Zhamilya Mussaibekova

LavaLab is the University of Southern California's premiere, student-run, product incubator. Founded in the Spring of 2013 by a group of students led by Eric Pakravan, LavaLab is now in its seventh year and prides itself on the graduation of ten diverse cohorts of the school's best engineers, product thinkers, and designers. Each semester twenty-eight new members are welcomed into the community, and are given the unique opportunity to meet their co-founders. Placed into seven individual teams, cohort members are presented a comprehensive curriculum including presentations, guest lectures, workshops, and Fireside Chats. Every semester culminates in LavaLab's capstone event: Demo Night, a professional showcase of entirely student-created products to industry leaders and investors. In 2011, Marc Andreessen, cofounder and general partner of Andreessen Horowitz, wrote in The Wall Street Journal that " . . . software is eating the world". We agree, but there's more to the equation. As the technology industry as a whole has become increasingly saturated, success in a modern market means to be constantly innovating — igniting change, challenging norms, and setting new trends by disrupting the ones we already have. At LavaLab, we believe that the most creative solutions come from the cross-pollination of skills and ideas, so we invest in the intersection of talented engineers, product managers, and designers who are committed to building a better future. We have come to really understand that ideas mean nothing without execution. So we equip our members with the knowledge, community, and resources they need to bring their ideas to life. We give them a platform to create innovative products, learn new skills, and create lifelong relationships. All told, LavaLab is crafting the next generation of entrepreneurs, tech moguls, and revolutionaries — the next generation of visionaries and doers.