Ilya Strebulaev’s Post

What do Stanford, Google, and McKinsey have in common? They've all been launchpads for future unicorn founders! Some insights from Ilya Strebulaev's post (work experience of future unicorn founders): 🔹 Most (73%) of these places are for-profit companies, including giants like Google (105 founders), Microsoft (73), and IBM (56). 🔹 Universities make up 12% of the sample, with Stanford (60 founders), MIT (52), and Harvard (33) leading the way. (Note that we count only employees here, not graduates.) After delving into Ilya's post, I'm interested in which universities frequently produce graduates who will become unicorn founders. I found the following statistics (source: another Ilya's article, "This School's Alumni Have Created More Than 200 Billion-Dollar Companies In The Last 28 Years" ): 🔹 Stanford University: 285 alumni, 207 unicorns 🔹 Harvard University: 164 unicorns 🔹 University of Pennsylvania: 67 unicorns 🔹 Yale University: 59 unicorns 🔹 Cornell University: 58 unicorns ... Part of my Silicon Valley module was at Stanford University when I studied at IMD. The entrepreneurial spirit was palpable in every corner, from the classrooms to the cafes. It's no surprise that Stanford leads the rankings. #Startups #Entrepreneurship #Unicorns #Stanford

Cornell Tech Alumni Raise $3.2M for Sales Startup, Avina In 2015, Ron Fisher '16 and Vivek Sudarsan '16 were working in R&D at Nielsen when they received an invitation to mentor at Cornell Tech. Inspired by the program's focus on tech-driven startups, they both decided to enroll in Cornell Tech’s Johnson Tech MBA and Master of Engineering programs. On the first day, they met Mike Wang '16, and the trio instantly bonded over their shared entrepreneurial ambitions. After being inspired by each other's entrepreneurial spirit, they hit the ground running collaborating on innovative startups. At Cornell Tech, the trio worked in Cornell Tech’s Product Studio to create Bowtie.ai, the first AI receptionist for fitness, beauty, and health businesses. The project allowed them to work with engineers in PD, collaborate with teams in Shanghai and Beijing and foster technical talent to break into the tech industry. Bowtie.ai rapidly attracted investor attention, leading to exponential growth before it was acquired by Mindbody, a leader in software and services, in 2019. Today, the three founders have set their sights on a new venture, Avina [avina.io] —a platform that bridges the gap between marketing and sales. Leveraging advanced AI, Avina integrates a business’s unified marketing, sales, and external data to deliver crucial recommendations at key points: during prospecting, outreach, meeting preparation, and deal-making. Recently, Avina closed a successful $3.2 million seed round co-led by nvp capital and RRE Ventures, with participation from Y Combinator. They just secured a new office on Wall Street, hired an additional engineer, and will continue to expand the team. Avina’s model empowers sellers by pinpointing "golden opportunities" while preserving the essential human touch in sales. Sellers often possess critical data to drive success, yet lack the resources or time to fully capitalize on it. Avina transforms this data, connecting and converting it into engaging leads within seconds. “We’re excited to leverage recent breakthroughs in AI and data management to pioneer a platform that transforms data overload into quick, actionable insights, helping businesses grow efficiently,” said Fisher, CEO & Co-founder of Avina. Learn more about Avina here: https://lnkd.in/eSmNz3iv #startup #entrepreneurship #founders #cornellalumni

The Making of a Unicorn Founder Recent research led by Ilya Strebulaev at Stanford reveals that Palantir and Yahoo top the list of companies producing the highest number of unicorn founders relative to their employee count. The study examined public and private companies where at least 10 unicorn founders worked before launching their own ventures since 2009. The ratio of these founders to the total number of employees was calculated as of the end of 2023. Key Highlights: Palantir Technologies: 15 founders from 3,735 employees (4 per 1,000) Yahoo: 34 founders from 8,500 employees (4 per 1,000) Check Point Software: 14 founders from 6,450 employees (2.2 per 1,000) Other notable companies in the top tier include X (formerly Twitter), Square, McKinsey & Company, Goldman Sachs, Google, PayPal, and HP. What are your thoughts? Which companies do you think will be the next big breeding ground for unicorn founders? Comment below! Note: This study excluded internships and part-time roles. Only 27 companies had 10+ unicorn founders who started their ventures in 2009 or later. Credit: Ruben D Follow JayaSankar Subburaj for daily insights on Startups and Venture Capital. #VentureCapital #Startups #Unicorns #Innovation #Technology

I’m moving towards a new core thesis — and it’s all about ecosystem creation & systemic change. This is an open letter to myself, my colleagues, and all of the amazing people I’m yet to meet who could become my future partners, likeminded friends and collaborators. People often ask me what is it that I really do. Why am I building several startups, isn’t that awful for focus? And advisory? And other roles? It’s odd It’s new Frankly, untested And I’m doing it from a place of deep conviction. 🌐 Here is what I see happening across the board: ▶ The current pace of change outruns the capacity of our institutions to adapt. ▶ AI in particular advancing faster than we can meaningfully & usefully implement it into our workflows. ▶ Gen Z breaking away from many of our systems while also pushing to transform them. Across all of these, there is a trend — systemic change. Change at a scale that one single company struggles to meaningfully tackle. Organisations, nations, all struggle to keep pace. 👤 On the other hand, here is where I come in: I would best describe myself as a “deep generalist” — being broad IS my specialty, reinforced with several skills I push to their limits of depth. Among these I count storytelling, strategic & systemic thinking, and the ability to transfer expertise across domains, challenges, places and people. Having worked in startups, NGOs, university roles and done corporate internships, I have a good coverage of how different organisations work and solve problems. I am also global to the very heart, and every country is a little bit my own. 🔷 Taken together, I see a colossal opportunity to innovate not just through products, but by nurturing new kinds of systems By bringing founders together By linking resources By creating communities By lifting other founders By actively working to innovate our systems at scale, from education to early careers to global mobility It’s hard I have no blueprint I don’t have the resources to affect something this large all at once Which is why this is a long-term mission, and I will never accomplish it alone. I’m expanding scope. Finding partners. Advising and accelerating other founders. Bringing entrepreneurs and innovators together. Creating spaces & communities. Working on projects whenever I can. 📌 And so this is my emerging thesis — to move towards creating & growing whole ecosystems of projects and people as my North Star. I want to go beyond what I alone can make, and create cascade, systemic effects. If this resonates — we should speak. This is a coalition effort. I’m building links with founders & innovation-aligned organisations worldwide. Let’s work together. Collaboration works magic.

What does an #LSR alumna with an #economics major do as a #deeptech #startup #cofounder? This is a question I often get, and for a long time, I struggled to articulate my role. It’s easy for an engineer to say, “I build the tech.” My answer? I build everything around it. Imagine two concentric circles: the inner circle represents the technology—our core. But surrounding it is the vital outer circle, which encompasses operations, people, processes, sourcing, market research, financial planning, and more. Without this outer layer, no startup can thrive. As a co-founder, I focus on nurturing this ecosystem, ensuring that every piece fits together seamlessly. It’s about creating a robust framework that supports our technological innovations and drives our vision forward. My background may seem unconventional, but it brings a unique perspective to our team & I strongly believe that diverse skills and experiences are vital in the startup ecosystem. I’d love to hear your thoughts! What non-technical roles have made a difference in your journey?

𝐃𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥? Let’s look at the numbers by type of degree.   Master’s: Only 0.5% of all the unicorn founders enrolled in a master’s degree program (other than an MBA) didn’t make it to the end.     Point of comparison: that is far below the nationwide US 23% dropout rate. Yet it is almost twice as high as the 0.3% rate for a random sample of founders of VC-backed companies.    PhDs: the dropout rate is 1.9%, compared to the 43% US dropout rate and 1.4% for the random sample.    MBAs: 1.1% of unicorn founders did not finish, compared to 10% in the US and 0.3% for the random sample.    Undergraduates: 4.8% dropped out, compared to the overall US rate of 36% and 1.5% for the random sample.    Numbers speak for themselves. Even if Elon Musk did drop out from a PhD at Stanford.    Are you surprised by these results? Please share your insights.     Thank you to the Stanford University Graduate School of Business Venture Capital Initiative team for spearheading this research.    To see the details of the previous post on dropouts, check this out: https://lnkd.in/g9_g29fK    Note: the US population dropout rates are based on publications by the Council of Graduate Schools. #stanford #stanfordgsb #venturecapital #startups #innovation #technology #venturemindset

Thrilled to share that I have successfully completed my Corporate Venture Capital & Business Analytics Remote externship with HP Tech Ventures, facilitated by Extern! This experience has been incredibly rewarding and has helped me build invaluable skills. Throughout the externship, I gained hands-on exposure to the venture capital landscape and honed my analytical and strategic thinking. Here are some key learnings from this journey: 1. I learned how to evaluate startup ecosystems, analyze market trends, and identify strategic growth opportunities using tools like PitchBook and Crunchbase . 2. I developed the ability to assess business models and financial performance, using data-driven insights to inform investment decisions. 3. I explored what makes products stand out in the market, studying how startups position themselves competitively to attract investors. 4. I collaborated with fellow Externs to create and deliver compelling investment pitches, synthesizing research into actionable recommendations. One of the highlights of the experience was conducting an in-depth analysis of Hippocratic AI, a company specializing in productive AI solutions for the healthcare sector. I recommended HP Tech Ventures to consider investing in Hippocratic AI due to their innovative approach and promising potential to transform healthcare services with AI-driven advancements. A huge thank you to the Extern team and my mentors at HP Tech Ventures for their support and guidance! Special appreciation to Saima Rahman, who was our program facilitator and provided exceptional guidance throughout the program. I’m excited to apply these insights as I navigate future opportunities in the entrepreneurial tech sectors! #VentureCapital #BusinessAnalytics #Externship #HPTechVentures #StartupEcosystem #InvestmentAnalysis #StrategicThinking #TechFinance #ProductiveAI #HealthcareInnovation #CareerDevelopment #Gratitude

I get a lot of DMs from early stage professionals and freshers asking me, “How can they build their career in Venture Capital?” I happen to know Shawrya and Rajan the founders of Metvy who are now building The VC Fellowship for last 6 years and while exploring the topic more, I spoke to them. Here’s what they shared: Breaking into Venture Capital is a no joke, there are hardly any structured programs that help folks with that, and on top of this most of the hirings happen from within the networks. And that’s why they decided to build The VC Fellowship - the mission is to create more transparency and helps folks network and learn from top VCs The fellowship is a 3-Months long structured program, that shortlists 25–30 people with an acceptance rate of 5%. In the fellowship, folks get to learn from India’s top VCs working with 3one4 Capital, PeakXV, Blume, Silver Needle, Speciale Invests and many more. The way they have designed the fellowship is “For the VCs, By the VCs, From the VCs” What you get from this fellowship is: 1. Structured learning led by VCs 2. Opportunity to network with top VCs 3. Active support from the team to get opportunities What I personally liked about this fellowship is the kind of fellows it has, I mean you get to learn alongside VP of J.P. Morgan, Former Senior Director of Microsoft, Senior Leaders from Unicorn Startups, angel investors, doctors and folks from different nationalities. I hope this answer to all the questions I have been getting from you guys on breaking into Venture Capital. They have opened the applications for Cohort 3, find the link to apply in the comments. Link - https://lnkd.in/gss8hUXg Rajan Luthra Shawrya Mehrotra #venturecapital #finance

  Partnership: Natura & Link At Link School, we believe in the power of collaboration to drive innovation and create meaningful impact. That’s why I’m thrilled to announce our new partnership with Natura, a company that shares our values of sustainability and forward-thinking business practices. Together, we will be working on two key fronts: (i) Amazon Immersion Program: Offering an in-depth exploration of the Amazon region, focusing on the sustainable development practices that Natura has championed for decades. These practices represent not only a model for sustainability but also potential springboards for new ventures, startups, and impactful business initiatives. (ii) Undergraduate Admission Process: We’re introducing an innovative approach to admissions, where candidates will engage with real-world business challenges through a case I had the privilege to develop. This case, based on Corporate Venture Capital (CVC), will work as a guiding thread throughout the process, helping applicants connect academic concepts—from math to strategy—with essential people and entrepreneurial skills. At Link, our mission goes beyond traditional education. Through Link Business School and the MI5 (venture unit), we are dedicated to incubating, accelerating, and investing in startups that shape the future. This partnership with Natura exemplifies the kinds of meaningful synergies we strive for—bringing together education, business innovation, and impact, be it in the entrepreneurial or social realm. It’s inspiring to see how corporate venture capital can be leveraged not only for growth but also for fostering sustainability and social responsibility, as Natura has done so well. I’m excited for what’s ahead as we nurture the next generation of leaders through this unique collaboration. #partnership #innovation #education #corporateventurecapital #leadershipdevelopment #sustainability #LinkSchool #Natura

🌟 A Tale of Two Friends: Different Paths, Same Success 🌟 Let me share a story about two friends, both brilliant and determined: Friend A and Friend B. They walked the same educational path, aced the same projects, and graduated with flying colors. But their professional journeys diverged in fascinating ways. 🎓 The Beginning: Shared Foundations Both A and B graduated from the same esteemed university with degrees in Computer Science. They tackled numerous projects together, from developing innovative apps to spearheading research in artificial intelligence. Their synergy was unmatched, and they were often seen as the dynamic duo of their cohort. 🚀 Friend A: The Startup Trailblazer Friend A joined a startup immediately after graduation. The environment was fast-paced, demanding, and often chaotic. Every day brought new challenges and opportunities. A wore multiple hats – coding by day, pitching to investors by night, and strategizing on weekends. The startup culture nurtured A's creativity, risk-taking ability, and resilience. Today, A is the CTO of a thriving tech startup, known for pioneering disruptive technologies and creating a significant impact in the industry. 🏢 Friend B: The MNC Maven Friend B chose to start a career at a multinational corporation (MNC). The structured environment, vast resources, and opportunities for global collaboration were appealing. B honed expertise through various roles, from software development to project management, and climbed the corporate ladder steadily. The exposure to large-scale projects and a diverse team shaped B into a versatile leader. Today, B is a Senior Vice President at a leading tech giant, driving innovation and steering massive projects that touch millions of lives worldwide. ✨ The Common Thread: Success Through Passion and Perseverance** Despite the different paths, both A and B achieved remarkable success. Their journeys teach us that there's no one-size-fits-all route to success. Whether in the dynamic world of startups or the structured realm of MNCs, what truly matters is the passion for your work, the willingness to learn, and the perseverance to overcome challenges. 🚀 Whether you’re at a startup or an MNC, your success is in your hands. Embrace the journey, stay curious, and keep pushing boundaries! Follow For More: Ankit Kumar #leadership #success #journey #successjourney #career #learning #startup #innovation #engineering #careergrowth #successstory #corporateLife