Squishy Robotics COO Deniz Dogruer kicked off the new year by participating in Silicon Valley Bank Trek 2020. This invitation-only, three-day event gathered 25 young entrepreneurs for workshops, lectures, and salon-style meetings in both San Francisco and Silicon Valley. Dogruer spent her days listening to investors, tech industry leaders, entrepreneurs, and specialists address topics, such as metrics investors consider when evaluating startups, growing a business in a regulated industry, and strategies for starting, scaling, and exiting a successful startup.
“I am so honored to have been selected to join this year’s Trek,” Dogruer said. “It was a fantastic way to begin 2020. Spending three days with technology leaders and other new business entrepreneurs like myself was revitalizing.”
Dogruer stated how valuable it was to ask questions of and spend time networking with industry leaders who have lived through the early stages of building a company. “I appreciated the lessons learned that were shared by founders both with startups that had successful exits or acquisitions as well as startups that did not succeed. One of my big takeaways was learning more about the mindset of VCs and investment managers as well as exploring how to develop technologies in industries where regulations are being developed the same time as the technology is, such as with autonomous vehicles.” She also enjoyed meeting and exchanging ideas with other young entrepreneurs.
Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) labels itself as being “at the intersection of innovation and capital.” This year marked the bank’s sixth annual Trek. SVB, which also has several overseas offices, is one of the largest banks in the United States and has helped to fund more than 30,000 startups—a list that includes Airbnb and Pinterest.