Startup Success at Menlo and Beyond

By Jessica Berger, Director of Communications, Office of Alumni Engagement & Development

Sambhab Thapaliya ‘21 is a proof-of-point example that Menlo College positions its graduates to succeed on the frontiers of economic opportunity. Since 2019, the Nepalese native has raised $36 million to fund two startups. How has he been so successful? What resonates most with his investors?

“I don’t give up,” Thapaliya says.

His tenacity can be traced back to his roots in Nepal. He describes growing up not far from scenes of abject poverty. In his own family, no one had gone to college. Thapaliya faced an acute struggle when the Gorkha earthquake separated him — only a high school student at the time — from them for several days.

Yet against this backdrop was a deep desire “to do something different.” And so, after a failed attempt at developing an AI company, when a Menlo College flyer found its way to Nepal, with the encouragement of his mother, Thapaliya felt compelled to submit an application.

Recalling what attracted him to Menlo, he says, “I wanted to study entrepreneurship and information systems - and be in Silicon Valley.”

During his junior year in 2019, as many like-minded Menlo students have done, he established a company, ASMI. This startup venture was founded to develop a commerce application programming interface for video games, which has gone on to raise $2 million in funding.

Then in 2021, in the midst of the pandemic, Thapaliya established Zebec Protocol. This startup focuses on creating a continuous financial settlement protocol on the decentralized network Solana and has raised $34 million in funds to date.

Since founding these two businesses, Thapaliya is proud to have corresponded with the head of Coinbase and pitched at Lightspeed Ventures.

According to Thapaliya, Menlo was where “I found my passion. That’s what college is about.” He found the General Education courses most impactful, where courses such as Behavioral Finance and Psychology taught him “how to understand broad systems and ways of thinking about what people need.” This foundation compelled him to explore the emerging fields of cryptocurrency and DeFi, grounded in the desire to give financial independence to those without regular access to centralized banking.

At Menlo, Thapaliya also learned that no one can be successful on their own. While preparing to launch ASMI, Thapaliya rehearsed his pitches for his fellow students, listening to their feedback. He now brings that practice to the teams he leads, where the sharing of ideas and communication leads to the creation of strong teams. He is open to the idea that everyone is on a constant evolution of self-discovery.

Since completing his degree in Management with a concentration in Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Thapaliya stays close to the College, frequently guest lecturing on campus and most recently participating in Career Connect Day this spring where he hosted a lecture on “What Web3 Means to the Job Market.”

“Menlo students have great potential. Some may struggle but I know the system and I want to help them find success in DeFi, crypto, and Web3.”

He encourages the College to continue to explore the new economy, too - bringing in guest speakers, integrating contemporary examples into classroom cases. Thapaliya thinks that, by continuing to do so, future students will have an edge in the innovation economy - just like him.