The Going Deep with Aaron Watson podcast is a forum for having meaningful, deep conversations about the passions, fears and problems of people from all walks of life. Guests talk about entrepreneurship, sports, finance, comedy and lifestyle design.
58 Jim Jen, Founding & Running One of the Top Accelerators in the World
Jim, Executive Director of Pittsburgh’s AlphaLab accelerator program, provides mentorship, education and network-building for technology startups. His accelerator helps companies rapidly iterate through early stages of product and customer development.
Launched in 2008, AlphaLab is ranked #6 among accelerators in the US and a charter member of the Global Accelerator Network, where Jim currently serves on the Advisory Board. AlphaLab alumni companies include The Resumator, No Wait, Black Locus (acquired by Home Depot), Shoefitr and SolePower.
Jim guides companies by leveraging his experience and network gained from working closely with over eighty companies in the Innovation Works and AlphaLab portfolios and from his prior management experience in Silicon Valley. In the Bay Area, Jim built and managed software businesses at Hewlett-Packard, Agile Software (acquired by Oracle), and Instill Corporation (acquired by iTradeNetwork Inc). As a management consultant at Booz Allen & Hamilton, Jim advised executive management of Fortune 500 companies on marketing, strategy, and organizational issues.
Jim holds a BA and MA in Economics from Stanford University and an MBA from Stanford's Graduate School of Business.
Jim’s Challenge; Go out of your way to explore viewpoints opposite of the ones you hold.
Connect with Jim