I will be guest lecturing two classes at Duke University. I will be in on campus from September 6th-8th. Shoot me an email if you’ll be in the area!
Apologies for not posting regularly! I have been in Hawaii with little internet access but should be back posting often in mid-August!
I am happy to be spending a couple weeks in Colorado for a long, relaxing vacation. The weather here is beautiful! Here’s the difference between Houston and Aspen:
Colorado
Houston (car sitting outside for about 10 minutes)
Colorado
I’ll be sure to post more pictures as the trip progresses.
I choose to take the day off and visit Palo Alto – awesome town! I began the day meeting Kevin Harz, CEO of Eventbrite. He gave me some great advice. Eventually, when I start a company…he thought I should move away from the “noise” and really focus on building a great company when the time comes. I completely agree with Kevin. One day, when that big idea comes…I will definitely seclude myself from the noise and truly work on building a company to the best of my ability.
I then headed to Stanford University to meet with someone who I truly look up to – Tina Seelig. She wrote one of my all-time favorite books titled “What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20: A Crash Course on Making Your Place in the World.” I give the book two thumbs up! Following our meeting, I had her autograph my copy!
After meeting with Tina, I headed over to the Gates building to briefly meet with a computer science professor, Terry Winograd. He is best known for advising Larry Page, who is the founder of Google. Next I met with Ed Batista, an executive coach at the Graduate School of Business. Ed’s a great guy! I hope one day , I’ll be a student of his at the Graduate School of Business.
Sand Hill Road was next on the agenda. I sat down with Mike Maples Jr. and Ann Miura Koo for a good hour. Among other things, they gave me great insight with regards to why I should attend Stanford. If I can get in, I’d gladly spend four years there!
Rob over at the Founders Fund gave me a couple hour overview of Venture Capital – VC 101. We went from the ground up. Rob started off explaining a bunch terms VCs use…followed by the differences between private equity and the public markets. Next, he explained in depth the investment process and the forms of investment. There is a bunch more to add to this post! If you are interested in viewing the notes, send me an email. All in all, the lecture was very helpful.
Thanks, Rob!
Spending time at the Founders Fund has been great. I have had a blast and will continue to make the most out of it!
Let me briefly tell you about my first day. Justin Fishner-Wolfson (the guy who I am interning for) was in New York, so I arrived and met Ken, Luke, Brian, and Andrew. Andrew gave me a brief overview on the importance of accounting in both the venture and startup world. Through our two conversations that day, I learned that you have to know accounting when starting a company…with that said, I will definitely be taking classes on accounting in college.
I then heard a company (that will remain nameless) pitch to the Founders Fund. This particular company had a preexisting relationship with a couple of the people working at the Founders Fund. Relationships and having a strong team are key in the venture and startup world. One could say that most important part of a startup is arguably the team. The idea constantly evolves and changes…but the team will always be the same.
One billion people on the planet don’t have access to clean drinking water. That’s one in six of us. charity: water is a non-profit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. 100% of public donations directly fund water projects.
Here’s a quick interview I did with Evan Slusher:
When did you become involved with Charity: Water? What made you want to do so?
I have been interested in non-profit work for a long time. I was going into medicine, and after deciding it wasn’t for me I tried many jobs after college. I have a friend who worked with charity: water and was swamped with the upcoming charity ball. I talked to him about visiting and seeing the organization, and he offered me an internship. I accepted and have been here ever since.
How did y’all come up with the idea of Charity: Water?
Our founder, Scott Harrison, was a night club promoter here in NYC. He had a revelation one day about how selfishly he was living his life, and left it. He gave everything away, hopped a mercy ship off the coast of Africa, and started taking pictures. The story hit him hard, and when he came back he used the photos to put on an exhibition, and realized the power of the images. He also realized that one of the largest problems plaguing these nations was a lack of clean water. He used his 32nd birthday to raise money, giving up all the gifts, only asking for a $32 donation. That was the “Born in September” campaign, and the beginning of charity: water.
How often are you out building wells?
I’ve only worked here seven months, and haven’t been in the field yet. All staff members are on at least one trip a year, while Scott and Becky Straw (our water projects manager) are in the field quite a bit more.
Where do you see Charity: Water a year from now? What about five years from now?
Charity: water is growing in leaps and bounds. Even with the tough economy new and exciting things are coming in every day. We have some large plans in the five year scale, but you’re just going to have to wait and see what they are 
Please describe your favorite Charity: Water success story.
There are too many to count. I thought this last years charity ball was a huge success. The biggest success has to be seeing the wells go up in the field, and knowing that what we are doing has a good end result.
What are your top three favorite books?
I have a lot… I’ll just list three good ones I’ve read lately.
“Hippocrates’ Shadows: Secrets from the House of Medicine” – Davidy Newman
“Dead Aid” – Dambisa Moyo
“Backgammon for Blood!” – Bruce Becker (currently reading… The guys in our office have a friendly addiction to backgammon, and I’m trying to get better so I can compete)
Who are some of your mentors today? Do you have a favorite entrepreneur?
My mentors continue to be some of my teachers, family, and friends I’ve grown up with for years. I value their opinions more then anyone. As far as entrepreneurs go, I have to say I’m impressed with the people who have started charities, like the ones we work with, out of nothing more then a story. I know how hard it is to turn a small grassroots organization into a much bigger movement, and the people that pull it off are amazing.
What is Evan Slusher’s definition of success?
Rolex…. Just kidding…. Just being happy with your life. It doesn’t matter what you do, where or how you do it. If you go home at the end of the day and you’re happy, then that’s the key.
My junior year in high school will come to an end in eight days!
Here’s a real brief post announcing my summer plans:
During half the month of June, I will be interning at the Founders Fund in San Francisco. If you live in Silicon Valley and want to meet up please contact me!
For three weeks in July I will be hanging out in Aspen, Colorado with my family and a couple of friends.
Finally, in August I will visit Hawaii for the first time.
Along with those travel plans I will be: hanging out with friends, working on a few business projects, playing a ton of tennis, studying for the SAT, and relaxing.
