Gigi Wang

“I highly recommend college students (of all majors, backgrounds, and universities) to attend Gigi’s Berkeley Method of Entrepreneurship (BoME) Bootcamp. Gigi is an empowering, inclusive, relevant, and thought-provoking professor at UC Berkeley’s Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology. I had the honor of being her student at the BoME Bootcamp, and those 5 days were some of the best experiences I’ve had during my 4-years at UC Berkeley. BoME is special for a few reasons: Gigi’s network, her teaching style, and the class activities. Firstly, Gigi invited coaches from her network to help students with their start-up idea. The class’s main project is to pitch a start-up to a panel of experts/investors. To help students prepare, Gigi brought in mentors in the domain of venture capital, communication, business development, marketing, legal, etc. Secondly, Gigi’s teaching style is extremely engaging with the methodical intent of increasing the students’ confidence. She’d ask thought-provoking questions and use analogies. For example, Gigi engrained key ideas of product-market-fit, the essentials of pitching, and focus with her many entertaining personal stories. Her interactive teaching approach gets students to think (not just listen) and to proactively participate. Thirdly, Gigi facilitated team-bonding activities that quickly helped me get closes to my pitch team. These activities reinforced collaboration, risk-taking, and facing fears. My favorite activities include building a marshmallow spaghetti tower and trading a pen with strangers for something of higher value (value exchange and rejection). It is apparent that Gigi wants to see her students succeed. For instance, Gigi volunteered me for many activities because she believed in me (I felt extremely motivated)! Hence, Gigi takes action to elevate her students’ and colleagues’ growth mindsets. Additionally, after the Bootcamp, Gigi gave me the opportunity to be a moderator for an entrepreneurship program she taught at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. In short, I received so much value from Gigi’s Bootcamp beyond class credits and knowledge. All thanks to Gigi, I made friends, corrected soft skills, met individuals from several countries, received opportunities, and grew my self-confidence in a short period of time.”

“I had the pleasure and honor of being mentored by Gigi during UC Berkeley executive education program. She is a thought provoking leader who inspires you to be the best in your field. Her knowledge of startups and entrepreneurship is at par with the brightest in Silicon Valley. Gigi has personally advised me on occasions when I needed a coach to clear my thoughts and provide guidance. To those who are looking to take themselves or their organizations to next level of maturity, I highly recommend her without any reservations.”