Tattered Cover is the largest independent bookstore in Colorado with 5 locations in and around Denver. Since its founding in 1971, Tattered Cover has been bringing people and books together for over 50 years. 

The panel will cover topics including: 

• What inspired these Denver natives, and rival high school debaters, to join forces to buy and revitalize this iconic Denver institution
  

• The challenges they have encountered, their lessons learned, and advice for other entrepreneurs 
  
  
• How they used their Harvard connections and network in the growth of their businesses

HAE Members $40 

Non-Members $50

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About Our Panelists

Kwame Spearman is a management, operations, and strategy professional focusing on brick and mortar businesses. Currently, he is Co-Owner and CEO of Tattered Cover. Earlier in his career, he worked as a Management Consultant at Bain & Company in Boston and New York City. Kwame is a graduate of Columbia University (with Honors), Yale University Law School, and Harvard Business School (2011). 

David Back had his first job as a cashier at Tattered Cover when he was 15 years old in 2000. In December 2020 he purchased Tattered Cover alongside high school friends Kwame Spearman (MBA ’11) and Alan Frosh. Previously, he co-founded the first car rental company in India to offer cars without a chauffeur, with investors that include former Harvard President and former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers. David has worked at Goldman Sachs, McKinsey & Co., the Kauffman Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute.

“Tattered Cover: Starting a New Chapter” is sponsored by CiviCo and Rallyday Partners.

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Paid Membership is open to Harvard alumni, faculty, and staff. Student Membership is open to current Harvard students only. Affiliate Membership is a non-Harvard membership open to qualified entrepreneurs and investors. 

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