Two UC Berkeley Students Chosen for Silicon Valley Bank Trek

A Haas full-time MBA student joined a group of 18 others chosen by Silicon Valley Bank from universities across the country for whirlwind tour of meetings with a “who’s who” of tech leaders in Silicon Valley and San Francisco.

Dan Schoening, MBA 16 (pictured), along with undergrad bioengineering student Zachary Zeleznick, BS 16, represented UC Berkeley on the inaugural the Silicon Valley Bank Trek, held Jan. 6-8. the trek. The goal of the trek was to help build the students’ professional networks and inspire entrepreneurship.

Dan Schoening

Schoening says it was a special experience that allowed him to connect with students from eight other schools. Meeting Theresia Gouw, co-founder of Aspect Ventures, was also a highlight, he says.

“There are all these personalities in the Valley and you start to see that there are many different styles of leadership that can be effective in this space," he said. "To me, Theresia's genuine and approachable demeanor was particularly inspiring.”

In addition to a visit with Silicon Valley Bank, the students visited the VC offices of Andreessen Horowitz, startup business analytics company BIRST, and VC data analytics provider Mattermark, and the San Francisco-based co-working facility WeWork Golden Gate.

The nine universities chosen for the trek were invited to select two undergraduate or graduate students who best represented the spirit of the innovation from their school. All students were asked to read investor Peter Thiel’s 2014 book Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future before the Trek.

 

 

Dan Schoening
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