Tracy Chou (Block Party) - Founding a Mission-Driven Startup

Ryan Nece (Next Legacy Partners) - Learning from Achievement and Adversity

Ryan Nece is co-founder and managing partner of Next Legacy Partners, a multi-strategy venture platform investing in established venture firms, emerging venture firms, and select technology companies. A former Super Bowl champion, Nece transitioned from professional sports to entrepreneurship, founding and scaling multiple businesses before co-founding Next Legacy. In this conversation with Adjunct Lecturer Emily Ma, Nece shares the lessons he has learned about resilience, generosity, authenticity, and thoughtfulness from both painful experiences and huge successes. Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders is produced by the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP), the entrepreneurship center at the Stanford School of Engineering, and published on eCorner by STVP. STVP empowers aspiring entrepreneurs to become global citizens who create and scale responsible innovations. CONNECT WITH US YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ecorner [https://www.youtube.com/user/ecorner]   X: https://x.com/ECorner [https://x.com/ECorner]   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stanfordtechnologyventuresprogram/ [https://www.linkedin.com/company/stanfordtechnologyventuresprogram/]   Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/stanfordstvp.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/stanfordstvp.bsky.social]  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StanfordTechnologyVenturesProgram [https://www.facebook.com/StanfordTechnologyVenturesProgram]  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stanford_stvp [https://www.instagram.com/stanford_stvp/]    LEARN MORE STVP: https://stvp.stanford.edu/ [https://stvp.stanford.edu/]  eCorner by STVP: https://stvp.stanford.edu/ecorner [https://stvp.stanford.edu/ecorner]  Support our mission of providing students and educators around the world with free access to Stanford University’s network of entrepreneurial thought leaders: https://stvp.stanford.edu/giving-to-stvp/ [https://stvp.stanford.edu/giving-to-stvp/].

Jake Miller (Fellow) - Designing Products Around Customer Experience

Jake Miller founded Fellow coming out of Stanford’s d.school Launchpad course, starting with the Duo Coffee Steeper. Fellow products are now in 50 countries. In this conversation with Launchpad instructor and Adjunct Professor Perry Klebahn, Miller shares how he built a roadmap for his company, a portfolio of products, and a distribution plan by focusing on customer experience. Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders is produced by the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP), the entrepreneurship center at the Stanford School of Engineering, and published on eCorner by STVP. STVP empowers aspiring entrepreneurs to become global citizens who create and scale responsible innovations. CONNECT WITH US YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ecorner [https://www.youtube.com/user/ecorner]   X: https://x.com/ECorner [https://x.com/ECorner]   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stanfordtechnologyventuresprogram/ [https://www.linkedin.com/company/stanfordtechnologyventuresprogram/]   Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/stanfordstvp.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/stanfordstvp.bsky.social]  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StanfordTechnologyVenturesProgram [https://www.facebook.com/StanfordTechnologyVenturesProgram]  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stanford_stvp [https://www.instagram.com/stanford_stvp/]    LEARN MORE STVP: https://stvp.stanford.edu/ [https://stvp.stanford.edu/]  eCorner by STVP: https://stvp.stanford.edu/ecorner [https://stvp.stanford.edu/ecorner]  Support our mission of providing students and educators around the world with free access to Stanford University’s network of entrepreneurial thought leaders: https://stvp.stanford.edu/giving-to-stvp/ [https://stvp.stanford.edu/giving-to-stvp/].

Ellen Ochoa (NASA) - Leadership Lessons from Space

Ellen Ochoa is the first Hispanic woman astronaut to go into space, serving on four space shuttle missions. She served from 2013 to 2018 as the first Hispanic director and the second female director of Johnson Space Center. She earned her MS in electrical engineering and her PhD in electrical engineering with a focus in optical information processing from Stanford. In this conversation with Adjunct Lecturer Emily Ma, Ochoa shares insights she learned in space and on Earth about exploration, resilience, purpose, and teamwork. Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders is produced by the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP), the entrepreneurship center at the Stanford School of Engineering, and published on eCorner by STVP. STVP empowers aspiring entrepreneurs to become global citizens who create and scale responsible innovations. CONNECT WITH US YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ecorner [https://www.youtube.com/user/ecorner]   X: https://x.com/ECorner [https://x.com/ECorner]   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stanfordtechnologyventuresprogram/ [https://www.linkedin.com/company/stanfordtechnologyventuresprogram/]   Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/stanfordstvp.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/stanfordstvp.bsky.social]  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StanfordTechnologyVenturesProgram [https://www.facebook.com/StanfordTechnologyVenturesProgram]  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stanford_stvp [https://www.instagram.com/stanford_stvp/]    LEARN MORE STVP: https://stvp.stanford.edu/ [https://stvp.stanford.edu/]  eCorner by STVP: https://stvp.stanford.edu/ecorner [https://stvp.stanford.edu/ecorner]  Support our mission of providing students and educators around the world with free access to Stanford University’s network of entrepreneurial thought leaders: https://stvp.stanford.edu/giving-to-stvp/ [https://stvp.stanford.edu/giving-to-stvp/].

Elizabeth Weil (Scribble Ventures) - A People-Centered Journey

Elizabeth Weil is the founder and general partner at Scribble Ventures, the seed fund where builders from OpenAI, Meta, Twitter, Instagram, and a16z channel their operator DNA into backing the next generation of AI‑native companies. In this conversation with Adjunct Lecturer Emily Ma, Weil shares the life lessons she’s learned over her career as an operator and investor, emphasizing the importance of connecting with others and planning activities for yourself outside of work. Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders is produced by the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP), the entrepreneurship center at the Stanford School of Engineering, and published on eCorner by STVP. STVP empowers aspiring entrepreneurs to become global citizens who create and scale responsible innovations. CONNECT WITH US YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ecorner [https://www.youtube.com/user/ecorner]   X: https://x.com/ECorner [https://x.com/ECorner]   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stanfordtechnologyventuresprogram/ [https://www.linkedin.com/company/stanfordtechnologyventuresprogram/]   Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/stanfordstvp.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/stanfordstvp.bsky.social]  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StanfordTechnologyVenturesProgram [https://www.facebook.com/StanfordTechnologyVenturesProgram]  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stanford_stvp [https://www.instagram.com/stanford_stvp/]    LEARN MORE STVP: https://stvp.stanford.edu/ [https://stvp.stanford.edu/]  eCorner by STVP: https://stvp.stanford.edu/ecorner [https://stvp.stanford.edu/ecorner]  Support our mission of providing students and educators around the world with free access to Stanford University’s network of entrepreneurial thought leaders: https://stvp.stanford.edu/giving-to-stvp/ [https://stvp.stanford.edu/giving-to-stvp/].

Tracy Chou (Block Party) - Founding a Mission-Driven Startup

Tracy Chou is a product-minded engineering leader and exited founder with more than 15 years of experience building and scaling consumer and enterprise products. She is best known for her work advocating for diversity and inclusion in tech, and for being founder and CEO of Block Party, a platform for online safety, privacy, and anti-harassment, which was recently acquired by DeleteMe. In this conversation with Adjunct Lecturer Emily Ma, Chou explains how her early experiences working at tech startups inspired her to found a mission-driven company and how Block Party balanced mission and profitability. Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders is produced by the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP), the entrepreneurship center at the Stanford School of Engineering, and published on eCorner by STVP. STVP empowers aspiring entrepreneurs to become global citizens who create and scale responsible innovations. CONNECT WITH US YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ecorner [https://www.youtube.com/user/ecorner]   X: https://x.com/ECorner [https://x.com/ECorner]   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stanfordtechnologyventuresprogram/ [https://www.linkedin.com/company/stanfordtechnologyventuresprogram/]   Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/stanfordstvp.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/stanfordstvp.bsky.social]  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StanfordTechnologyVenturesProgram [https://www.facebook.com/StanfordTechnologyVenturesProgram]  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stanford_stvp [https://www.instagram.com/stanford_stvp/]    LEARN MORE STVP: https://stvp.stanford.edu/ [https://stvp.stanford.edu/]  eCorner by STVP: https://stvp.stanford.edu/ecorner [https://stvp.stanford.edu/ecorner]  Support our mission of providing students and educators around the world with free access to Stanford University’s network of entrepreneurial thought leaders: https://stvp.stanford.edu/giving-to-stvp/ [https://stvp.stanford.edu/giving-to-stvp/].