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Rady Entrepreneurs' Networks

Expert practitioners, coaches, investors, mentors and content providers to advise and help grow your venture.

Early-Stage Advisor (DRIvE)

A select set of Members are invited to meet in person as a group to provide advice to an early-stage team/company. The Team/Company provides a brief presentation to DRIvE and the Members ask constructive questions. The team or the Members may ask to meet with each other respectively following the meeting. Coordination is facilitated through CIID. Teams/Companies that present to DRIvE may come from across campus—they are not limited to Rady students.

Content Provider and/or Workshop Facilitator

The Center is expanding its offerings and often depends on highly experienced and knowledgeable practitioners to provide content. Select Members will be invited to offer content as guest lecturers in credit classes with the approval of the instructor, in the Center’s Lean Lecture Series, or in other training contexts. Members will be required to provide an outline of the content well in advance and work with the Center Executive Director to customize the material accordingly.

Accelerator Mentor

The Center hosts several accelerators where teams are supported by mentors. In some cases, members may be required to have domain expertise that aligns with accelerator theme.

Venture Fellows Mentor

The Center is piloting a new program to that provide Rady Graduate Students with real world experience in servicing startups or lab-based science and technology showing market promise. Project range from developing a new venture’s pro-forma financials or accounting systems to deep research/analysis on the market opportunities for new technologies.

Competition Coach

Teams participating in the Triton Innovation Challenge and the Border Innovation Challenge often benefit from a coach to help them refine their idea and pitch.

Investment Prep Coach/Pitch Intensives

Teams often require guidance on investment strategy and coaching to prepare them to present to investors.

In addition, the Center requires the following expertise as advisors. If a member becomes professionally engaged for compensation, employment, and/or consulting, the member must recuse themselves from the Entrepreneurs Network with respect to this particular Team/Company and report the relationship to the Center staff.

Interim C-Level Executives

Young startups often require seasoned expertise to progress—to secure investments, partnerships, establish operations, hiring, etc. The Center will make introductions of seasoned and ethical Members who have the interests in assuming an interim, part-time, or full-time executive role with startups.

Investors

CIID highly values investors open to participating in different stages of funding in an early-stage Company.

Business Services

The Center will curate relationships with various service providers. It is preferred that service provider engage the Center and related Teams/Companies with pro-bono offerings with no expectation of developing a formal relationship. However, CIID recognizes there is often mutual
Contact Tim Schwartz (tgschwartz@ucsd.edu), executive director, if you’re interested in accessing Network expertise or if you’re interested in joining the Networks.