Startup Foundations – HUB TSP 2025 Kick-off Session
Welcome & Context
Session Overview
Kick-off session for HUB TSP 2025 (Harvard Undergraduate Ventures – Technology & Start-up Program)
Hybrid format: morning plenary lecture ➜ small-group “sections” ➜ skill workshops ➜ internship/consulting projects ➜ evening guest-speaker series
Two overlapping cohorts (S-1 in wk 5, S-2 just starting); same core curriculum
Organising team
Executive Director: Prof. Paul Bottino (founder of Harvard TECH)
Program Directors: Caleb Klein, Arhan Chhabra, Anaïs Somavar
Additional staff: program leads, PMs, resident mentor (Yvonne, IPO’d a company)
Prof. Paul Bottino – Key Messages
Life’s Work
Approximatley 20 yrs mentoring founders; ~40 founders/semester + alumni over summer
Constantly inside the “black box” of new ideas, markets, teams, customers
Entrepreneurship ≠ Schoolwork
No predetermined right answers; environment of continuous uncertainty
Treat program as personal growth & muscle-building for the innovation economy
Internal Compass Before External Maps
Journey of self-discovery → understand personal values → align venture choice with “why”
Ask everyone you meet: What do you actually do every day? (People = their daily actions)
Creativity is Limitless
Human brain ~10^{11} neurons × 5\times10^{4} connections ⇒ “essentially limitless possibility”
Foundational Patterns Observed
Problem obsession > solution attachment
Energy must come from serving a real pain-point; solutions iterate/change.
Strong convictions, loosely held
Be bold in a hypothesis but ready to pivot when data contradicts.
Personal Motivation Story
Former IP/business lawyer; immigrant family; grandfather invented tools but never owned IP
Wanted to empower creators to become owners (leverage assets, not labour)
Left law, joined Harvard to broker lab–industry deals; noticed no undergrad start-up support → founded TECH (Technology & Entrepreneurship Center at Harvard) in late-1990s Internet 1.0 era
Institutional Blindness
Even world-class organisations misjudge new tech (Internet hoax; blockchain only for criminals, etc.)
Lesson: don’t assume big brands “know”; opportunities hide in rapid change
Quarter-life Crisis Concept
Need to shut out external voices (family, teachers) → act on intrinsic drive; otherwise founder energy dissipates.
Service Mindset
Start-up begins as “our idea” but matures into serving customers who depend on you.
Illustrative Student Cases
Ag-tech (Australia rancher)
Started w/ drone idea for virtual fencing ⇒ evolved into smart collars & data platform; problem = cattle management inefficiency.
Dental-supply AI SaaS
Grew up in dental-distribution family → applied AI for sales coaching; pivoted to full CRM for large distributors.
Failure & Learning Stories
Dot-com Crash (2000)
TECH launched as Internet centre → market collapse; dean forced pivot to biotech; missed Facebook era.
Lesson: stand up for convictions; biotech too slow to teach lean start-ups.
Non-profit TB Drug-delivery Venture
Co-founded with charismatic but narcissistic partner → massive energy drain; learnt to detect narcissists (few long-term friends, self-adornment) and exit diplomatically (“you’re too good for me”).
Bottino’s Top Advice
Be an “open-minded learning machine.”
Catalog not only incoming information but the sparks (ideas/questions) it triggers → chase those leads.
Build self-knowledge to trade value in “knowledge marketplaces.”
Audience Q&A Highlights
Heuristic for depth vs breadth: maintain one deep expertise while attaching broad curiosities; practise metacognition (periodic review of what captures your attention & why).
Purpose discovery: can emerge through action; don’t wait for perfect clarity.
Legacy: focus on living values daily; let others decide the legacy.
Common early roadblocks
Seeking “right answers” from authority instead of bottom-up learning
Fear-based inaction; over-reliance on external expertise/prescriptions.
Caleb Klein – Orientation & Logistics
Daily Structure
Lecture (90 min) – conceptual content, Q&A
Section (60 min) – small-group activities & discussion
Skill Workshops – e.g.
Cold-emailing
Résumé/LinkedIn building
Internship Projects – teams consult for real start-ups (founder meetings in a few weeks)
Evening Speaker Series – 7 pm ET (most days)
Upcoming Speakers (partial list)
Ratnakar Lavu – CDIO, Elevance Health; former CDO, Nike
Saeed Amidi – Founder/CEO, Plug & Play
Lila Snyder – CEO, Bose
John Capodilupo – Co-founder/CTO, WHOOP
Chris Barton – Co-founder, Shazam
(Potential) Mark Cuban, Thomas Kurian (CEO Google Cloud), Josh Silverman (CEO Etsy), Ted Sarandos (Co-CEO Netflix)
Communication
Primary channel: Slack (message Caleb/Arhan/Anaïs or your Program Lead)
Zoom Q&A chat hidden from peer view for focus (1200+ msgs first day)
Mindset for Program
“Embrace the chaos” first week; systems & routines will emerge.
Peers = future co-founders/investors; actively network.
Opening “Corny” Speech Excerpts (Caleb)
Fellowship = launch-pad; not manual-reading but deep-end immersion.
Start-ups = “bets on a future that doesn’t exist yet.”
Innovation thrives on diverse teams & passionate disagreement.
Quote: “Creativity is intelligence having fun.” – Einstein
“Detach from ego; be problem-focused.” (Echo of Bottino)
Maya Angelou: “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”
Lecture 1 Content – “What Is a Start-up & Why Do They Fail?”
Core Definitions
Steve Blank's Definition
“A start-up is a temporary organisation designed to search for a repeatable & scalable business model.”
Temporary – phase, not end-state. Must evolve or die.
Search – high uncertainty; rapid hypothesis-testing.
Repeatable & Scalable – model must work again & again without costs ballooning.
Contrast
Start-up: high-growth, experimentation, venture-fundable.
Small Business: stable, local, execution-oriented; often bootstrapped or loan-financed.
Project: finite scope/time; not self-sustaining revenue.
Case: Airbnb vs Hilton
2009 Airbnb = start-up (testing if strangers would rent spare rooms).
Hilton = century-old company executing proven model.
Transition point: once Airbnb’s model became repeatable at global scale (pre-IPO), it ceased to be a start-up, though it retains experimental culture.
Common Start-up Myths & Truths
Need big technical team – False; many success stories start solo or non-technical (Instagram, Spanx).
Must launch perfect product – False; MVP first.
Reid Hoffman: “If you’re not embarrassed by v1, you launched too late.”
Only tech companies qualify – False; e.g., Warby Parker, Daily Harvest.
Great ideas guarantee success – False; execution >> idea quality.
Failure Statistics (CB Insights study)
Top reasons (multiple selections possible)
No market need 42\%
Run out of cash 29\%
Wrong team 23\%
Outcompeted 19\%
Pricing/cost issues 18\%
Poor product 17\%
No business model 17\%
Marketing mistakes 14\%
Illustrated Failures
Vine – huge early traction; failed to evolve & monetise creators → exit.
Theranos (briefly referenced) – tech claims unverified; ethics & execution failures.
Professor’s biotech pivot story – institutional mis-timing + partner mis-alignment.
Risk, Failure & Growth Mindset
Start-up environment = “conditions of extreme uncertainty” (Eric Ries).
Only advantage: learn faster than competitors.
Failure = feedback; iterate, adjust, relaunch.
Global data: start-up failure rate >> success rate across all countries, yet ecosystem thrives because each failure = knowledge transfer.
Action Items for Students
Reflect daily on what sparks interest & why (metacognition journal).
During note-taking, capture both facts and ideas/questions they trigger.
Begin networking with peers + program staff on Slack.
Prepare for guest speakers: research backgrounds & draft questions.
Approach upcoming sections with “learning machine” mindset: test, discuss, iterate.
Key Quotations (Quick Reference)
Steve Blank: “Start-up = temporary organisation searching for repeatable, scalable model.”
Reid Hoffman: “If you’re not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you launched too late.”
Eric Ries: “The only way to win is to learn faster than anyone else.”
Prof. Bottino: “People are what they do every day.”
Walt Disney (paraphrased): “Focus on the work, not on the person.”
Einstein: “Creativity is intelligence having fun.”
Maya Angelou: “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”