TekTrek
Week One.
Cohort 1 · San Francisco
Cohort 1 · San Francisco
Scroll through the week
Overview
The first five days.
Cohort One gathered all together for the first time this week. 34 founders joined the 10 who arrived a week early, making up a total 26 projects across the 44, spanning AI, robotics, enterprise, and more.
Cohort One gathered all together for the first time this week. 34 founders joined the 10 who arrived a week early, making up a total 26 projects across the 44, spanning AI, robotics, enterprise, and more.
Week One was the kickoff: the whole cohort together, straight into the build lab in the Presidio, pitching to founders, operators and investors from day one, and ending the week with a permanent home for the program.
Week One was the kickoff: the whole cohort together, straight into the build lab in the Presidio, pitching to founders, operators and investors from day one, and ending the week with a permanent home for the program.
Move-in
Day 1
All 44 founders moved into USF for the first three days — the full cohort together under one roof. From there, straight to the build lab in the Presidio, where John Werner kicked the summer off with a presentation on the state of TekTrek, full of interesting and unusual props including a coin from the Boston Tea Party and a Star Trek communicator. Dave Blundin also presented his thoughts on building right now.
All 44 founders moved into USF for the first three days — the full cohort together under one roof. From there, straight to the build lab in the Presidio, where John Werner kicked the summer off with a presentation on the state of TekTrek, full of interesting and unusual props including a coin from the Boston Tea Party and a Star Trek communicator. Dave Blundin also presented his thoughts on building right now.
Every group pitched to mentors including Jeffrey Li (COO & Head of Product & Business, Liquid AI), Bing Gordon (cofounder of Electronic Arts and Chief Product Officer & Advisor, Kleiner Perkins), Silvio Sangineto (Principal Design Manager, Microsoft), Dave Blundin (Managing Partner, Link Ventures), Arisa Kuo (Managing Partner, PlanX AI), and Carson Linforth-Bowley (Founder, Metapattern).
Every group pitched to mentors including Jeffrey Li (COO & Head of Product & Business, Liquid AI), Bing Gordon (cofounder of Electronic Arts and Chief Product Officer & Advisor, Kleiner Perkins), Silvio Sangineto (Principal Design Manager, Microsoft), Dave Blundin (Managing Partner, Link Ventures), Arisa Kuo (Managing Partner, PlanX AI), and Carson Linforth-Bowley (Founder, Metapattern).
We also managed to fit in a quick visit to Macrocycle, one of the other startups at the build lab.
We also managed to fit in a quick visit to Macrocycle, one of the other startups at the build lab.
Feedback
Day 2
Pitches continued for the remaining groups, with mentors giving feedback on each project and offering to connect founders with people who could help. The afternoon finished with time out on the Presidio parade including a group photo.
Pitches continued for the remaining groups, with mentors giving feedback on each project and offering to connect founders with people who could help. The afternoon finished with time out on the Presidio parade including a group photo.
The cohort settled into the USF halls — strong facilities including the gym, and a short bus ride from the Presidio workspace.
The cohort settled into the USF halls — strong facilities including the gym, and a short bus ride from the Presidio workspace.
On the bay
Day 3
A trip to Sausalito and lunch — a bonding day, with the cohort mingling away from the build lab.
A trip to Sausalito and lunch — a bonding day, with the cohort mingling away from the build lab.
The afternoon was a sail across the bay on a large classic sailboat, out past Alcatraz with the Golden Gate and the Bay Bridge in view, plus an onboard Q&A with Elizabeth Harkavy, one of four principals at a16z.
The afternoon was a sail across the bay on a large classic sailboat, out past Alcatraz with the Golden Gate and the Bay Bridge in view, plus an onboard Q&A with Elizabeth Harkavy, one of four principals at a16z.
Below deck, the crew gave a tour of the boat's green engine, where John drew the line from the steam revolution to the one underway in AI. The cohort grouped up by school for photos on deck.
Below deck, the crew gave a tour of the boat's green engine, where John drew the line from the steam revolution to the one underway in AI. The cohort grouped up by school for photos on deck.
House day
Day 4
In the morning, 29 of the founders moved into the house (the rest stayed at USF) — everyone received Chia Pets, sleep masks, and TekTrek water bottles.
In the morning, 29 of the founders moved into the house (the rest stayed at USF) — everyone received Chia Pets, sleep masks, and TekTrek water bottles.
The day included a trip to Google, where we met recent grads of MIT, Harvard, and Princeton who work there and heard about the contrast between a large tech company and the startup scene. There was a working session led by Peter Danenberg of DeepMind and a photo in front of the famous Charlie's and the dinosaur, capped by a kickoff dinner hosted by Erik and Alena Brynjolfsson.
The day included a trip to Google, where we met recent grads of MIT, Harvard, and Princeton who work there and heard about the contrast between a large tech company and the startup scene. There was a working session led by Peter Danenberg of DeepMind and a photo in front of the famous Charlie's and the dinosaur, capped by a kickoff dinner hosted by Erik and Alena Brynjolfsson.
21 Stanford students from Erik's AI class attended, alongside a wide group of mentors. The room included a former colleague of Steve Jobs, Carl Page, Julie Choi, J. Frederic Kerrest (CEO of Okta and member of the MIT Corporation), Sandy Pentland, Mar Hershenson, and people from Apple, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Anthropic.
21 Stanford students from Erik's AI class attended, alongside a wide group of mentors. The room included a former colleague of Steve Jobs, Carl Page, Julie Choi, J. Frederic Kerrest (CEO of Okta and member of the MIT Corporation), Sandy Pentland, Mar Hershenson, and people from Apple, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Anthropic.
Atiq and Nandini Raza were at Erik's dinner too. They're hosting the cohort at their home on June 26 (which will include the CTO of Nvidia and the CEO of Cerebras), and after the dinner the TekTrek team left to scope out the space for this next event.
Atiq and Nandini Raza were at Erik's dinner too. They're hosting the cohort at their home on June 26 (which will include the CTO of Nvidia and the CEO of Cerebras), and after the dinner the TekTrek team left to scope out the space for this next event.
Closing the week
Day 5
Peter Wendell, founder of Sierra Ventures, visited the house, along with Erik Blachford, former CEO of Expedia. Jim Hornthal ran a GLIDR demo at the build lab.
Peter Wendell, founder of Sierra Ventures, visited the house, along with Erik Blachford, former CEO of Expedia. Jim Hornthal ran a GLIDR demo at the build lab.
The week closed with the Presidio build lab confirmed for the full month — a dedicated space being kitted out with tables and monitors, with monitors also going into the house.
The week closed with the Presidio build lab confirmed for the full month — a dedicated space being kitted out with tables and monitors, with monitors also going into the house.
Off-schedule
Also this week.
Half the cohort is spending the weekend at the Anthropic hackathon at Shack15, with a $150k token prize on the line. The brief was to build on Fable… Dario also sent tokens for the cohort to build with all summer.
Half the cohort is spending the weekend at the Anthropic hackathon at Shack15, with a $150k token prize on the line. The brief was to build on Fable… Dario also sent tokens for the cohort to build with all summer.
Saturday evening the house is hosting a BBQ to watch the NBA Finals, so the cohort can enjoy some down time after a busy week!
Saturday evening the house is hosting a BBQ to watch the NBA Finals, so the cohort can enjoy some down time after a busy week!
Over the coming two week, the TekTreker's will sprint to refine their idea and pitch for the upcoming demo day at Atiq Raza's home. This is in preparation for the final demo week on their return to the East Coast in August.
Over the coming two week, the TekTreker's will sprint to refine their idea and pitch for the upcoming demo day at Atiq Raza's home. This is in preparation for the final demo week on their return to the East Coast in August.
Calendar
More to come.
Dinners and gatherings run all summer. Subscribe to the TekTrek calendar so you don't miss the next one.
Dinners and gatherings run all summer. Subscribe to the TekTrek calendar so you don't miss the next one.
QUESTIONS
John Werner — Chief Architect — jwerner@mit.edu
Theo Ehrmann — Ops Lead — theo@ehrmann.haus