Cornell eLab Accelerator

Thank you to Sid Trivedi ’13, a partner at Foundation Capital, for meeting with our eLab students and sharing insights on venture capital. 🌟 Sid discussed Foundation Capital’s current investment focus on enterprise, fintech, and crypto. He encouraged an open dialogue, answering student questions and facilitating a dynamic conversation. He also highlighted how VC firms collaborate once they join a board, working together as a team. Sid also shared a story of a founder board disagreement at Netflix that ultimately led Roku to pursue its own independent venture! 🎥

Thank you to Katie Li ’21, a data associate at Pear VC, for meeting with students and sharing her insights on venture capital and early-stage investing. Katie discussed her role at Pear VC, where she uses data to guide investment decisions. She also highlighted Pear’s initiatives designed to support student founders, offering resources to help them succeed. 🍐 A key takeaway from her talk was the “love > like” theory — start with a product that a few people love, not one that many people like. It's a recipe for reaching millions. 💌

Thank you to Eric Hanson, a partner at WilmerHale, and Shafi A., counsel at WilmerHale, for joining our eLab students for a delicious lunch and sharing valuable insights on capitalization, intellectual property, and HR best practices. 🌟

Thank you to Max R. Mailman ’20 for hosting eLab students at Citi Venture Group and moderating a panel of Cornell alumni based in the Bay Area. 🌉 We heard from Matthew Shang ’16 of Prosperity7 Ventures, Mia Krishnamurthy ’22 of CRV, and Eric Hu ’20 of Thoma Bravo, who shared how their Cornell experiences shaped their careers, the importance of networking, and insights on investing in emerging companies. Next, Pippa Thomas ’20, a fellow eLab alumna now at Instacart, spoke about her experience working at the company during its rapid growth throughout the pandemic. She highlighted how the founder and current CEO values entrepreneurial, bottom-up ideas when launching new products. Eric Appel ’16, who began his career at Robinhood during the stock trading surge of the pandemic and is now a mobile engineer at Ramp, shared advice on identifying the right company fit. He emphasized the importance of asking current employees thoughtful questions when seeking your ideal role.

Thank you to Tammie Siew ’15 from pebblebed for meeting with the eLab students for breakfast this morning! Students had a great time gaining insights from Tammie's entrepreneurial journey since Cornell and appreciated her valuable advice. Some key takeaways: 🌟 Be a founder passionate about your business, not just the title 📈 When fundraising, always consider what future rounds might look like 💌 "Date" your cofounder before you "marry" one

Thank you, Seth Helfgott '05, partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, and Matthew Julian Meyer '92, the chief business advisor of the life science business advisory, for hosting Cornell eLab Accelerator today! During the student's time on the 33rd floor, they learned about the benefits of law firms to startups and received advice to apply to their startups. Some key takeaways for our eLab students: 🔑 Having a good advisor is key even for the earliest stage companies 💡 Innovate with your business, not your business structure when pitching 🗣️ The pitch deck is the language of VCs and how you get noticed - capture their excitement and imagination

🚀 We’re just 3 days away from the Cornell Silicon Valley: Student Startup Showcase! Join us on March 27 at the Autodesk Gallery in San Francisco to see our 13 eLab teams pitch their ventures and share their progress. Don’t miss this chance to support emerging founders and expand your network! 🔗 Register and use code ELAB50 at checkout https://lnkd.in/dMbf2FME

When your product is a chocolate + cookie, nailing the chocolate is key. We worked for 3 months to source a high cocoa Milk Chocolate, formulate with it, test it with consumers, develop the NFP/ingredients, only to learn that it was disco'd by the supplier a few weeks before our next production 😵💫. Never a dull moment! Since we couldn't find a replacement with the right taste and enrobing capability, we created our own blend of milk and dark chocolate to get the cocoa richness we wanted. Problem-solving in food entrepreneurship means: ✅thinking fast ✅getting creative ✅making things happen All skills that Lindsay Simon and I are still mastering five years in!

Save the date for eLab’s Demo Day at the Entrepreneurship at Cornell Celebration Ezra! 13 student teams from Cornell’s student accelerator will pitch their business ideas and illustrate the progress they’ve made over the course of the year. This event is free and open to the public. Anyone with an interest in entrepreneurship are encouraged to attend. 🖇️ https://lnkd.in/gdKrqJtk 📅 Thursday, April 10 ⏰ 4:30 – 6:30 pm ET 📍Statler Ballroom, Cornell University

We are one week away from the CSV: Student Startup Showcase! 📣 📍 Autodesk Gallery, One Market Street, Floor 2, San Francisco, CA 🗓️ Thursday, March 27 | 🕠 5:30 – 8:30 p.m. PD Hear pitches from startup teams in Cornell’s eLab and Runway Startups programs. Following the presentations, you’ll have the opportunity to network with the students and fellow members of the Cornell community. Register Now 🔗 https://lnkd.in/g_dNXpPx