Join the UC Davis Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship as we kick off our 2017/18 Big Bang! Business Competition.
David Hahn is the executive-in-residence at Greylock Partners and Accel, two leading Silicon Valley investment firms. Prior to this, Hahn was president and chief product officer at GoFundMe, where he applied the best technologies and thinking to match donors with people in need, much as he did for job-seekers and companies during his decade at LinkedIn. As an early product manager at LinkedIn, Hahn launched many of the network’s most successful growth features and was also a key architect of LinkedIn’s monetization strategy, ultimately responsible for monetization products across all lines of business. Hahn started his career as an assistant to the chief of staff for U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein.
Hahn explored his passion for innovation and entrepreneurship at UC Davis. In 2002 his team, LabInfo, took second place in the Big Bang! competition. LabInfo had blueprints for an application to speed the way healthcare providers and public health departments communicate, interpret and manage data on communicable diseases. Hahn graduated from UC Davis in 2002 with degrees in economics and political science.
Chris Soderquist is the founder and director of Davis-based New Energy Assets, a solar project developer and investment advisor, and RepowerYolo, a solar group purchase program. He has 25 years experience founding, managing, advising, capitalizing and selling companies in the clean-tech, high-tech, professional services and private equity industries. Previously, Soderquist co-founded and directed Octus Energy, Crescendo, Sierra Energy and two business incubators: Venture Lab and Technology Development Center. He is a member of the Cool Davis Council of Advisors, a Davis Roots mentor, a board member with Inventopia, and a former board member of Sierra Energy, the Sacramento Entrepreneurship Academy, Sacramento Area Regional Technology Alliance, UC Davis Connect, Comstock’s magazine and the UC Davis Graduate School of Management Alumni Association. Soderquist earned a B.S from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, and an MBA from UC Davis.
About the Big Bang! Business Competition
The annual UC Davis Big Bang! Business Competition provides free workshops through fall and spring, and concludes with pitches from our finalists at an awards ceremony in May.
The competition is open to everyone and provides a forum for students, faculty, staff and the surrounding community to collaborate, develop and test business ideas. You’ll find resources for mentorship, team creation, education, networking and financing — and the winners receive cash prizes! Come to the kickoff to hear what’s new this year, including:
- New prize offerings
- Expanded and improved workshops
- Poster competition for early prize money
- Competition now open to the public
Participating in the Big Bang! Business Competition provides a rich immersion in starting your business venture. But…you don’t have to compete to attend our free workshops and build your entrepreneurial skills and network. Don’t miss this opportunity to meet other aspiring and early-stage entrepreneurs, share ideas, meet past winners, learn about the competition and formulate teams.
The Big Bang! is presented by the Mike and Renee Child Insitute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at UC Davis.
For more infoirmation, click here.