NextGen Conference

Although Cory had invited us to Stanford for his conference, I really didn’t think that I would actually attend the event, because it was on short notice and the costs of going to California were simply too much. The conference sounded really exciting, being billed as a venue for young entrepreneurs to meet up with established startup founders and venture capitalists. It was place where the next generation of entrepreneurs would learn how to shape the world. However, 2 weeks before the event, we got word that iFoundry was trying to figure out a way for a few EI students to attend the event. Before long, I and six others signed up and could not wait for a chance of a lifetime.
To catch our morning flight at O’Hare, we had to leave Champaign at 5 in the morning on Friday. We arrived at San Francisco Airport in the afternoon and the first sign that we were in California hit us as soon as we got there. We figured out that the cheapest mode of transportation to get to Stanford University was to take a taxi. So to transport all 7 of us, the total fare came to over $200!
Before we got to the campus, we went over to HP Labs, where Carl Chow, our EI iCOA, was. He showed us around the HP Labs building and all the cool things that HP is working on. It was an amazing tour. We then had lunch-$100 for four pizzas!-before going to the campus and exploring for the rest of the night.
We got a good night’s sleep, because we had to have enough energy for the conference the next day. Starting at 9 in the morning, the speakers included a Duke Professor, CEOs and other officers of rising Silicon Valley startups, established student-entrepreneurs, and so many VCs that I couldn’t count them all. I took a ridiculous amount of notes and I felt like I was about to explode because my brain was being filled with so much useful information. Each person had something unique to share, something valuable for me to ponder about. But they all had something common: they all looked to the young entrepreneurs as a valuable renewable resource, and one that had to be cultivated the right way to help ensure that the future leadership of the world is in good hands.