An Unexpected Path to Entrepreneurship: From Classroom to Silicon Valley
What began as a typical academic pursuit for a Lehigh University student quickly turned into a life-altering journey into the heart of Silicon Valley’s tech scene. Initially planning to return as a double major in supply chain management and marketing, she found herself on a different trajectory after a serendipitous meeting.
During a session, she sat beside Timothy Eades, a seasoned entrepreneur known for founding and leading companies like vArmour and Anetac. Eades, who has been volunteering with Lehigh Silicon Valley (LSV) since its inception, offered her an internship opportunity after they engaged in a compelling Q&A session.
“I already had an internship set up for that summer,” she explained, “but I kept thinking about how cool it would be to go to California and work for a startup. So I shot my shot.”
That decisive email to Eades altered her academic and career path. She chose to drop her supply chain management major in favor of a minor in entrepreneurship, a move that felt instinctive and aligned with her newfound passion. This decision opened doors for her to intern and later work at vArmour throughout her senior year, eventually leading to a full-time position in the Bay Area post-graduation.
“After coming to the Bay Area for LSV, I wanted to plunge into entrepreneurship,” she expressed, crediting Eades for helping to “amplify and champion” her efforts within the company, which allowed her to seize various opportunities over her five-year tenure.
Eades shared, “These jobs are really hard, really emotional and sometimes downright lonely. But that’s the journey that you need to go on in order to become where you should be to fulfill your potential. Diana is incredibly talented, and we can say to each other, ‘I don’t know what to do and you don’t know either, but we’re going to figure it out.’”
Her experience at vArmour gave her deep insights into the challenges within the cybersecurity sector, leading to collaboration with engineers and colleagues, including Eades, to establish Anetac. She conducted numerous interviews to pinpoint how technology could address client pain points, especially with the emergence of AI tools like ChatGPT.
“We were doing preliminary research right as ChatGPT came out, making sense of all of the data and asking ourselves, ‘What does that sprawl look like as we think about the world of AI?’” she reflected.
Eades emphasized, “As an entrepreneur, you’ve got to go with your gut, connect with your heart and follow your passion. Somewhere between your gut and your heart, you’ll find out what you want to do. You only fail when you stop trying.”
Her entrepreneurial journey has brought her back to Lehigh, but this time through Lehigh West, the university’s gateway on the West Coast established in 2016. Lehigh West is strategically positioned near Silicon Valley, offering students and faculty immersive learning experiences and fostering dynamic career pathways.
Having navigated her path through LSV, she is passionate about shaping future opportunities for students at Lehigh West. She continues to mentor and host interns through programs such as the Startup Academy and the Innovation Internship.
“I want to be involved in any way possible and continually meet students and alumni engaged in Lehigh West,” she stated. She aims to provide students with the support she once sought, from finding housing to career negotiation and networking.
“We’ve built a great community out here, and more people are starting to take the leap because of that,” she observed, underscoring the importance of fostering connections and leveraging programming in entrepreneurship. “The energy is palpable here,” she continued. “You can’t feel entrepreneurial spirit like this anywhere else.”
Reflecting on her journey, she recalls Eades’ advice from their first encounter: “Invest in your relationships, even if it’s just a small message saying, ‘I’m thinking of you.’ Nurturing relationships and remembering to always be kind is the attitude I try to lead with within entrepreneurship, my career and in my life.”
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