We Gather 2017 Recap
Last year, TechGen hosted We Gather to convene local tech companies and top local undergrad and grad students for networking. We had a great group and had a blast — so we wanted to do it again!
Our goal this year? To present a comprehensive overview and introduction to the student-led resources connecting students with Boston’s startup ecosystem. So, we partnered with Contrary Capital, Dorm Room Fund, InnovateEDU and Rough Draft Ventures for a panel at WeWork in Back Bay. On the panel, there was a student from each organization and our own Sarah Case facilitated the discussion.
We packed the comfortable common room at WeWork with more than 65 students from schools like Brandeis University, Emerson College, Harvard College, HBS, MIT, MIT Sloan, Wellesley College and everyone was eager to learn more about how they could launch careers and companies. We talked about how our panelists got into startups and venture capital, unique qualities of founders, what VCs look for and questions they ask.
The verdict on We Gather 2017? It was a hit. Once we wrapped the discussion, people stuck around to connect further and learn more. We also got a lot of feedback on how these organizations can continue to collaborate and drive more value for local students — so stay tuned for another We Gather in early 2018.
And in case you missed it, here’s some background on our partners:
Contrary Capital is a decentralized VC fund made up of ~100 Venture Partners across dozens of universities. We’re also backed by the best in the world, with 80% of our Limited Partners founding $1B+ tech companies over the past decade, including Tesla, Twitch, SoFi, and MuleSoft.
Dorm Room Fund (https://drf.vc/) is a student-run venture capital firm built by students and powered by First Round Capital. We provide founders with a strong network of investors, world-class mentors, and a $20,000 check. We’ve backed 150 companies which have gone on to raise $300m in follow-on funding at a portfolio valuation of ~$1b.
InnovateEDU is an organization committed to building the strongest student entrepreneurial ecosystem. Our programming is based on our three pillars: connect, educate, and ignite. It’s run by students, for students and teams represent our five partner schools: BC, BU, Emerson, Northeastern, and MIT.
Rough Draft Ventures is General Catalyst’s student-focused program that backs founders at the university level. RDV issupporting and connecting the largest network of student entrepreneurs. To-date, RDV has backed more than 100 companies founded by student entrepreneurs emerging from Harvard, MIT, Northeastern, Babson, Olin, Tufts and Brown, among others; many have gone on to raise follow on capital from leading VCs. RDV’s entrepreneurs have been named finalists for Forbes’ 30 Under 30 and selected to leading accelerators, including Y Combinator, MassChallenge and TechStars, and the Thiel Fellowship.
See you at the next event!
