Stanford Sharks, Silicon Valley Innovation Academy (SVIA) Finale

This is an Archive of a Past Event

Event Description

Come watch the exciting finale to the Silicon Valley Innovation Academy (SVIA). Modeled by the popular game show “Shark Tank,” the top SVIA co-founder teams will pitch their company concepts before a panel of angel investors and top Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. Be a part of the live audience with other Stanford students, faculty, staff and community members.

Guest Bios

Geoff Ralston has been an investor in, board member of, and advisor to a variety of start-up companies, mostly in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is also a partner at Y Combinator. From 2007-2009 Geoff was the Chief Executive Officer of Lala Media, Inc., an innovative cloud music start-up in Palo Alto that was purchased by Apple in December of 2009. Geoff worked at Yahoo! from 1997-2006 after their 1997 acquisition of Four11 Corp. At Four11 Geoff was the VP of Engineering and led the creation of Yahoo! Mail's predecessor, RocketMail. At Yahoo! Geoff was Senior Vice President and general manager of the Communications Business Unit and subsequently served as the company's Chief Product Officer.

Geoff holds a B.A. in Computer Science from Dartmouth College, an M.S. in Computer Science from Stanford University, and an M.B.A. from INSEAD, the European Institute of Business Administration.

Lindy Fishburne is the Executive Director of Breakout Labs and serves as the Senior Vice President for Investments at the Thiel Foundation. She leads the organization’s strategic development and program design. She joined the foundation in 2007 after a career in management consulting, advising Fortune 500 companies on profitable growth strategies. She also brings years of experience in non-profit development and feasibility planning. Lindy has a deep understanding of what it takes to make it through the early days in business, having managed two start-up companies through rapid growth and eventual sale. She hopes that Breakout Labs’ novel revolving fund model will accelerate innovation and redefine how early stage start ups are funded.

Maci Peterson, the CEO and co-founder of On Second Thought, is a DC-based entrepreneur with roots in Chicago. In 2015, she was named “Tech’s Newest Innovator” by Essence Magazine and recognized among Washington Business Journal’s “40 Under 40”. On Second Thought won First Place at SXSW's annual pitch competition #StartupOasis in 2014, was named "The Texting Savior" by AT&T, and was recently named a Top 10 finalist in the Women Who Tech Startup Challenge, in partnership with Craig Newmark of craigslist and Fred and Joanne Wilson. Before launching On Second Thought, Peterson was a brand manager at Marriott International and a marketing strategist for The Root. Peterson received her Bachelor of Arts in public relations and advertising from Chapman University.

Arjun Arora is a co-founder at Immediately, and was was the Chairman and Founder of ReTargeter which was acquired by Sellpoints (March 2015). Arjun was the founding CEO of ReTargeter and bootstrapped the company to be in the top 100 of Inc's Fastest Growing Companies list in 2013. He is a recognized expert in display advertising and retargeting and has been interviewed on Bloomberg TV, been quoted in the WSJ and been mentioned in Forbes. He has been recognized at the White House, at the UN and at the Global Summit for Entrepreneurship for his success and commitment to a values centered organization.  He has invested and advised over 50 companies. He loves startups, music, people, travel, philosophy & life.

About the Silicon Valley Innovation Academy (SVIA)

SVIA exposes students to the Silicon Valley technology ecosystem through lectures, panels, in-person visits, and curriculum that discusses the unique resources for innovative ideas.