While the COVID-19 pandemic posed unique challenges for Stevens’ student organizations, many have overcome the obstacles to bring new opportunities and experiences to students. Among these organizations is Rocket Fuel Ventures (RFV), Stevens’ resident venture capital student organization, which is gearing up for change and expansion after a successful first year.
RFV was founded by Stevens student Brian Li ‘22 in August 2020 “to educate students on Venture Capital principles and foster the entrepreneurship ecosystems in our community,” according to the group’s website. Venture capital is the practice of investing money into startups in exchange for a portion of ownership in that company, which is called equity. Venture capitalists have helped foster many well-known companies, such as Google and SpaceX, before they had access to large funds to use to fuel growth. In an interview with The Stute, Li said that the organization has aimed to accomplish its mission in four ways.
The first is a six-week course offered by RFV to interested students which takes them through the fundamentals of venture capital. The educational phase of the course is followed by opportunities for students to apply the concepts and skills they have learned, including a “due diligence project,” which refers to the process of critically evaluating an investment opportunity before committing funds. Li explained that their next course is expected to run during the first half of the Fall 2022 semester.
The organization also holds an annual conference, including a virtual international undergraduate venture summit that was held last April. Wanting to expose students in Stevens and other schools to venture capital in an accessible way, Li and his team invited speakers from highly successful venture capital firms like Bessemer Venture Partners, Lux Capital, and Lerer Hippeau to speak to student attendees from Stevens, Rutgers, Columbia, and dozens of other universities. The event attracted hundreds of students to hear from some of the top venture capitalists in the business.
The group is planning for their next conference, slated for April 2022, to be even more ambitious, with a broader scope that aims to educate startup founders as well as aspiring venture capitalists. In contrast to this year’s all-virtual summit, April’s conference is expected to be half virtual and half in-person, with the in-person component based in New York City. “The fact that Stevens is so close to New York City will allow for amazing networking opportunities as both founders, VCs, and people who work in the startup community will be at the in-person events,” said Li.
RFV has a close relationship with Launchpad@Stevens, Stevens’ undergraduate entrepreneurship program directed by professor Mukundan Iyengar. Iyengar and other Launchpad officers helped RFV get off the ground and continue to play a role in the organization. Additionally, RFV provides Launchpad with analysis recommendations, helping the incubator to decide how to allocate its investments to various proposed student startups.
The last pillar of RFV’s operations is also its newest. The organization is partnering with venture capital firms from the New York, Boston, and Austin metropolitan areas to provide Stevens students with insight into specialized sectors such as blockchain, consumer health, and cyber security. By offering sector-specific breakout groups to participants, Li said that RFV is better able to engage students with the industries they are most interested in.
If undergraduates wish to get involved in Rocket Fuel Ventures, the organization hosts weekly meetings on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. Li describes the meetings as “condensed and focused” but says each one is shorter and lighter than a full class. Applications for 2022’s course will open at the beginning of the new year to students who plan to graduate in the spring of 2023 or later.
While Rocket Fuel Ventures has handled the circumstances of the pandemic through virtual meetings, classes, and conferences, Li expressed enthusiasm for the opportunities that the return to campus has offered, like a shift to a hybrid meeting system that allows half of the group’s meetings to be in-person. “[We’re] having in-person engagements and doing things that strengthen us as a group.”
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