For the 53rd episode of our podcast, I interviewed Jodi Goldstein, Executive Director at Harvard Innovation Labs.
The Harvard i-lab is an incubator and ecosystem to help Harvard students build their startups and gain valuable connections. Since starting seven years ago, the i-lab has helped incubate over 1,200 companies, and altogether, they have gone on to raise over $1.5 billion. This includes companies like Handy (which was just acquired), Lovepop, Catalant, and Artlifting.
Another amazing statistic from the companies participating in the i-lab is the fact that 50% of their founders are female.
In this episode of our podcast, we cover:
- Jodi’s background going back to her early foundational years in Vermont, being part of an entrepreneurial family in the hospitality industry, and what that taught her.
- Why she choose the startup path out of HBS, and the details behind early-to-market companies that ended up being precursors to Facebook and Instagram.
- What led her down the path of starting her own company, Drync, one of the first apps in the App Store.
- How she got involved in the Harvard i-lab, the mission behind this initiative at Harvard, and why they don’t take equity in companies.
- Her views on what are the best measures for success, and how they are striving to give students an unfair competitive advantage.
- Advice for founders who are looking for a technical co-founder.
- Plus, a lot more!
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Keith Cline is the Founder of VentureFizz. Follow him on Twitter: @kcline6.