law has grown against the downward trend in law school applications nationwide since the mid-2000s recession. His views on reinventing the historical "normal" path for law school education are instructive for all educators and business leaders who care about developing nimble, self-aware young people who are capable of innovation in themselves and in the projects they elect to pursue in their lives.