We recently wrapped up our first-ever investor training in partnership with Stanford Center for Professional Development.

Our full class brought together 34 impressively awesome participants — 16 women and 18 men from 14 countries around the world.

Participants’ backgrounds included prominent existing tech investors looking to break into new global markets, family offices getting ready to launch into tech investing and accelerator-building, multilateral organizations looking to set up venture capital as asset class, young entrepreneurs setting up funds in universities, and active angel investors looking to sharpen their existing investment thesis and scale the volume and reach of their investment activity.

Our 50/50 Scholarship brought 16 women to the table, making up a class that was almost 50% women investors. We see this as a huge win and step forward in changing the gender ratio in venture, and want to extend an extra thanks to the community — and to Stanford — for supporting the scholarship initiative.

We covered a LOT of material during our two week program, with every day including classroom time, meet and greet sessions, pitches, and in-depth and heated startup assessments following 500’s Batch 12 Demo Day. The course was taught by Mike Lyons, Mike Lepech, Pedram Mokriam, Dave McClure and Bedy Yang with several guest speakers such as Jason Calacanis, Mari Baker and James Currier.

This course will allow you to wrap your your head around why and how this asset class works in the Valley, thanks to top notch faculty with libraries of knowledge.

— Fares Ghandour, Investment Manager at MENA Venture Investments

I was really fortunate to be in this first batch of the program. I found the course the be very relevant for many reasons; it was conducted jointly with Stanford whose faculties are themselves industry practitioners and have been in the industry for a long time. Then, there is the additional appeal to the program, as half of the participants are from outside the US and almost equally, were made up of women. It was a good mix of angel investors, VCs and even a university professor! Then there is a good mix of lectures as well as real-life experience thrown in for us to engage with real companies and real issues faced by them. We even attended 500 Startups Demo Day for its Batch 12!

Well done 500 Startups and Stanford!. I don’t think I can find the same experience elsewhere in the world.

— Jalamudin Bujang, CEO at MAVCAP

Participating in IGSVI gave me more insight into investing in Silicon Valley and has extended my network further not only with VC’s in the US but also with VC’s and angel investors around the world.

— Sigurdur Arnljotsson, General Partner at SA Framtak VC

The IGSVI program brought clarity to how I can most effectively run a Venture Capital Firm, more so than any blog, book, mentor, or past experience ever could. By bringing together the brightest emerging early stage investors from around the world to Silicon Valley for a jam-packed two week experience, IGSVI provided us with the opportunity to build a professional network that will work together to fuel entrepreneurship on a global scale.

— Elizabeth Galbut, Founding Partner at A-Level Capital

The IGSVI program hosted by 500 Startups at Stanford has been extremely valuable and worth-while in the critical stages of building the foundation of my investment career. In 10 days, I learned more and gained more Silicon Valley insider connections than I would have in 6 months or more on my own. 500 Startups has truly found a way to “accelerate” the work of emerging fund managers much like they’ve done for hundreds of startups. The teaching staff was top notch, no logistical detail was left to chance, and instructors were hands-on and available. Our class was made up of people from every corner of the earth, and made the experience more enjoyable than I could have ever imagined. I have made some life-long friends, and learned a ton in the process.

— Arlan Hamilton, Founding Partner at Backstage Capital

I came in wanting to invest in every angel investment deal that came my way. I left with an understanding of my area of expertise and a clear investment thesis.

The highlight for me was the commitment that Dave, Bedy and the the entire 500 team had for each of the participants to get significant value. In fact at times I caught myself thinking that how could Dave reveal all his secrets and learnings gained from his experience of investing in almost 1000 startups. The diversity of the 35 participants was equally impressive with only 20% from the U.S. and the balance from all over the world. Needless to say that it was a very valuable 2 weeks and it’s for sure saved me a ton of money which I would have wasted in investing outside my area of competence and outside my thesis.

— Piyush Chawla, Angel Investor

We walked away with new connections and new friendships — people we’re excited to support not just as investors but as friends.

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IGSVI was a huge success, and, in classic 500 style, it’s something we’re doing again — probably sooner than is sensible or sane.

From short workshops in your region to the NEXT IGSVI later this year, learn more about 500’s upcoming investor training programs at http://500.vc