Summer in the City (and the Valley)

When it comes to learning the ins and outs of tech entrepreneurship, classroom lessons can take a person only so far.

That idea is a founding principle of Harvard SummerCamp, a grassroots initiative launched two years ago by a team of John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) students. The program seeks to connect Harvard student interns working in two of the nation’s biggest tech hubs with recruiters and startup executives who can offer real-world advice.

“Our goal is to enable students to get together every summer to explore their interests with friends, alumni, and businesspeople,” said Joe Kahn, A.B. ’18, a computer science concentrator. “The community aspect of SummerCamp is so important because it is easy to feel isolated as a student when you are working in a new city.”

The SummerCamp board expanded the scope of the Silicon Valley-based initiative this year, forming a second leadership team to organize events in New York City. Nearly 250 undergraduates participated in networking and community-building events on both coasts.

The group hosted a variety of activities, from intimate dinners with leaders of burgeoning Manhattan startups to festive Bay Area networking events featuring full-blown tech celebrities, like Airbnb co-founder and SEAS alumnus Nathan Blecharczyk, A.B. ’05. Panel discussions with recent Harvard graduates who work at Facebook provided a glimpse into the world of product development at a technology juggernaut. In contrast, a small group of students had dinner with a co-founder of startup Orchard Platform, who didn’t mince words about the sacrifices one must make to launch a company.

“From our peers, the question that is asked the most during these kinds of events is ‘Where were you at our age?’” said Henry Dornier, A.B. ’18, a computer science concentrator. “They want to know how these leaders and executives got where they are today. How did they go from being a college student to the founder of a multi-billion dollar company?”

A special event in San Francisco with two partners at Y Combinator focused specifically on how students can launch successful tech startups. In addition, a new mentorship initiative paired current students with recent Harvard graduates who are working in the fast-paced tech world of Silicon Valley.

With fall term in full swing, the SummerCamp team is organizing term-time events that will highlight tech careers and share entrepreneurship tips, to keep the summertime momentum going. While they aren’t planning to expand to a third city next summer, the team has been sharing their model with students at other universities who want to establish similar programs.

For computer science concentrator Tomas Reimers, A.B. ’17, who founded the group two years ago based on his own experiences as a summer intern in an unfamiliar city, seeing the initiative take root has been rewarding.

“SummerCamp really is driven by passionate individuals who want to build community. We set out with a mission of connecting students to their fellow students and alumni,” he said. “There are still growing pains and things to learn, but in terms of progress, it just keeps going up.”

(Photo courtesy of Facebook.)

Join SummerCamp

Are you a Harvard College student planning to intern in Silicon Valley or New York City next summer? SummerCamp is recruiting. The organization has opened registration for next year’s mailing list and is also seeking Harvard College students who are interested in organizing summer programs. Visit summercamp.io for more information.