COMMENTS
Very interesting article. I am taking my first trip to the valley in March. I am very excited about it. As a tech start-up outside the valley i feel a disadvantage. I hope while i am there i can make some valuable contacts.
Any must-do's while i am there? What is the best way to take advantage of a few days there?
Don,
If you're in SF, you need to plan to be near SOMA (South of Market). That's where all the startup action is.
If you're in Palo Alto, be sure to check out Coupa Cafe and University Cafe.
If you have some free time, drive over to Stanford University and go to Hoover Tower; you get an amazing view of the entire area all the way down to the SF Bay.
Steve Blank has an awesome post with a bunch more: http://steveblank.com/2011/02/22/a-visitors-guide-to-silicon-valley/
Thanks,
Jason
Jason,
Thanks a lot that will be a big help on my trip there.
Thanks
Don
Good post.
Recommended reading:
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2011/11/11/The-28-Year-Old-Out-to-Kill-Credit-Cards-and-PayPal.aspx#page1
(They're in Iowa.)
;)
For those who are thinking of making a trip to SV, check out the coming Startup House if accommodation and coworking are on the list of your concerns.
http://www.danielodio.com/2011/07/15/hot-new-hacker-coworking-space-in-downtown-sf-hacker-hostel/
Also feel free to email me velvetpd gmail if you've any questions regarding SV.
Spot on, felt the same way when I was at an incubator in Mountain View this summer.
Thanks for the information. Looking at options for my startup including the Valley. Appreciate the incite.
I've got to say, Dharmesh, that this is all completely true. It's a great place with a great buzz and with all the key players in a reasonable place and open to new ideas you can get a tremendous amount done in a very short time. What's more there is a can-do attitude - in many other places the mere fact that something is not currently being done is proof that it its impossible regardless of the evidence or talent brought in.
Good luck!
Mark
I'm a young entrepreneur from Morocco and I want to visit the valley. What do you advice me ?
We'll I'd say take the time before you go to build up a good network of connections doing favors and good turns and building up good Karma for as many people as you can before you go.
When you are there network and meet up to build those relationships - and have a definite clear plan of action knowing exactly what you are trying to do each day so that no time is wasted and no opportunity is overlooked!
Carpe diem!
Also check TiE Silicon Valley Chapter.. http://sv.tie.org/
They might be having some exciting things going on. Also one of the forum to meet others from SV.
If you're visiting the area, be sure to take BART over to Berkeley and check out the Cal campus too. There's an office for 500 Startups in downtown Berkeley too!
While the public transportation in the bay doesn't compare to Boston's, driving is definitely easier... and you're very much right about the weather!
^^^ Lindsay,
I'm in the 500Startups accelerator and working out of the office here. I don't know of any offices in Berkeley. I think you're mistaking for our office in Mountain View.
Also, Jason, great post buddy. It was good to have you visiting us :)
And finally, as a "Boston transplant", it's a fact you can build great companies from anywhere. Doesn't have to be SV, Boston, NYC, Chicago, it can even be Iowa...
At the end of the day, it's really the culmination of all the intangible differences (many of which are listed in detail on this post) of the different tech hubs that make founders and entrepreneurs start and end up settling down in the Valley.
Gotta go there once and see... thanks
You guys have just whet my appetite for an adventure to the valley.Am a young entrepreneur from Ghana, the best place to do business in Africa.I'd love to visit the valley asap.
I am sure such ecosystem will produce lot more innovation.
I'm not sure that the Silicon Valley can be grokked by coming into town and staying a few months. That's really just a snapshot ... if you even know what the look for and what to judge against, which most out-of-towners aren't going to know. Believe it or not, some of us who live here are still processing and trying to understand the dot com boom and the dot com bust and that was 10 years ago!
I'm not saying that this is a bad article but it's really just a slice of life from an out-of-towner. Like any place probably, there are Valley lovers and Valley haters who live here (and, well, a lot of people in between) and, depending on which one that you talk to, you only get a slice of the truth.
This is a very well written post. Your writing style is outstanding here and I feel like you touched on a bunch of very important points.
Timber blinds Brisbane
Want to see what happens when you put high level telecom decision makers together with a room of innovators? Go to a Telecom Council meeting!
www.telecomcouncil.com/eventlist
One of the most difficult problems facing business, small and large, is knowing how to price. A new crowdsourcing site helps you solve that problem using a panel of pricing experts from across the globe. Visit
www.pricingprophets.com for more information.
Nevermind your start-up day job, there is a vibrant exchange through meetup.com in the Valley's tech community. People get free stuff (Android phones, Blackberry Playbooks) and great information from free meetings with SV Android, SF Android Developers, Mountain View GTUG (Google Technology User Group). Ironically, meetup.com is a NYC start-up company with tremendous impact on Silicon Valley. If you visit again, be sure to find a few meetups. The 2nd floor of the non-profit Red Rock Cafe in Mountain View is also a great place to get a taste of tech culture.
Thanks for the rave about my neighborhood!
Over the past year the only startups which have impressed me were either in Chicago (not Groupon) or Santa Barbara. I'm now a customer of one from each city. I can't think of anything interesting at all coming out of the SF area lately.
Nice Article! Great advice indeed.
Startup signage is simple, but actually a big deal. There's a serious cool factor to walking or driving by a building and seeing the logo of a company you recognize. It's also fun seeing startups on billboards. And a gross waste of money. If there is an example of what you should not be looking for, this is it.
Definitely not cool, unless you are easily impressed. I care not if you are more successful (by whatever metric you choose), this is not cool. It is dumb.
I am also an entrepreneur from INDIA. But it is not possible for me to visit valley due to higher expenses.
I hope very soon my signboard will be thereon highway.
Thanks a lot for excellent piece of advice! Planned to come over on a promotion tour for #SiliconSaxony (Europe's tech hot spot No. 1 - in diversity, and richness, not counting the centuries long legacy).
Are you all attending #JellyWeek 2012 next week? There are localized events everywhere, and we would be more than happy to connect with likeminded entrepreneurs around the globe to make the visions we have in mind become reality in 2012.
I definitely like this post a lot. This is pretty informative and even very well done.Thanks a lot for this.Anyway I invite you to check my web page too if you want.