The Silicon Valley Bank Trek

January 4-8, 2016

Anyone can read Ev Williams' daily posts on Medium, listen to Sam

Altman's podcast, watch a Tina Sharkey TED talk, or follow Semil Shah's

blog Haywire, but few will have an audience with all of these luminaries

during their lifetime, let alone over a four day event. Yet that's the

experience twenty-three students, from twelve Universities had when they

met face to face with twenty-one notable innovators and investors during

the Silicon Valley Bank Trek 2016.

The hub of the event was Silicon Valley Bank's WeWork space, in the

historic Golden Gate Theatre, in the heart of San Francisco's Mid Market

neighborhood.

Welcome to The Trek

Silicon

Valley Bank

Trek 2016

Day 1 SVB Trek 2016: Speed Meeting

The attendees were diverse in age, experience and interests - some

business veterans seeking MBAs, computer engineers, Life Science

majors, and even entrepreneurs on the verge of launching their first startup.

Embracing the opportunity to impact the gender gap in the start-up world,

nearly 70% of the Trek participants were women, all selected by advisors

from leading Universities and venture partners.

To champion the next generation of innovators, Silicon Valley Bank partners

with university advisors and tech industry leaders to create a unique

opportunity for students.

Fully immersed in SF's

tech scene, students

walked to Twitter,

Medium, and Obvious

Ventures where they

gained insights to

formulate their own

businesses and

inspiration to tackle the

world's biggest

problems.

Silicon Valley's home-town bank was joined by some of its closest

neighbors on Sand Hill Road to share their knowledge with student

innovators. From a casual food truck lunch in their joint parking lot with

Kleiner Perkins, to a private session with Scot Kupor at Andreessen

Horowitz [A16Z] - the neural network that comprises Silicon Valley was

brought into focus.

Throughout the Trek,

industry luminaries

were paired off to

engage in frank and

intimate conversations

about their role in the

innovation economy.

Longtime friends,

Aileen Lee (Cowboy

Ventures) and Tina

Sharkey (Sherpa

Foundry) shared a

stage for the first time

and led a discussion

on a range of startup

topics, giving insights

on the personal

challenges that come

with being an

entrepreneur.

Acquisitions: Lessons from All Sides

with insights from Jess Verrilli, Twitter.

Innovation Across the Table

Chef David Barzelay (Lazy Bear) and Ryan Sarver (RedPoint Ventures) talk

candidly about their non-traditional paths, unique stories and approaches

to "deconstructing" industries, e.g. underground dinners and Luxe Valet.

Tom Conrad, pioneer

of the ground

breaking, predictive

and adaptable

music service,

Pandora.

In a salon-style

conversation, Tom

spoke with close

friend Jennifer Lum

(Adelphic) about

working with

founders, building

and scaling a

business,

and life after IPO.

Gareth and company

discuss the parameters

of what is now coined

"frontier tech" and

bestow a lens into the

future where these new

categories will

dominate our everyday

lives.

Gareth Keane,

Qualcomm Ventures

with Emily Leproust,

Twist Bioscience;

Chris Wake, Spire;

Tim Harrison,

Swift Navigation

The Science and Art of Design

John Maeda (Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers) discussed with students

how the mind of an artist and designer can play a role in society and the

world of technology.

Introduction to Venture Capital through the Lens of Machine Learning

and AI

Nan Li,

Obvious Ventures

Finding the Right

Medium

From 140 Characters

to Long Format Story

Telling. Ev Williams and

David Hornik tell their

personal stories and

express their views on

how mediums can be

tools to share passions

and enhance ideas.

Ev Williams,

Medium with

David Hornik,

August Capital

From the streets of San Francisco to Sand Hill Road, the SVB Trek provides

today's innovators an immersive experience inside the innovation ecosystem.

Sam Altman takes us on a tour of YC Combinator while sharing life

lessons and insights gained while pursuing his mission to enable

innovation and fund early startups.

From Pay Pal Mafia to Silicon Valley Bank Trek

Ashraf Hebela, SVB Chief of Staff and Trek architect gave students an

insider's view of the innovation economy. His Neural Map of Silicon Valley

demonstrates that it's the "connections" between people that drive the

tech industry.

By the end of the Trek, it's

clear that Ashraf's neural

map has come to life. At

the closing dinner, there's

a sense of community and

connection.

Market Street in San Francisco

A shout out to all the students who participated in the Silicon Valley Bank

Trek 2016, and especially to our clients, partners and the universities who

made it all possible.

John China & the entire SVB Trek Team

University Partners

Brown University

Cornell University

Harvard University

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Ohio State University

Reykjavik University

Stanford University

Texas A&M

University of California, Berkeley

University of Michigan

University of Notre Dame

Wharton Entrepreneurship

SVB Trek 2016

Guest Speakers & Hosts

Aileen Lee, Cowboy Ventures

Chris Wake, Spire

David Barzelay, Lazy Bear

David Hornik, August Capital

Emily Leproust, TwistBioscience

Ev Williams, Medium

Gareth Keane, Qualcomm Ventures

Jennifer Lum, Adelphic

Jess Verrilli, Twitter

John Maeda, Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Beyers

Nakul Mandan, Lightspeed Ventures

Nan Li, Obvious Ventures

Ryan Sarver, Redpoint Ventures

Sam Altman, Y Combinator

Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, The Boardlist

Scott Kupor, Andreessen Horowitz

Semil Shah, Haystack

Tim Harrison, Swift Navigation

Tina Sharkey, Sherpa Foundry

Tom Conrad, Pandora

Special acknowledgement to SVB Trek 2015 alumni

and our industry partners

Bastiaan Janmaat, StartX

Scott Weiss, Andreessen Horowitz

DJ Patil, US Chief Data Scientist

Danielle Morrill, Mattermark

Andy Sparks, Mattermark

Jason Mendelson, Foundry Group

Joe Lonsdale, Formation 8

Mike John Baptiste

Jon Feiber, dschool

Paul Staelin, Birst

Roelof Botha, Sequoia Capital

Theresia Gouw, Aspect Ventures

Tiffany Apczynski, Zendesk

Tim Pauly, WeWork

About Silicon Valley Bank

For more than 30 years, Silicon Valley Bank

(SVB) has helped innovative companies and

their investors move bold ideas forward,

fast. SVB provides targeted financial

services and expertise through its offices in

innovation centers around the world. With

commercial, international and private

banking services, SVB helps address the

unique needs of innovators. Forbes named

SVB one of America's best banks (2015) and

one of America's best-managed companies

(2014). Learn more at svb.com.

Silicon Valley Bank is the California bank

subsidiary and commercial banking

operation of SVB Financial Group (Nasdaq:

SIVB), and a member of the FDIC. Silicon

Valley Bank and SVB Financial Group are

members of the Federal Reserve System.