Spring Break in Silicon Valley

I need an alum with a background in manufacturing! Anyone here in manufacturing?”

Caroline Cummings ’01, vice president of business development for Palo Alto Software, is almost shouting across the grand meeting space in San Jose’s chic Hotel Valencia.

She’s holding the hand of Drexel entrepreneurship major Will Andrew and pulling him through the crowd. She’s just heard his business plan, and she’s determined to pair him up with another alumnus in manufacturing.

Across the room, a flock of Drexel students — most of them freshman members of the Close School of Entrepreneurship’s inaugural Entrepreneurship Living-Learning Community — have gathered to hear the evening’s guest of honor, Jim Bean ’91, Apple’s vice president of retail. They’ve formed a ring around him and he’s answering questions, smiling ear to ear.

“I’m more interested in asking the students questions,” he says. “They are just so impressive. They’re disrupting the status quo. I love it.”

But back to Caroline and Will. They finally find an alumnus in manufacturing. Introductions are made. Information is exchanged. You see, Will Andrew has a pretty solid idea. Let’s just say it involves innovating the longboard skateboarding industry.

He’ll leave tonight’s event with strong connections — perhaps even a student co-founder for a company that didn’t exist just hours ago.

[box]This year, the Close school of entrepreneurship launched a new travel program to give students an experiential view of an entrepreneurial eco- system. The pilot trip took 16 students to silicon Valley in California during spring break, where they met with fellow alumni and executives of Apple, hired.com, shazam, Autonet mobile and eBay. silicon Valley is the first trip, but there will be more, to other inspiring destinations.[/box]

The same goes for another handful of students. Some are upperclassmen mentors; others already started businesses that helped them secure entrepreneurship co-ops through the Close School, where they are enjoying an unprecedented opportunity to work for themselves and build their ventures under the tutelage of Close School professors with the full support of Drexel’s Baiada Institute. After tonight, they have dozens of business cards and leads — their brains buzzing with funding ideas and counsel from alumni who work at Facebook and other pulsars in the Valley’s tech galaxy.

On the bus ride back to their hotel, they chatter about building new apps. Solving real-world problems like climate change. Biowalls. Benefit corporations. They talk about changing minds. Changing the world.

This is what a Drexel University alumni event looks like in Silicon Valley.

It’s not just an opportunity for 16 Close School students to network with alumni. It’s more like communing with kindred spirits. In Silicon Valley, dreams come true. The world really is flat. It rarely rains. Folks don’t wear suits. During the fourth quarter of 2013 alone, 124 companies headquartered in Silicon Valley raised venture capital. People call it the tech startup promised land.

Close School Dean Donna De Carolis calls this field trip a once-in-a-lifetime learning opportunity for a group of budding entrepreneurs. “When you look at entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley, they are no different than entrepreneurs in Philadelphia,” De Carolis says. “The common bond is the passion. Our students have so much passion to build new technologies and to solve the world’s problems. It was energizing to listen to their conversations. They’re building their own community, right here on campus. And the Close School is supporting that community.”

During the trip, students visited co-working spaces like Tumml and WeWork. They met Shazam co-founder Philip Inghelbrecht and learned about the importance of timing and due diligence. They met with eBay CMO Richelle Parham ’91 to learn how Bluetooth technology is revolutionizing retail.

And then there was a trip to Apple, where Jim Bean spoke for close to two hours about his career journey. Bean invited students to tell him about their own startups. He asked them questions; called them the stars. His humility was more than inspirational to a group of millennials who worship at the Apple altar. It was a watershed moment. A reminder that finding success isn’t always about finding the right idea; it’s about how you treat others. It’s about community.

During the last full day of the trip, Close School students and staff convened in a hotel conference room to reflect. Tears were shed. They called the trip humbling. They hugged, laughed. Some shared shortcomings and fears.

Others talked about pride — both in being part of the Drexel community at large, and in being part of a community of young en- trepreneurs in the Close School. They said there was a buzz on campus that reminds them of Silicon Valley. They said it’s up to them to keep the momentum going.

They pledged to support each other. To collaborate. To care.

Mission accomplished.

After a first-of-its-kind “field trip” to America’s technology Mecca in March, the Close School of Entrepreneurship is betting on its students building the next big thing right here on campus.