Guest Column | As you start this year, begin building something that matters
49 minutes ago
Guest columnist Sam Strickberger argues students should focus on creative entrepreneurship that has the power to change the world.
Credit: Abhiram Juvvadi
About a year ago, I met with a Materials Science and Bioengineering sophomore named Maxx Yung. “I’ve been studying memory since sixth grade when my grandmother died from Alzheimer’s,” he told me outside Saxby’s.
Maxx was researching semiconductors and biomaterials in the Singh Center for Nanotechnology and quickly becoming obsessed with a simple idea. The human brain processes information far faster and more efficiently than the most advanced computer chips. Maxx wanted to start building biological chips, which combine living cells with computer hardware. If successful, he could cut carbon emissions from computing by 1000x of what they are today. Maxx recently dropped out of Penn to launch a company doing just that.
There’s never been a better time to build on campus. But there’s an open secret at Penn and it becomes obvious as soon as New Student Orientation turns into on-campus recruiting. Top students are funneled toward big corporations only to spend their time making tiny changes to massive codebases and slide decks. Smart young people get stuck doing work that doesn’t matter.
It doesn’t have to be this way. I know because I saw it firsthand, initially as an undergraduate at Penn and now as the founder of Critical, a venture capital firm that invests in students tackling major crises.
During the beginning of my junior year, Aaron Kahane, a good friend who was one year ahead of me, shared a Google Sheet for organizing annual donations. An observant Jew, like me, Aaron committed to giving away 10% of his income and wanted to make sure I was as organized to do the same (I wasn’t). I found the sheet so useful that I quickly duplicated it. I’ve used it ever since.
After graduating from Penn, Aaron paired up with his college roommate Salo Serfati to launch Chariot, a startup that makes it easier to donate money to charities. The team was accepted into Y Combinator and is now one of their fastest-growing Series A companies, servicing thousands of non-profits that represent over 10% of the $500B sector.
I’m energized to be an investor in Aaron and Maxx. But we need more disruption, sooner. We need more young people building things that matter.
Every day, our team hears about major crises: construction companies looking for greener steel and cement; researchers searching for cheaper, more accessible clinical trials; families seeking affordable options for childcare and eldercare; high school guidance counselors overwhelmed by widespread student mental health struggles. There are important issues in search of talented people. I believe Penn’s ecosystem offers a solution.
Penn is the ideal place to begin building. Beyond the formal entrepreneurship infrastructure, which is robust and growing, campus is where you meet your cofounders, mentors, and supporters. Roommates become coconspirators. Classes become incubators. Lab PIs become advisors. Professors and alumni become angel investors.
This was true for me. I met my cofounders during a pre-orientation hiking program, PennQuest. We became inspired to start a company during Dennis Culhane’s freshman seminar about housing, found mentorship from Professor Tyler Wry, and eventually won the President’s Engagement Prize.
Penn students, researchers, and recent alumni are building some of the most important, mission-obsessed companies. These founders are mitigating the opioid crisis, expanding food access, creating healthier fish supply chains, and improving sustainable delivery. They aren’t just good for the world, they’re also generating real revenue.
Since I first arrived on campus in 2018, these companies, among others in climate, healthcare, and economic mobility, have raised $1B from leading investors and created over $5B in economic value. That’s without accounting for the Weissman Lab’s critical role in developing the Moderna and Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccines.
As these companies continue to scale, the next decade will tell an even larger story. Huge outcomes will be tied to meaningful change. That’s the next generation of innovation.
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In many ways, this is why I came to Penn. I recently dug up my original college application and rereading it, I realized I got a lot wrong about Penn (and myself). But as a 17-year-old I got one thing right: “I know Penn’s resources will serve as a source of inspiration and a reminder of why I’m on campus,” I wrote. They enable students to live by Franklin’s philosophy of converting knowledge into action.
So maybe Penn’s real secret is that talented people come here to build things that matter. What will you build this year?
SAM STRICKBERGER served as the President of the Class of 2022 and was a recipient of the President’s Engagement Prize. Now, he is a partner and co-founder at Critical Venture Partners, an early-stage venture capital firm investing in students tackling major crises. His email is s@critical.vc.
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