From September 25 through 27, USC Marshall School of Business sponsored the SoGal Startup Bootcamp, a three-day entrepreneurship festival and conference aimed at millennial women. The event consisted of two tracks—a Startupathon, in which attendees compete to form a startup; and a Bootcamp, which included more than 30 workshops and training sessions conducted by entrepreneurs and venture capitalists.
In a press release announcing the event, founder Pocket Sun (MSEI ’15) described it as “a South by Southwest for millennial women,” referring to the popular Austin music and technology festival held each year. Sun was inspired to address the diversity gap in entrepreneurship in her generation. “I was the only woman at startup and technology events,” she said. “I thought, ‘how can I change this?’”
The Startup Bootcamp is the second in a series that Sun created. The first, the SoGal Summit, was held on the Marshall campus in March of this year and drew 400 students, mentors, entrepreneurs and investors. Its success served as a catalyst, spurring Sun to develop the concept into something larger.
Speakers at the Startup Bootcamp included Kym Gold, co-founder of True Religion Brand Jeans; Melinda Moore, CMO at Crowdfunder; and Sequoia Blodgett, co-star of “Startup U” on the ABC Family Channel.
Keynote speaker Dr. Sabrina Kay, CEO and chancellor at Fremont College, addressed attendees at the Startupathon with a talk that covered mentorship at various stages of one’s career.
Other talks included “The Art of Negotiation: How to Get What You’re Worth,” by Apryl DeLancey, president, CEO and data scientist at Social Age Media, and “How to Skip Small Talk and Connect with Anyone,” given by Kalina Silverman, researcher at USC Annenberg’s Innovation Lab.