YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 2, 2017

Once a Silicon Valley corporate lawyer and business executive, he was chosen by Steve Jobs to form part of the driving force behind the early and unanticipated success of the Pixar animation company. Yet Levy is far from the only Silicon Valley resident to turn to the spiritual path of one or more of the Eastern philosophies.

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Silicon Valley Engineer Social Media Employee 150

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? So here’s the solution I have recommended to some of my portfolio companies: “ agile budgeting ”, i.e., monitoring a few key variables while giving managers significant flexibility.

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Agile Management Forecast Silicon Valley 60

Steve Blank

APRIL 10, 2019

VC’s have just changed the ~50-year old social contract with startup employees. For most startup employee’s startup stock options are now a bad deal. 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.

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Stock Options Stock Vesting Common Stock 334

Hunter Walker

AUGUST 1, 2021

That was the first day that current and former employees could cash out all of their shares after the company went public. 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.

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Silicon Valley Cap Table IPO .Net 123

ReadWriteStart

OCTOBER 22, 2019

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. At that time, Automattic had just 50 employees spread across 12 US states and ten countries. But today, the equilibrium is shifting for many founders.

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Distribution San Francisco Silicon Valley El Salvador 117

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. Among our Silicon Valley-based portfolio companies, not a single company past “A” does not have a distributed team. Two: Distribute team members across the board.

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Silicon Valley Distribution San Francisco Denver 128

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 30, 2020

It seems to be part of the “fail fast, fail often” mantra often heard in Silicon Valley. Always manage expectations, and always under-promise and over-deliver. Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs seem to prefer to fail their way to the top, rather than do some research and learn from the successes and mistakes of others.

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Technical Review Advisory Board Due Diligence Silicon Valley 314

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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Acquisition Intellectual Property Silicon Valley Startup 333

YoungUpstarts

MAY 2, 2018

He then manages to persuade three of his friends to join him in quitting their safe, well-paid jobs for the risk and uncertainty of self-employment and entrepreneurship to work on an idea for a software business that they have been toying with for a few months. Silicon Valley. TVF Pitchers. Undercover Boss.

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Entrepreneur Silicon Valley New York City Incubator 176

YoungUpstarts

FEBRUARY 25, 2020

However, they may be missing the one thing that will deliver happier, more loyal and more productive employees: a sense of belonging. The workplace – where employees spend a majority of their day – offers the opportunity to fill that need for workers. Does this surprise you? It shouldn’t. Here are things to think about: 1.

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Silicon Valley Employee Community Sales 179

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 10, 2009

He has a really interesting background as a product manager and now an entrepreneur. Like many product managers, my background is fairly eclectic. My first job out of school was at one of the early bioinformatics companies in Silicon Valley, working as the head of technical services. Tell me a bit about your background.

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Management Product Entrepreneur Silicon Valley 150

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. They hire local employees or family. Small Business Startups: Work to Feed the Family.

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Government Silicon Valley Startup Venture Capital 335

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 16, 2016

Some examples may include: Automotive – managing parts and/or suppliers. Finance – an invoicing process, a billing process, a risk management process. HR – new employee development, a leavers process, vacation request. Health – a medical assessment, a drug approval. Banking – customer onboarding, credit check.

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Silicon Valley Cofounder Software Review Technical Review 100

online.wsj.com

JULY 11, 2012

As a registered user of The Wall Street Journal Online, you will be able to: Setup and manage your portfolio. Receive and manage newsletters. Theres a power struggle underway in Silicon Valley. Most people want to know management is accountable.". Why Register? Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions. Todays Paper.

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Silicon Valley Founder Software Review Technical Review 42

View from Seed

APRIL 14, 2020

Part of this is due to factors that will continue to persist or even accelerate, like more experience managing remote or distributed teams, a more rapid flow of information, and multiple large successes outside of Silicon Valley.

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Early Stage Software Review Technical Review Due Diligence 375

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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Silicon Valley Southern California Los Angeles Semantic 313

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 17, 2015

Read part one on the Evolution of Corporate R&D , part two on Innovation Outposts in Silicon Valley , and part three The 6 Decisions to Make Before Setting up an Innovation Outpost. Silicon Valley, Boston). These priorities have been identified by earlier planning work at the senior management level.

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Silicon Valley Incubator Acquisition Business Model 120

Steve Blank

APRIL 14, 2013

But for the last decade “innovation” in Chinese software meant something different than it did in Silicon Valley. Entrepreneurs in Beijing were knowledgeable about Silicon Valley, entrepreneurship and the state of software and tools available for two reasons. Turnover of employees in capital in Beijing is very high.

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China Silicon Valley Non-Compete Intellectual Property 327

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 15, 2014

Much has been written about when it is time to hire a “professional CEO” to run a startup company and of course that has long been a norm in Silicon Valley when founders find that their inexperience may be a limiting factor in company growth ( know as the Peter Principle ). So why did Larry need to return?

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Founder CTO Hire Silicon Valley Leadership 309

Feld Thoughts

MARCH 13, 2020

we are restricting work travel by our employees, both domestically and internationally. We are also strongly advising our employees to be thoughtful about all personal travel, particularly where they would be congregating in larger groups.

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Colorado Fractional CTO Silicon Valley Cofounder 168

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 5, 2020

Be transparent about shipping delays you’re aware of and do your best to manage your customers’ expectations. If you usually do shipping and fulfillment operations all by yourself, consider enlisting a friend or an employee to help with the busy season. Encourage people to buy early.

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Silicon Valley Stock Technical Review China 246

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 6, 2013

But not anal if one founder who shares equity graciously with early employees who are treated as “co-founders” My idea startup team is heaving on tech personnel but also has strong product management. PM’s are underrated in Silicon Valley these days. Have them manage their area.

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Cofounder Early Stage Startup Silicon Valley 388

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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Programming Technical Review SBIR China 284

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 25, 2018

In top current companies, such as Google, Apple, and Netflix, cultural strategies that include greater employee freedom and fostering creativity are the norm. In fact, most see a more direct relationship between customers and their business success, so employee focus by default will end up in third place.

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Silicon Valley Retention Metrics Architecture 143

Steve Blank

JUNE 6, 2016

Innovation outposts in Silicon Valley allow big companies to sense and respond to rapid changes in technology. Srivastava leads Verizon’s innovation outpost (their Silicon Valley R&D center) in Palo Alto focusing on building products and services powered by big data and analytics. I try to listen wherever I go.

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Silicon Valley Entrepreneur Fractional CTO Analytics 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 20, 2022

One of the things I learned from my years in Silicon Valley is that you must always focus on three steps ahead, as well as on what exists today. Don’t count on good employees grown internally, and don’t make it only a sporadic effort. Don’t be trapped by linear thinking. You can bet some startups are already out there looking.

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Silicon Valley Artificial Inteligence Global Agile 367

Up and Running

JUNE 12, 2015

This week, we discuss the Bplans article, 12 Signs You Need to Hire a Manager. Listen: Show notes: 12 Signs You Need to Hire a Manager – (:31). QUESTION: Do you have a story about adding a manager to your team? QUESTION: Do you have a story about adding a manager to your team? Jonathan: Silicon Valley (HBO).

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Silicon Valley Management Startup Hiring 60

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 22, 2020

He has been one of the leading Silicon Valley figures helping the entire biotech industry make a complete pivot to working on solutions: vaccines, therapies, and eventually a cure. Special thanks to my friends at Breaker and the team at LTSE, who partnered with me to produce and host this series. Despair is not an option right now.

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Silicon Valley Dallas Technical Review Leadership 155

Up and Running

DECEMBER 1, 2015

If you’re thinking about extending equity to an employee or a vendor (as in the example above), you should know that the topic is multi-faceted. If however you are giving a “normal employee” an incentive stock option plan (more on that later), that’s entirely different. Finding great employees first. What is equity compensation?

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Equity Employee Stock Options Vesting 60

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 21, 2014

You should also focus heavily on his or her former employees. I would take a strong employee referral from an existing employee I trust 10x over a person more qualified on paper (given similar skill levels). Many teams pay bonuses to employees who bring in people they know. In many ways that can be way more telling.

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CTO Hire Cofounder San Francisco Silicon Valley 320

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2018

Technical entrepreneurs need to surround themselves with people who have the financial, marketing, and operational experience in managing a business. A good team will likely consist of a mix of remote employees, freelancers, and contractors. Building and running a business is not a solo task.

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Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property Silicon Valley LLC 184

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 5, 2011

Seattle should be the envy of any non Silicon Valley tech community in the country. They have the same trade-off decisions that you do about packing up and moving to Silicon Valley vs. staying and building locally. The ingredients are all here. Stating the obvious but you can’t will a region into success.

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Seattle Silicon Valley Technical Review Los Angeles 317

Reid Hoffman

JULY 27, 2021

I have a standard aphorism I share when I speak with a group of MBA students: “There are two things that need to be explained away in order for me to invest in your startup: An MBA or a background in management consulting.”. My general advice is to go join a startup as an employee, and learn from experience.

Silicon Valley 69

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Balance Sheet Cofounder 69

Reid Hoffman

JULY 27, 2021

I have a standard aphorism I share when I speak with a group of MBA students: “There are two things that need to be explained away in order for me to invest in your startup: An MBA or a background in management consulting.”. My general advice is to go join a startup as an employee, and learn from experience.

Silicon Valley 69

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Balance Sheet Cofounder 69

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 25, 2021

Eren Bali arrived in Silicon Valley from Turkey in 2010 hoping to relaunch Udemy , his online education company. Eren came to the US from Turkey to work at a Silicon Valley tech startup, which is actually where I first met him a few years ago. How did you first get into tech and come to Silicon valley?

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Silicon Valley Turkey Los Angeles California 60

YoungUpstarts

JULY 10, 2019

As someone who has experienced more than a few office cultures like the one described above, I’m here to tell you that the “work as hard as possible” ethos that seems pervasive — not just in Silicon Valley, but throughout much of the corporate world — is not just wrong, it’s counter productive.

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Leadership Green Silicon Valley United States 203

YoungUpstarts

MAY 20, 2019

Let’s explore why India is set to grow in the SaaS sector, what it means for both employers and employees and what the rest of the world needs to know about it. The Y2K and its resulting impact has transformed the nation into the product builders, managers and marketers – and what is to say the same thing cannot happen with SaaS?

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India Silicon Valley Global Software 113