We had the possibility to meet up with 22 12 months outdated Gagan Biyani who is without doubt one of the founders of Startup Roots. Startup Roots is a non-profit fellowship program that goals to attach startups and internship seekers so the 2 can have an superior summer season collectively! Gagan was joined on the venture by Ajay Kamat, Himani Amoli, Andrew Chen and Louis Hong who all have intensive ardour and expertise within the startup world.
Collectively they’re giving either side nice alternatives and want to increase within the coming years.
What was everybody’s Background earlier than Startup Roots?
Since Startup Roots is a non-profit, all of us produce other startups that we spend most of our days on. I’ll proceed explaining this in Query #3.
I, Gagan Biyani, graduated from UC Berkeley in 2008 with a level in Economics. I labored at Accenture as a Technique Guide for 1 1/2 years earlier than leaving my job to pursue my startup full-time. Whereas at Accenture, I began writing part-time for TechCrunch’s cellular website, MobileCrunch, which I nonetheless contribute to right now. At present, alongside Startup Roots, I’m co-founder of Udemy, a startup centered on democratizing on-line training.
Ajay Kamat is the founding father of micromobs, a lifeless easy option to talk together with your teams. He graduated from UC Davis with a level in Organic Techniques Engineering and a minor in expertise administration. After a brief stint within the biotech business he adopted his true ardour within the net house. He’s labored at Brocade as a venture supervisor and in addition co-founded micromobs. At present Ajay’s time is spent ridding the world of electronic mail threads with micromobs and by making startups extra accessible to college students by means of Startup Roots.
Himani Amoli graduated from UC Davis in 2007. She labored in advertising and marketing at Integration Associates, a Sequoia funded firm, and as a Product Supervisor at i2we, Inc an IDG backed startup earlier than she determined to pursue her personal startup. Alongside connecting college students to startups through Startup Roots, she’s the co-founder of micromobs which would be the demise of the obnoxious electronic mail thread. In her spare time she additionally volunteers as a mentor for BUILD.org.
Andrew Chen, a Startup Roots co-founder, can also be at present the founding father of SnapItTo.Me, a photograph market that seeks to rework how images is purchased and bought globally. Previous to his turning into a full-time entrepreneur, he spent 5 years at Accenture, as a Supervisor of their Technique Consulting Group. Throughout that point he additionally co-founded a not-for-profit startup referred to as newSpark Group, offering consulting companies to worldwide growth organizations and social enterprises. Andrew graduated from Yale College in 2003 with a level in Economics.
Lou Hong is at present managing a number of tasks together with a startup useful resource web site, a social entrepreneurship venture selling honest commerce items (cupsmitten.com), and his full-time job, as head of Technique and Operations for gameattain.com – a discovery engine for players. A graduate of the College of Washington with levels in Enterprise Administration and Political Science, he involves Startup Roots with over 4 years of Administration Consulting expertise at Deloitte Consulting and two years of Advertising and marketing Operations and Technique at a JP Morgan Chase (Washington Mutual) Card Companies.
Might you clarify who Startup Roots is for and why?
Startup Roots is a easy idea: Startups apply. Interns apply. Startup Roots matches the very best of every group collectively for an superior summer season!
Startup Roots additionally offers a crash course in startups for the summer season, the place audio system corresponding to Steve Clean, Jeff Clavier and Vivek Wadhwa will discuss on entrepreneurship, the historical past of startups and financing, amongst different subjects. Startups that ought to apply are wherever from early-stage (seed funding) to late-stage and may have the ability to present a summer season place for a Fellow for the summer season with workplace house, mentoring, and a summer season venture for the Fellow. Compensation is just not required by Startup Roots.
Fellows who’re both in faculty or graduate faculty and are high-potential people ought to apply.
What’s flawed with different internship finder websites? Why are startups a superb focus?
We’re extra of a Fellowship program than an internship website. We hand-select the Fellows and the Startups in order that they know the standard of the 2 are excessive and so Startups don’t should spend as a lot time discovering interns. Moreover, for Fellows, we offer a summer-long introduction to startups. They’ll hear from audio system corresponding to Adeo Ressi (8-time entrepreneur), Steve Clean (7-time entrepeneur), Jeff Clavier (Rock-star angel investor), and extra.
Startups are a superb focus as a result of there’s a main want for startups to acquire assist over the summer season, since startups can all the time use additional assist. Extra importantly, for Fellows, startups are thrilling and prepared to offer them with a full internship expertise. Fellows will get to work on actual tasks and go dwelling with an incredible understanding of the startup world and become involved. Lastly, they are going to be supplied with neighborhood occasions and a speaker collection all through the summer season, so that is extra like a full internship expertise than an internship placement website.
The place did the concept come from? What made you guys take the leap into it?
All of us are at present entrepreneurs and deeply concerned within the Silicon Valley startup neighborhood. A couple of of my co-founders had been pondering of how to seek out extra assist for the summer season and shortly realized that there was no nice option to discover a summer season intern. Moreover, they realized that college students not often have the chance to work in a startup over the summer season. They got here to me and one other considered one of our co-founders and we instantly determined this was an incredible concept. There’s a want out there and we’re making an attempt to fill it with a high-quality summer season program for faculty college students thinking about startups.
Is there a income mannequin behind Startup Roots?
Startup Roots is a not-for-profit establishment and has no intention of earning money. We do request a $1,000 donation from collaborating startups so as to function this system. All cash goes in direction of working this system and all time by co-founders is on a voluntary foundation.
What are your future plans?
Proper now, we’re very centered on matching high-quality college students with unbelievable startups. We’ve acquired over 90 scholar functions and have accepted many startups. Sooner or later, we might increase Startup Roots into a number of places all through the nation, however that’s not within the plans till subsequent summer season.
