AI Entrepreneurs at Berkeley

PearX $250K-$2M investment ~25 teams per co-hort 3 days retreat at Camp Pear 14 weeks in person at Pear Studio SF, a 30,000 sq/ft office space Dedicated recruiter to build your team Demo day with +1000 investors Apply Here! 👇 https://pear.vc/pearx/

So everyone says talking to customers and doing discovery is important when building a startup. But how do you actually find and convince these customers to talk to you? And what do you do in a call? WHY SHOULD YOU TALK TO CUSTOMERS? - If you want to build a startup, you need to build a product that’s used by customers. - To get people to use your product, you need to know what they need. Ask them what they need. Show them what you’ve built. Ask them for advice. See what they think. HOW TO REACH OUT TO PEOPLE - LinkedIn: reach out to your ideal customer profile (ICP) and send a quick message asking for a 15m meeting to ask for advice/feedback on what you’re building (in image). - Network: see if you know anyone who falls into your ICP. Ask people you know for introductions. Meeting people at events is also sometimes effective depending on your ICP. - Cold Email: sending emails is always worth it. Use email softwares to reach out to lots of people to ask for advice.  Send messages and setup time for a 15-30 minute meeting. WHAT TO DO IN A MEETING - Understand the problem your ideal customer faces very deeply. Dive deep into their problem and ask questions to understand the problem from different angles. - Think about whether what you’re building solves their problem or not. Ask them what they think about what you’re working on. Maybe show a demo to get their feedback. It’s essential to be precise when talking to customers. Don’t waste your time by not talking to them. Don’t waste theirs by not coming prepared. Discovery is an art - learning how to do this well will pay off.

So one of the biggest reasons why a startup fails in the early stages is because of cofounder conflict. How can you best find and choose a cofounder (or multiple)? WHERE TO FIND ONE - Events/conferences - open up your options by meeting lots of people at places that are relevant to what you’re interested in. If you’re interested in healthcare, go to healthcare events, and maybe you’ll find someone you click with.  - School/work - find people who have similar backgrounds to you and start conversations here.  - Outreach - whether cold or warm, meeting people never hurts. I met my first cofounder with a cold LinkedIn DM. WHAT TO LOOK FOR (cred. Warren Buffett) - High integrity - only work with people who have integrity. You might not think this is important in the beginning, but this becomes the basis of your entire startup’s future.  - High energy - building a startup is a long journey. Your cofounder needs to stay energized for all of it. - High intelligence - you need someone who can solve problems at a high level. HOW TO GET STARTED Try working on small projects with people to gauge whether you work well with them, looking at things like work and communication style. Also super important to talk about vision, short and long-term goals, and personal circumstances with a cofounder - after all, this is meant to be a long-term relationship. Take a look at YC’s questions to ask a cofounder (linked in the comments) for reference. Cofounders are everything for a company. Find the best people and go all the way with them. #startups #entrepreneurship #earlystage

So building a startup is hard. Things are hard until you’re basically unstoppable, and things are arguably hardest at the early stages. What makes the early stage hard? 1. No Product Market Fit (PMF) Usually, at the early stage, your product isn’t proven in the market. This means that you’re still figuring out if your ideal customers want what you’re building, or if you need to change some features (or even your whole product). Making the wrong decision or not understanding your customers at this stage can cost you everything. 2. Lack of resources At the early stage, you likely won’t have a ton of resources. You don’t have much money (if any at all). You don’t have a large team to lean on. Most importantly, you don’t have time—you’ve got to do a million things and you don’t have the money or people to delegate to. Not moving fast enough can mean you run out of money or get beaten to market by a competitor. Some important (semi-obvious) learnings:  - Constantly talk to customers to understand their needs when building product. Avoid wasting time building something people don’t need. Learn what your customer needs and build it. - Iterate quickly and learn fast. The early stage is all about learning—learning about your market, customer, technology, and how to build your business. Doing this fast wins. The early stage is hard. Make it less hard by talking to your customer and learning fast.

UC Berkeley AI Hackathon had over 1,200+ hackers participate in 2023 and is giving away $100K cash prize money this year! For 36 hours, you will have privileged access to the invite-only OpenAI API (including GPT-4 access), plugins, and some of the best large language model (LLM) hacking tools on the planet. Apply to join us next month! When: June 22-23, 2024 📍 Where: UC Berkeley (Martin Luther King Student Union) ⭐ Who: All college/university students & recent grads (graduated last 10 years) 💻 Fully in-person! ⏳ Applications close on June 10th at 11:59PM (priority deadline is June 1st @ 11:59 PM) ❓ More info at ai.hackberkeley.org       Apply at apply.hackberkeley.org #aihackathon #berkeleyinnovation #hackathon #hackathons #tech #llm #ai Cal Hacks, Rich Lyons, Chon Tang, Brian Bordley, Riddhi Khanna, Capucine du Besset, Sam Hodara, Matviy K., Caroline Winnett, Sibyl Chen, Taylor Marcus, George Panagiotakopoulos, Jun Jiang, Ekin Günaysu, Gordon Peng, Kathy Chen, Angelina Lee, Alexander Goldberg, University of California, Berkeley

📢 Startup Founders: Don’t Let This Common Mistake Cost You Years! After meeting with hundreds of different companies over the last few years, the single biggest mistake I’ve seen early-stage founders make is building products without customers. What does this mean? There’s a common philosophy for founders to build cool technology first and see what sticks after. However, this approach is often misguided. Here’s why: 1) Although this works for products that are already excellent and have PMF, it takes several cycles of iteration and pivoting for most startups to reach this point. Many startups never get there because each cycle can take weeks, months, or even years. 2) In the early pivoting and iteration cycles, many founders get discouraged and give up too soon after failing to get customers for a product that simply isn’t market-ready. Here’s a simple, time-tested way you can avoid this common pitfall: Talk to your customer both before and while you are building. Not after. In practice, this means: 1) Conducting dozens of customer interviews before even starting to build. 2) Scheduling frequent calls with your customers to ensure that what you are building suits their specific needs. 3) Getting LOIs and financial commitment from your customers beforehand so you know there will be revenue in the pipeline once it is completed. If you were a venture capital investor, which startup would you back? Option 1: A startup that has been pivoting for 6 months with no customer feedback, now somewhat confident in their new idea (just like they were in previous cycles). Option 2: A startup that spoke to 20 enterprise customers in a specific vertical, identified a recurring problem for 10 of them, and secured 6-figure LOIs, pilots, and design partnerships after quickly building a crude MVP before the launch of their complete platform.  

🌟 Excited and honored to be featured in the Fung Fellowship at UC Berkeley's latest Medium article! A big thank you to Veronica Roseborough, Priyanka K., and the Fung team for highlighting my journey and experiences building BearHub. Being a part of the Fung Fellowship has been a transformative experience, full of learning and growth opportunities. This feature not only reflects my personal and professional development but also the supportive and innovative environment fostered by the Fellowship and the Berkeley startup community. I am looking for University of California, Berkeley clubs and faculties to join the platform in the fall so feel free to contact me at tomlam0811@berkeley.edu for additional information or if you want to connect. Check out the article below to read more about my story and the incredible work being done by fellow Fung scholars. Thank you again to the Fung Fellowship for this wonderful opportunity! #FungFellowship #Innovation #Leadership #PersonalGrowth #UCBerkeley #Cal #GoBears #Startup

Code Blue has received its first funding! Thrilled to share that our team has been honored as the Grand Prize Winner by Big Ideas! This would not have been possible without the dedication and drive of my teammates, Ericka Maria C. and Jiawei Lee. Thank you so much to the judges (Ashok Gadgil, Dawn McGee, and Paul Williams) for recognizing our idea and giving us the encouragement to take it forward. Another huge shout out to Karenna Rehorn and Phillip Denny, without whom this would never have been possible. We are so excited for what the future holds and cannot wait to take Code Blue forward. Next up, our patent and studies!

𝐁𝐢𝐠 𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 Humind: 𝐖𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 Berkeley SkyDeck! 💫 I'm beyond thrilled to share some amazing news: Humind has been accepted into the PAD-13 program at Berkeley SkyDeck, one of the world's most prestigious incubators! This milestone is the result of months of relentless hard work with my incredible co-founders, Michelle Singer and Alexis Hespelle. The journey has been challenging, filled with late nights and countless learning moments. Every step has brought us closer to this incredible opportunity. Being part of SkyDeck's PAD-13 program means we’ll have access to unparalleled support, mentorship, and resources. This will accelerate our growth and innovation in ways we could only dream of. This opportunity not only validates our mission but also propels us into a future filled with potential. A huge thank you to our amazing team, advisors, and supporters for believing in us, especially Ekin Günaysu from SkyDeck. Stay tuned for exciting updates as we embark on this next stage in our journey. Together, let's innovate the e-commerce experience to be deeply human and personalized.

I'm thrilled to announce that I've successfully completed my MBA from the prestigious University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business. This transformative journey has expanded my horizons, pushing me beyond my comfort zone and opening up a world of possibilities. After more than a decade in software development and technical consulting, I decided to go to Business School to learn how to launch a startup from the best in the industry. The top-tier education and abundance of startup resources at University of California, Berkeley are unparalleled, equipping me with everything I need to bring my vision to life. I now understand why UC Berkeley is the number 1 University for VC-backed startups! I owe immense gratitude to my supportive family and the exceptional professors at Haas who have been instrumental in my growth. Learning from global leaders in various fields has not only inspired me but also instilled a sense of purpose and motivation to excel and make a positive impact. Some of the highlights of my MBA journey include securing 2nd place at LAUNCH: The University of California's Startup Accelerator for my startup Carbon Sustain, accepted as the only MBA then elected as the Head of Consulting at Blockchain at Berkeley, and participating in the Berkeley SkyDeck Pad-13 program (less than 3% acceptance) to bring Carbon Sustain to market this summer. Moreover, the opportunity to interact closely, even at a texting level, with UC Berkeley professors and executive directors has been truly invaluable. I was even a class away from achieving honors. I'm excited about what the future holds; this is not the end, not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning. Onwards and Upwards! #UCBerkeley #HaasSchoolofBusiness #MBA #Startup #Entrepreneurship #Innovation