Today might be the first official day of
classes for the spring semester, but for a group of 56 students, the
academic semester started more than a week ago. The students, a combined
group of undergraduates and MBA students, traveled to California for a
new, week-long experiential program called LehighSiliconValley.

Hosted by the Baker Institute for Entrepreneurship, Creativity and Innovation, the students were given an opportunity to explore all-things entrepreneurship in the heart of Silicon Valley.

“It’s a bit like a study abroad program in the foreign country of
Silicon Valley,” explains Todd Watkins, director of the Baker Institute
and professor of economics.

Students from across Lehigh’s three undergraduate colleges and
representing a variety of majors were invited to meet with some of the
biggest players in the Silicon Valley area, including CEOs, founders of
tech start-ups, design engineers, venture capital investors and lawyers.
The experience gave them insight into how venture-backed companies
thrive and die.

Most days started off with a “live case” where teams of students had
the opportunity to hear CEOs share candid behind-the-scenes views of
their businesses, their strategies and their vision. The students, in
turn, analyzed the information and provided their findings to the CEO in
a very open, honest dialogue. Later in the day, the students heard from
investors of the same company they were analyzing.

“This was a life-changing experience. We learned in a week what
couldn’t be replicated in a 15-week semester,” says accounting major
LeVaughn Nesbitt ’13, as the trip concluded in San Francisco.

Photo by Christa Neu