Entrepreneurship

Wavemaker Lab

The Wavemaker Lab trains potential entrepreneurs and supports early-stage ventures with high-impact potential by bringing together San Diego's strengths in technology and entrepreneurship, the School of Global Policy & Strategy's robust network of successful entrepreneurs and early-stage investors, and its globally recognized expertise in energy and environmental policy, China, emerging markets, national security, and governance and sustainability.

The Wavemaker Lab's mission is, first, to improve the speed and impact of technology commercialized by Wavemaker Lab ventures and by UC San Diego students whose exposure to entrepreneurship through the Wavemaker Lab enables them to go on to contribute to technology commercialization. Second, we aim to build a community of creative thinkers, informed risk-takers, and ambitious builders who will drive innovation and dynamism in the greater San Diego region.

The Wavemaker venture program, a seven-month program designed for startups based primarily in the San Diego region, was launched in the Fall of 2023. The program offers mentorship from the Wavemaker Council, access to scientific and industry experts, legal and financial advice, access to networks of early-stage investors and mentors, access to UC San Diego student expertise.

Through the Wavemaker Lab, I offer two for-credit courses on entrepreneurship for UC San Diego students. "Start-Ups: From Founding to Launch" is an introductory course on entrepreneurship open to GPS and other interested UC San Diego students. A follow-up, project-based course co-taught with Wavemaker Council member James Lambright gives students the opportunity to work with Wavemaker venture program entrepreneurs to solve a problem their start-ups are facing.

Poseidon Fellows

Poseidon Fellows is an entrepreneurship fellowship I co-lead with Shawn Xu, a partner at Lowercarbon Capital and a UC San Diego alumnus. It is open to students at every level — undergraduate, master's, and PhD — and is motivated by the premise that founders and investors are shaped more by mentorship and real-world exposure than by coursework alone.

Fellows meet for a series of evening sessions that pair a lecture on company-building, venture, teamwork, and leadership with an extended conversation with a visiting founder, executive, or investor. They also get access to founder mentors and investor office hours throughout the program. Admission does not require prior startup experience; we select for curiosity, a bias to action, and the judgment and character we think the next generation of technology leaders will need to generate positive and high-impact change.

The inaugural cohort of twelve Fellows completed the program in spring 2026. You can read about them here.

If you are interested in contributing time or resources to support the Wavemaker Lab or the Poseidon Fellows, please email me.