Silicon Valley Startup Ecosystem: The Transition from 0 to 1 for Entrepreneurs in College

As one of the most worldwide attractive startup ecosystems for entrepreneurs, Silicon Valley has always been possessing a culture of innovative thinking and risk-taking, which attracts abundant resources from world-renowned universities, facilitates extensive networks among start-ups, accelerators, and investors, and incubates an endless stream of successful well-known companies, such as Google, Apple, and Meta.

In this ESS, we are honored by the presence of Ziyuan (Roger) Ying, the Founder and CEO of the Global Dreamer Foundation. He will share his personal experience during the academic and startup journey, in order to enlighten young entrepreneurs about how to found their startups and leverage available resources. Moreover, the speaker will also share the process of forming ideas for a VC-backed business for students, which may inspire young entrepreneurs with the transition from zero to one during their startup journey.

We are looking forward to your participation!

Ziyuan (Roger) Ying is a graduate of the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, who is also the Founder and CEO of the Global Dreamer Foundation, with the mission to empower students from all backgrounds with access to quality education. The company is the official partner of the University of California campuses, University College London, and 10+ other world-class universities, institutions, think tanks, and NGOs. Ying is the 7th president of the Berkeley China Summit (BCS). The mission of BCS is to encourage bilateral discussion and collaboration between the US and China in innovation, entrepreneurship, technology, education, and beyond. Over the past 7 years, they have invited over 150 high-profile speakers, including multiple Nobel Laureates and Turing Award Winners.

Ying has also been consistently working for and with NGO institutions, including the United Nations Development Program and represented the state of California at Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. as a Policy Advocator for United Nations Association (UNA-USA). Prior to joining the EdTech industry, Ying worked in multinational technology companies (such as Amazon and Alibaba Group).  He was selected as the Alibaba “Global Dreamer” in 2018 and was the guest judge of Berkeley Haas Startup Seed Fund. These unique experiences have helped him accumulate solid experience in Strategy & Operations and International Business Development.