Adnan Durrani to Speak At Debut of TEDx at Columbia University
Stamford, Connecticut, USA – April 6, 2011 – Drawing on his own insights from recently launching a successful new, premium food brand, Saffron Road™, Adnan Durrani will address the building of a successful consumer brand while driving socially responsible innovation, at upcoming debut of TEDx event at Columbia University’s School of Engineering on April 8th.
Specifically, the Columbia Engineering School is bringing TEDx to Columbia with the theme of Invention to Venture and Adnan’s talk is titled “Socially Responsible Entrepreneurism - An Idea Worth Spreading.” TED began in 1984 as a conference devoted to the converging fields of Technology, Entertainment and Design (hence its name). Over the years, the scope has broadened and the ambition level constantly raised. TED now seeks to bring together the world's leading thinkers and doers, no matter what field of endeavor they are working in since all knowledge is connected and TED has become the place where you can discover leading edge thinking in numerous fields. For many attendees, the result is: delicious, unexpected connections; extraordinary insights; powerful inspiration. Past speakers and performers have included have included Nobel laureate Al Gore, architect Frank Gehry, primatologist Jane Goodall, musician Paul Simon, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Genomics pioneer Craig Venter, Tipping Point author Malcolm Gladwell, cellist YoYo Ma, Segway inventor Dean Kamen, Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, former president Bill Clinton, leadership coach Tony Robbins, and now our very own Adnan Durrani. TED is about much more than famous names. It is about passion, laughter, beauty, ingenuity and ideas capable of changing the world. Our presenters may run the world’s most admired companies or design its best-loved products; they invent world-changing devices, and create ground-breaking media. They’re trusted voices and convention-breaking mavericks, icons and geniuses.
Mr. Durrani commented by saying, “It’s a great privilege to be included as one of the speakers at Columbia Engineering’s first ever TEDx event. A number of TED speakers have given me inspiration and I hope I can similarly inspire Columbia’s students, faculty, and alumnae to be change agents for improving the human condition through engaging in socially responsible entrepreneurism.”
Mr. Durrani has been a serial entrepreneur and investment professional for over 26 years, and is President of Condor Ventures, Inc., a venture firm devoted to strategic investing in natural food companies as well as CEO of American Halal / Saffron Road. His entrepreneurial ventures have resulted in a successful track record of scaling and growing niche beverage and natural food brands into mainstream companies, using guerilla-tactical marketing strategies. He currently is also Chairman of Columbia’s Entrepreneurial Advisory Board.
