💡Issue #15: The History of Innovation Economics
What Innovation Economics is and how entrepreneurs help drive it
💬 Welcome to issue #15 of Between the Lines
October is off and running, and so are we! I got back late on Saturday night from Claremont and spent a wonderful Friday and Saturday on CMC’s campus for Impact Weekend. What a treat.
This week, enjoy a brief introduction and history of Innovation Economics, the inside scoop on a hot NFT collection dropping on Friday, an opportunity for companies to partner with a team of hotshot data science capstone students, and more. Check out the goody-good below. 👇
My Best, Miles
📢 👥 Community Voices: A Brief History on Innovation Economics
Author: Hunter Kettering
Hunter Kettering is a CMC grad and Program Manager at Exponential Impact, a Colorado-based startup accelerator focused on cybersecurity, AI, blockchain, and sustainable technology. When not nerding out on economic theory or working with entrepreneurs, you can find him appreciating the arts and the great outdoors in Colorado.
These days, it’s commonplace to hear the word ‘innovation,’ particularly as it relates to Silicon Valley. Unfortunately, though, the term ‘innovation’ now seems to have the same nonsensical relevance to everything and nothing, a business platitude like ‘synergy.’ But what is ‘innovation?’ And why does it matter? Well, innovation is most simply defined as:
Implementing ideas that introduce new goods or services
Improvements in offering goods or services
Innovation can create or expand markets, and therefore is relevant to economic growth. In this essay, I’ll share a brief history of our understanding of the role innovation can play in economic development.
One needs to look no further than the devices in ones’ pocket and the apps on those devices to see that investing in technology and innovation can drive economies. Some headlines for you to chew on:
Seven of the ten most valuable companies in the world were at one point venture-backed startups: Apple, Amazon, Alphabet (Google), Microsoft, Facebook, Alibaba, and Tencent
Public companies that raised VC funding account for one-fifth of the US public market cap and employ four million people
These same companies’ R&D spend accounts for 44% of the total R&D spend of all publicly listed companies
These headlines suggest a strong relationship between technology, innovation, and economic growth. Technology companies spawn new products and markets that can also increase productivity and reduce the costs of everyday life.
While these tenets are accepted today and demonstrated in society, this idea that technology is central to economic growth and innovation has a long intellectual history that far predates 21st-century empirical studies. It started as a qualitative theory, an idea, and framework, that has now proved true for today and going forward.
Keeping reading the full article below to get the full scoop on Innovative Economics and the importance of entrepreneurs👇
Interested in contributing to BTL with your thoughts or expertise on certain topics, industries, experiences, or anything else? Let’s talk!
🚨Claremonster Call-Out: Yohei Nakajima
Ever wondered who threw the first Pirate Party on Claremont’s campus? Look no further! With that type of genius and entrepreneurialism, it should be no surprise then, that Yohei is also starting up a unique NFT collection that you should get involved with - PixelBeasts.
I'm launching PixelBeasts on Friday, October 8th at 8:30am PT - which is a collection of 10k unique NFT collectibles on the Ethereum blockchain - much like CryptoPunks or Bored Ape. I drew the images and wrote the generative code myself, and have built up a community of founders, VCs, and developers interested in learning about web3 alongside me. I’m just in the process of setting this up and I've met incredible founders building in the space. Would be great to have some other Claremont people along for the ride! If anyone is interested, they need a Metamask wallet with ETH loaded up.
Check out Yohei’s medium post here which talks about the project as well as the official site where people will be able to purchase a PixelBeast on Friday! They also run contests and are currently building a community on discord. From Pirate Party to emerging fund manager to PixelBeast - Yohei gives a new meaning to Claremonster. ️🔥
👨🎓👩🎓 Pardon the Introduction: Jeho Park & the Data Science Capstone Project
Meet Jeho Park, the Director of the Murty Sunak Quantitative and Computing Lab at Claremont. He runs CMC’s Data Science Capstone Program and is looking to partner with companies for next Spring.
This program is an opportunity to partner with Claremont McKenna College through a structured clinic course in data science. Groups of students under the guidance of faculty advisors will be working with client liaisons on cleaning, querying, analyzing, and modeling data for businesses, non-profit organizations, and public agencies. Participating clients will get much-needed data projects off the ground while establishing relationships with the College by assisting in the training of the next generation of employable undergraduates in data science and data analytics. Past clients include NBCUniversal, the Los Angeles Dodgers, Wellpath, and many others.
If you, your company, or anybody else you might know is interested, email Jeho here! 📧
💼 Who’s Hiring?:
Interested in working for one of the highest-valued private companies ever? Come join Lacey McLean (CMC) in the treasury accounting group at Stripe. Stripe is the technology company that builds economic infrastructure for the internet! Lacey is currently hiring for her team, and looking to fill the following financial accountant role:
CMC graduate, Jacinth Sohi, has recently joined the startup Found, which just came out of stealth with a $20M+ Series A raise led by GV and Atomic. Found is a modern weight care platform pioneering integrated support through personalized coaching, online community, and if indicated, prescription medication. Jacinth and the rest of the team are looking to hire for the following roles:
Flower Company is a cannabis delivery company that is helping bring legal cannabis to the world at affordable street prices. Ted Lichtenberger is a friend of Claremont and the Co-Founder of Flower Co., and he is looking to hire some folks from the talented Claremont community for a variety of roles:
Check out all the other 5,000+ open jobs at 400+ Claremont-founded companies here on our Storyboard!
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As always, if any of these roles catch your eye 👀 , apply and mention Between the Lines! Or if you are an employer and are looking to hire tip-top Claremont talent, fill out this form to have your jobs featured!
🗣️ Conversations on the interwebz:
This week’s top read 🔥
Congrats to Living Carbon Founder, Maddie Hall, on making the 2021 Forbes Under 30 Science List! 🌳 🥳
Everything else you need to know….📖
More PixelBeast and NFTs from Yohei! Go ahead and read this thread if you’re wanting to get your feet wet in NFTs 🦶💧
We are happy to see it too, Alex! Congrats to Liam Burke (CMC) and the Paysail team on officially launching their product that leverages asset-backed stablecoins to offer innovative global B2B invoicing solutions 🎉
Make sure to give this a listen! Victor Penev (PO), Founder and CEO of Edamam, talks all about his company’s vision for food, health, and nutrition 🥗 🥑
Can’t get enough Between the Lines? Follow and connect with us on Twitter!
🤤 BTL Snacks:
You may not be able to get your favorites snacks at the Claremont dining halls anymore on the weekdays, but hopefully, these juicy tidbits from BTL will satisfy the hunger for now! 🍽️
❤️ A new startup out of stealth with $32M in funding and former Bumble exec?….. Read all about how Jacinth (CMC) and Found are pioneering integrated, personalized weight care and helping improve health and add years back to client’s lives
🚗 Cruise’s Robitaxi unit set to (autonomously) grow past $50B in revenue….. Dan Kan (CMC) and Cruise seem to be doing something right
🐛 Hold the salad, I’ll have insects for my side dish, please….. Feeding 9B people on earth will mean reimagining the edible world - find out how Patrick Crowley (CMC) and Chapul are contributing to the cause
🏆 2x Founder and now one of Inc. Magazine’s Top 100 Female Founders….. Shadiah Sigala (CMC) continues to impress as she and Kinside implement their mission to change childcare
🦁 This startup has a new product, a Miami HQ, a $500M valuation, and $190M+ in capital raised….. What is Jeeves! Find out all the new waves Jeeves and Matthieu Hafemeister (CMC) have been churning up
Feedback? We love to hear it. Hit us with an email. 👊🏼