About VLAB

Our Mission

We bring together entrepreneurs, investors, industry experts, innovators, and curious minds to explore ideas and technologies that have the potential to disrupt entire industries, create business opportunities, and shape the future.

A Unique Formula

Our monthly events feature a unique panel discussion format that brings together various viewpoints to discuss and debate the impact of new technologies and innovations that have the potential to disrupt entire industries.

By featuring both up-and-coming startups that seek to create disruption and established companies devoting resources in the area being disrupted, our panel discussions create a highly interactive exchange of ideas. The panelists typically include startup founders, venture capitalists, incumbent corporations, inventors, academics, and/or industry analysts, all of whom have a vested interest in the space. The topics discussed in these panels are frequently in a very early stage of maturation — long before becoming mainstream technologies.

In addition to panel discussions, we also host a series of intimate founders-only events that spotlight Silicon Valley luminaries and thought leaders. These “Founders’ Series” events provide a unique opportunity for early-stage startups and technologists to take part in an interactive session, and a few select startups get the rare chance to take the “hot seat” on stage and receive feedback directly from the speakers, specifically about their startup idea, execution, or positioning. 

Our History

Founded in 1990 by the MIT Enterprise Forum and the Alumni Association of the Stanford Graduate School of Business, VLAB has hosted a broad range of events that have inspired and informed an extended community of over 20,000 influencers.

The caliber of presenting companies and panelists at our events has earned VLAB the reputation as one of the premier high-tech forums in Silicon Valley.

Many of the startups in past VLAB events have gone on to become household names, not just in Silicon Valley but around the globe. Our events also provide opportunities for top VCs to weigh in on the conversation. Here is just a small sample of some of the big-name companies that have sent CEOs, senior-level executives, and partners to participate in VLAB events as a panelist.

Past VC Participants:

• Draper Fisher Jurvetson
• Hummer Winblad
• Mayfield
• New Enterprise Associates
• Sequoia
• USVP