eClub Leadership at Stanford
Entrepreneurship club elections are coming up and I’m considering running for co-president.
The Stanford GSB eClub is one of the largest organizations on campus, and one of the nation’s oldest organizations for the kind of work it does:
The current leadership set a high bar: top shelf eWeek, BBLs, treks, dinners, and a host of activities.
Thanks to eClub, our MBA class got to hang out with MC Hammer yesterday (proper!):
So the question for me is, how do we take things even further next year?
In my mind, there’s an opportunity to expand—in addition to stimulating interest in the space, we should ensure students can achieve the critical discussions, relationships and experiences needed to excel as entrepreneurial leaders.
In addition to the existing eClub programs, there are three things I’d love to see next year:
1. Plug into engineering
The research at Stanford is mind blowing. As a former CS grad student I’ve been crashing EE and CS department happy hours since fall quarter. Every PhD is working on world class innovation–in solar cells, energy resources, material science, online media: endless list goes on. EE alone admits 230 grad students a year—few of whom have ever thought through a DCF. I see huge gains from bridging silos through both social and professional development events across the schools.
2. Attract practical talent
In addition to VCs and successful entrepreneurs, I think students with ideas benefit significantly by connecting with practical talent—designers, technical talent, marketers and project managers experienced in working in new ventures. I see a structured eClub program for sourcing, vetting and hiring to help grow faster, stronger businesses during and after the GSB.
3. Break stereotypes
Every Stanford student has preconceptions—of tech people, poets, designers, MBAs, and everyone else in between. As a community, I think we need to get smarter about norms across disciplines. I see eClub having representation from other schools to hold the GSB responsible for helping them in entrepreneurial endeavors, and in doing so, set expectations for what the business school can achieve.
So those are my thoughts.
Does this make sense?
Seeing what classmates are planning for other clubs has me totally jazzed. There is so much possible, and so many fantastic people to work with.
Ian
PS: I know multiple people are considering the co-president role. My preference is having as many co-presidents as appropriate to have a great year—rather losing people with less popularity in an election. If that means 9 “co-presidents” who pour in time and leadership, I’d be thrilled to have that. If it means more people get to contribute, why not?
My two cents.
