From ideation to scaling: how we support the founder’s journey

Championing a best-in-class education through Stanford dy/dx

We are a team of scientists, entrepreneurs, engineers, and academics who live in a permanent state of curiosity and believe that the entrepreneur’s journey is a continuum propelled by higher learning. Therefore we’ve made it our mission to academically support founders at each stage of their journey — from honing a brilliant idea to building a company to scaling a solution for real-world problems.

One of the many ways we academically intersect with founders is through our work and support of Stanford programs. Three of our partners teach at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and develop exceptional talent throughout their leadership journey. And now, we’ve expanded our work with Stanford to include supporting the Stanford dy/dx program, which focuses on preparing founders for success after company formation.

We couldn’t be more excited to once again collaborate with Stanford dy/dx to nurture exceptional talent, drive innovation, and propel the next generation of groundbreaking companies. This program allows us to provide our teams with ongoing learning with the best professors, CEOs, entrepreneurs, and leaders in the world. We find this to be especially important for the companies and founders we intersect with, who are often multidisciplinary and highly technical. They are experts in their field. And now, we get to help them further develop additional management and leadership skills through this accelerated four-week residential program.

What is Stanford dy/dx

For those who might be unfamiliar with dy/dx: the program empowers mid-stage founders, entrepreneurs, and companies, and provides them with the knowledge, resources, and support to build successful startups. Rooted in the belief that management and leadership can be developed, dy/dx combines rigorous workshops, informational sessions with founders and executives, networking events, and presentations from Stanford GSB professors and executive leaders to accelerate each participant’s work.

“Dy/dx was one of the most valuable pieces of business education I have received. The lecture content and delivery were exceptional. Office hours with faculty members generated actionable plans we introduced to our startup. The program allowed ample time to network with peers, and by the end of the session, I had greatly expanded my network,” said Patrick Tierney, the Engineering Director at Aro Homes and one of our nominees for last year’s cohort.

The dy/dx program offers a unique blend of academic rigor, experiential learning, and practical insights. The education and connections offered are an invaluable support arm for our founders.

We are so excited for this year’s cohort!

The application and acceptance into the dy/dx program is a rigorous process that requires a close partnership between academia and venture. Each one of the allies — including, Accel, Index Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital, and of course, our own Innovation Endeavors team nominates startup teams to participate in the program.

By joining forces, we can leverage our collective knowledge and networks to provide dy/dx with some truly exceptional teams.

“Taking part in Stanford’s dy/dx program felt like a much-needed pit stop on the bustling racetrack of Machina Labs. Surrounded by best-in-class academics, VCs, and other CEOs from companies in a similar stage as Machina, the program became a crucible for strategic growth. It allowed me to shift gears from a hands-on techie and reassess our strategy, learn to delegate better, and get comfortable in the shoes of a CEO ready for the growth-stage marathon,” said Ed Mehr, co-founder, and CEO of Machina Labs, who took part in the program last year.

This year we are proud to share that seven of our companies were selected to participate including:

• Elio Labs — a next-generation sensing technology coming to cell analysis and drug development.
• FutureProof — translating climate and weather risk to financial risk with unprecedented accuracy.
• Gatik — owning B2B short haul logistics for the middle mile.
• Parspec — revolutionizing the submission process for construction vendors.
• Tromzo — building deep environmental and organizational context from code to cloud to accelerate remediation of critical risks across the software supply chain.
• Trunk Tools — working to align incentives in the construction industry.
• Viaduct — a dynamic AI platform built to help automotive OEMs, fleets, and suppliers reduce cost and deploy predictive strategies at scale.

The teams at these companies are poised to disrupt industries, introduce novel solutions, and drive meaningful change. The diverse range of sectors they represent underscores our commitment to fostering innovation across various fields, including the physical economy, supply chain, climate, and beyond.

We look forward to seeing how these teams grow after this experience.