This is not a class you simply sit through. The Startup Catalyst course is for those looking for an immersive, hands-on entrepreneurial experience. Whether you’re looking to scale your current startup or build from scratch, the course adapts to meet you where you are. It is built entirely around your journey so that every version of the class is a completely different experience.
Read on to hear from three Berkeley Haas students about their experiences and reflections from the course. You may find yourself in their shoes.
Sebastian Krappe
Venture: DEALPRINT
Co-founder: Robert O’Brien
“I always knew that entrepreneurship was something that I wanted to do, but I didn’t expect to do it this early in my career.”
Sebastian studied sustainable development, which led him to investment banking and private equity roles primarily focused on the energy sector. However, it became clear that “it was not my answer of what I wanted to do long-term.”
An MBA was his answer to re-route. “Berkeley was my number one choice of where I wanted to go.”
Sebastian planned to return to finance after his MBA. However, he recalls talking to a classmate who explained “This is the lowest risk time of our lives. It’s a two-year program, and we have a summer in between. Even if you spend the whole summer doing it, you can come back next year and recruit.” Hearing this, Sebastian decided to give entrepreneurship a try.
Sebastian ends up joining SkyDeck Pad-13, and starts exploring small business M&A and building DEALPRINT.
“With every stone that we overturned, we got more and more excited about it. By the end of the summer, we actually won the pitch for Pad-13, which was the first real external validation that we had gotten.”
Sebastian then started looking for courses to support an active startup. “A classmate of ours, Isa, had mentioned a SCET class. Once she said it, I was like ‘Why am I not looking at broader Berkeley entrepreneurship classes outside of Haas?’ I had taken a majority of entrepreneurship classes at Haas already. I found Catalyst, and was like ‘This is an awesome class’ and applied.”
“The Haas classes are more background knowledge. You talk about how to find your idea, form hypotheses, test them, create a pitch deck, and get VC ready. They were more educational and lecture based. The Catalyst class is like an accelerator. It doesn’t matter whether you have customers, revenue, or if you just formed your idea and want to test it out.”
The bi-weekly presentations were another differentiator. “It’s a lot more about action and your company than it is about learning from a lecture to then apply to your company. ‘What did you do? What are you doing next? All right, let’s talk in two weeks.’”
Winning the Collider Cup competition opened doors to conversations with Berkeley government representatives, while international professors pointed out similar problems in Europe, hinting at potential future markets.
Sebastian notes that their long term vision “became a lot more clear.” The course clarified how DEALPRINT would reach its users and uncovered a stronger revenue model.
“It was a very interesting realization because it made us understand that they aren’t actually our customer, but our distribution channel. We now have a much clearer idea of how we can actually get this out to people. That was another thing that was very promising and a big learning throughout the course.”
“We came in thinking we had done the fundamentals through SkyDeck but being forced to re-do that through an assignment actually made us realize there’s actually a lot of holes in what we thought. The big takeaway for me is that we need to set reminders every x time frame (e.g. once a quarter) where we revisit all those things and update our hypothesis.”
When Sebastian first entered Berkeley, entrepreneurship was a distant future path. Building at Berkeley has provided the clarity that there is no better time. “We’re going to do everything to make sure this is a real company by the time we graduate.”
Isabel D’Elia
Venture: GoalBridge
“I was expressing that I need help with product management tools because a lot of the tools out there are very high maintenance. When your road map is changing five times a day, you can’t really set up a Jira board.”
Isabel was connected to Derek S. Chan for guidance on product management. However, he was stepping back from teaching SCET to focus on his venture, and recommended Isabel take the Startup Catalyst, “an independent study for your startup, with support from Mark.”
Isabel describes, “My favorite part about it is that not everyone is an MBA student, so there’s more diversity in how people think, act, and carry themselves. I got to interact with the undergrads and honestly, the undergrads at Berkeley are so strong, and I don’t get to talk to undergrads all that often. I deeply admire them and am so impressed by them, so it’s great to have an excuse to connect with undergrads. There’s also international students, which is also really cool because you get a taste of entrepreneurship outside the US.”
“In that sense, it’s very different from Haas. It’s not just a lecture class. You learn from Mark and your peers.”
“Everyone was a seasoned entrepreneur. We know it’s difficult and we’re all pretending that it’s great on LinkedIn. You have to own that it’s going to be hard and difficult. It’s nice that it’s not all these great stories of the wins, but our struggles of the week.”
Going through the class also brought a lot of hard truths. “It made me change my mind about my company. I took a step back and am reassessing with my cofounder whether we want to pivot or continue.”
“It confirmed a lot in the idea and the space. It made me realize that we didn’t have great product market fit. It also made me realize that we are not moving at startup speed. We are moving slower.”
Isabel describes how Mark supported her during moments of doubt. “A lot of the time, it was like ‘Do we even want to continue being founders anymore?’” Mark reminded her, “You’re going to doubt it every single day. If the answer is no, that’s okay and you need to accept that. Don’t make being a founder your identity, and don’t isolate yourself from your community. You’ll be fine.’”
Isabel explains how the course made her rethink what being a founder actually means. “It made me realize that you have to be really intentional about it. Make sure that you’re doing it on something that you’re bull-ish on, something you believe in fully, something that you’re like ‘I can’t not do this.’”
“There are going to be days where you’re like ‘Oh this is silly.’ Other days, you’re like ‘Wow, I’m going to be OpenAI.’”
Isabel says that her biggest takeaway from the class was developing entrepreneurial grit. “I learned that you have to be incredibly comfortable with discomfort and uncertainty. You have to be incredibly self-motivated, and delusionally optimistic and confident.”
Isabel explains that the difference between an entrepreneur and an employee is in approaching goals. Employees are able to quickly validate that their plan is tied to a greater goal. That certainty disappears for entrepreneurs who must set arbitrary goals “based on nothing or wishful thinking.” Everything is a hypothesis.
“You have to create a plan to get to that goal, and you don’t know if that road map will actually get you to that goal.”
Isabel notes, “If you take ten steps and it’s actually not getting you closer to the direction you want, then pivot. But you can’t be paralyzed by ‘Is this actually going to get me there?’ You have to be incredibly comfortable with working on a venture where there’s not a well defined path. You have to carve your path.”
Isabel laughs thinking of their bi-weekly presentations. “It was kind of hilarious how different the presentations would be. That made me realize that we are truly building this plane as we’re flying it.”
Giving updates to everyone in the room at Startup Catalyst revealed how rapidly the companies were changing every two weeks. “You would almost have an entirely different company, entirely new goal, and entirely different set of problems. And you’re presenting in front of these people that have all the context.”
Luis Torrealba
Venture: Cata Tools
Luis is a chemical engineer, but after graduation, he found himself in consulting. Finding that he missed seeing the data translate into tangible, physical improvements, Luis decided he wanted to return to his roots.
He applied to Berkeley’s MBA program to immerse himself in a startup ecosystem and explore how technology can create physical goods more efficiently.
Berkeley proved to be the perfect community. Luis spent his first year primarily taking Haas classes, but after his company launched, the reality of juggling entrepreneurship and academics set in. Luis needed a way to build his company, and take classes that would be additive to his journey.
Luis describes the Startup Catalyst course as the “sweet spot” that allowed him to “double dip” in both his classes and entrepreneurial journey.
“Startup Catalyst was quite helpful because it was fluid and adaptive to the needs of the students. There’s a lot of discussion and peer to peer interaction in every single class. It’s very experiential. The entrepreneurial classes at Haas are much more structured.”
Every other week, students submitted a deck outlining their progress. Based on the deck submissions and class discussions, Mark would identify recurring issues to design targeted lectures to address what students were facing.
“For example, we had a class focused just on pivots: why people pivot, how people pivot, examples of pivots. That was very timely because I was in the midst of pivoting.”
Luis was initially interested in the food industry. “I was very determined to go after that market. I was so laser focused on that industry to the point where I was tunnel visioned in that. But after the class, I see how valuable it is to challenge my assumptions and test hypotheses that may not be obvious right away.”
Luis realized that he wanted to refocus into the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, and these are now the markets Cata Tools targets. “I am getting closer to what I want to do. I had to take a step back and refocus. The class helped me in that thought process of what I want to do and how I want to go about it. It’s a hard conversation but I think it’s the right one. I’m optimistic about it.”
“This class is very unique because you get to know your cohort very intimately, and they’re from very many different backgrounds all around the world.”
“The value of the course is the ability to practice through a class. You get to see and share a journey. It’s more introspective than most classes, and it’s based on what you need. It’s kind of like a feedback loop. It’s very unique. I appreciate it a lot.”
You may recognize yourself in the stories of these entrepreneurs, or maybe you’re in a different position. Wherever you stand, every journey through Startup Catalyst is uniquely personal, but transformational and lasting. The course, sponsored in 2025 by the Berkeley Frontier Fund, is open to undergraduate and graduate students from all majors (like all SCET courses). If you’re ready for a big change, Startup Catalyst welcomes you.
This is not a class you simply sit through. The Startup Catalyst course is for those looking for an immersive, hands-on entrepreneurial experience. Whether you’re looking to scale your current startup or build from scratch, the course adapts to meet you where you are. It is built entirely around your journey so that every version of the class is a completely different experience.
Read on to hear from three Berkeley Haas students about their experiences and reflections from the course. You may find yourself in their shoes.
Sebastian Krappe
Venture: DEALPRINT
Co-founder: Robert O’Brien
“I always knew that entrepreneurship was something that I wanted to do, but I didn’t expect to do it this early in my career.”
Sebastian studied sustainable development, which led him to investment banking and private equity roles primarily focused on the energy sector. However, it became clear that “it was not my answer of what I wanted to do long-term.”
An MBA was his answer to re-route. “Berkeley was my number one choice of where I wanted to go.”
Sebastian planned to return to finance after his MBA. However, he recalls talking to a classmate who explained “This is the lowest risk time of our lives. It’s a two-year program, and we have a summer in between. Even if you spend the whole summer doing it, you can come back next year and recruit.” Hearing this, Sebastian decided to give entrepreneurship a try.
Sebastian ends up joining SkyDeck Pad-13, and starts exploring small business M&A and building DEALPRINT.
“With every stone that we overturned, we got more and more excited about it. By the end of the summer, we actually won the pitch for Pad-13, which was the first real external validation that we had gotten.”
Sebastian then started looking for courses to support an active startup. “A classmate of ours, Isa, had mentioned a SCET class. Once she said it, I was like ‘Why am I not looking at broader Berkeley entrepreneurship classes outside of Haas?’ I had taken a majority of entrepreneurship classes at Haas already. I found Catalyst, and was like ‘This is an awesome class’ and applied.”
“The Haas classes are more background knowledge. You talk about how to find your idea, form hypotheses, test them, create a pitch deck, and get VC ready. They were more educational and lecture based. The Catalyst class is like an accelerator. It doesn’t matter whether you have customers, revenue, or if you just formed your idea and want to test it out.”
The bi-weekly presentations were another differentiator. “It’s a lot more about action and your company than it is about learning from a lecture to then apply to your company. ‘What did you do? What are you doing next? All right, let’s talk in two weeks.’”
Winning the Collider Cup competition opened doors to conversations with Berkeley government representatives, while international professors pointed out similar problems in Europe, hinting at potential future markets.
Sebastian notes that their long term vision “became a lot more clear.” The course clarified how DEALPRINT would reach its users and uncovered a stronger revenue model.
“It was a very interesting realization because it made us understand that they aren’t actually our customer, but our distribution channel. We now have a much clearer idea of how we can actually get this out to people. That was another thing that was very promising and a big learning throughout the course.”
“We came in thinking we had done the fundamentals through SkyDeck but being forced to re-do that through an assignment actually made us realize there’s actually a lot of holes in what we thought. The big takeaway for me is that we need to set reminders every x time frame (e.g. once a quarter) where we revisit all those things and update our hypothesis.”
When Sebastian first entered Berkeley, entrepreneurship was a distant future path. Building at Berkeley has provided the clarity that there is no better time. “We’re going to do everything to make sure this is a real company by the time we graduate.”
Isabel D’Elia
Venture: GoalBridge
“I was expressing that I need help with product management tools because a lot of the tools out there are very high maintenance. When your road map is changing five times a day, you can’t really set up a Jira board.”
Isabel was connected to Derek S. Chan for guidance on product management. However, he was stepping back from teaching SCET to focus on his venture, and recommended Isabel take the Startup Catalyst, “an independent study for your startup, with support from Mark.”
Isabel describes, “My favorite part about it is that not everyone is an MBA student, so there’s more diversity in how people think, act, and carry themselves. I got to interact with the undergrads and honestly, the undergrads at Berkeley are so strong, and I don’t get to talk to undergrads all that often. I deeply admire them and am so impressed by them, so it’s great to have an excuse to connect with undergrads. There’s also international students, which is also really cool because you get a taste of entrepreneurship outside the US.”
“In that sense, it’s very different from Haas. It’s not just a lecture class. You learn from Mark and your peers.”
“Everyone was a seasoned entrepreneur. We know it’s difficult and we’re all pretending that it’s great on LinkedIn. You have to own that it’s going to be hard and difficult. It’s nice that it’s not all these great stories of the wins, but our struggles of the week.”
Going through the class also brought a lot of hard truths. “It made me change my mind about my company. I took a step back and am reassessing with my cofounder whether we want to pivot or continue.”
“It confirmed a lot in the idea and the space. It made me realize that we didn’t have great product market fit. It also made me realize that we are not moving at startup speed. We are moving slower.”
Isabel describes how Mark supported her during moments of doubt. “A lot of the time, it was like ‘Do we even want to continue being founders anymore?’” Mark reminded her, “You’re going to doubt it every single day. If the answer is no, that’s okay and you need to accept that. Don’t make being a founder your identity, and don’t isolate yourself from your community. You’ll be fine.’”
Isabel explains how the course made her rethink what being a founder actually means. “It made me realize that you have to be really intentional about it. Make sure that you’re doing it on something that you’re bull-ish on, something you believe in fully, something that you’re like ‘I can’t not do this.’”
“There are going to be days where you’re like ‘Oh this is silly.’ Other days, you’re like ‘Wow, I’m going to be OpenAI.’”
Isabel says that her biggest takeaway from the class was developing entrepreneurial grit. “I learned that you have to be incredibly comfortable with discomfort and uncertainty. You have to be incredibly self-motivated, and delusionally optimistic and confident.”
Isabel explains that the difference between an entrepreneur and an employee is in approaching goals. Employees are able to quickly validate that their plan is tied to a greater goal. That certainty disappears for entrepreneurs who must set arbitrary goals “based on nothing or wishful thinking.” Everything is a hypothesis.
“You have to create a plan to get to that goal, and you don’t know if that road map will actually get you to that goal.”
Isabel notes, “If you take ten steps and it’s actually not getting you closer to the direction you want, then pivot. But you can’t be paralyzed by ‘Is this actually going to get me there?’ You have to be incredibly comfortable with working on a venture where there’s not a well defined path. You have to carve your path.”
Isabel laughs thinking of their bi-weekly presentations. “It was kind of hilarious how different the presentations would be. That made me realize that we are truly building this plane as we’re flying it.”
Giving updates to everyone in the room at Startup Catalyst revealed how rapidly the companies were changing every two weeks. “You would almost have an entirely different company, entirely new goal, and entirely different set of problems. And you’re presenting in front of these people that have all the context.”
Luis Torrealba
Venture: Cata Tools
Luis is a chemical engineer, but after graduation, he found himself in consulting. Finding that he missed seeing the data translate into tangible, physical improvements, Luis decided he wanted to return to his roots.
He applied to Berkeley’s MBA program to immerse himself in a startup ecosystem and explore how technology can create physical goods more efficiently.
Berkeley proved to be the perfect community. Luis spent his first year primarily taking Haas classes, but after his company launched, the reality of juggling entrepreneurship and academics set in. Luis needed a way to build his company, and take classes that would be additive to his journey.
Luis describes the Startup Catalyst course as the “sweet spot” that allowed him to “double dip” in both his classes and entrepreneurial journey.
“Startup Catalyst was quite helpful because it was fluid and adaptive to the needs of the students. There’s a lot of discussion and peer to peer interaction in every single class. It’s very experiential. The entrepreneurial classes at Haas are much more structured.”
Every other week, students submitted a deck outlining their progress. Based on the deck submissions and class discussions, Mark would identify recurring issues to design targeted lectures to address what students were facing.
“For example, we had a class focused just on pivots: why people pivot, how people pivot, examples of pivots. That was very timely because I was in the midst of pivoting.”
Luis was initially interested in the food industry. “I was very determined to go after that market. I was so laser focused on that industry to the point where I was tunnel visioned in that. But after the class, I see how valuable it is to challenge my assumptions and test hypotheses that may not be obvious right away.”
Luis realized that he wanted to refocus into the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, and these are now the markets Cata Tools targets. “I am getting closer to what I want to do. I had to take a step back and refocus. The class helped me in that thought process of what I want to do and how I want to go about it. It’s a hard conversation but I think it’s the right one. I’m optimistic about it.”
“This class is very unique because you get to know your cohort very intimately, and they’re from very many different backgrounds all around the world.”
“The value of the course is the ability to practice through a class. You get to see and share a journey. It’s more introspective than most classes, and it’s based on what you need. It’s kind of like a feedback loop. It’s very unique. I appreciate it a lot.”
You may recognize yourself in the stories of these entrepreneurs, or maybe you’re in a different position. Wherever you stand, every journey through Startup Catalyst is uniquely personal, but transformational and lasting. The course, sponsored in 2025 by the Berkeley Frontier Fund, is open to undergraduate and graduate students from all majors (like all SCET courses). If you’re ready for a big change, Startup Catalyst welcomes you.