When I launched SpartUp it was the first real startup incubator at San José State. San José State is the oldest public university on the west coast, with over 400,000 alumni. We turn out an abundance of engineers and developers who go on to build inside trillion-dollar companies... and fewer startups than the universities around us. Why? It's not that our students don't want to start companies, they do. But lack of VC funding and immigration status combine into a system designed to produce workers, not founders. That's what made this hard to say no to. In an interview about it, I called it "the opportunity to affect some really important groups of people who are coming through the educational system and starting to explore entrepreneurship." 25 years building companies, and I'm still learning how to do this part well. The earliest moment in a founder's life might be the one where the right perspective matters most. If you mentor, advise, or partner with university entrepreneurship programs, I'd love to compare notes. The full conversation, on perseverance, AI startups and university incubators, is in the first comment, along with my calendar. #Entrepreneurship #Startups #FirstTimeFounder #Founders