Stanford University, Venture Capital, Students Startups

Special Report: At Stanford, venture capital reaches into the dorm| Reuters: "... At Stanford now, venture capitalists are teaching, investing in students’ startups, volunteering as mentors, occasionally even visiting the dorms. Professor-turned-VC Balaji Srinivasan visited Griffin House last autumn, shortly before he joined top venture firm Andreessen Horowitz. He was invited to discuss the emerging currency bitcoin. The dedication can come with a price. Last year social gatherings at the suite, Griffin 304, were rare. A small fridge held mostly soda, not beer. For most of the academic year, Barber was the only roommate with a regular girlfriend. One of his roommates, Jesse Leimgruber, complained that girls drain hours in the late evening, “the most productive time for a startup.” For VCs, the attraction of academia is simple: Some of the hottest tech start-ups are founded by college kids. Student-run firms that met venture capital backers at Stanford include Snapchat, the photo-sharing service. Chief executive Evan Spiegel dropped out two years ago to work on the venture. His first VC backer, Jeremy Liew, is a Stanford alumnus...."

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Vivek Wadhwa No Longer Advises Startups to Hire MBAs

Vivek Wadhwa: Why I No Longer Advise Startups to Hire M.B.A.s - The Accelerators - WSJ: " . . . Instead of M.B.A.s, what I advise students with technology backgrounds to complete are one-year long masters of engineering-management programs like the one at Duke University—where I teach. These teach management, marketing, law and accounting skills and skim over the intricacies of finance and investment banking. And they are half the price of an M.B.A. After all, the skills that startups care about aren’t how to conceive new types of financial products, but how to create technologies that actually do good for the world."


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