An Introduction to Silicon Valley
I'm often heard advising entrepreneurs that the best place to start a technology company is Silicon Valley. Some of these entrepreneurs actually listen to me, take the plunge and come over here. Then they inevitably ask for advice on how to best get integrated into this wonderful place. To save repeating myself, I'll post a quick guide here.
Networking
As is common in most industries, you'll find that many deals get done in Silicon Valley based on who you know. That's why you moved here right? To get to know people? So as soon as you arrive you need to get out there and start networking. I don't mean in the tacky/annoying way (going up to someone you don't know, asking what they do and shoving a business card in their face). Have a goal of actually getting to know people, forming friendships. The people in silicon valley are very self-selecting - almost everyone here is working on some crazy ambitious idea and trying to change the world - these are people you want to know. Get out there, meet people, and prepare to be genuinely amazed and impressed (don't ruin it by constantly thinking "what can this person do for me?")
When I meet someone for the first time and hear about what they do, the thoughts buzzing around in my head are ways in which I can help them, not how they can help me. Silicon Valley has a strong 'pay it forward' culture. Sew many seeds. You'll be surprised one day when you are trying to close a big deal for your startup, and you randomly discover that someone in your network is buddies with the CEO and willing to make an intro (you'll also be surprised at how often this happens). Put in the effort to meet quality people now, do your best to help them out, and you'll be rewarded with many serendipitious events in the future.
So how do you actually get started? First, subscribe to The Startup Digest. This is a weekly newsletter of the best events in Silicon Valley. Go along to one or two events a week that sound interesting. When you are there, try to meet at least one or two new people. You may be cringing at the though of boring smalltalk - I hate smalltalk as much as the next person. But you'll quickly realize you don't have to make smalltalk - dive deep into whatever topic you are interested in, and the person you are talking to will probably have something insightful to add. Silicon Valley is full of very smart people.
Some regular monthly events worth checking out include Startup2Startup, Hackers and Founders, and SF New Tech.
Reading
When you aren't busy putting out the latest fire at your startup, or out there networking, spend some time reading. Stay on top of what's going on in Silicon Valley. Not only will this give you interesting things to talk about when you are out networking, it will also give you new ideas and insights into your own business. There are TONS of resources available these days, and the beauty is you can keep up with the pulse of Silicon Valley even if you aren't here.
Here are some readings I recommend:
- Hacker News - Various articles from around the web of interest to hackers and entrepreneurs. The comments/discussions on this site are consistently high quality and worth reading. Most of the interesting articles from the readings below will end up on this site.
- TechCrunch - the go-to blog for breaking news in the startup/technology space. These days I prefer to follow them on twitter and click on headlines that sound interesting.
- Paul Graham's Essays - The man behind Y Combinator, Paul is a fantastic writer and always has interesting things to say about startups, fundraising, technology and more.
- Venture Hacks - Insider knowledge on the strategies and tactics of raising money for your startup.
- Startup Company Lawyer - You can probably find and answer to most startup-related legal questions here without having to go and pay an attorney. And when it comes time to retain an attorney, Yokum (the author) is a great choice.
- There are many VCs and entrepreneurs with blogs worth subscribing to, including Fred Wilson, Chris Dixon, Ben Horowitz, Dave McClure, Steve Blank, Eric Ries, Andrew Chen and more. I can't list them all, but you gradually discover them over time through sites like Hacker News.
Work Spaces
You'll probably start out working at home until your company gets big enough to need office space. However, there are a wealth of options available to you rather than just spending every day in your home office. This will help you with your networking and also provide a more enjoyable working experience.
Firstly, there are lots of official coworking spaces. These generally let you rent a desk by the month, offer shared conference rooms and other facilities, and best of all put you next to a bunch of other entrepreneurs all trying to create the next big thing. The benefits in terms of shared energy and learning by osmosis make this a great choice. Some of the best co-working spaces include:
- I/O Ventures (San Francisco)
- pariSoma (San Francisco)
- SOMAcentral (San Francisco)
- Hacker Dojo (Mountain View)
- and many more, see this list
For something less formal, you'll find that many entrepreneurs will take their laptop and power supply down to a local coffee shop that offers free wifi and spend the day working. This is a low cost way to get out of the house and change your environment, and you'll probably still end up meeting a bunch of cool entrepreneurs and investors. In fact it's hard to go to a coffee shop in Silicon Valley and NOT overhear an entrepreneur pitching an investor, or a business deal getting done. Some of the popular entrepreneur hangouts include:
Palo Alto:
San Francisco:
- Epicenter Cafe seems to be a popular choice, and the SOMA area has a high concentration of entrepreneurs
- Being San Francisco, there are many many more choices. Try a new one each day :)
I don't want to go into the details of fundraising, that's a post in itself. I'll mention a couple of points, since this is probably a reason many of you decided to move to Silicon Valley.
Firstly, see 'networking' above. You absolutely must get to know investors before you start pitching them. You'll find many investors are happy to meet new entrepreneurs for lunch or a coffee (if they can fit it in their schedule). Investors like to learn what great new companies are on the horizon, and try to spot early trends. A good strategy is to meet up with investors a few months before you officially start fundraising. Tell them what you are working on, when you plan to raise money, and what milestones you plan to achieve before then. When you come back a few months later and show them that you have met your milestones, you immediately demonstrate credibility and your ability to execute, and make the investor much more likely to want to give you money. Plan to spend some time here listening and learning before you go out pitching.
Incubators are becoming incredibly popular again. If you only need a small amount of money to get started, and want to benefit from a network of mentors and like-minded, similar-stage entrepreneurs, joining an incubator may be a good choice. Some popular incubators in the area:
- Y Combinator (Mountain View) - these guys started it all, and are still considered the best
- 500 Startups (Mountain View)
- Founder Institute
- AngelPad (San Francisco)
- I/O Ventures (San Francisco)
- Kicklabs (San Francisco
Lastly, if you are looking to raise angel investment, Angel List is a great new resource that helps you get in front of all the top angel investors in silicon valley.
Good Places to Live
In this post I have referred to Silicon Valley as if it were one place. In reality I'm talking about the San Francisco Bay Area which is huge and includes San Francisco, the peninsula, the South bay, East bay and more.
There are many places you can chose to live with a wide variation in price and options. For entrepreneurs, you will first need to decide between San Francisco and the peninsula (Palo Alto, Mountain View or nearby suburbs). Palo Alto has been the heart of technology entrepreneurship for a long time, and probably still holds the crown. However, San Francisco (particularly the SOMA neighborhood) is quickly catching up, and you will find many young startups setting up shop here (particularly web-based startups). It's about a 45 minute drive between San Francisco and Palo Alto (can be much worse in traffic), and you should expect to be commuting back and forth often for meetings.
It would take too much time and space to write about all the options in the bay area (feel free to email me and ask for advice), but a quick comparison of Palo Alto and San Francisco is as follows:
Palo Alto:
- Beautiful suburban neighborhood
- Great weather for most of the year
- Quiet - not much to do if you like going out and partying
- Great restaurants
- Home to Stanford University
- Two downtown areas - University Avenue, and California Avenue
San Francisco:
- A major international city (although still very small compared to New York or LA)
- Very diverse
- Great restaurants
- Terrible weather (foggy most of the time, ALWAYS cold at night, September is almost like a real summer)
- Lots to do if you want to go out and party
- Many different neighborhoods
I'll end by referring you to this map that Garry Tan has put together with some of the best areas for entrepreneurs to live.
Sightseeing
For a bit of fun on the weekend, and to indulge in a bit of Silicon Valley history, here are a couple of posts that list plenty of places to visit:
I hope that gives you some pointers to get started. There's a lot more I could say but this post is already far too long. Ask any questions in the comments or by emailing me. I'll try to update this post over time with new information.
