Mark Coopersmith - Executive Faculty Director AND LEAD INSTRUCTOR
Founder of the Learn2Launch program, an educator, business leader and entrepreneur, investor and advisor, Mark has spent more than 20 years building businesses at the intersection of technology/clean tech, media, and brands. Mark works with investors, boards, and company leaders to drive growth and restructure businesses that range from early-stage ventures such as clean tech firm ETwater through global enterprises such as Intel, DirecTV and Sony.
Mark draws upon those experiences in the classroom at UC Berkeley, where he teaches Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Haas School of Business. He also acts as a mentor and advisor to many students and teams on campus and also at the SkyDeck Berkeley new venture accelerator.
Previously Mark was an Executive Vice President at Sony where he co-founded and built a $150mm consumer products and online commerce division, and was the founding CEO of pioneer online payments company WebOrder which he took though funding, growth and M&A (now part of Motorola). He was a Group VP and General Manager at consumer products company Newell Rubbermaid where he led the $300mm Global Technology Brands group; and earlier in his career was a strategy and M&A consultant with Ernst & Young.
Mark is an alumnus of UC Berkeley, where he earned his B.A. and MBA degrees. A frequent speaker on innovation, entrepreneurship and competitiveness, he has been broadly quoted including in the New York Times, The Economist , The Washington Post, LA Times and USA Today, and appeared in media ranging from Fox News and The Huffington Post to CNN and ABC Radio.
SHUO CHEN - INSTRUCTOR AND MENTOR
Shuo Chen brings deep Bay Area venture capital expertise as a General Partner at IOVC, focusing on early-stage enterprise SaaS and Future of Work startups, backing unicorns like Instacart and Checkr, and mentoring founders from her dual role as Faculty at UC Berkeley & Stanford. Her teaching emphasizes building networks, creating decision frameworks, and adapting to disruption, directly preparing students to navigate innovation and build impactful ventures. She bridges academia and practice, translating cutting-edge VC insights into actionable lessons for the next generation of entrepreneurs.
She writes a monthly note on what's new and next in startups here, and a weekly newsletter on tactical tips for founders here. She also hosts regular conversations with top founders and tech executives, such as the OpenAI's Chief Product Officer who built and launched ChatGPT, with videos available here
Prior to VC, Chen's background at Goldman Sachs and PwC, involved significant M&A deals for tech giants like Google, Microsoft and Alibaba, giving her a foundational understanding of scaling and disruptive corporate strategy. She also co-authored a leading book on financial regulations and advises Forbes China, showcasing her broad expertise in finance, tech, and global markets, all critical for understanding venture ecosystems. Her extensive experience offers students a holistic view of building and investing in world-changing companies.
As a fixture in the Bay Area's innovation scene, Chen serves on boards for major tech communities like Decode, the largest founder community co-hosted across Berkeley and Stanford, and she is involved with organizations shaping future work, highlighting her commitment to fostering entrepreneurial growth. Her unique blend of hands-on investing, teaching, and advisory roles at institutions like the World Economic Forum positions her as a vital resource for students aiming to disrupt industries and launch successful, forward-looking ventures.
Outside of venture, Shuo is appointed by California Governor Gavin Newsom to serve as 1 of 13 voting members on California’s Mental Health Commission, overseeing $10bn of annual budget and advising the Governor and the Legislature on policies for mental health.
GORICK NG - TECHNICAL MODULE DIRECTOR
Gorick is on the faculty at UC Berkeley, where he integrates real-world experience into the academic study of innovation and entrepreneurship. He teaches courses like "Redefining Success: The Unspoken Rules of Building an Entrepreneurial Career," which focus on applying key frameworks to real-world scenarios and making students career-ready in the competitive Bay Area landscape. His approach emphasizes practical skills and an "ownership mindset" crucial for success in both established corporations and nimble startup environments.
Before his transition to academia, Ng built a foundation in the corporate and financial worlds that directly informs his current teaching on venture strategy and disruption. His background includes experience in investment banking at Credit Suisse and management consulting at Boston Consulting Group (BCG), including a role with BCG Digital Ventures where he co-led digital innovation for a major US bank, working on product roadmapping, design, and go-to-market strategy for new digital products. This hands-on experience in developing a minimally viable product (MVP) and navigating the digital innovation lifecycle provides students with valuable insights into the mechanics of launching new ventures.
Beyond the university, Ng is a prominent voice in career development and innovation, recognized as one of the "30 thinkers to watch" by Thinkers50. He is the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Unspoken Rules: Secrets to Starting Your Career Off Right, a book published by Harvard Business Review Press that was given to all of Harvard Business School's MBAs to give them an edge in today's hyper competitive labor market and that is now used at companies like GE, IBM, and Aon. He is also creator of How to Say It®, a series of flashcards recognized as a Kickstarter "Project We Love" that helps professionals communicate more clearly and confidently. His ongoing work as a career adviser at Harvard College and a regular contributor to platforms like CNBC and Fast Company keeps him at the forefront of industry trends, enabling him to share current, actionable insights on navigating the modern workplace and entrepreneurial ecosystem. Ng writes a weekly career strategy newsletter that you can read here and subscribe to here
Featured Guest Speakers and Experts
Clement Perrot - A French Entrepreneur CEO’s Perspective on Building a Business In Silicon Valley
Clement Perrot is the CEO of Prynt, a consumer electronics startup which uses miniature printers and augmented reality to change the way photography and video is experienced, especially via mobile phones (think 21st century Polaroid cameras). Print emerged from the very first Learn2Launch cohort in 2013, when Clement teamed up with his classmate David Zhang after they realized that neither one of them was particularly interested in the original concepts they were then pursuing on separate teams in Learn2Launch. More from Clement’s LinkedIn profile:
Building the future of Photography, using Augmented Reality. Taking on many challenges at a time:
- Building Consumer Hardware, a mini-printer case for smartphones that prints photos instantly.
- Retailing at Best Buy, Urban Outfitters, Target, Bloomingdales, Amazon and T-Mobile.
- Backing our Hardware sales with a Razor and Blade model, and developing a subscription model around it.
- Using hardware to let people create "Harry Potter photos", photos that come to life from any smartphone.
- Developing a community of enthusiasts sharing stories and memories with photos carrying a secret message.
Edith Yeung - An Early-Stage Investor’s Perspective on What Makes for Successful Startups
Selected by Inc's Magazine as one of the Silicon Valley investors you must know, Edith Yeung is the head of 500 Startups Greater China and partner of 500 Mobile Collective Fund. She has invested in over 40 mobile, VR, AR, AI and machine learning startups including Hooked - #1 reading app for millennium, DayDayCook - #1 Asian Cooking media and platform, Fleksy (acquired by Pinterest), Human (acquired by Mapbox), AISense, Penrose, Cryworks, SIlk Labs, Piper, Apptopia, Mobile Action, Andy OS, Quickly, Powercore, Pack, Ingrain, Switch, Bento, DayDayCook, Palantir, etc.
Before 500, Edith ran marketing for Dolphin Browser, a Sequoia-backed mobile browser with over 150 million installs worldwide. Edith also worked with many Fortune 500 companies such as Siebel, Oracle, AMS, AT&T Wireless and Autodesk. You can also find some of her work on BBC, CNBC, CBS , NPR, Techcrunch,
Next Web, Mashable, Read Write Web, etc. She frequently speaks on China & Silicon Valley investment landscape.
<<Note: Edith is an investor in Prynt: a startup which emerged from the very first Learn2Launch cohort>>
Tim Smith - Design and Rapid Prototyping
Tim heads up portfolio operations at early-stage venture investor Bee Partners. An 8-time founder himself, Tim has built companies from the ground up, operating in basically every facet of the life cycle and organization. With more than 30 years of technology design, development, and marketing experience spanning large scale data center management to an interactive design agency, Tim has been in the founder’s shoes many times and is cool as a southern cucumber under fire.
In his role heading portfolio operations at Bee partners, Tim supports entrepreneurs as they build foundational companies. His operational experience includes serving as Founder and CEO of Red Sky Interactive in San Francisco, one of the pioneering and earliest funded Internet agencies (by Omnicom, New York). Red Sky was the third most awarded interactive agency in the world in 1999.
Tim’s broader entrepreneurship activities include serving as a Venture Advisor, Chair of the Design Program, and having served as a Representative to the Board at UC Berkeley’s SkyDeck accelerator where he also mentors many growth stage ventures. Tim’s specialties include: technology marketing and strategy, creative team building, interactive product design and production, design thinking/rapid prototyping, making new things from disparate parts. He loves juggling, biking, board sports and may be the only person you know who’s car was repaired by Steve Jobs.
Liz Allen - Go-to-Market Strategy and Tactics
Liz is a chief marketing officer and growth- oriented leader, having held many top marketing roles in organizations ranging from early-stage startups through Fortune 500 companies.
Liz is a versatile marketing executive with experience building brands, for me fast-moving teams, and leading marketing functions in technology, retail, consumer goods & services, and entertainment industries. She has held top marketing roles with Steve Jobs at Apple, drove growth at The Gap and LucasArts; completely rebranded the At Home Group prior to its IPO; and overhauled marketing at Cost Plus World Market. Liz is recognized for her skill in quickly driving results, building high-performing teams, and forging collaborative partnerships.
Matt Kirmayer - Legal Aspects of Entrepreneurship, and How to Work with Your Lawyer
Matt Kirmayer represents emerging technology companies and the investors who fund them across a range of industries, including software, educational technology, digital media, social media, artificial intelligence systems, robotics, and life sciences. Active in the technology and investment communities in Silicon Valley and the East Coast, Matt often works with emerging companies as their outside general counsel, managing legal, financial, and operational issues, from formation and angel and venture capital investment through exit.
Matt has more than 30 years of experience in the emerging company and venture capital ecosystem, including numerous seed and venture financings for technology and life science companies. Matt also has significant experience guiding clients in securities offerings and mergers and acquisitions.
As part of his commitment to gender equality, Matt sits on the advisory board of Astia, which is a nonprofit organization that invests in companies with women in positions of equity and influence. Matt is also an adjunct professor at the Integrated Innovation Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. In addition to Matt’s involvement in the Learn2Launch program, he is also a mentor at the Berkeley-Haas Entrepreneurship program and a Sky Advisor at SkyDeck, U.C. Berkeley's incubator and accelerator program for startups.
Leadership
Alex Bayen - FACULTY DIRECTOR
Alexandre Bayen is the Liao-Cho Professor of Engineering at UC Berkeley; a Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and Civil and Environmental Engineering; the Director of the Institute of Transportation Studies; and a Faculty Scientist in Mechanical Engineering, at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He received the Engineering Degree in applied mathematics from the Ecole Polytechnique, France, in 1998, and the M.S. and Ph.D. in aeronautics and astronautics from Stanford University in 1999 and 2004. He was a Visiting Researcher at NASA Ames Research Center from 2000 to 2003. Between January 2004 and December 2004, he worked as the Research Director of the Autonomous Navigation Laboratory at the Laboratoire de Recherches Balistiques et Aerodynamiques, (Ministere de la Defense, Vernon, France), where he holds the rank of Major. He has been on the faculty at UC Berkeley since 2005.
Bayen has authored two books and over 200 articles in peer reviewed journals and conferences. He is the recipient of the Ballhaus Award from Stanford University, 2004, of the CAREER award from the National Science Foundation, 2009 and he is a NASA Top 10 Innovators on Water Sustainability, 2010. His projects Mobile Century and Mobile Millennium received the 2008 Best of ITS Award for ‘Best Innovative Practice’, at the ITS World Congress and a TRANNY Award from the California Transportation Foundation, 2009. Mobile Millennium has been featured more than 200 times in the media, including TV and radio (CBS, NBC, ABC, CNET, NPR, KGO, the BBC), and in the press (Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, LA Times). Bayen is the recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) award from the White House, 2010. He is also the recipient of the Okawa Research Grant Award, the Ruberti Prize from the IEEE, and the Huber Prize from the ASCE
Laura Melendy - EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Laura Melendy is the Assistant Director of the Institute of Transportation Studies, Director of the Technology Transfer Program, and Founder and Executive Director of the Learn2Launch program. She has spent the last 18 years helping move research results into practice. She has developed and delivered professional development, technical assistance programs, and communications to encourage application of innovation and best practices in government, industry, and start-ups. She holds engineering degrees from the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of California, Berkeley.
In 2013, Laura received a request from a cohort of expertise-hungry French engineers and business students who wished to train with Berkeley engineering, design, and business faculty, and immerse themselves in the Silicon Valley entrepreneurship ecosystem. With her deep educational-programming experience and an entrepreneurial attitude, Laura set to work. She developed a budget, recruited faculty from across campus and industry, guided the curriculum, and smoothed the administrative path for the international visitors. The program for the group of 17 was a huge success, with multiple teams going on to raise millions of dollars in capital. Since that initial training, the demand kept coming. The program has now hosted over 250 students. Learn2Launch’s “birth story” rivals any Silicon Valley startup. “We didn’t set out to be entrepreneurs,” Laura says, “but we were bootstrapping, prototyping, iterating, launching, and scaling just like any startup, so right in front of our students, we were role models for the very skills we were teaching.”