Inside CMU's Startup Scene with Bryan Bravo, Founder of 996 Ventures

In this episode of Forward Thinking Founders, Mat talks with Bryan, a fourth-year business student at Carnegie Mellon University, about what it's actually like to build inside one of the country's most technical campuses. Bryan co-founded 996 Ventures, a student-run effort that helps connect standout CMU founders with VCs — born out of his own frustrating experience trying to raise capital for his first startup.

The conversation is as much a tour of the CMU ecosystem as anything else: the Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Association, the CMU SigmaPod entrepreneurship fraternity, and CMU Foundry, the student-run accelerator that's helped campus startups raise over $11M across two cohorts and land spots in YC and other top programs. Bryan explains why he built 996 specifically for CMU students who might not know these programs exist or don't get in — and why he thinks being physically on campus is the only way to really catch founders early, before they're on anyone else's radar.

Also covered:

• What Bryan actually screens for before referring a CMU founder to a VC — customer discovery, industry experience, founder-market fit
• Why he thinks a campus-embedded model (à la Dorm Room Fund) beats VCs parachuting in from the outside
• His honest read on why breaking into VC as a current student is nearly impossible without an exit under your belt — and why he's leaning toward starting another company instead
• The outreach tactics behind his unusually high (~40%) response rate from investors
• Why being a student is an underrated card to play when asking for help
• The most exciting company he's come across on campus right now

A fun window into how one corner of the CMU startup scene is organizing itself — and a reminder that great founders are often hiding in plain sight on their own campus.

Connect with Bryan: 996ventures.com | hello@996ventures.com | X: @Bryanbuildsss