June 06, 2018

Meet the other fellows over dinner.

June 12, 2019

Fellows attend the June Campfire talk series on starting something from nothing. Panelists include Olin alumni: Maia Bittner '11 of Pinch and Rocksbox Zach Brock '07 of Common Networks, and Adam Bry '08 of Skydio.

June 20, 2018

What do we mean when we talk about a startup? What purpose do they serve in the tech ecosystem and in the economy broadly? What are the different kinds of things people call "startups" - from a couple cofounders and a dream to multi-billion dollar tech giants - and what are the differences? Who should start a startup? To answer these questions, we have a lecture from Paul Graham and readings from Peter Thiel's "Zero to One" and some blog posts by Sam Altman. Also introducing the concepts of runway (default alive vs. default dead) and venture funding.

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• Zero to One: "The Challenge of the Future" by Peter Thiel
• Before the Startup (Video) by Paul Graham by Paul Graham
• Advice for Ambitious 19 Year Olds by Sam Altman
• Default Alive or Default Dead by Paul Graham
• From Pre-Seed to Series C: Startup Funding Rounds Explained by Ryan Law

June 27, 2018

We discuss Keith Rabois' lessons on how to be a great operator, and wisdom from Ben Horowitz's book "T he Hard Thing About Hard Things," which cover common pitfalls of smart employees at startups. Kim Scott covers lessons learned from Sheryl Sandburg on radical candor, and we cover issues of diversity from Sandburg's book, "Lean In."

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• How to Operate (Video) by Keith Rabois

• The Hard Thing About Hard Things: "The Right Kind of Ambition" by Ben Horowitz

• The Hard Thing About Hard Things: "When Smart People Are Bad Employees" by Ben Horowitz

• The Hard Thing About Hard Things: "Why Startups Should Train Their People" by Ben Horowitz

• Radical Candor by Kim Scott

• Lean In: Excerpts by Sheryl Sandburg

July 04, 2018

San Francisco has a lot to do on Independence Day. We'll find a venue for a traditional outdoor barbecue, but warn the Fellows, it can be freezing in San Francisco in July!

July 11, 2018

Growth is the only priority of a startup that has found a product people want. Selected reading explains why this is true (Peter Thiel, Joel Spolsky), and how startups should think about growth differently than big companies (Paul Graham). We also cover common startup revenue models (Christoph Janz), and some insights from prolific growth expert Brian Balfour and VP of Growth Marketing at Facebook, Alex Schultz.

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• Zero to One: "If You Build It, Will They Come?" by Peter Thiel

• Do Things That Don't Scale by Paul Graham

• Does Slow Growth Equal Slow Death? by Joel Spolsky

• Five Ways to Build a $100M Business by Christoph Janz

• Growth is Optional: 10 Reasons Why Companies Fail at Growth by Brian Balfour (optional video by Alex Schultz)

July 18, 2018

It's impossible to talk about trends in the technology sector without referencing Mary Meeker's annual Internet Trends Report. We'll follow that up with a thorough blog post by Vinod Khosla on where the industry is headed. Fellows will gain exposure to the broad sets of problems that remain unsolved, both in business and in technology.

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• 2018 Internet Trends Report (Video/Transcript) by Mary Meeker

• Reinventing Societal Infrastructure with Technology by Vinod Khosla

July 25, 2018

​Fellows attend the July Campfire talk series on growing something into a large something. Panelists include Olin alumni who have started companies now doing many millions of dollars in revenue or who worked on the growth teams at some of the fastest growing companies in history (TBD).

August 01, 2018

There are a lot of things to think about when it comes to finding a company to work for, either as an intern or a full-time employee. Readings by Naval Ravikant and Andrew Chen on finding purpose in your career, and Jensen Harris on his experience contrasting big companies to startups. Sam Altman and Joel Spolsky on hiring an interviewing so Fellows can see what the other side of the table is looking for, and a closing article on negotiation by Michelle Wetzler. A final activity for Fellows will be to use some of the things they've learned to find leads on startups they may want to work for in the future.

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• How to Get Rich (Without Getting Lucky) by Naval Ravikant

• New college grads: Don't sell your time for a living by Andrew Chen

• Leaving a Big Company for a Startup by Jensen Harris

• How to Hire by Sam Altman

• The Guerilla Guide to Interviewing by Joel Spolsky

• How I Negotiated My Startup Compensation by Michelle Wetzler

• Homework: Finding your dream startup job on Crunchbase or Angellist

August 08, 2018

The last event is a networking event involving all the Fellows, the Bay Area Olin Community, and outside guests looking to meet the Fellows.

August 15, 2018

With two weeks before Olin move-in day, any Fellows left in the Bay Area will be invited to present to the Olin community about their internships at a special Campfire. We bid them farewell and hope to see them in the Bay Area again soon.