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Technical Entrepreneur Coaching Hub (TECH) Fellowship

Are you interested in startups? Do you dream of joining a startup or founding your own company someday? The TECH Fellowship equips INI students with the knowledge, network and practical experiences to become thriving technical entrepreneurs.

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This program is open to incoming students in the INI’s two bicoastal degree programs: Master of Science in Mobile and IoT Engineering (MSMITE) and Master of Science in Information Technology - Information Security (MSIT-IS). Students in the bicoastal programs start their degree on Carnegie Mellon's main campus in Pittsburgh before transitioning to Carnegie Mellon University in Silicon Valley (CMU-SV), where they engage with top tech companies and entrepreneurs in the Bay Area. The TECH Fellowship infuses entrepreneurship directly into the curriculum, preparing TECH Fellows to become technical entrepreneurs and startup leaders.

TECH Fellows Will:

  • Learn about how startups work 
  • Meet founders, venture capitalists and startup advisors 
  • Intern at a startup or a VC firm the summer after they join the INI*  
  • Potentially continue with that startup or VC through their Fall Practicum project  
  • Earn a lifetime honorary title 

*We will provide networking opportunities, resources and promote openings, but securing an internship is the Fellow’s responsibility. 

TECH Fellows Program

Through a seminar course and hands-on experience with startups and venture capital communities in Silicon Valley, you will gain critical skills to excel as a technical lead, whether you choose to work with established organizations or innovative startups. 

Opportunities at Your Fingertips

TECH Fellows learn and apply their skills in the hub of entrepreneurship:

  • Access a vibrant community of startups and venture capitalists in Silicon Valley
  • Connect with the largest concentration of INI alumni anywhere in the world

Learn more about the INI’s alumni 

Meet the TECH Co-Leads

Based at CMU-SV, Professors Jacobson and Kuo have a combined 19 years of experience launching and leading startup ventures.

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Quinn Jacobson
Professor of the Practice
Expertise: Technical Entrepreneurship

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Cynthia Kuo
Associate Professor of the Practice
Expertise: Health Tech Entrepreneurship

Timeline

Application:
First Fall semester
TECH Seminar:
First Spring semester
Internship:
Summer
Practicum Project:
Second Fall semester

TECH Seminar 

The TECH Seminar is a 6-unit elective course launching Spring 2025 that focuses on developing execution skills to be a successful technical founder or leader. This course is open to all INI students. It will include: 

  • Case-based curriculum to learn from recent technology startups 
  • Skills like competitive analysis, scoping an MVP and building an engineering team 
  • Guest speakers, like successful startup founders and venture capital firms 
  • Grades based on exercises and class participation 

Summer Internship 

All TECH Fellows must complete a full-time summer internship with a startup or venture capital firm that has been approved by the TECH co-leads. These internships provide crucial experience working within the agile environment of a startup.  

We will connect you with a diverse network of contacts at startups and venture capital firms, but Fellows are responsible for interviewing with these contacts and securing and completing an internship. 

Practicum Project 

Like all students in the MSMITE and MSIT-IS programs, TECH Fellows must complete a Practicum project (a 24-unit required course for both programs). Fellows have the opportunity to extend their internship into a Practicum project by working with the same startup or VC firm in the Fall semester. This experience allows you to deepen your engagement and build on work started during your internship. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Participating in the TECH Fellowship will enable you to:    

  1. Learn the basics of entrepreneurship, as someone who has a technical background and would serve in a technical founder role. 
  2. Immerse yourself by working at a venture-backed startup. 
  3. Build your network in Silicon Valley by meeting founders and venture capitalists. 

Join us!  Most students benefit from a few years of full-time work experience before starting their own company. Our goal is to expose you to the entrepreneurial journey so that you are prepared to start a company in the future. Entrepreneurship becomes a more viable career path when you know what to expect. Also, the same mindset and skills that enable a successful technical entrepreneur will position you a strong technical leader within an established organization. 

No! TECH is designed to expose you to the Silicon Valley startup ecosystem. 

Fellows will: 

  • Be profiled on the INI site  
  • Earn the privilege of listing themselves as a TECH Fellow  
  • Gain access to a private network of startup mentors and advisors 
  • Be invited back each cycle for networking events with other TECH Fellows, mentors, and investors going forward  

The TECH network will be a great way to continue developing your entrepreneurial network through your career. 

For 2025, the TECH Fellowship is only available to masters students at Carnegie Mellon's Information Networking Institute. Students must be enrolled in either the MSMITE or MSIT-IS degree program. Standard and Advanced study options are all eligible. 

The application opens each fall to incoming MSMITE and MSIT-IS students.

Although you cannot apply to the TECH Fellowship, the TECH seminar is open to other CMU students, space permitting.
Yes. Fellows are guaranteed spots in the course. Others are welcome as space permits.  

After being accepted as a TECH Fellow, you must successfully complete the TECH seminar, an internship at a startup and Practicum project with the startup. 

You are responsible for finding an internship. We will help you through our network of investors, who have agreed to distribute Fellows' resumes to their portfolio companies. 

TECH is focused on technically differentiated startups. In other words, we are targeting companies that were founded to bring a new technology to market, particularly in areas related to the INI's curriculum.  
Yes.
If you require a work visa, we recommend looking at more mature startups, which are more likely to sponsor visas. 

Sometimes. Whether a startup is able to extend a return offer will depend on their maturity, growth, revenue, funding situation, strategic needs and the general economy. It is hard to predict in advance, particularly if you require visa sponsorship. Having said that, return offers from established tech companies are also not guaranteed. 

To succeed in this increasingly competitive environment, we recommend that you work on projects that interest you with people that you respect and learn from. If you do that, you will develop the skills and the network that you need to succeed in an area. People at startups know other people in the industry and are often happy to put in a good word. 

A lot can happen between summer and fall. We will do our best to accommodate both Fellows and startups.  

An individual in the technical founder role leads the tactics and execution for a technologically differentiated startup. This complements the business founder role (managing the vision, strategy and finance) and domain expert role (understanding the market). These roles can be filled by different people, or one person may fill multiple roles. 

In some startups, a CEO may wear many hats in an early-stage company, including that of a technical founder. Alternatively, many startups are launched by founding teams. A business founder may serve as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and the technical founder may serve as Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Whatever your professional goals, the TECH Fellowship will empower you to lead technical entrepreneurship projects in a variety of workplaces.