Tag: Innovation Odyssey Blog
Editor’s note: The Innovation Odyssey Blog is produced by students in the Innovation Odyssey course, taught by Assistant Professor of Practice Stephen Brand. The course featured a trip to Silicon Valley in January 2025 where the students met with executives and leaders in the tech industry. Each blog will be about a specific day of the trip and the students’ experience.

Day 6: Life Lessons from San Francisco to Santa Cruz
Our journey on Friday January 17, 2025, was the most rewarding 170 miles we could have imagined. The windy curves from San Francisco to Santa Cruz were a perfect metaphor for the theme of our trip: the difficult journey of entrepreneurship is littered with uncertain next steps, but the personal grit and growth will emulate […]
Posted in New Tech Ventures Blog

Day 5: Highlighting 3 Lessons
On our penultimate day, we were fortunate enough to meet with a wide variety of future first-thinkers. Namely Ben Narasin ’87, Founder & General Partner at Tenacity Venture Capital, Toyota Research Institute, and tour Adobe Headquarters in San Jose. Throughout the day, each individual or company shared their own beliefs and experiences which all came […]
Posted in New Tech Ventures Blog

Day 4: Personal Values Fueling the Journey
Silicon Valley is living in and creating the future. Nothing represented this better than our visits on January 15. Our first stop was Plug & Play, a leading incubator and accelerator for tech startups, where we sought to learn how their strategic partnerships and funding opportunities propelled the early-stage ventures they worked with. As part […]
Posted in New Tech Ventures Blog

Day 3: Creativity and Pushing Boundaries
On Tuesday, January 14, 2025, our cohort visited the Stanford Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (d.school), IDEO, and Netflix. These three visits highlighted the role of creative endeavors in Silicon Valley, painting a cohesive picture of how design thinking, collaboration, and bold leadership intersect to drive innovation. While each institution operates within a distinct sphere—education, […]
Posted in New Tech Ventures Blog

Day 2: Being Competitive and Purposeful
Reflecting on a jam-packed day in Silicon Valley, a key takeaway of the day is thinking of the unthinkable. In the Valley, everyone who works there is thinking ahead and using insights and resources to create the future, and as young entrepreneurs it is inspiring to meet with these individuals who are dedicating their lives […]
Posted in New Tech Ventures Blog

Day 1: Foresight, Storytelling, and Venture Capital
Our day began with foresight workshops at the Institute for the Future, evolved into a deep dive into visual storytelling with Prezi, and concluded with global venture capital insights at DCM Ventures. Each experience offered a different lens on innovation, but together, they painted a picture of how foresight, storytelling, and collaboration drive meaningful change. […]
Posted in New Tech Ventures Blog