Abstract

The world is facing dramatic geopolitical, environmental and technological shifts.

"Venture Meets Mission" argues that if business, government and society come together rebuild trust and collaborate, we have a generational opportunity to address societal challenges like climate change, cybersecurity, disease outbreaks, food insecurity and education. The book explains, with hope and passion, how our existing entrepreneurial ecosystem, reconnected to the ideals of democracy, can be the foundation for a new mission-driven capitalism.

The good news is the components of this problem-solving ecosystem already exist — people, purpose and profit — and can be joined together for world-changing impact. The starting point is rebuilding broken trust among business, government and society. The authors draw on their leadership experience with Silicon Valley innovation, venture capital and the highest levels of the federal government. The book tells engaging stories of successful entrepreneurs, with diverse perspectives and intersectional experiences, who combine mission and venture to solve critical societal problems. “Venture Meets Mission” seeks to inspire a generation of students, young professionals and entrepreneurs to pursue mission-driven ventures that can make the world a better place. It also explains how forward-thinking government officials and policymakers can harness private sector entrepreneurship and innovation to solve society's problems.

Biography

Arun Gupta, CEO of NobleReach, is a venture capitalist, adjunct entrepreneurship professor and senior advisor to the provost at Georgetown University and author of the national bestseller, “Venture Meets Vision.” Gupta is active in the emerging technology, entrepreneurship, public policy and venture finance communities. He is passionate about inspiring students to pursue mission-oriented entrepreneurial careers.

At Stanford University, Gupta serves on the Stanford in Washington (SIW) Advisory Board, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies Advisory Council and is a faculty lecturer teaching Valley Meets Mission: Purposeful Entrepreneurship with Government at SIW. The class highlights his venture capital and academic experience building successful mission-oriented ventures at the intersection of the government, mission, technology and entrepreneurship.

At Georgetown University, Gupta serves on the Georgetown Entrepreneurship Advisory Board and Tech & Society Steering Committee and teaches entrepreneurial finance and venture capital at McDonough School of Business. He was awarded the Entrepreneurial Faculty Teaching Excellence Award and the Peter W. Gonzalez Jr. Award for excellence in faculty teaching. As a partner at Columbia Capital, Gupta’s investment career spanned 18 years, including initiating the firm’s cybersecurity and government technology investments with a focus on national security, AI, and SaaS/cloud infrastructure sectors. Prior to joining Columbia Capital in 2000, he was at Carlyle Venture Partners focused on software investments. Prior to Carlyle, Gupta held positions in Arthur D. Little’s telecom and technology consulting practice and shared responsibility for establishing ADL’s management consulting operations in Mumbai in 1995-98.

He received a B.S. degree with distinction in electrical engineering and an M.S. degree in engineering economic systems from Stanford University (’91). He received his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School (’95).