Billionaire tech investor Tim Draper will lead a powerhouse line-up of venture capitalists, CEOs, and rising tech stars at the Black Enterprise TechConneXt Summit in Santa Clara, California (Hyatt Regency, October 12-13, 2015). Draper will share some insights in identifying and investing in millennial tech stars in a fireside chat with Black Enterprise Women of Power Television host Caroline V. Clarke.
Draper also is the founder of Draper University, an educational program that offers a crash course in entrepreneurship, and currently is behind ABC Family’s Startup U, a competition-based television series for millennial entrepreneurs. Joining Draper for the fireside chat will be Sequoia Blodgett, who is currently an Entrepreneur In Residence at Draper University and can be seen starring in Startup U. The reality TV show is  a combination of sorts between Shark Tank and The Apprentice. In which case, Draper and Blodgett would be akin to Donald and Ivanka Trump.
Startup U is a Silicon Valley series that follows a group of ten entrepreneurs as they go through a sort of ‘entrepreneur boot camp’ at Draper University. The hopefuls complete a series of challenges each week, gaining the skills needed to successfully build their startup companies, and after seven weeks they will try to secure real investment dollars for their companies by pitching their ideas to venture capitalists eager to find the next big tech innovation.
Startup U is part of the ABC Family lineup, airing on Thursdays at 5 p.m. The show premiered on August 18 and comprises 10 episodes, of which six have aired to date, with the season finale slated for October 13.
Also a former Draper University student, the 31-year-old Blodgett is the only member of her graduating class to secure funding from Draper. Here business, “7AM,†is a mobile-business app community focused on promoting positive, intimate relationships.
Currently, she helps the students shape their own start-ups while continuing to develop her own business. To date, more than 180 Draper graduates have received funding that totals more than $20 million from mogul investors and Draper himself.As the founding partner of leading venture capital firms, Draper Associates and DFJ, Draper’s investments include Skype, Overture, Tesla, Baidu, Hotmail, IndieGoGo, and Theranos, among several others. In 2011, he founded Draper University to teach entrepreneurial skills, fostering young leaders and innovators as they set out to ‘light the world on fire.’ Over the past 3 years, more than 180 student ideas have been funded to the amount of over $20 million.
Attend the Black Enterprise TechConneXt Summit at the Santa Clara, California, Hyatt Regency from Oct. 12—13. It will present a unique, unparalleled opportunity to make connections among the best and brightest of the African American tech community–from Silicon Valley and beyond. At TechConneXt you will learn the secrets to Navigating the Silicon Valley Community, Discover Opportunities with Tech Companies, Find Funding Sources for your business and Connect with established tech leaders. If you are a part of the tech community, or one of its many stakeholders, you simply cannot miss it! Register today at www.blackenterprise.com/techconnext.