This reminds me of BASES at Stanford. I think it is a cool way to learn about startups, but personally, while at Stanford, I found it to be filled with prestige-oriented careerists... with that being said, I think it would be phenomenal if these kids succeed -- sometimes I just lament the time of youth being wasted worrying about the future instead of enjoying the intellectual life of the academie -- history and the big questions of humanity and it's future.. not how to make the next quick buck. Sometimes I feel kind of sad Stanford often nourishes and encourages this market focus... because I felt it so deeply myself as a student there, esp coming from an under-privileged background.

I'm guessing they're not as good at picking winners as the professionals are.

« Mui tells TechCrunch that startups must fulfill two criteria in order to automatically invest: first, the co-founder must be a member of the class, and second, they must raise a round of $750,000 or more from a reputable institutional investor »

I think they just don’t pick winners themselves

Revolting against an elite group by creating their own elite group? Seems like a great way to learn about and invest in startups but the reason for it doesn’t pass the smell test.

A minimum $3000 to join the investment club, after $50,000 per year in tuition.

But it's a meritocracy, right?

The founder is an MBA student. I would infer that the Stanford MBA program contains many students who have made a decent amount of money, and they are comfortable with spending a chunk of that to make a lot more in the future.