The Entrepreneurship Outreach Trip 2022: The West Coast of the USA
Prince Daniel's Fellowship's international entrepreneurship outreach trip in 2022 went to the West Coast of the United States, visting several companies and organisations in the San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle. The trip included inspirers, mentors and mentees from Prince Daniel's Fellowship network.
The purpose of the trip was to give participants - mentees, mentors, entrepreneurs and inspirers from our network - new perspectives on entrepreneurship and, not least, an opportunity to build networks and be inspired by one of the world's most vibrant business climates for innovative companies.
In San Francisco, we began with a reception at the home of Barbro Osher, Sweden's honorary consul in San Francisco, where the delegation had the pleasure of listening to Sir Michael Moritz (Sequoia Capital). During the following days in San Francisco and the Bay Area, inspiration from prominent entrepreneurs, companies and universities was interspersed with conversations and insights from Swedish entrepreneurs active in San Francisco and the Bay Area.
Breakfast meeting at Nasdaq with a focus on insights and experiences from establishing oneself in the San Francisco Bay Area as a Swedish entrepreneur. Photo: Daniel Urso, The Royal Court.
Swedes in Silicon Valley
Gustaf Ahlströmer, (AirBnB, Y-combinator), Stina Ehrensvärd (Yubico) and Jimmy Abrahamsson (Grepit) - all Swedes who have established themselves in Silicon Valley - shared their experiences with the delegation. During one of these meetings, the delegation also had the opportunity to meet Eric Vishria and Miles Grimshaw from Benchmark Capital Partners.
NVIDIA's founder and CEO Jensen Huang took the lead, along with Prince Daniel, during a tour of NVIDIA's newly built office in Santa Clara. Photo: Daniel Urso, The Royal Court
West Coast Super Entrepreneurs
During the trip, the delegation had the opportunity to meet several successful American entrepreneurs, such as NVIDIA's founder and CEO Jensen Huang, Salesforce's co-founder and CEO Parker Harris and Sila Nanotechnologies' co-founder and CEO Gene Berdichevsky.
Gene Berdichevsky at Sila Nanotechnologies wants to revolutionize the chemistry of modern batteries. Photo: Daniel Urso, The Royal Court.
Using groundbreaking advancements in chemical processes, Gene Berdichevsky at Sila Nanotechnologies predicts that they will be able to significantly enhance battery efficiency in the future. This will apply regardless of the type of battery or manufacturer, as they are targeting the chemical compounds used in all modern batteries.
Universities and Research: Vital Parts of the Innovation Ecosystem
The delegation gained deeper insights into the role of universities and researchers in the West Coast's innovation ecosystem, among other things, through a visit to the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Mission Bay. There, Chancellor Sam Hawgood and his team welcomed them, along with a number of researchers and actors active in BioTech and Life Science.
The delegation also visited Stanford University, where President Marc Tessier-Lavigne shared the university's vision for the future and the establishment of a new school for sustainability, the largest initiative Stanford has undertaken since 1980. During a reception at the Exploratorium science museum, the delegation had the opportunity to listen to a panel consisting of Elizabeth Blackburn, Saul Perlmutter and Paul Milgrom, all three Nobel Prize laureates for their significant contributions in their respective fields.
The entire delegation at Stanford University. Photo: Daniel Urso, The Royal Court.
Major companies in Seattle
From the San Francisco Bay Area, the group continued to Seattle to visit Amazon, Microsoft, and Boeing. At Microsoft's headquarters, the delegation was treated to several presentations on topics including the company's change management, global cybersecurity commitments and sustainability strategies. Additionally, at Microsoft, the venture capital firm Madrona Venture Group, one of Seattle's largest and most influential venture capital companies, gave a talk.
Boeing's factory building, the largest building in the world in terms of volume. At full capacity, a new Boeing rolls out through these ports every three days. Photo: Jakob Rudberg, IVA
The last visit in the Seattle area was to Everett, where Boeing showed its manufacturing facility and presented its quality assurance efforts and its work to data-drivenly streamline the development of the next generation of aircraft.
Reception at the National Nordic Museum
The entrepreneurship outreach trip concluded with a reception at the National Nordic Museum in Seattle, hosted by Sweden's ambassador to the USA Karin Olofsdotter.
Governor Jay Inslee, Eric Nelson and Prince Daniel at the award ceremony of the Order of the Polar Star at the National Nordic Museum. Photo: National Nordic Museum, Seattle
