Miles Lasater caught the entrepreneurship bug early in life. Growing up in San Francisco, both of his parents started their own businesses. Plus, his friend’s parents were involved in some of the most iconic companies in Silicon Valley at the time. “It’s about what’s worth solving and how do we organize people to tackle that problem and serve customers,” he said. Once at Yale, Lasater ’01 met fellow undergraduate student Sean Glass ’03 who shared his interest in innovation. “We were both excited about entrepreneurship and thought there should be a place for students to come together for education and working opportunities,” Lasater said. So, in 1999, the Yale Entrepreneurial Society (YES) was born. Almost 30 years later, the student-run nonprofit YES has become one of the largest undergraduate organizations on campus. YES helps students transform ideas into reality through talks, dinners, and execution-focused programs. “Yale had all the ingredients to be a major force in the startup world, so we decided that we would try to get things moving by starting YES,” Glass said. Starting up Today, Lasater is the CEO and founder of Purpose Built, a venture capital studio, and Glass is managing partner of Evidenced, an investment firm. When they started YES, it was during the dot-com bubble, a period characterized by the rise of internet-based companies’ stock prices. A bust ultimately followed in the early 2000s. Lasater says YES had strong membership numbers almost immediately. For them, the two priorities were educational and networking opportunities. They didn’t just want students to meet each other but also people from off campus, especially those with entrepreneurship experience. “Starting YES became a great way to build many new friendships while pursuing something I was passionate about,” Glass said. In fact, during the first year of YES, they were able