06 December 2010

MIT Founder's Journey ~ Engineers Grok Startups

Good session as the finale of MIT Founder's Journey co-taught by Ken Zolot and Hemant Teneja from General Catalyst (with spiritual guidance from Professor Hal Abelson) and great TA's. Panel discussion with Katie Rae from TechStars, Bob Buderi from Xconomy, Bob Metcalfe from Polaris & of 3Com fame, Tim Rowe from CIC & Venture Cafe, Scott Kirsner from the Globe and moderated by Hemant. Special guests in the house include Sherwin Greenblatt from VMS & of Bose fame, David Duehren from VMS & Brooktrout, Akil Nigam from MassChallenge, Adam Goldstein from Hipmunk (alum from last year's Journey), Jason Evanish from Greenhorn Connect, Joe Laurendi from the Web Programming Competition over January, Rob Goldberg from Knowhi, Michael Byrne from the Hauser Center for Non-Profits, Neha Narua from Startups @ CSAIL, Stuart Levinson from "stealth startup", Bill Warner from Warner Research & of AVID fame, and more, including and dropout Greg Brockman;-) To quote from the Journey class website...
"If you want to start a company, The Founder's Journey will give you the chance to live the steps to bring that passion to fruition, with substantial exposure to mentors and leaders from the business community. You’ll learn by doing. We’ll have guest speakers who have travelled this path, successfully and unsuccessfully. This is about grasping the essence of the journey you’re about to undertake. Even if you’re not ready for a startup, this class provides an exploration of leadership, innovation, and creativity as seen through the lens of a startup founder. We’ll gain a broader insight into turning any novel vision into action."
Interesting panel discussion and student "Flash Pitches", including...
  • PreOccupation -- Personal assessment tools;
  • Train Together -- Support solutions for beginner athletes;
  • rmnd.us -- Helping us remember things we need to-do;
  • UAV -- Robo-aircraft for civilian uses;
  • Project Build -- Chinese employment support network;
  • PudgePal -- Weightloss progress tracker;
  • Wake Me Up -- Alarm clock which aggressively wakes you;
  • Comi -- Restaurant menu advice;
  • ADDvertise -- Adaptive, appealing, timely advertisements;
  • Green Blocks -- Waste-reducing DIY vertical gardens;
  • Food Dude -- Smartphone pantry & shopping planner;
  • Car Knowledge -- Automotive diagnostics & advisory services;
  • Make a Date -- Facebook-stalk accelerator;
  • Agile Funds -- Mutual funds advisory services;
  • Live Vote -- Fast reliable polling service.
Great stuff!

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