Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders (ETL)

Stanford eCorner
  • 4.5 (706)
  • EDUCATION
  • UPDATED BIWEEKLY

Each week, experienced entrepreneurs and innovators come to Stanford University to candidly share lessons they’ve learned while developing, launching and scaling disruptive ideas. The Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders Series (ETL) is produced by the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP) and published on eCorner by STVP.

  1. 1D AGO

    Elizabeth Weil (Scribble Ventures) - A People-Centered Journey

    Elizabeth Weil is the founder and general partner at Scribble Ventures, the seed fund where builders from OpenAI, Meta, Twitter, Instagram, and a16z channel their operator DNA into backing the next generation of AI‑native companies. In this conversation with Adjunct Lecturer Emily Ma, Weil shares the life lessons she’s learned over her career as an operator and investor, emphasizing the importance of connecting with others and planning activities for yourself outside of work. Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders is produced by the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP), the entrepreneurship center at the Stanford School of Engineering, and published on eCorner by STVP. STVP empowers aspiring entrepreneurs to become global citizens who create and scale responsible innovations. CONNECT WITH US YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ecorner   X: https://x.com/ECorner   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stanfordtechnologyventuresprogram/   Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/stanfordstvp.bsky.social  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StanfordTechnologyVenturesProgram  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stanford_stvp    LEARN MORE STVP: https://stvp.stanford.edu/  eCorner by STVP: https://stvp.stanford.edu/ecorner  Support our mission of providing students and educators around the world with free access to Stanford University’s network of entrepreneurial thought leaders: https://stvp.stanford.edu/giving-to-stvp/.

    46 min

  2. MAY 6

    Tracy Chou (Block Party) - Founding a Mission-Driven Startup

    Tracy Chou is a product-minded engineering leader and exited founder with more than 15 years of experience building and scaling consumer and enterprise products. She is best known for her work advocating for diversity and inclusion in tech, and for being founder and CEO of Block Party, a platform for online safety, privacy, and anti-harassment, which was recently acquired by DeleteMe. In this conversation with Adjunct Lecturer Emily Ma, Chou explains how her early experiences working at tech startups inspired her to found a mission-driven company and how Block Party balanced mission and profitability. Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders is produced by the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP), the entrepreneurship center at the Stanford School of Engineering, and published on eCorner by STVP. STVP empowers aspiring entrepreneurs to become global citizens who create and scale responsible innovations. CONNECT WITH US YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ecorner   X: https://x.com/ECorner   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stanfordtechnologyventuresprogram/   Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/stanfordstvp.bsky.social  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StanfordTechnologyVenturesProgram  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stanford_stvp    LEARN MORE STVP: https://stvp.stanford.edu/  eCorner by STVP: https://stvp.stanford.edu/ecorner  Support our mission of providing students and educators around the world with free access to Stanford University’s network of entrepreneurial thought leaders: https://stvp.stanford.edu/giving-to-stvp/.

    47 min

  3. APR 29

    Harry Tannenbaum (Mill) - Setting the Goal at Delight

    Harry Tannenbaum is the co-founder and president of Mill, a technology company combining hardware and AI to reduce waste and recover value from everyday materials, starting with food. Mill’s residential food recycler is now in tens of thousands of homes, creating the foundation for Mill Commercial, which pre-processes and analyzes food waste streams on-site, helping organizations reduce waste, gain operational efficiencies, and unlock new value from what was once discarded. In this conversation with Adjunct Lecturer Emily Ma, Tannenbaum explains his approach to creating products that customers rave about and companies that scale to the point of changing entire systems. Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders is produced by the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP), the entrepreneurship center at the Stanford School of Engineering, and published on eCorner by STVP. STVP empowers aspiring entrepreneurs to become global citizens who create and scale responsible innovations. CONNECT WITH US YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ecorner   X: https://x.com/ECorner   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stanfordtechnologyventuresprogram/   Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/stanfordstvp.bsky.social  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StanfordTechnologyVenturesProgram  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stanford_stvp    LEARN MORE STVP: https://stvp.stanford.edu/  eCorner by STVP: https://stvp.stanford.edu/ecorner  Support our mission of providing students and educators around the world with free access to Stanford University’s network of entrepreneurial thought leaders: https://stvp.stanford.edu/giving-to-stvp/.

    50 min

  4. APR 22

    Kit Rodgers, Ben Jun, and Paul Kocher (Cryptography Research, Inc.) - Complementary Co-Founders in Cryptography

    Stanford alumni Kit Rodgers, Paul Kocher, and Ben Jun co-founded Cryptography Research, Inc. (CRI), where they built and deployed some of the world’s most impactful security technologies. CRI was acquired by Rambus in 2011 for $342 million. Kocher is a cryptography and data security researcher best known as a co-author of the SSL 3.0/TLS 1.0 protocols. Jun is an engineer who most recently served as the vice president of livestream and video at Diamond Kinetics, which acquired his company sidelineHD, a livestreaming platform for sports. Rodgers is the senior vice president of technology partnerships and corporate development at Rambus. In this conversation, Kocher, Jun, and Rodgers discuss how CRI’s business model evolved and how they built their uncommon level of trust in each other throughout the process. Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders is produced by the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP), the entrepreneurship center at the Stanford School of Engineering, and published on eCorner by STVP. STVP empowers aspiring entrepreneurs to become global citizens who create and scale responsible innovations. CONNECT WITH US YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ecorner   X: https://x.com/ECorner   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stanfordtechnologyventuresprogram/   Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/stanfordstvp.bsky.social  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StanfordTechnologyVenturesProgram  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stanford_stvp    LEARN MORE STVP: https://stvp.stanford.edu/  eCorner by STVP: https://stvp.stanford.edu/ecorner  Support our mission of providing students and educators around the world with free access to Stanford University’s network of entrepreneurial thought leaders: https://stvp.stanford.edu/giving-to-stvp/.

    50 min

  5. APR 15

    Brendan Foody (Mercor) - Agentic Data and the Future of AI

    Brendan Foody co-founded Mercor, a recruiting startup that helps Silicon Valley's top AI labs train their models to do professional-level reasoning by matching skilled workers with enterprise projects. Foody and his co-founders, Surya Midha and Adarsh Hiremath, became the world's three youngest self-made billionaires in October 2025. In this conversation with Adjunct Lecturer Emily Ma, Foody shares how he and his co-founders identified agentic data as the next leap in AI training and benchmarking and built Mercor around it; predicts how the AI revolution will reshape work and the economy; and gives advice to aspiring entrepreneurs looking for a way into the AI market. Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders is produced by the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP), the entrepreneurship center at the Stanford School of Engineering, and published on eCorner by STVP. STVP empowers aspiring entrepreneurs to become global citizens who create and scale responsible innovations. CONNECT WITH US YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ecorner   X: https://x.com/ECorner   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stanfordtechnologyventuresprogram/   Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/stanfordstvp.bsky.social  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StanfordTechnologyVenturesProgram  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stanford_stvp    LEARN MORE STVP: https://stvp.stanford.edu/  eCorner by STVP: https://stvp.stanford.edu/ecorner  Support our mission of providing students and educators around the world with free access to Stanford University’s network of entrepreneurial thought leaders: https://stvp.stanford.edu/giving-to-stvp/.

    47 min

  6. 12/12/2025

    Sergey Brin (Google & Alphabet) - Google Origins and AI Futures

    Recorded live at the capstone celebration of the Stanford School of Engineering Centennial, this ETL episode features Sergey Brin, the American computer scientist and entrepreneur who co-founded Google with Larry Page and revolutionized global information access. Brin remains an active co-founder and board member of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, and he has been involved in Google’s Gemini artificial intelligence efforts. In this conversation with Stanford President Jonathan Levin and School of Engineering Dean Jennifer Widom, Brin tells stories from his Stanford years, shares insights from throughout Google’s history, and gives advice for students and aspiring entrepreneurs – including his perspective on the AI landscape. Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders and other Stanford eCorner content is produced by the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP), the entrepreneurship center at the Stanford School of Engineering. STVP empowers aspiring entrepreneurs to become global citizens who create and scale responsible innovations. CONNECT WITH US YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ecorner   X: https://x.com/ECorner   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stanfordtechnologyventuresprogram/   Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/stanfordstvp.bsky.social    LEARN MORE STVP: https://stvp.stanford.edu/  eCorner by STVP: https://stvp.stanford.edu/ecorner  Support our mission of providing students and educators around the world with free access to Stanford University’s network of entrepreneurial thought leaders: https://stvp.stanford.edu/giving-to-stvp/.

    1h 10m

  7. 11/24/2025

    Eric Volmar (Stanford University) - A New Entrepreneurship Playbook

    Eric Volmar is teaching lead at the Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation at Stanford. His work focuses on connecting defense, academia, and entrepreneurship to accelerate innovation for national security, supporting new ventures at the intersection of technology and policy. In this presentation – followed by a conversation with Tina Seelig, executive director of Knight-Hennessy Scholars and director emerita of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program – Volmar advises entrepreneurs about how to navigate a new landscape shaped by a shift to deep tech, blended capital, and governments reengaging with technology innovation. Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders and other Stanford eCorner content is produced by the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP), the entrepreneurship center at the Stanford School of Engineering. STVP empowers aspiring entrepreneurs to become global citizens who create and scale responsible innovations. CONNECT WITH US YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ecorner   X: https://x.com/ECorner   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stanfordtechnologyventuresprogram/   Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/stanfordstvp.bsky.social    LEARN MORE STVP: https://stvp.stanford.edu/  eCorner by STVP: https://stvp.stanford.edu/ecorner  Support our mission of providing students and educators around the world with free access to Stanford University’s network of entrepreneurial thought leaders: https://stvp.stanford.edu/giving-to-stvp/.

    49 min

  8. 11/19/2025

    Steve Cousins (Stanford University) - Real-World Robotics

    Steve Cousins is the executive director of the Stanford Robotics Center and founder of Relay Robotics (formerly Savioke), which builds autonomous service robots for hotels and healthcare. Cousins’ career reflects a commitment to advancing robotics from research to real-world applications. In this presentation, he shares stories of his time in research, startups, and academia to illustrate practical advice about hiring, developing robotics products, and bringing robotics into new industries. Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders and other Stanford eCorner content is produced by the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP), the entrepreneurship center at the Stanford School of Engineering. STVP empowers aspiring entrepreneurs to become global citizens who create and scale responsible innovations. CONNECT WITH US YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ecorner   X: https://x.com/ECorner   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stanfordtechnologyventuresprogram/   Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/stanfordstvp.bsky.social    LEARN MORE STVP: https://stvp.stanford.edu/  eCorner by STVP: https://stvp.stanford.edu/ecorner  Support our mission of providing students and educators around the world with free access to Stanford University’s network of entrepreneurial thought leaders: https://stvp.stanford.edu/giving-to-stvp/.

    46 min
See All (517)

4.5
out of 5
706 Ratings

About

Each week, experienced entrepreneurs and innovators come to Stanford University to candidly share lessons they’ve learned while developing, launching and scaling disruptive ideas. The Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders Series (ETL) is produced by the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP) and published on eCorner by STVP.

Information

  • Creator
    Stanford eCorner
  • Years Active
    2005 - 2026
  • Episodes
    517
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Creative Commons: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/
  • Show Website
    Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders (ETL)

You Might Also Like