During EIA’s summer program, creating a startup (in a very short period) is the biggest challenge participants will face. Teamwork, cooperation, and hard work are essential for turning an idea into reality. However, it is only due to our mentors that this mission is possible in the first place.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re joining the program in Portugal, Italy, or Hong Kong. EIA mentors will be there to help you to overcome your limits and maximize learning. Experts in design, software, hardware, IP lawyers, and life coaching are just part of the star team our participants can count on to help develop ideas.

In this article, we list 9 EIA Mentors just to give a quick idea of this star team in all our programs.

1. Rick Rasmussen – Chief of Mentors 

Rick Rasmussen is an industry fellow and the Director of Startup Programs at UC Berkeley. He has been on the executive teams of three separate companies, each of which began with no revenue, raised rounds from leading VCs, went public, and sold for a collective $8 billion.

A native of Silicon Valley, Rick founded the Rasmussen Consulting Group (of which he is the Principal) and serves as the Managing Director at Concordia Ventures. 

As the Chief of Mentors of EIA’s Portugal program, he has direct experience in the business industry, government, venture capital, and academia. 

2. On Lu – IP Lawyer 

On Lu describes himself as a “globe-trotting tech lawyer with rock-star hair.” This IP Lawyer has created IP strategies for some of the most prestigious, high-tech companies in Asia. He also dedicates a lot of his time to working with startups, elevating their ideas into protectable IPs.

3. Ian McNish – Chief Mentor 

Ian McNish was a founding member of LinkedIn, and he served as its Principal Systems Architect. His team was responsible for company growth, bringing it from zero users to over 225 million; from zero servers to over 12,000; and from a handful of employees to more than 4,000. 

Since leaving LinkedIn in 2013, Ian has become an Angel Investor as well as a mentor within some of the best business programs in the world. In his own words, “I’m an EIA, StartX, and 500 Startups mentor, and an angel investor who enjoys solving complex problems and getting my hands dirty.”

4. Darren Chiu – Tech Mentor 

Darren is a technologist and educator currently working as a Solutions Consultant at Google. There he focuses on machine learning and data solutions for digital marketing. Prior to his role within Google, Darren worked in investment banking and the online media industry as a software engineer.

Apart from technology, he has a strong passion for education. This spurred Darren to co-found a STEM education start-up, which aimed to provide unique learning experiences for students. He is a firm believer in the interdisciplinary approach to solving real-world problems.

5. Patrick Lor – Chief Mentor 

Patrick Lor co-founded iStockphoto, which was sold to Getty Images in 2006. More recently, he co-founded Dissolve, and was head of North American division of Fotolia, which was acquired by Adobe in 2014.

Since 2016, Patrick has worked as a Managing Partner at 500 Startups Canada and Panache Ventures. The latter is a seed-stage venture capital firm that will invest in more than 140 Canadian startups over the next three years. He is also an angel investor and LP for several venture capital funds, including iNovia Capital, Version One Ventures, and Garage Ventures.

6. Anand Arivukkarasu – Marketing Mentor

As the Product Growth Manager at Facebook since 2016, Anand Arivukkarasu has vast experience envisioning, building, and launching new & innovative products.

Anand travels the world to share business insights, develop strategies, transact new business deals, and grow existing businesses.  At Facebook, he’s been leading the product growth effort for a business-to-people platform & ecosystem. He has also helped immensely to grow the bot ecosystem and launch the Messenger business platform.

7. John Biggs – Chief Mentor 

John Biggs is a journalist based in Brooklyn, New York. He started his professional life as an IT Programmer, but after four years, he switched gears and became a full-time journalist. Through 13 years, John was the Editor-At-Large at TechCrunch. In his career, he has written about a wide range of topics, including technology, security, gadgets, gear, wristwatches, and the internet. 

If you’re a tech enthusiast, you’ve probably read some of his stories. John Biggs’ writing has been published in the New York Times, Laptop, PC Upgrade, Surge, Gizmodo, Men’s Health, InSync, Linux Journal, and Popular Science.

8. P.J. Leimgruber – Marketing Mentor

P.J. Leimgruber is a digital marketing lecturer, content strategist, and technical SEO consultant. Over his career, he has worked with Fortune 500 companies such as Nissan, NBC Universal, Travel Channel (Scripps), Unilever, and Wal-Mart on various SEO and/or digital marketing ventures.

P.J also co-founded two companies in the marketing space: Rank Executives, a boutique digital marketing firm in Orlando, Fl; and NeoReach, an enterprise cloud platform for influencer marketing management and intelligence that has raised over 3M in venture capital. 

9. Alina Adams – Chief Mentor 

Alina Adams is a serial entrepreneur and a faculty member of Northeastern University. She has founded high tech companies across multiple industries and works with other companies, investor groups, accelerators, and entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley.

As a member of several global organizations that help entrepreneurs, she assists startups with their fundraising, business development, and growth strategies.

Impressive, right? Keep in mind that this list is just a glimpse of our star team of mentors. Learn more about some of the key people who join us in coordinating the world’s leading entrepreneurship program!