Reuters
SAN QUENTIN — One by one, the entrepreneurs, clad in crisp blue jeans and armed with PowerPoint presentations, stood before a roomful of investors and tech bloggers to explain their dreams of changing the world.
For these exuberant times in Silicon Valley, the scene was familiar; the setting, less so.
With the young and ambitious flocking again to northern California to launch Internet companies, there were signs one recent morning that startup mania has taken hold even behind the faded granite walls of California’s most notorious prison.
“Live stream has gone mainstream. Mobile video usage went up and is expected to increase by 28 percent over the next five years,” said Eddie Griffin, who was pitching a music streaming concept called “At the Club” and happens to be finishing a third stint for drug possession at San Quentin State Prison, near San Francisco, after spending the last 15 years behind bars.
Griffin was one of seven San Quentin inmates who presented startup proposals on “Demo Day” as part of the Last Mile program, an entrepreneurship course modeled on startup incubators that take in batches of young companies and provide them courses, informal advice and the seed investments to grow.
Full story: San Quentin Prison Becomes An Incubator For Startups