Nothing like a little tech investor college football trash talk before the big game.
As the Washington Huskies take on the Michigan Wolverines in the College Football Playoff championship on Monday, I reached out to a couple of Seattle-area venture capitalists with ties to each university.
“The schools have a lot in common — great engineering schools and hard-working, diligent students who are just as talented but far less entitled than Ivy Leaguers,” quipped Jason Stoffer, partner at Maveron and a self-described diehard Michigan football fan who graduated from UMich in 1999.
James Newell, managing director at Voyager Capital, is unique among venture capitalists given that he spent four years on the Husky football team while studying finance and economics at the UW.
Newell, who played four seasons as free safety — including games against Michigan — called the UW a “vital part” of the Seattle-area entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Newell said the university has also helped provide crucial connections for his own career.
“Though it is also worth mentioning that I have had wonderful mentors with undergraduate degrees from mediocre midwestern universities as well, such as Jason Stoffer,” he joked.
I mentioned to Stoffer that his fellow VC was talking smack.
“Well we have this guy Blake Corum,” Stoffer responded, alluding to Michigan’s star running back. “I don’t know how a soft Pac-12 (or whatever conference they are in now) defense can stop him.”
He added: “I was trying to be civil but Newell had to go there.”
Newell admits that the UW defense could be a liability. But he expects the Huskies, led by Heisman finalist quarterback Michael Penix Jr., to win the national title.
“I worry about our defensive front getting worn down but assuming UW scores in the 30s, Michigan will be playing from behind,” he said.
Here at GeekWire, we’ve got several UW alumni, including myself. As our temporary website logo suggests, this Seattle-based tech news website is rooting for the Huskies in Monday’s championship.
But how about off the field? How do the universities stack up when it comes to producing tech leaders and new startups?
Michigan gets the edge in PitchBook’s latest annual university rankings, which compares schools by assessing the amount of venture capital raised over the past decade by alumni entrepreneurs.
The list has Michigan at No. 8 on the undergraduate rankings, with 800 founders across 736 companies raising $25.3 billion. Washington is No. 32, with 436 founders across 401 companies raising $13.1 billion.
Michigan finished ahead of UW for the graduate and MBA rankings on PitchBook’s list as well.
Don’t fret, Husky fans. The UW was the top-ranked public university on the Reuters global list of most innovative universities in 2019, and No. 5 overall. Michigan was behind at No. 21.
The UW’s computer science school (No. 5) also ranks ahead of Michigan’s (No. 11), according to U.S. News.
However, Michigan’s tech transfer office helped spin out more than 110 companies in the past five years. The UW spun out 52 startups in that time frame.
But the UW says it granted 2,160 licenses over the last five years — which is higher than UM.
Another key factor to consider: Which school has the more impressive tech alumni?
Michigan may be hard to beat on that front with Google co-founder Larry Page, who earned his undergraduate degree in Ann Arbor before helping launch one of the most influential tech companies of all time. He returned to campus in 2009 to deliver the commencement speech.
Other impressive Wolverines: Tony Fadell, the “father of the iPod”; Martin Lau, president of Tencent; Dick Costolo, former CEO at Twitter; and Irma Wyman, the first woman to become vice president of Honeywell.
But the Dawgs don’t disappoint on this front.
Apple chairman Arthur Levinson; Wizards of the Coast co-founder Peter Adkison; NASA astronaut Bonnie Dunbar; MySpace co-founder Chris DeWolfe; and Costco co-founder Jeffrey Brotman all graduated in purple and gold.
As Stoffer mentioned, both schools have produced many stellar entrepreneurs and business leaders over the years.
However, only one will raise the trophy on Monday.
Go Dawgs.
