Traveling from San Jose into San Francisco there is such a view. Nothing but miles of beautiful sky with surrounding hills, it is hard not to fall in love with the scenery. Constantly observing, there is a huge transition as tall buildings, cars, bridges, and the fast life of the city approaches.
by Sierra Freeman
Walking through the Illini West Center was like walking in time as we viewed pictures of the main quad dating back from the 1800s to the 1970s. Students gathered around comparing historic images to the U of I campus now, awed at all of the development. Anywho, it was interesting learning about this office which is over alumni relations and fundraising for the university. On this trip we were able to meet a number of Alumni entrepreneurs and it was partly due to the collaborative efforts between TEC and this office and its' huge Alumni network.
by Sierra Freeman
Recurly operations can be found behind the scene of thousands of transactions between merchants and their customers as a complete subscription billing management service. Currently with over 500 hundred clients the company is doing great, however there is a huge competitive landscape within electronic payment processing of recurring payments. Though Issac (Recurly Founder) is aware of this he believes in his company and is ready for the challenge.
by Sierra Freeman
One is a mobile application which is geared towards enabling people to meet one another through sharing their interest immediately without any awkward conversations. This application was introduced to our group by Michael, whom is the founder of both One and Ambient. Not only was he a great presenter but he truly captivated the entire group with his entrepreneurial story and his unconventional approach for getting to where he is today.
by Sierra Freeman
The coolest startup pad ever is the home of One and the creators behind it off Market Street. A long table with six computer stations facing a huge monitor made up the living room with the kitchen behind it. Upstairs it was dorm style (hosting four bunk beds) with a seating area of fold-out couches. The guys were all really nice and were open about speaking about themselves and their roles at One. I spoke with Alex, their UI designer and Michael, the founder and lead developer of the social mobile application.
Roger Dickey’s house was amazing, and on top of that, the view from his roof top was simply unbelievable! Spanning almost every angle of the city including the Golden Gate Bridge, the peace and quiet, with the scenic sun setting in the far distance was breath taking. Anywho, meeting Roger and Adam (his venture partner) was pretty cool. They each have a good handle on industry and market trends, market research methodologies, and how to effectively assess risk within potential investments.
A bunch of us after checking out ended up getting carry-out from IHop; I had strawberry crepes (my favorite). Being Saturday, the place was packed and there was no where to sit, not even the lobby. Therefore, we headed outside and hung-out in the front in which we enjoyed our breakfast in the sun and reminisced about the past five days.
by Sierra Freeman
The TECSV12 class wants to sustain our new found network, while connecting with TECSV classes before us, through meeting monthly. Activities would consist of brainstorming ideas, catching up on venture status updates from members with startups, discussing tech news, and just having plain fun. Therefore, as a core lesson discussed throughout this trip, the idea has planted but now we have to see if it can be successfully executed.
by Sierra Freeman
