Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2022

As a potential investor, I always think of the high rate of failure of disruptive technologies, due to the longer learning curve of customers, infrastructure change consistently required, and higher marketing costs. If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. Define realistic metrics to keep track of progress.

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ReadWriteStart

FEBRUARY 7, 2020

It wasn’t long ago that it made sense for companies, and especially Silicon Valley companies, to hire locally and have everyone working from one central location. Today, especially in tech hubs like Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, New York, or Seattle, none of these facts hold. Real estate was relatively cheap.

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Steve Blank

OCTOBER 26, 2020

Nand changed the culture of the JAIC, bringing in Silicon Valley tools for product development, product management and for the first time a culture that focused on UI/UX, MVPs and continuous integration and deployment. This is where I brought in the thinking of how we build businesses here in Silicon Valley.

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Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 7, 2023

Bill’s closing line, “The reason why Silicon Valley is so successful is that it’s so fxxxng far away from Washington” received great applause. Tech Companies Use Regulatory Capture In my first two decades inside the Silicon Valley bubble we built products people wanted and needed.

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VC Cafe

FEBRUARY 6, 2011

VC investors rely heavily on referrals, but what should a non US startup do when looking to raise funding in Silicon Valley? How best can European startups land VC funding in the US / Sillicon Valley? For example, in response to “ How do I raise funds in Silicon Valley for a European-based startup ?

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 22, 2012

He also nails the reason why venture capital is still necessary to grow large businesses quickly in a world where the costs of running startups have fallen dramatically. And the wrong message is frankly strewn all over Silicon Valley. And this is fueled by the VC culture in Silicon Valley. Growth, again.

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Berkonomics

OCTOBER 5, 2023

But first… There is a relationship between time and money that is more complex than most managers think. Since this number is budgeted and pre-authorized, managers tend to focus upon other things such as sales, marketing and product development issues. The art of good management. How about young or pre-revenue companies?

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ReadWriteStart

JUNE 26, 2020

And finally, we’ll dig into the fundamental changes in leadership, management, and mindset that will allow people to weather this period of extraordinary change and come out the better for it. In an instant, remote work went from a small Silicon Valley trend to a ubiquitous element of daily life. After the crisis.

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David Teten

NOVEMBER 26, 2019

Instead of budget approvals, monitor key metrics and give managers more flexibility. How should a growth company manage their budget? Inevitably, things cost more and take longer than expected. According to ThedaCare’s chief financial officer, Tim Olson , top management viewed it as a significant waste of time.

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Steve Blank

MAY 9, 2017

I’ve seen the Valley grow from Sunnyvale to Santa Clara to today where it stretches from San Jose to South of Market in San Francisco. I’ve watched the Valley go from Microwave Valley – to Defense Valley – to Silicon Valley to Internet Valley. So how did this happen? Where is it going?

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Version One Ventures

AUGUST 7, 2018

The predominant narrative among Silicon Valley start-ups has been: don’t open a second office until you have reached 100+ employees. However, the pressure of sky-high housing costs, salaries and competition for suitable candidates is causing start-ups and investors to rethink their approach to distributed teams.

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YoungUpstarts

APRIL 7, 2016

For aspiring entrepreneurs, it’s hard to resist the allure of Silicon Valley. You’d be forgiven for thinking that any budding entrepreneur should only look at setting up in Silicon Valley to be successful. Photo credit: Canada flag from Shutterstock. By Raj Narayanaswamy, cofounder and Co-CEO, Replicon.

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Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 24, 2010

Over the last half a century, Silicon Valley has grown into the leading technology and innovation cluster for the United States and the world. Today open source software has slashed the cost of software development from millions of dollars to thousands. Entrepreneurship as It’s Own Management Science.

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Hunter Walker

AUGUST 1, 2021

So I wanted to reshare a post I wrote suggesting that we actually don’t talk about money enough in Silicon Valley, at least not in the transparent and healthy ways that allow us to consider its impact. I’m off to research how much it actually costs to privately own a giraffe…. It’s not about scarcity, it’s about abundance.

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ReadWriteStart

OCTOBER 22, 2019

They’re low cost and capable of delivering specific — but mostly basic — engineering services. These people may be permanent employees, or they may work on a project-by-project basis, but they are managed very much as if they’re working right alongside you. Collaboration tools have improved.

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Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2023

But, for the rest of us, don’t believe the Silicon Valley myth that all you have to do is sketch your million-dollar idea on the back of a napkin, and investors will line up to give you money. Would you be comfortable buying a house from a builder, or building one yourself, with no plan on timeframes, costs, and features?

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Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

You may have heard that venture capitalists in Silicon Valley no longer read business plans. For example, “We just patented a new battery technology that will cut your smartphone charge time and cost in half.” If possible, quantify these in non-technical business terms, such as dollars saved or replacement costs over time.

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Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 5, 2012

Costs of product on YouTube content is literally 99% cheaper than traditional TV and; Distribution of content can now go viral and can predictably distributed via social networks. But here’s what Silicon Valley doesn’t get about Hollywood. And what Hollywood does’t get about Silicon Valley?

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Steve Blank

APRIL 23, 2014

For decades large companies have gone shopping in Silicon Valley for startups. Companies manage these three types of innovation with an innovation portfolio – they build innovation internally, they buy it or they partner with resources outside their company. Silicon Valley – a Corporate Innovation Candy Store.

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Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 1, 2011

In Silicon Valley the equivalent is the journeyman coder or web designer who loves the technology, and takes coding and U/I jobs because it’s a passion. They work as hard as any Silicon Valley entrepreneur. Scalable startups are what Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and their venture investors aspire to build.

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View from Seed

APRIL 14, 2020

I think you’ll also see more focus on companies that demonstrate capital efficiently, and investors will encourage founders to be more focused on sound unit economics than growth at all costs. In the last several years, you’ve seen more investors engaging with companies in non-core geographies.

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YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 29, 2020

While Silicon Valley remains a hub of technological innovation, it is not the only hi-tech enclave where big ideas are brought to the fore in the commercial arena. Drivenets is aiming high, with the strategic objective of creating infrastructure for managing a huge portion of global data in the coming decades.

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Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 15, 2011

Last year I was on Sand Hill Road in Silicon Valley meeting with one of the most prominent venture capital firms in the country. And this Silicon Valley bias isn’t limited to any single meeting – it has been a recurring theme in my time as a VC. Funding is different outside of Silicon Valley.

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Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2018

The cost of rolling out a business has never been lower – it only takes a few hundred dollars to incorporate a Limited Liability Corp (LLC) online, create your own website, use social media to get attention, and you are in business. In the early Internet days, it would cost a million dollars to get this far.

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Version One Ventures

MAY 3, 2023

Version One has made only one investment in the region ( Headout , a fast growing marketplace for travel experiences) and I had written a small LP cheque into an emerging fund manager ( 1947 Rise , run by the awesome Shiva Sangwan ). And I had more than 20 1:1 meetings with founders, angels, emerging fund managers and institutional VC funds.

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Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2023

All banks are looking hard these days to get back in the game, and certain ones, like Silicon Valley Bank, are more focused on small businesses, even though that focus has cost them dearly in recent weeks. Management with a strong track record.

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YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 5, 2020

Be transparent about shipping delays you’re aware of and do your best to manage your customers’ expectations. If you have a brick-and-mortar location or a lot of local customers, offer in-person pickup to allow customers to save on shipping costs – and to allow you to package and mail fewer orders! Encourage people to buy early.

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Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 25, 2021

Eren Bali arrived in Silicon Valley from Turkey in 2010 hoping to relaunch Udemy , his online education company. A provider of low-cost health clinics across the country, Carbon Health was also on the frontlines when the COVID pandemic hit--and even understood what was coming long before most people in the U.S.

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Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2021

But, for the rest of us, don’t believe the Silicon Valley myth that all you have to do is sketch your million-dollar idea on the back of a napkin, and investors will line up to give you money. Would you be comfortable buying a house from a builder, or building one yourself, with no plan on timeframes, costs, and features?

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Silicon Valley Exit Strategy Business Plan Restful 342

Haystack

JULY 20, 2018

But, it wasn’t directionally wrong, looking at enormous multinational companies like Apple, Google, and Facebook which rose from the hallowed ground of Silicon Valley. Will the Bay Area’s cost structure compress the precious runway these newco’s have? Over the past two years, however, I’ve felt that something is out of balance.

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YoungUpstarts

MAY 20, 2019

All the ingredients for Indian SaaS dominance are here: From producing some of the world’s best developers to competing on cost and producing quality products of global standard. Time was short and the work laborious, meaning that the majority of jobs went to India to save on costs. percent in 1998 to 7.7 percent in 2017.

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Steve Blank

APRIL 10, 2019

In tech startups stock options were here almost from the beginning, first offered to the founders in 1957 at Fairchild Semiconductor , the first chip startup in Silicon Valley. It drove the relentless “do whatever it takes” culture of 20 th century Silicon Valley. Why Startups Offer Stock Options. And the bet worked.

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Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 2, 2009

In times when venture capital is hard to get, investors extract high costs for failure (down-rounds, cram downs , new management teams, shut down the company.) Sales people cost money, and when they’re not bringing in revenue, their wandering in the woods is time consuming, cash-draining and demoralizing. Who recommends a sale?

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ReadWriteStart

MAY 30, 2022

As the proud father of a two-year-old boy, I hope one day to teach him how to manage money so he needn’t worry as much about it as I did when I first started earning. . Today, as the proud owner of a startup, you’re probably much better at managing your money. One in particular from a famous VC in Silicon Valley.

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Steve Blank

APRIL 11, 2013

In the last decade Torch managed to break free of China’s state central planning bureaucracies. Examples are Hollywood for movies, Milan for fashion, New York for finance and today, Silicon Valley for technology entrepreneurship. It has become China’s Silicon Valley.

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Version One Ventures

FEBRUARY 3, 2021

Then, Silicon Valley collectively deplatformed Trump (a scary precedent even if you vehemently dislike the guy). Such DAOs may look like more open corporate structures with elected managers, boards, and reporting (e.g. Their biggest differentiators are 1) censorship resistance and 2) (theoretically) lower costs.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 7, 2013

Anyone who reads this blog frequently will know that I am a big believer in low-cost video content and specifically the power of YouTube as a content creation & distribution platform. Production costs have fallen more than 90%. Distribution costs have, too. hours of TV / day. They read less than 30 minutes.

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