“Do it. The more you think, the more you’ll convince yourself you can’t.” Sunil Rajaraman ’01, Co-Founder and CEO, Scripted
“Don’t fail by the misuse of your integrity.” – Trustee George R. Roberts ’66 P’93
“Marketing is a quest for the truth.” – Daniel Freeman ’96, Vice President, Product Marketing & Sales, Atlassian
These are but a few of the endless pearls of wisdom imparted by mentors and hosts during this year’s Bart Evans ’70 Silicon Valley Networking Trip. For ten years, the trip has helped open doors in Silicon Valley for more than 150 CMC students. This year also marked the first time it’s founding trustee, Bart Evans ’70, who passed away last year, could not be a part of the annual event he helped foster.
Twenty CMCers visited 12 companies during the six-day trip and networked with executives and entrepreneurs connected to many more. Alumni at four new companies invited the delegation to visit this year: Edmodo, Nextdoor, Scripted and Sumo Logic. The group returned to Atlassian, Twilio, Box, Google, Equinix, Intuit, Applied Materials and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (which included a meeting with CMC trustee and KKR co-chairman and co-CEO George Roberts ’66 P’93).
“This program continues to open doors and open eyes,” said Stephen Siegel ’87, director of the Silicon Valley Program. “Each year, alumni (many of whom are alumni of past ITAB trips) and parents take a considerable amount of time out of their day to visit with our students, talk about their careers, and provide internship and career advice. These connections have helped to make the San Francisco Bay Area one of the most active chapters in the Alumni Association’s network.”
The trip began with a welcome dinner hosted by CMC’s Information Technology Advisory Board. Former CMCAA President Carol Oliver Hartman ’86 briefed the students on etiquette and protocol for their meetings, while Parent Network Board member Gamiel Gran P’16 put Silicon Valley in context through the lens of a venture capitalist. A Tech & Law panel was organized and moderated by Noah Mesel ’83. Parent Network President Susan Mirbach P’16 P’19 hosted an informal mentoring dinner at her home with a dozen of her friends in the community, a four-year tradition that she is bringing to campus during Parents Weekend.
CMCAA held a reception for the group emceed by current CMCAA President John McDowell ’79. who asked for a moment of silence to honor founding trustee Evans. He then introduced Silicon Valley entrepreneur, author and executive Ben Casnocha ’11 as the keynote speaker. Jim McElwee ’73 hosted the pre-reception dinner.
“I feel a lot better about my entire life after this week,” said Ashraf Mathkour ’15 at the conclusion of the trip.