Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Berkeley SkyDeck


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was keep. (non-admin closure) Captain Galaxy (talk) 13:13, 16 June 2020 (UTC)

Berkeley SkyDeck

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vaguely promotional, primarily sourced, and overall non-notable - I don't think the sources show that this meets WP:GNG or WP:NCORP. -- puddleglum  2.0  17:19, 24 May 2020 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the list of California-related deletion discussions.  CAPTAIN RAJU (T) 21:42, 24 May 2020 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Finance-related deletion discussions.  CAPTAIN RAJU (T) 21:43, 24 May 2020 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Business-related deletion discussions.  CAPTAIN RAJU (T) 21:44, 24 May 2020 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Companies-related deletion discussions.  CAPTAIN RAJU (T) 21:44, 24 May 2020 (UTC)


 * Delete: Doesn't seem to have much independent notability; notability is not inherent from notable related people. Pi.1415926535 (talk) 21:48, 24 May 2020 (UTC)

Keep per the significant coverage in multiple independent reliable sources.     <li></li> <li></li> <li></li> <li></li> </ol>

<ol> <li> The article notes: "The Berkeley Skydeck office is located in the penthouse of the tallest building in downtown Berkeley. Sweeping views of the bay are accessible from virtually every face of the large, open-concept space, surely providing inspiration to the teams selected for this spring’s portfolio. There is a modest kitchen, plenty of desk space, and perhaps most importantly, a large quantity of coffee. Skydeck has built a space for their teams to work comfortably, and hopefully effectively, with the idea that they can accomplish most tasks in-house. Cultured through workshops, mentorship experiences, and a creative environment to develop in, teams are given the resources necessary to strengthen each of these facets. At the start of the portfolio period, each startup is given $50,000 in investments from the Berkeley SkyDeck Fund, with an additional $50,000 to follow after completion of half of the program. Over the course of six months, teams complete the Berkeley Acceleration Method (BAM) where they attend mandatory training in each of the six practice areas: ... Beyond useful resources offered in the office, the accelerator also provides an abundance of human capital to its portfolio teams in the form of 115+ advisors and 27 partners. These advisors provide expertise on developing business models, raising funding, and so many other tasks that are key to growing a startup. The accessibility of these advisors is a significant feature of the program. Each team is matched with a lead advisor to remain in direct contact with throughout their participation in the program. Teams are also encouraged to contact anyone on the advisory board and to attend office hours for one-on-one counseling regarding branding, intellectual property, product development, and more. The advisors come from extremely diverse backgrounds, ranging anywhere from being a seed investor to being a chief scientist, providing the portfolio teams with a variety of consultants."</li> <li> The article notes: "This is UC Berkeley SkyDeck, the university’s accelerator and incubator for fledgling companies, many of them born in its classrooms and labs. Now SkyDeck is itself accelerating its own growth by creating a venture fund, accepting a broader and more global range of entrepreneurs, tripling its adviser group and doubling its office size. SkyDeck started in 2012 as a work space with some mentorship. It evolved to provide both a startup accelerator (an intensive six-month program for 22 companies with formal workshops and assigned mentors that culminates in a Demo Day for investors) and an incubator (free work space and access to events and mentors for 80 companies). ... For the first time, SkyDeck is investing in the companies in its accelerator, providing each with $100,000 for a 5 percent stake. ... SkyDeck’s $1.8 million annual budget, which includes its real estate leases and five full-time staff, comes from sponsorships and donations. It does not take any campus money. It recently added the building’s third floor as extra space for its graduates and some of the incubator companies."</li> <li> The book notes: "Another Berkeley program, Skydeck, is an engineering and MBA-focused incubator to create new digital technology focused businesses Skydeck, is a joint program of the Hass School of Business, the School of Engineering, various research institutions, and with Berkeley's affiliated Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. The focus is to promote new start-ups, some student directed and driven, and to keep more of them in and around the city of Berkeley. One program is focused on supporting student start-up ideas via a dedicated team of Haas MBA students who offer direct support to startup, helping to generate financial modeling, marketing strategies, impact analysis, customer relations, project management, sustainable business development."</li> <li> The article notes: "The University of California, Berkeley’s Skydeck incubator for student start-ups, has a decidedly un-student like feel. The incubator, which Haas School of Business, Berkeley helped establish and fund, occupies the penthouse suite of the tallest building in downtown Berkeley, with premium office space and views over San Francisco Bay. Inside, 14 competitively chosen teams, most with at least one MBA, are developing companies based on everything from social media websites to medical devices and software. Each team can use the incubator for up to a year, receiving mentoring from Haas faculty and entrepreneurial alumni, hands-on help from Skydeck staff and the opportunity to pitch to the investors of nearby Silicon Valley."</li>v <li> The article notes: "With a new venture fund as well as its top reputation, incubator and accelerator program SkyDeck offers both funds and expertise to early-stage companies eager to solve the world's problems. More than 1,600 founders applied to the University of California, Berkeley program this year — double that of last year's pool — but only 20 or so founders will receive the $100,000 seed funding and mentorship. Startups will also enjoy access to the university’s resources and vast alumni network. ... Since its beginnings in 2012, SkyDeck has become named by Forbes as one of the top five university accelerators, helping to grow more than 340 companies. Besides its accelerator program, SkyDeck also runs an incubator program for early-stage startups called HotDesk, and is a joint program in UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, the College of Engineering and the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research. The seed funding comes from the SkyDeck Fund, a public-private partnership. Launched last year, the fund is managed by venture firms such as Sequoia Capital, Sierra Ventures and Canvas Ventures. The school doesn’t put a dime in, but gets a 50% cut of the equity after a startup has a successful exit. This financing model, according to Winnett, may one day prove to be a useful model for funding education."</li> <li> The article notes: "From its humble beginnings in 2012 as a volunteer-led mentorship organization for nascent entrepreneurs, SkyDeck has developed into a full-fledged incubator and accelerator program, recently doubling its office space and launching an associated $24 million venture fund called the Berkeley SkyDeck Fund with the ability to directly seed companies in exchange for equity. The fund is mainly backed by traditional VCs including Sequoia Capital, Mayfield, Canvas Ventures and Sierra Ventures who receive a regular deal flow made up of a curated selection of some of the top new companies coming out of UC Berkeley, for what amounts to a pittance of their total resources. ... SkyDeck is also open to global founders who don’t need a prior affiliation with Berkeley. Some of these international companies include include Mexican earthquake alert startup SkyAlert and autonomous delivery robot company Kiwi Campus, which got its start in Colombia."</li> <li> The article notes: "The largest-ever Berkeley SkyDeck demo day kicked off with a high-energy performance from the Cal marching band, setting the tone for an afternoon of presentations from none other than Berkeley faculty and students-turned-entrepreneurs. Launched in 2012 as a modest accelerator for student-run businesses, SkyDeck has flourished since its inception. To date, the program has mentored 300 startups, which have gone on to raise $800 million via 27 funding rounds and 10 acquisition deals. Earlier this year, it raised a $24 million venture fund so it could finally seed participating startups with $100,000 in exchange for 5 percent equity. Today’s cohort is only the second to receive an investment from SkyDeck as part of the accelerator."</li> <li> The article notes: "Top-ranked UC Berkeley startup accelerator SkyDeck, which helped bring forth scooter and bike rental company Lime that is now valued at more than $2 billion, opened applications today for its Spring 2020 cohort. SkyDeck usually accepts about 20 applicants. The startups selected each receive $100,000 investment from UC Berkeley’s $25 million SkyDeck Fund plus mentorship, access to the school’s resources and a dedicated workspace. At the end of the 6-month program, startups present on demo day to hundreds of potential investors. Applicants can be from any industry — life sciences to consumer apps to hardware or software — but need to have at least one team member who has gone to one of the 10 UCs or UC labs. Applications are also open to any startup that has an international founder, regardless of UC affiliation."</li> </ol>

There is sufficient coverage in reliable sources to allow Berkeley SkyDeck to pass Notability, which requires "significant coverage in reliable sources that are independent of the subject". Cunard (talk) 11:25, 25 May 2020 (UTC)</li></ul> <div class="xfd_relist" style="border-top: 1px solid #AAA; border-bottom: 1px solid #AAA; padding: 0px 25px;"> Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion and clearer consensus. Relisting comment: Need analysis of Cunard's sources

Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, <b style="color: White">b</b><b style="color: White">uidh</b><b style="color: White">e</b> 06:57, 1 June 2020 (UTC) <div class="xfd_relist" style="border-top: 1px solid #AAA; border-bottom: 1px solid #AAA; padding: 0px 25px;"> Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion and clearer consensus.

Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, North America1000 01:45, 9 June 2020 (UTC)
 * KEEP Cunard has found reliable sources giving them significant coverage. Also common sense they were able to secure "more than $1 billion in total funding", that's something most companies can't do.   D r e a m Focus  15:57, 12 June 2020 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. <b style="color:red">Please do not modify it.</b> Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.