Upper School Intersession 2025

Throw a rock in Silicon Valley and you’ll probably hit a few startups, and at least some of them will claim to be AI (including my own!). But where do startups sprout from? Is there a specific pattern they follow in their journey, or are they all unique flowers? How should you evaluate startups as you consider interning at them, joining them in a few years, or heck, starting your own?

This talk will focus on a specific stage in the life of startups – germination. We will talk about the different ways startups get seeded, grow green shoots (which might take many years!) and start showing signs of life. We will share some key observations from this stage that often correlate with startup success.