Jim Pulcrano’s Post

View profile for Jim Pulcrano, graphic

Adjunct Professor at IMD

#Palo Alto, California, the mecca of innovation and entrepreneurship. I’m here with half of the #IMD MBA class, two days into the class’s exploration of this iconic region. We’ve already met with some incredibly interesting people, and though I can’t do justice to everything they imparted to us, a few quotes stood out for me. From Jerry Kaplan the renowned computer scientist, entrepreneur, author and Stanford prof: “Any individual can change the world.”, “AI will give us the greatest productivity gains in human history” and “AI is a new wave of automation, which will destroy some jobs, but create completely new ones, create new wealth, which is then spent on new products and services”. From Subha Tatavarti, CTO of Wipro “When you have the right people on a project, constraints are a beautiful thing. Unlimited resources reduces innovation.” And ”Run away from people who think they know it all”. Also at Wipro, Arvind Ravishunkar, GM Tech Strategy: “Today the strategy function requires technology acumen”, and “How will HR departments change in order to “hire” AIs to get work done?” Last night we had a master class in VC investing in the healthcare space, from Ruchita Sinha of AV8 Ventures “2024 is likely to be the same as 2023 for entrepreneurs trying to raise money. The IPO market is slow, as is M&A”. And “AI is having a huge impact on healthcare, but so far most of the gains are going to the incumbents”. This morning the class went through a #Design Thinking workshop with the inimitable Jess Munro and as I write they are playing the role of anthropologists on the #Stanford campus, trying to understand the university’s place in Silicon Valley. Did Stanford make Silicon Valley what it is today, or is Silicon Valley what makes Stanford unique? Does it matter? Later today we’ll be visiting three startups: Pow.Bio Diatiro and Ubiquitous Power, along with EPRI Yes, the class is jetlagged and tired, but they’re posing great questions and working hard.

  • No alternative text description for this image
  • No alternative text description for this image
  • No alternative text description for this image
  • No alternative text description for this image
  • No alternative text description for this image
    +1

Jim - so good to see you in this wonderful situation! Warm wishes!

Ashraf Kordy

Dynamic Business Leader & CEO | Seasoned Media & Advertising Founder | Pharma | Driving Innovation, Business Growth, and Team Success | 15+ Years of Excellence in Entrepreneurship | 🇪🇬 🇨🇦 ⚽️

1mo

Reading this brings back so many great memories from our own Silicon Valley visit! The experiences and insights we gained were truly transformative, shaping our perspectives in profound ways. It’s fantastic to see the current class engaging with such incredible industry leaders and pushing the boundaries of their learning. Thanks Jim for continuing to provide such enriching and varied experiences for IMD EMBA students, and for constantly challenging us. Keep pushing those boundaries and soaking in the knowledge!

Anis Mungapen

COO | Leader in International Strategy & Operations | New Market Expansion | Clients and Customers First

1mo

Thank you for sharing this, Jim Pulcrano. Entrepreneurship and innovation can't be fully captured through books and traditional classroom setups alone. It's through experiential learning and direct engagement with the startup and venture community that we truly understand these fields. The class you’ve crafted and perfected over the years is, as far as I know, the best way to gain a genuine insight into the startup and venture world. Thank you for your unwavering commitment to our learning.

Salim Khan

Chief Executive Officer

1mo

Jim another class, another great visit. Taking the group to EPRI is v impressive. EPRI was in Silicon Valley before: Google, Apple, Meta/FaceBook, Cisco, nVidea, Tesla, etc. were born! Their research guides power/energy/cleantech industry in highly valuable ways not only in the U.S. but also globally.

Virginia Tucker

Executive consulting/education--strategic leadership

1mo

Good to see you're still going strong!

Nancy Nichols

Talent Executive/Consultant

3w

Welcome back to Silicon Valley, Jim Pulcrano! Hope you are well.

Like
Reply

This brings back so many great memories! This expedition is definitely one of the highlights of the MBA/EMBA program, thanks to the perfect organisation and brilliant program by Jim Pulcrano!

Emmanuel Guex

Entrepreneur, founder, investor, dad...

1mo

Sound's like you manage to get together once again amazing speakers! I like quotes... And all this remind me last year trip with you to SW: unforgettable

Nakisa Serry

General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer at Galderma

1mo

IMD - always exceeding expectations and creating transformative experiences for the MBAs - thanks Jim for sharing

Nice memories 😊 have fun!

See more comments

To view or add a comment, sign in

Explore topics