By Dorm Room Fund
4.9
1010 ratings
The podcast currently has 70 episodes available.
Andrew Xu and Daniel Aboul-Hassan speak with Miranda Wang (@mirandaywwang) from Novoloop!
Novoloop is an advanced upcycling company that invents sustainable ways to convert end-of-life plastic into specialty materials.
(0:30) - Introduction
(1:00) - Where did the idea for Novoloop come from?
(2:45) - Key Novoloop moments while in college
(6:34) - Challenges while fundraising as a startup in a less-common industry
(9:04) - Most surprising lesson learned since co-founding Novoloop
(11:06) - What makes the Novoloop team special?
(15:08) - Co-founder dynamics (Miranda and her co-founder, Jeanny Yao, started Novoloop together in high school!!)
(18:47) - At what point did Miranda decide to raise a Series A?
(21:51) - What does Novoloop look in board members?
(22:57) - Andrew tells a funny joke
(23:34) - Miranda's must-visit botanical garden spots & more
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Get in touch with Miranda!
Website: novoloop.com
Twitter: @mirandaywwang
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mirandaywwang
Jonathan Chang is a XIR at Brex, where he works with startups and venture funds. He's also the founder of GenZScouts, a startup sourcing platform and quarterly fellowship for college students to leverage their networks and identify burgeoning startups.
He previously worked in data and analytics roles at NBC and Yumi, as well as numerous venture and investing roles at Lionsgate, Ground Up Ventures, and Global Silicon Valley.
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To get in touch with Jonathan, shoot him an email at [email protected]
Andrew Xu and Daniel Aboul-Hassan speak with Connor McEwen (@connormcewen) from Uniswap Labs!
Uniswap allows people to swap, earn, and build on the leading decentralized crypto trading protocol.
(0:32) - Introduction
(1:22) - What led Connor to join Dorm Room Fund
(2:52) - Deciding whether or not take a gap year during college
(4:24) - Important lessons learned from returning to school
(6:11) - Experience launching makeBU
(8:48) - Being on the engineering side & what people on the Business and Engineering sides can learn from each other
(10:55) - How Connor approached joining a large company vs. startup
(14:20) - Is Connor a Bitcoin millionaire?
(14:30) - Connor's funny story about mining Bitcoin
(15:31) - How to land an engineering role at an attractive startup
(18:10) - 2013 startups vs. 2022 startups
(20:06) - Hottest Web3 take
(21:43) - How should engineers working at early-stage startups view fundraising?
(23:31) - Staying up to date in the crypto space
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Get in touch with Connor!
Twitter: @connormcewen
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmcewen/
Josh Belinsky is the co-founder of Slate Milk, a venture back CPG company based out of Boston. Slate creates high protein, low sugar, lactose free canned beverages marketed toward adults. The DTC milk brand has raised raised over $7 million to date and is available in over 3500 stores nationwide.
Josh was previously part of the founding team at HqO, as well as a Business Development Executive at New Grounds Food before co-founding the brand with his partner Manny Lubin.
On this episode, Souhail talks to Josh about his upbringing, time at Northeastern, founding the company, appearing on Shark Tank, and much more.
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Andrew Xu and Daniel Aboul-Hassan speak with Ansh Nanda (@anshnanda_) from Un1Feed!
Un1Feed allows users to retake ownership of their social media feed.
(0:32) - Introduction
(1:00) - Ansh's background
(1:49) - How a cold-email led to funding from Paul English (co-founder of Kayak) for Ansh's nonprofit, You Change Earth
(2:58) - How Ansh got free tickets to the Duke vs. UNC basketball game
(4:18) - Favorite Duke Basketball moment
(4:56) - Ansh's involvement with Dorm Room Fund (DRF)
(6:44) - How his DRF experience impacted his paradigm as a founder
(9:46) - Why Ansh turned down a Google internship
(11:20) - What is Un1Feed?
(12:11) - How Ansh came up with the idea for Un1Feed
(14:00) - Will Facebook copy Un1Feed?
(17:00) - Challenge of competing with Facebook and other tech giants
(19:13) - Downside of working at a big tech company
(19:31) - Upside of working at Un1Feed (email Ansh if interested!)
(20:30) - Closing remarks
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Get in touch with Ansh!
Twitter: @anshnanda_
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.un1feed.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anshnanda/
This week, Souhail talks to Alice Ma from Mad Realities about her story and previous experience with the Female Founder Track.
Alice Ma is a Co-Founder of Mad Realities, a crypto based media company aiming to bring interactivity and innovation to media and content consumption.
Alice previously co-founded Archer, a social venture making data more accessible. She also played an instrumental rise in helping launch ConstitutionDAO, a decentralized autonomous organization that aimed to raised money to buy the U.S Constitution, but ultimately came short.
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For more information on the Female Founder Track, check out https://linktr.ee/dormroomfund
This week, Souhail talks to Chloe Lopez-Lee and David Dellal from Dorm Room Fund's PhD Founder Track.
Chloe Lopez-Lee is a Neuroscience PhD candidate at Cornell University and a Managing Investment Partner at Dorm Room Fund.
David Dellal is an NSF PhD Graduate Fellow at Yale University, Forbes 30 under 30, and CEO/Co-Founder at Floe, a cleantech startup. He is also a Managing Investment Partner at Dorm Room Fund.
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For more information on the PhD track, check out https://linktr.ee/dormroomfund
Andrew Xu and Daniel Aboul-Hassan speak with Iris Liu, Mia Krishnamurthy & Tori Orr from Dorm Room Fund's Female Investor Track (FIT)!
(1:17) - Mia's background and importance of FIT
(2:03) - Iris's background and importance of FIT
(2:50) - Tori's background and importance of FIT
(4:16) - What to expect from FIT
(6:33) - Details about the FIT community and benefits of the cohort size
(8:57) - How to make your story stand out
(10:32) - How students with no venture experience can showcase their interest
(12:08) - How to get the most of out the FIT program
(13:45) - Details about time commitment
(14:33) - What makes FIT special and unique from the other DRF Diversity Tracks
(16:13) - Final thoughts from Iris
(16:51) - How to get in touch
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Have more questions about the Female Investor Track?
Email: [email protected]
Andrew Xu and Daniel Aboul-Hassan speak with Ivan Zhao and Nika Duan from Dorm Room Fund's PRISM Investor Track!
(0:48) - Ivan's background and importance of PRISM
(4:11) - Nika's background and importance of PRISM
(6:51) - What makes PRISM special and unique from the other DRF Diversity Tracks
(9:19) - PRISM's cohort size
(9:52) - Community fostered during PRISM
(12:10) - How to get the most of out the program and time commitment
(13:12) - How to get your story to shine through in the application
(15:25) - How applicants can stay engaged with PRISM & VC beyond program
(16:37) - Nika's advice to applicants and helpful tips
(18:10) - Ivan's wall of love of people who reached out about PRISM's impact
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Have more questions about the PRISM Investor Track?
Email: [email protected]
Andrew Xu and Daniel Aboul-Hassan speak with Daniel Applewhite, Mea-Lynn Wong, Tori Orr, & Zakaria Gedi from Dorm Room Fund's Blueprint Investor Track!
(0:48) - Mea-Lynn's background and importance of Blueprint
(2:57) - Tori's background and importance of Blueprint
(4:35) - Zakaria's background and importance of Blueprint
(5:53) - Daniel's background and importance of Blueprint
(8:48) - What makes Blueprint special and unique from the other DRF Diversity Tracks
(12:17) - Details about the Blueprint community and benefits of the cohort size
(16:32) - How to get the most of out the Blueprint program and time commitment
(22:10) - Daniel's advice to applicants and helpful tips
(23:10) - Tori's advice to applicants and helpful tips
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Have more questions about the Blueprint Investor Track?
Email: [email protected]
The podcast currently has 70 episodes available.