The Future of Unicorn Ideas with James Currier

125 Western Avenue,Boston MA 02134

08 March, 2023

Description

Why do some ventures succeed when others don’t? What tactics do unicorn founders employ to achieve that magical status? Join five-time founder, angel investor, network-effects expert, and HBS alum James Currier (HBS MBA 1999) to learn how to think bigger and take your venture further. James is cofounder and general partner of NFX, the world's largest dedicated seed fund. He's invested in more than 100 startups, including Doordash, Lyft, Patreon, Incredible Health, and Mammoth Biosciences. He’s seen thousands of student pitches from students at Harvard, Stanford, and beyond, and he’d like to help you make your ideas stronger and more effective. Here he’ll share how to harness the power of network effects — the idea that the more users you have, the more value you provide. About the Speaker: James Currier is a five-time founder; an angel investor in DoorDash, Lyft, and Patreon; and a founding partner at NFX. After HBS, James cofounded Tickle, at one time the 20th most popular Web property, and one of the first viral media companies, pioneering A/B testing and other growth techniques now followed by much of the industry. During this time, James realized that network effects were the core growth driver of successful B2B and B2C ventures. Next, James cofounded three more successful companies: social game developer Wonderhill (which merged with Kabam in 2010 and later sold for $800M), growth analytics SaaS company IronPearl, and enterprise healthcare software company Jiff. A lifelong learner and developer of talent, James loves sharing wisdom among founders. He speaks regularly at industry conferences and has been featured in Forbes, Fortune, Harvard Business Review, TechCrunch, and Silicon Valley Business Journal. Learn more. About the Speaker Series:The Future of speaker series, sponsored by the Harvard Innovation Labs, brings together innovation experts from across the Harvard ecosystem and the globe to share insights and advice about what’s new and what’s next in entrepreneurship. The series is free and open to the public.