Welcome to Illuminated, a biweekly curated newsletter featuring must-read content by Rice Ventures, Rice University’s student-led startup accelerator and entrepreneurship club. We’re aiming to become the BNOC (big name on campus) for anything and everything entrepreneurship at Rice. In this curated newsletter, you’ll find how RV operates, ways to engage in entrepreneurship at Rice, and insights into the Houston startup ecosystem. Please like this issue above if you’ve enjoyed reading! If you’ve been sent this email and you’re not a subscriber, you can join by clicking on the button below.
Coming into your inbox a week late- sorry about that. 🥺 👉🏼👈🏼 We were in the middle of the Texas Tundra. As if the global panoramic wasn’t enough, we got hit with a combination polar vortex/power outage. :/ Jokes aside, it was genuinely a difficult time for a lot of Texans. Here’s a list of resources you can donate to or volunteer at to support Texans who were affected by the freeze. We’ve thawed out now, but many are still facing long-term effects.
Rice Ventures Reports
Y’ALL WE LAUNCHED 🚀 Words cannot express how excited we are for RV Spring 2021. Check out Nafisa’s post on LinkedIn announcing our launch, with a very cute picture of our cohort + Week 1 mentors. Endless thanks to our Leadership Team, our mentors, and our cohort startups. 💙
Is your Twitter TL filled with 🥬 ? Tech Optimist started an artist collective that mints an NFT based off cabbage. Are you an artist that wants to be part of the cabbage patch? Or just interested in learning more about NFTs (non fungible tokens)? 🥬 🥬 🥬
Speaking of crypto… Coinbase filed an S-1! You know what that means! (Unless you don’t! In which case we are here to explain.) The S-1 is the document a private company files with the SEC to begin going public. It contains basic business + finance info and is available to the public to read through. Coinbase is a crypto exchange platform cofounded by Brian Armstrong, CEO and Rice alum ‘05. Alex Wilhelm at Techcrunch writes some key takeaways here.
GenZ? VC? Are one or wanna become one? Check out what’s on our screens. Business Insider pulled the home screens of 10 GenZ VCs (term coined by Meagan Loyst at Lerer Hippeau) to see what they’re checking up on in this article. (sidenote: if anyone has a way to skrt the BI paywall, hmu)
Or if you’re more into the startup scene- pull up to the Summer YES Internship Information Session! The YES Internship Program gives undergraduates the chance to connect with startups for internships. Participants get hands-on experience growing a startup alongside founders from top schools. With 75+ affiliated start-ups ranging from pre-seed to Series C companies, the program has helped over 125 undergrads live and breathe the startup experience. Apps for the YES Internship Program will open on March 8 and close March 22. They’re hosting a student Information Session and Networking Event on March 1 at 7 PM EST. Register for the event at http://bit.ly/YES-Internships-Info-Networking. Learn more here.
Houston Happenings:
Ladder event: Q&A w/ Floodgate Capital Senior Associates: Feb 25
UX/UI Webinar: Designing a UX Case Study: Mar 1
CERA Week: Mar 1-5
Houston Innovates: Digital Transformation and Innovation in O&G: Mar 2
AI and Industries: Where are We Heading?: Mar 4
How to Start a Startup w/ Heath Butler: Mar 9
Conversations w/ Latinx Entrepreneurs in Houston: Mar 10
SXSW (virtual): Mar 16-20
Rice Business Plan Competition: Apr 5-9
Opportunities:
⏰ truly ✈️ . It’s almost March! If you’re still looking for an internship or full-time job, you are in the right place. Get to clicking! If you represent a company and want us to promote an open position, send us an email at team@riceventures.org.
Fellowships/Internships
Armory Square Ventures Fellowship
Precursor Ventures Internship
HBCU VC Summer 2021 Internship
Octahedron Capital Summer 2021 Internship
SheWorx Creative Internship
Full-time
Eniac Ventures Analyst
GSV Ventures Associate
First Round Capital (several positions)
What We’re Following:
We follow things on Twitter, and yet Rice Ventures doesn’t have a Twitter account of its own. Do y’all think we should make RV official on the bird app? Let us know.
Remora’s launch!
Remora, one of RV’s startups in the Spring 2021 cohort just launched! (we’re so proud 🤧❤️ )
The Zuck’s thoughts on AR/VR summarized:
Mark Zuckerberg hopped on Clubhouse earlier this month to chat about a few topics, including AR/VR (a sector Nafisa’s a big fan of). Here’s the summary courtesy of Josh Constine:
While the above summary is great.. this do be how people on Clubhouse sound like
Hey! We’re Rice Ventures, Rice University’s student-led accelerator and entrepreneurship club. Thanks for reading Illuminated! We’d love your feedback - feel free to email us at team@riceventures.org. Like and follow our Facebook page and LinkedIn. For more content, check out our Notion and website.
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