Hearst Memorial Building, UC Berkeley

I am currently at the University of California, Berkeley for the Spring 2018 term to spend a semester studying courses in the fields of technology, design and entrepreneurship. Entering the program as an exchange student from SRM University, India, and representing Next Tech Lab, a multi-disciplinary research lab, I consider it a privilege to be among the few selected to the Startup Semester program, hosted by the Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology (SCET) at Berkeley.

The SCET is housed inside the California Memorial Stadium.

The Startup Semester program brings in students from many countries, and thus promotes a healthy diversity, which allows every student to meet people from different corners of the world. This program takes place every year during the Fall and Spring semesters, and permits students to choose and study courses with an entrepreneurial blend. This includes a Challenge Lab – an intensive project-centered course that requires students to form teams and come up with a startup idea, in the areas of Blockchain, Cybersecurity, Alternative Meat etc. I have opted for the Blockchain Challenge Lab so that I can gain a deeper insight about this relatively new framework, and develop solutions for real world use cases that can be powered by this exciting technology.

As part of one of the courses titled “Introduction to Silicon Valley”, I am required to list my overall goals for this program. While I do this, I would also like to add that these are very similar to my reasons for taking up this program. First of all, I wish to gain an “entrepreneurial mindset”. Now, what exactly is this mindset? Who is an entrepreneur? Shuonan Chen, CEO of Shinect and General Partner at Agile VC, defines entrepreneurship as,

“Entrepreneurship is the most efficient way of solving a problem.”

Yes, an entrepreneur need not just be someone who starts his or her own business – it can also be someone within a large company having an initiative, and the motivation to take it forward all the way with focused execution. An entrepreneur may even be someone who has little to no skills in certain specific areas, but demonstrates leadership by prioritizing tasks, evaluating decisions and making effective utilization of resources. These are the areas I wish to get considerably better at, by the end of this startup semester program.

The Berkeley atmosphere is one that is vibrant and highly conducive to learning; the people here are knowledgeable, curious and highly motivated. There are tons of events on campus that take place by the minute, by students as well as academic and industry experts who are always willing to share knowledge and experiences.  It is akin to drinking from a firehose.

Some of the other courses I have taken include Product Management, which provides a product manager’s perspective on how to build a product and the several stages during its process; and Tech Entrepreneurship, which encourages students to go out into the real world as entrepreneurs while at the same time, build a tech company from scratch.

Apart from gaining knowledge and hands-on experience from the courses this program has to offer, I wish to immerse myself in the Bay Area tech culture, and absorb the best practices to stay ahead at the leading-edge of the tech innovation curve. Finally, by the end of this semester, I hope to have enough skills and confidence to implement technology to defeat the obstacles hampering society, particularly in developing economies, which include egalitarian access to clean water and air, congestion, illiteracy and others associated with the growing pains of nations wishing to achieve middle income status.