Lessons learned from Silicon Valley / Campalyst

Lessons learned from Silicon Valley

Vilnius, 2011

Background

Lessons learned

Practical tips

Does social media presence help you sell?

3 months and 3 days old

6 weeks mentorship program in Finland

A trip to Silicon Valley

Lesson #1: Speed

• Meeting time: 15 mins

• E-mail response: 15 mins

• Openness for trying once

• Time is the most valuable asset

Lesson #2: Going big

• VCs are after big bets

• “I lost my company 1bn USD when I did not invest in the next big thing”

• Market share is key

• Revenue is a feature

Lesson #3: Sharing

• Your network is an asset to be shared

• Openness is a default

• Competition will not kill you, you will

• Risk of being incompetent is higher than being copied

Lesson #4: Failure

• Failure is OK or good

• Learning from failures

• Making you fearless

• “So when are you starting a new company?”

Lesson #5: “Science” of startups

• A structured thinking about entrepreneurship – Steve Blank & Donna Novitsky

• Start-up is not a small version of a large company

• Key goal of a start-up is search for a scalable business model

• You sell the team, not the product

• Ability to learn is key

Lesson #6: Early employees

• Most of founders have previously been early employees

• Know-how, funding and other benefits

• The secret of Silicon Valley, in my opinion

How to promote your start-up?

• Get a list of events:– Plancast, Meet-up, Startup Digest

• Get intros or cold e-mail key people – Decent response rate for us– Short and to the point e-mails

• Three things:– How can I help you?– How can you help me?– Who else should I meet?

• Immediate follow-ups and intros

How to get funded?

• 45 minute drive from the VC

• Relationship-based investing

• CEO in Silicon Valley helps

• Access to VCs:– Intros– Events– Cold (happens, but not

recommended)

How to get a job in Silicon Valley?

• Everyone seems to be recruiting these days

• Looking for world-class specialists

• Remote basis possible in some cases

• Come and work for a day

Lesson #7: Closer than you think

Thank you!