coursepad's journey to the bay
DESCRIPTION
Some of a young entrepreneur's learnings from his first visit to the SF Bay area.TRANSCRIPT
OUR JOURNEY
TO THE BAYSome insights from first-timer
to the Valley
OVERVIEW
• Why the Bay Area?!
• How our trip went!
• Singapore and the US!
• Our next steps
• Startups!
• Capital!
• Geeks!
• Global Hub!
• Culture
OUR TRIP
• Market Access Programs!
• Incubators & Real Estate!
• Networking with VCs, startups!
• Visits to technology companies
The original SV slide @ Nest GSV
US MARKET ACCESS
• Accelerators!
• Consultants!
• Re-validate product!
• 6+ months
Startup rocket @ Rocketspace
• City!
• Suburbs!
• Must have car
LEARNING FROM VCS
• Invest locally!
• Build relationships!
• Find great partners!
• Don’t cold email
Ken Gullicksen, VC -> COO, Evernote
LEARNING FROM STARTUPS
• All about social proof + scarcity + urgency!
• Create buzz + PR!
• Don’t be shy - ask for help!
• Believe - never ask a crack dealer if crack is good
Guy Kawasaki, author + mentor
LEARNING FROM VISITS
• Space + Culture!
• Employee satisfaction #1!
• Productivity is key!
• Openness!
• Task vs Time focusGuy Kawasaki, author + mentor
• Cheaper operational cost!
• Strong government support!
• Multiple markets!
• Portal to Asia
• Hyper-competitive!
• More complete financing!
• Larger homogeneous market
Use LinkedIn to your advantage!