Caroline Winnett, Executive Director of Berkeley Skydeck, discusses how universities can adjust internal academic incentives to support startup creation.
Assertion Supported
Berkeley Skydeck Fund shares half of its carry with UC Berkeley
“That fund is the Berkeley Skydeck Fund, which invests in our accelerator companies, and here's what we did that has really turned Skydeck into an extraordinary program, and one that, that other universities are asking about, and that is the fund, which is a pr…”
Opinion
Japan lacks the startup ecosystem to commercialize its top research talent
“What they don't have, and they recognize is a culture and an ecosystem where this talent can go from being a researcher, winning Nobel prizes, which they do, to startups going to market, and that's what they're working to change.”
Insight
Translating customer feedback into founder jargon kills early startups
“The degree of truly making sure you're not translating any of that language with your, you know, going in here and coming out the other end with your language and your wants and your, that's going to kill you as a young company.”
Assertion Not publicly verifiable
Berkeley Skydeck applications grew from 55 to 3,800 by Batch 21
“When we first started the accelerator batches, and this was before the fund got going. So this was, you know, batch one back in 2000 and 15. We had 55 applications, and we thought that was pretty good. Applications for batch 21, 3800.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Berkeley Skydeck Fund uses no UC Berkeley endowment or donation money
“None of the money in the fund so far is Berkeley endowment money or donations by alums. It's all investments by professional investors who want their money back, right?”
Assertion Supported
Skydeck Fund raised $23M and $60M, and is raising Fund III
“The fund is raised a fund one of twenty-three million, raised a fund two of sixty million, is going out to raise a fund three, and that is all possible because the returns on the fund, you know, the numbers, the fund is performing extremely well so that people…”