Lehigh Silicon Valley (LSV) is a three-credit class held over winter break. Some of the time is spent at Mountaintop and some is spent meeting virtually with industry experts. The program culminates with one week in San Francisco.
In December, prior to jetting off to San Francisco, the LSV students learned basic start-up terminology and met with the founder of With Meraki Co. (Giana Jarrah '22) and the founder of Mathway (Frank Balcavage ’01), which was sold to Chegg in 2020.
In early January, they met virtually with over 10 executives, founders, and investors, engaging in discussion and performing sample case studies.
Soaring Together scholar Forum Patel ’27 recently detailed the value of her experience with LSV, inviting our Instagram audience to follow her on her West Coast trip with the program.
Enjoy Forum’s firsthand account of the trip!
Sunday, January 5
Kickoff Dinner featuring Young Alumni in the Bay area.
Monday, January 6
Had an incredible morning at the Nasdaq Center with Paul Martino ’95 (co-founder of BullPen Capital) and Philip Smolin (CEO of Daash Intelligence). It was amazing to see the founder-investor dynamic in action! We got to complete a live case study for Daash Intelligence and present it to both Paul and Philip.
Ended the night in the best way possible — with In-N-Out!
Tuesday, January 7
Great start to the day with Jim Wassil ’99G ’05G at Vaxcyte! Learned how balancing life sciences and business can tackle global challenges.
Met Adam Draper, founder of Boost VC, the first investor in Coinbase! Learned about the accelerator model and the future of sci-fi tech — from virtual currencies to quantum computing.
Had a few hours to explore Pier 39, complete with sea lions roaring at us! Ended the evening with a delicious Thai dinner and grabbed some classic SF merch.
Wednesday, January 8
Spent the morning with Ben Gucciardi ’05 ’06G, founder of Soccer Without Borders. His journey from Lehigh soccer captain to global change maker is truly inspiring.
Had an amazing time at Blue Rise Ventures with Dan Poritzky ’99! Got to try Eat Just’s chef’d-up scrambled eggs made from mung beans — one of the tenant companies at Blue Rise — and sample unreleased products coming this year.
Had an inspiring evening at the Lehigh University Entrepreneurship Alumni event!
Got to hear from Marc Tarpenning, co-founder of Tesla, and connect with Lehigh’s incredible entrepreneurial community.
Thursday, January 9
Full circle moment with Sandy Stelling ’91! She came to talk to us in a roundtable discussion with Soaring Together scholars back in October on campus, and it was great to see her again on the West Coast. Her insights into leadership and transformation at Alaska Airlines were very inspiring!
Had a lovely small picnic at Wunderlich County Park. We went around doing appreciations for everyone, reminding ourselves how small acts of kindness can go a long way.
Got to hear from investor Larry Bowman ’80 in a truly inspiring session about navigating your own path. From Silicon Valley engineer to Stanford MBA, Larry’s journey proves that success doesn’t happen overnight — it’s all about focus, hard work, and intent.
Friday, January 10
Wrapping up our Lehigh Silicon Valley experience with a reflection session led by the director of the Baker Institute.
Thank you, Team 1, for the wild ride! It’s been an unforgettable journey filled with growth and collaboration.
One of the best parts about being a Soaring Together scholar is receiving funding towards any experiential learning opportunity of our liking, and obviously the one that I chose was Lehigh Silicon Valley. I’m so lucky that Lehigh has this extraordinary scholarship.
Yours truly,
Forum Patel ’27
Computer Science and Business (Concentration in AI, Minor in Entrepreneurship)
In This Image: Left to right: Nghi Bui '27, Ford Campbell '27, Kenna Macdonald '27, Forum Patel '27
In This Image: Left to right: Dave Jha ’22 (software engineer, Netflix); Diana Nicholas ’19 (cofounder and head of marketing, Anetac); Adam Goldstein ’16 ’17G (founder and CEO, Sway); Julia Pardee ’21 (associate, Munich Re Ventures); Eve Freed ’21 (product marketing manager, Cisco)
In This Image: January 6 — An In-N-Out food coma didn’t stop the students from powering through LSV homework! (Left to right: Anaya Rawoot '25, Kenna Macdonald '27, Forum Patel '27)
In This Image: January 7 — Yes, that is a Tesla as a desk!
In This Image: January 7 — A little bit of tourist time, exploring Pier 39.
In This Image: January 8 — Dan Poritzky ’99 hosted LSV at Blue Rise Ventures.
In This Image: January 8 — The students called the Lehigh entrepreneurship event “inspiring.” (Left to right: Marcus Smith '25, Ford Campbell '27, Zack Cohen '26, Forum Patel '27, Angela Cui '25, Dave Jha '22)
In This Image: January 8 — Co-founder of Tesla, Marc Tarpenning addressed the Lehigh University Entrepreneurship Alumni event.
In This Image: January 8 — The entrepreneurship event brought students face to face with alumni and Lehigh leaders. (Pictured speaking: President Joseph Helble ’82)
In This Image: January 8 — Ended the night with an impromptu Uber ride to SF’s most famous landmark! (Pictured: Irem Kayis ’26, Aashir Khan ’26, Gus Maass ’26, Andrey Montero ’26, Forum Patel ’27, Tawheeda Huq ’27, JR Perez ’27, Mithran Moses ’28)
In This Image: Leaving an iconic city with lasting memories.
