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March 2, 2007 Vol. 77,
no. 7S
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| FUTURE CEO: ME senior William Cheung dreams of starting his own company in five to 10 years. rachel shafer photo RACHEL SHAFER PHOTO
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Engineer cofounds the Berkeley Venture Group
New student club dedicated to undergraduate innovation
“Starting high-tech startup companies… one
semester at a time.” That’s the motto of a new club on
campus, the Berkeley Venture Group (BVG), which was cofounded by ME
senior William Cheung last November. “My friend [Political Science
senior] Josh Palmer and I were looking for an informal forum to get
undergraduates from different disciplines together to share ideas and
start companies,” Cheung recalls. “Of course, once we got
a group together, it wasn’t that easy.”
Undaunted, BVG adjusted its expectations. Now, instead of starting
the next Google, it’s looking for products on a smaller scale
that can be managed on the club’s small budget — ideas,
say, that augment current technologies, Cheung explains. “We
just want to get our feet wet.”
In its first full semester of operation, the club is already working
on its first venture: A super secret product to enhance the social
networking website Facebook. And while he can’t give out details,
Cheung promises the product will be hot.
Every other week, the 15 or so active members meet in a work session
to discuss progress and brainstorm ways to overcome obstacles. “It’s
pretty egalitarian and collaborative,” he says. “There’s
no one leader and everyone has a say.” To guard people’s
ideas, members sign a confidentiality statement pledging to not discuss
ideas in depth outside the group.
Dreaming up the next big technology isn’t BVG’s only goal.
The club, which is advised by Cal lecturer and serial entrepreneur
Bernt Wahl, also brings in speakers to talk about entrepreneurship,
innovation and the startup world.
Not surprisingly, Cheung wants to start his own company, but not right
away. “I’d like to get some company experience first, spend
a couple years in something like investment banking, meet dynamic people
and then look for a way to spinout from that.”
E-mail wmc@berkeley.edu or go to www.berkeleyventures.org for more
information.
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