Episode 375: Becca Xiong - Managing Director, Harvard Innovation Labs

Episode 375 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Becca Xiong, Managing Director of Programs & Engagement at Harvard Innovation Labs. Becca is a serial entrepreneur with the rare experience of having success in both consumer and B2B products. She was a Co-Founder of an early social networking startup called Going.com which was acquired by AOL and then she went with her fellow Co-Founder, Roy Rodenstein to start SocMetrics, a social insights platform for marketers that was also acquired. This combination of experiences makes Becca the perfect leader for the Harvard i-lab where 1 in 9 students across all of the schools under the Harvard umbrella are a member of the i-lab. Since its founding in 2011, the i-lab has supported over 6,000 ventures that have gone on to raise over $8B in funding including unicorns like WHOOP, Shield AI, Mark43, Lightmatter, and others. Chapters 00:00 Intro 02:34 The Most Common Startup Mistakes 04:40 The Importance of Storytelling for Startups 06:31 Becca's Background Story 09:26 Early Career and Startup Experiences 13:28 The Story of Going.com 27:00 Building Socmetrics: A Social Insights Platform 30:34 Difference Between Building B2B & Consumer Products 32:52 Transitioning from Startups to Supporting Entrepreneurs 36:05 The Harvard i-lab: Fostering Innovation and Entrepreneurship 40:46 How the Harvard i-lab Supports Student Entrepreneurs 43:55 Alumni from the Harvard i-lab 45:10 Using ChatGPT for Customer Research 47:05 Startup Pitch Advice 51:15 Fundraising Advice 53:34 Book Recommendation for Founders