ENTREPRENEURSHIP CAREER GUIDE Student Affairs at Carnegie Mellon University Silicon Valley
2 E N TR EPR ENEUR S HIP C A REER GUI DE S T U D ENT AFFAIRS AT CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY SILICON V A L L EY
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION......................................................................... 3 EXAMPLE RESUME.......................................................................4 SUPPLEMENTAL RESOURCES.........................................................5 Ideas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Getting started. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Solo Founder & Co-Founders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Growth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Entrepreneurs & Startups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Startup Financing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 VC Newsletter/Finance Insights into Industry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Business Planning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Podcasts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
A C T I O N S T O T A K E W H I L E O N C A M P U S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Accelerators, Incubators, Fellowships, Venture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3 E N TR EPR ENEUR S HIP C A REER GUI DE S T U D ENT AFFAIRS AT CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY SILICON V A L L EY
ENTREPRENEURSHIP CAREER GUIDE
Introduction Starting a company requires various skills and knowledge from different disciplines besides technology such as finance, legal, sales and marketing. This is the entrepreneurship guide that can support aspiring entrepreneurs at CMU-SV to achieve their goals in creating their ventures. The list of skills that are needed to be an entrepreneur include the following: communication, networking, curiosity, strategic thinking, resilience, finance, people management, and as you progress in your new venture this list will grow. Additionally, an entrepreneur is strong in AI literacy (prompting, integrating LLMs), no-code tools such as Lovable, product analytics & experimentation, and GTM for AI products. How AI Changes Early-Stage Founder Workflow AI has fundamentally transformed how early-stage founders validate ideas, build prototypes, and reach customers. Instead of spending weeks on research and design, founders can generate mockups, landing pages, and product concepts within hours using tools like ChatGPT, Midjourney, and Figma AI. AI also accelerates user research by summarizing interviews, analyzing pain points, and creating personas or JTBD insights instantly. Content creation—from pitch decks to marketing copy—can now be automated, enabling faster iteration and more frequent testing. This shift allows founders to operate with smaller teams, validate faster, and focus their time on real customer interactions and product strategy.
4 E N TR EPR ENEUR S HIP C A REER GUI DE S T U D ENT AFFAIRS AT CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY SILICON V A L L EY
EXAMPLE RESUME
To give you an idea of what a resume can look like for someone creating a start-up, please see the example below. This is a resume example from a real CMU-SV student, however, other data points are edited each year. Please recognize that this is not a real candidate. Please email career-services@sv.cmu.edu if you have any questions about this example resume or if you need to schedule a resume appointment, please do so through Handshake.
CMU Tartan https://linkedin.com/in/cmu-tartan https://github.com/CMUtartan
cmu.tartan@andrew.cmu.edu 123-456-7891 Mountain View, CA
Education •
Carnegie Mellon University Silicon Valley
Mountain View, CA
Master of Science in Software Management
Aug 2024 - Dec 2025
•
Tongji University
Shanghai, China
Bachelor of Engineering in Software Engineering
Sept 2020 - Jul 2024
Courses: Foundation of Computer System, Architecture and Programming Principles, Cloud Computing
Courses: Object-Oriented Programming, Data Structures, Algorithms, Operating Systems, Computer Network, Software Engineering
Skills • Programming Languages: Java, Python, Scala, Javascript, Typescript, C, C++, Ruby, Swift
• Databases: MySQL, PostGreSQL, MongoDB, DynamoDB, Neo4j, HBase, Redis • Frameworks and Tools: Java SpringBoot, Node.js, React, Vue, Ruby on Rails, Hadoop, Spark, Git, Docker, Kubernetes, Kafka
Internships •
•
Amazon Software Development Engineer Intern
Sunnyvale, CA May 2025 - Aug 2025
◦ Designed and implemented ETL pipelines in a Spark cluster which performed transformation and aggregation on a 3 TB raw billing dataset and processed them into DynamoDB using Scala ◦ Reduced current product’s API query latency by 8 times (from 25 seconds to 3 seconds) by constructing a NoSQL schema and building a new Java-based API service on AWS ECS which was suitable for serving complex billing data queries and scaling up for larger-sized upstream datasets ◦ Shortened billing data lag time from 1 day to 5 seconds by building an AWS SQS message consumer which updated relating rows in NoSQL tables once billing data change according to organizational structure change using Java SAP Shanghai, China Software Development Engineer Intern
Jul 2023 - Apr 2024
◦ Built 20+ SAP Jam public front-end components with high reusability and cross-browser compatibility using React ◦ Implemented an efficient front-end state management method to handle real-time customer data with Redux ◦ Designed microservices and implemented SAP Jam back-end features & RESTful APIs using Ruby on Rails ◦ Developed and deployed an integration tool which connects GitHub and Jira by updating Jira status once pull requests were published to SAP GitHub repository using Ruby, succeeded in improving teamwork efficiency
Projects •
RouteGen - AI Startup Validation Tool Mountain View, CA CMU Hackathon 2025 Oct 2025 ◦ Built an AI-powered validation assistant that helps founders test early product ideas through automated user research, landing-page generation, and competitor mapping ◦ Used LLMs to simulate interviews and surface insights, powering a React+serverless prototype that reduced validation time to 30 minutes ◦ Awarded "Best Practical Application" among 30+ teams for real-world relevance to early-stage founders
• TaskLoft - AI Workspace for Solo Entrepreneurs
Mountain View, CA Feb 2025 - Dec 2025 ◦ Created a unified productivity workspace that combines task management, market research, & auto-generated project briefs ◦ Designed an AI assistant that transforms vague ideas into structured PRDs, feature outlines, and go-to-market plans ◦ Built clickable prototypes & conducted 15 user discovery interviews to validate pain points around context switching
•
Research on User Profiling Based on Transfer Learning Tongji University
Shanghai, China Feb 2024 - Jun 2024
◦ Collected 20,000 users’ profiles and reviews data by a Python web-crawler from Dianping for training ◦ Extracted different dimensions of language features with designed matching strategy from Dianping and Yelp user reviews using Python ◦ Performed topic distribution analysis by understanding users’ review texts using LDA model ◦ Acheived a 70% accuracy in predicting user gender by implementing a transfer learning model based on Random Forest with a pre-trained text to vector embedding using Word2Vec model
5 E N TR EPR ENEUR S HIP C A REER GUI DE S T U D ENT AFFAIRS AT CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY SILICON V A L L EY
SUPPLEMENTAL RESOURCES This section is dedicated toward supplemental resources that
There are “Start Smart Law” workshops and speakers that
will help to develop entrepreneurial skills.
can be super helpful. For example if you are an international student, this Q&A can be a great tool, “Starting a Business
As a CMU-SV student, make sure you utilize the Swartz
While in F-1 Student Status” Prepared by the Office of
Center for Entrepreneurship and subscribe to their weekly
International Education at CMU: https://docs.google.com/
newsletter for announcements about events and workshops.
document/d/1XVCAsoMilolB7cVcAvUHo3nPnP6N5r3E/edit
IDEAS No
Article/Video Name
Author
Link
1
How to Get & Evaluate Startup Ideas
Jared Friedman
https://www.ycombinator.com/library/8g-howto-get-startup-ideas?carousel=Startup%20 School
2
Should You Start a Startup?
Harj Taggar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUEicVYRFU
3
Spatial Intelligence is the Next Frontier
Fei-Fei Li
in AI
https://www.ycombinator.com/library/Mb-feifei-li-spatial-intelligence-is-the-next-frontier-inai?carousel=AI%20Startup%20School
4
How Duolingo Turned a Free
The Wall Street
https://www.youtube.com/
Language App Into a $7.7B Business
Journal
watch?v=9KqrnBiyBQ8
Sam Altman
https://www.ycombinator.com/library/89-how-
Note: Duolingo Co-Founded by CMU Alum
5
How to Succeed with a Startup
to-succeed-with-a-startup 6
Elon Musk: Digital Superintelligence,
Gary Tan &
https://www.ycombinator.com/library/MX-elon-
Multiplanetary Life, How to Be Useful
Elon Musk
musk-digital-superintelligence-multiplanetarylife-how-to-be-useful?carousel=AI%20 Startup%20School
7
Rapidly Test and Validate Any Startup
Jake Knapp and
https://www.youtube.com/
Idea with the 2-day Foundation Sprint
John Zeratsky
watch?v=UbjAOCzpNWc
8
Request for Startups
Y Combinator
https://www.ycombinator.com/rfs/
9
How to Get and Test Ideas
Michael Seibel
https://www.ycombinator.com/library/7x-howto-get-and-test-ideas
6 E N TR EPR ENEUR S HIP C A REER GUI DE S T U D ENT AFFAIRS AT CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY SILICON V A L L EY
GETTING STARTED No
Article/Video Name
Author
Link
1
How to Get and Evaluate Startup Ideas
Jared Friedman
https://www.youtube.com/
| Startup School 2
She turned 100+ rejections into a
watch?v=Th8JoIan4dg Melanie Perkins
$42B company 3
Starting A Company? The Key Terms
LywX3T5Scc Dalton Caldwell
You Should Know 4
How Startup Fundraising Works
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=wH3TKpALlw4
Brad Flora
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=zBUhQPPS9AY
5
Startup Experts Reveal Their Top Pro-
Y Combinator
ductivity Advice 6
Lessons from 1,000+ YC Startups: Resilience, Tar Pit Ideas, Pivoting, More
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nF_ YWdz6S0Y
Dalton Caldwell
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=m7LvNTbaqSI
7 E N TR EPR ENEUR S HIP C A REER GUI DE S T U D ENT AFFAIRS AT CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY SILICON V A L L EY
SOLO FOUNDER & CO-FOUNDERS No
Article/Video Name
Author
Link
1
Solo Founder, $80M exit, 6 months:
Maor Shlomo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9KvV_
The Base44 Bootstrapped Startup
UOs3A
Success Story 2
3
Do Technical Founders Need Business
Michael Seibel &
https://www.youtube.com/
Co-Founders?
Dalton Caldwell
watch?v=43RhhwpiSk0
How to Find a Co-Founder
Harj Taggar
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=Fk9BCr5pLTU
4
$46B of Hard Truths: Why Founders
Ben Horowitz
Fail and Why You Need to Run Toward
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=KPxTekxQjzc
Fear
GROWTH No
Article/Video Name
Author
Link
1
“Dumbest Idea I’ve Heard” to $100M
Grant Lee
https://www.youtube.com/
ARR: Inside the Rise of Gamma 2
$1M to $10M: The Enterprise Sales
watch?v=3H0ngGU5pbM Jen Abel
Playbook 3
4
watch?v=37fKFWdrMyA
What World-Class GTM Looks Like in
Jeanne DeWitt
https://www.youtube.com/
2026
Grosser
watch?v=RmnWHz8HD74
Inside ChatGPT: The Fastest Growing
Nick Turley
https://www.youtube.com/
Product in History 5
https://www.youtube.com/
a16z Startups Guides
watch?v=ixY2PvQJ0To a16z
https://a16z.com/growth/
8 E N TR EPR ENEUR S HIP C A REER GUI DE S T U D ENT AFFAIRS AT CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY SILICON V A L L EY
ENTREPRENEURS & STARTUPS No 1
Article/Video Name
About
Link
Entrepreneurs’
The Entrepreneurs’ Organization is dedicated to
http://www.eonetwork.org/
Organization
transforming the lives of the entrepreneurs who transform the world representing 40 countries with 120 worldwide chapters.
2
Inc. Start-up
Advice for founders of start-ups and start-up en-
https://www.inc.com/startup
trepreneurs on writing a business plan, running a home-based business, naming a start-up business, how to incorporate, financing a start-up, buying a small business, and starting a franchise. 3
4
Forbes for
Read the breaking Entrepreneurs coverage and top
http://www.forbes.com/
Entrepreneurs
headlines on Forbes.
entrepreneurs/
SCORE
SCORE is a nonprofit association dedicated to edu-
http://www.score.org/
cating entrepreneurs and helping small businesses start, grow, and succeed nationwide. 5
Global
Global Entrepreneurship Week is the world’s larg-
Entrepreneurship
est celebration of the innovators and job creators
Week
who launch startups that bring ideas to life, drive
https://genglobal.org/gew
economic growth and expand human welfare. 6
Kauffman Foundation
The Kauffman Foundation works to further under-
http://www.kauffman.org/
standing of the powerful economic impact of entrepreneurship, to develop programs that enhance entrepreneurial skills and abilities, and to improve the environment in which entrepreneurs start and grow businesses. 7
Ted Talks on
Video archive on talks about entrepreneurship.
Entrepreneurship 8
https://www.ted.com/topics/ entrepreneur
Young Entrepreneur
YEC is an invite only nonprofit organization com-
Council
prised of the country’s most promising young entrepreneurs.
https://yec.co/
9 E N TR EPR ENEUR S HIP C A REER GUI DE S T U D ENT AFFAIRS AT CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY SILICON V A L L EY
STARTUP FINANCING No 1
Article/Video Name
Link
A Guide to Seed Fundraising By Geoff Ralston
https://www.ycombinator.com/library/4A-a-guide-to-seedfundraising
2
3
Understanding SAFEs and Priced Equity Rounds
https://www.ycombinator.com/library/6m-understanding-
By Kirsty Nathoo
safes-and-priced-equity-rounds
Dalton & Michael: YC Founders Made These
https://www.ycombinator.com/library/DY-dalton-michael-yc-
Fundraising Mistakes By Michael Seibel and
founders-made-these-fundraising-mistakes
Dalton Caldwell 4
5
The Right (And Wrong) Way To Spend Money At
https://www.ycombinator.com/library/M9-the-right-and-
Your Startup By Y Combinator
wrong-way-to-spend-money-at-your-startup
From Pivot Hell To $1.4 Billion Unicorn By Brad
https://www.ycombinator.com/library/NA-from-pivot-hell-to-
Flora & James Hawkins
1-4-billion-unicorn
For more insights to VCs and industry
CMU Tool - Use Career Shift https://cmu.joinhandshake.com/edu/articles/1210 to
insights, check out these pages and
reach out to people in the industry you are targeting • https://stvp.stanford.edu/
• https://www.mckinsey.com/
• https://www.strictlyvc.com/
• https://pitchbook.com/
• https://www.bcg.com/
• https://www.technologyreview.com/
• https://corp.smartbrief.com/ (NVCA)
• https://www.bain.com/
• https://review.firstround.com/
• https://medium.com/tag/business
subscribe to those that are helpful to you:
BUSINESS PLANNING No
1
Article/Video Name
About
Link
Ultimate Guide to
This 7-chapter free ebook covers business models, gen-
https://growthlab.com/
Starting an Online
erating ideas, mindsets, and tools to get you started.
guides/ultimate-guide-to-
Business 2
starting-an-online-business/
A Simple Guide to
This comprehensive guide from Square, Inc. covers the
https://squareup.com/guides/
Starting a
basics of starting a small business. It explains how to
how-to-start-a-business
Business
write a business plan and properly register a business. You’ll also learn how to finance a new business through investors and loans.
3
How to Write a
Whether you’re just starting out, need funding or want to
https://www.wikihow.com/
Business Plan
monitor the health of your business, creating a business
Write-a-Business-Plan
plan is your first step on the path to success. Read this extensive how-to to get started on your plan.
10 E N TR EPR ENEUR S HIP C A REER GUI DE S T U D ENT AFFAIRS AT CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY SILICON V A L L EY
PODCASTS No
Article/Video Name
About
Link
1
The Foundr Podcast
This podcast contains interviews with entrepre-
https://foundr.com/podcast-
neurs who have built, or are building, their busi-
with-nathan-chan/
nesses. New episodes posted every week. 2
The Smart Passive
Made for entrepreneurs starting an online busi-
https://www.
Income Podcast
ness, this podcast has interviews from entrepre-
smartpassiveincome.com/spi/
neurs who have successfully built their online business. 3
Startups For the Rest
This podcast from Rob Walling and Mike Taber
http://www.
of Us
has been around since March 2010. A lot of good
startupsfortherestofus.com/
advice and lessons to learn here. 4
Lenny’s Podcast
Interviews with world-class product leaders and
https://www.youtube.com/@
growth experts to uncover concrete, actionable,
LennysPodcast
and tactical advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product. 5
Rework Podcast
A podcast from the creators of Basecamp. Covers bootstrapping, staying small, and growing slowly. Also answers listeners questions.
https://rework.fm/
11 E N TR EPR ENEUR S HIP C A REER GUI DE S T U D ENT AFFAIRS AT CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY SILICON V A L L EY
ACTIONS TO TAKE WHILE ON CAMPUS THE LIST OF ACTIONS TO IMPLEMENT WHILE BEING AT
• https://www.linkedin.com/company/greylock-partners/
CMU SV:
• https://www.linkedin.com/company/lightspeedventure-partners/
• Attend meetups and events in Silicon Valley related
• https://www.linkedin.com/company/index-ventures/
to startups/entrepreneurship/investment.
• https://www.linkedin.com/company/bessemer-venture-
• Annual startup conference - TechCrunch. • CES • Developer Week
partners/ • https://www.linkedin.com/company/ggv-capital/ • https://www.linkedin.com/company/ivpvc/ • Read more about research in rankings of VC funds:
• Create a good LinkedIn profile with a nice profile
• https://www.cbinsights.com/research/top-venture-
picture, and well composed information about yourself.
capital-partners/
• Build your professional network. • Do not add everyone to your network. • Add only people that you know personally.
• Connect with startup founders in the field that interests you via LinkedIn. • Ask for 15 min calls or meetings.
• Write at least one customized direct message to every person in your network in 3-6 months. • Subscribe to all big incubators in SV: • https://www.linkedin.com/school/y-combinator/ • https://www.linkedin.com/company/plug-and-playtech-center/ • https://www.linkedin.com/company/500-startups/
• Find a successful founder from your industry. • Network with people • If you are working on a startup related to traveling and hospitality then contact Professor Stuart Evans. • If you need help or guidance related to funding and VC’s connect with Professors Lake Dai, Matt Kirmayer.
• https://www.linkedin.com/company/skydeck-berkeley/
• If you need help or guidance related to company
• https://www.linkedin.com/company/rocketspace-inc-/
incorporation, equity split, VC term sheets then connect
• Subscribe to all big VC funds in SV: • https://www.linkedin.com/company/sequoia/ • https://www.linkedin.com/company/andreessenhorowitz/ • https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-founders-fund/ • https://www.linkedin.com/company/khosla-ventures/ • https://www.linkedin.com/company/kleiner-perkins/ • https://www.linkedin.com/company/accel-vc/ • https://www.linkedin.com/company/benchmark-vc/ • https://www.linkedin.com/company/new-enterpriseassociates/
with Professors Matt Kirmayer. • Join CMU TEBA slack channel https://cmuteba.slack.com
12 E N TR EPR ENEUR S HIP C A REER GUI DE S T U D ENT AFFAIRS AT CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY SILICON V A L L EY
ACCELERATORS, INCUBATORS, FELLOWSHIPS:
Venture Funds:
• Venture Bridge program
• CMU Alumni Fund
• Fall mentorship program • Summer batch • https://www.cmu.edu/swartz-center-forentrepreneurship/education-and-resources/ venturebridge/index.html • Y Combinator • Y Combinator’s standard deal is a $500,000 investment for 7% equity in a startup • Winter batch - 3 months program • Period: from January through March • Deadline: September 25 • Summer batch - 3 months program • Period: from June through August • Fall hackathon (check the YC blog for announcements or subscribe for YC news) • Period: October - November • Application: • https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/ • Videos: • https://www.youtube.com/ycombinator • 500 startups • https://500.co/seed-program/ • Plug and Play Tech Center accelerator, mentorship programs • https://www.plugandplaytechcenter.com/ • A CMU alum who is starting a business also advised that “Another interesting way of getting your feet wet into the world of starting a business is to start on ‘the other side’ by applying for VC fellowships. This can help you get skills around how to navigate the company building process, get a high level view across markets and build a network before starting a business.”
• https://www.avgfunds.com/
13 E N TR EPR ENEUR S HIP C A REER GUI DE S T U D ENT AFFAIRS AT CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY SILICON V A L L EY
Participate in hackathons. There are a lot of hackathons happening in Bay Area that you can find out from: • https://devpost.com/ • https://www.hackathon.com/ • https://www.eventbrite.com/ • https://www.linkedin.com/ Hackathons is a good place to practice your coding skills, problem-solving, presentation skills, team building and collaborative work. Many hackathons have cash or some other valuable prizes for the winners that can motivate you or event be used as the pre-seed money for your startup project. Also, during hackathons you can meet new people, networking and find new teammates or inspiring talks. Visit conferences, forums, summits, meetups, tech talks. All of these events help you to stay in touch with your field of interest. You can find such events on: • https://www.eventbrite.com/ • https://www.linkedin.com/ • https://www.meetup.com/ • Subscribe for the newsletters of the companies that interests you • Search for the big annual conferences in the internet • CES, etc. Next steps from this point: • Find the ideas that interest you. • Focus on solving customer’s pain points. • Form a team. • Build a demo (MVP). • Create a pitch deck. • Start pitching to friends, friends of friends. • Network with people. • Make adjustments to your pitch and demo. • Pitch, pitch, pitch more. • Find investors. • Incorporate. • Continue to grow.