Sean McGee is reporting from ESTEEM’s Spring Break trip to Silicon Valley each day this week.
Monday was an introduction to life and business in the Bay Area. We visited the co-working space WeWork in San Francisco and discussed trends in the area and projections for the future. The day was filled with networking opportunities, and at the end, ESTEEM students had an opportunity to pitch their thesis ideas to venture capitalists and local entrepreneurs.
We also heard four lectures – Aisling MacRunnels, chief development officer for Jive Software, on marketing; PivotNorth Capital founder Tim Connors on venture capital and unit economics; Cloudera senior account executive Rich Kizer on sales; and Mark Moore, co-founder and CEO at OralEye Dental Technology, on entrepreneurship.
“We were exposed to a wide variety of expertise and experience in the entrepreneurial arena,” said student Chris Cali. “Although they were each on different paths and in different phases of their professional trajectory, they were just that – professionals. What made it so impactful was how passionate they are about what they do. These speakers confirmed many of the practical lessons we have been learning in ESTEEM.”