Strategic Partnership Proposal
Entrepreneur-in-Residence & Research Collaboration
Positioning the Stanford Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at the forefront of Gen Z entrepreneurship through collaborative research and joint venture support.
Executive Summary: The Strategic Alignment
The Stanford Center for Entrepreneurial Studies (CES) stands as a proven engine for global economic transformation. At the core of this extraordinary impact lies CES's dual mandate: cultivating principled entrepreneurial leaders and producing industry-shaping research that transforms how business is conducted worldwide.
The Challenge & Our Solution
Today, the most pressing challenge facing entrepreneurial education is preparing leaders for a workforce fundamentally transformed by AI and dominated by Gen Z talent. GenZCareer was built specifically to address this challenge.
This proposal outlines a formal strategic partnership where GenZCareer's founder serves as a hybrid Entrepreneur-in-Residence and Research Fellow, directly supporting CES's dual mandate while we collaborate to build the definitive dataset on Gen Z entrepreneurship and co-create foundational research on next-generation entrepreneurship.
Dual Value Propositions
Powering the Venture Creation Pipeline
Problem: Early-stage CES ventures consistently struggle with understanding and accessing their target market—a critical barrier to achieving product-market fit and securing initial talent.
Actionable Market Insights
Exclusive, data-driven briefings for Startup Garage teams with proprietary insights on Gen Z consumer behavior and career aspirations.
Dedicated Talent Portal
Private talent-matching platform exclusively for CES ventures to access GenZCareer's growing network of ambitious young professionals.
Founder Showcase Series
Co-produced content featuring CES alumni and current student founders, amplifying their stories and strengthening CES's brand.
Shaping the Entrepreneurial Conversation
Strategic Goal: Position CES at the forefront of understanding the most significant shift in entrepreneurship—the rise of the Gen Z founder and AI-native ventures.
Collaborative White Paper
"The Great Ambition: How Gen Z is Redefining Entrepreneurial Success" - combining GenZCareer's real-world data with CES's academic rigor.
New Case Study Development
Access to compelling Gen Z-led companies and diverse founder narratives for enriching CES's teaching resources.
Industry Leadership
Joint publications and conference presentations establishing CES as the authority on next-generation entrepreneurship.
The Gen Z Founder Study
Core Research Question
"How do first-time Gen Z founders make critical early-stage decisions (idea validation, pivoting, first hires) in an AI-inflected market, and how does this differ from previous entrepreneurial cohorts?"
Quantitative Analysis
Real-time tracking of our growing network of early-stage founders using GenZCareer's platform data
Case Studies
Deep, longitudinal follow-up with 20+ Gen Z founders from ideation through seed stage
Benchmarking
Comparison against CES's existing research on founder experience and venture performance
GenZCareer's Comprehensive Contribution
Founding Community
Direct access to Gen Z founders and professionals, with infrastructure designed to scale into the thousands
Pre-Employment Data
First-of-its-kind data on how Gen Z navigates the school-to-work transition—grows with every new user
Live Case Study
Transparent documentation of GenZCareer's growth journey, serving as a dynamic teaching tool
Implementation Timeline
Phase 1: Foundation
- • Joint User Acquisition & Growth Phase: Leverage the CES partnership to scale the platform's user base, establishing the foundational cohort for longitudinal study
- • Baseline Data Collection: Instrument and collect baseline data from the initial user cohort
- • Launch of exclusive CES student services
Phase 2: Research Execution
- • Longitudinal study implementation
- • Quantitative analysis and case study development
- • First deliverables and preliminary findings
Phase 3: Publication & Dissemination
- • White paper completion and submission
- • Case study finalization
- • Conference presentations and media engagement
Expected Outputs & Deliverables
Academic Publications
Educational Resources
Platform Initiatives
The Ask & Next Steps
Our Specific Request
We propose appointing Karanjot Singh as a Visiting Student Researcher for the Autumn 2025 term to lead this joint initiative from within the Graduate School of Business. The VSR role is essential for seamless integration with CES's research infrastructure and student programs while enabling the collaborative development of this unique Gen Z entrepreneurship dataset.
This partnership positions CES at the forefront of understanding the Gen Z entrepreneurial wave while we jointly build resources to support students in creating tomorrow's ventures.