Can you build a great tech firm outside of Silicon Valley? Can you build a great tech firm outside of Silicon Valley? ✶ Mark Suster makes the point that you can, but it will look different from the company you might have built in the Valley. The article is very american-centric, but worth reading even if you're not US-based. Here's why a company founded outside the Valley will look different: Funding is different outside the Valley so you will not be able to raise lots of cash quickly and swing for the fences - you'll have to show profits much earlier.
Does the same apply in other parts of the world? Comment le surf et ses leçons de vie doivent inspirer les entrepreneurs? | Le Blog de Jean-Noël Chaintreuil. De tous les sports de glisse, le surf est sans doute celui qui offre la richesse de sensation la plus forte et qui est, sans conteste, associé aux plages, aux chemises hawaïennes (non, pas uniquement celle de Guy !) , à la piña colada et à se laisser vivre… Pourtant, il n’en est rien !
Beaucoup d’entrepreneurs devraient s’inspirer des leçons de vie que ce sport – voire cet art de vivre – peut apporter. Pour faire court, prenons Mike Fanning. Il est australien donc surfeur et même, professionnel (avec quelques titres dont un de champion du monde en 2007) et demandons lui de nous définir ce qu’il pense être l’essence du surf ! Que voici : 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Tout ça, c’est joli mais comment, en tant qu’entrepreneur, je peux me retrouver dans cette philosophie de vie ? 1. En clair, vous devez adhérer à votre projet corps et âme. 2A. « Se fixer des buts » Je ne peux que choisir une métaphore footbalistique en disant que sans but, point de possibilité de marquer ! 3. Soyez polyvalents! 5. 10 conseils pour réussir votre startup. On me demande souvent quels sont les conseils que je pourrais donner à un jeune entrepreneur pour réussir.
Je n'ai pas de recette miracle, mais j'ai des principes auxquels je crois et que j'essaye d'appliquer dans mon entreprise. L'entreprise est une aventure humaine, faite de passion, de rêve et de beaucoup de réalisme. Voici quelques conseils. 1. Certains se lancent seuls dans la création d'entreprise. Chez Wikio je n'ai pas un mais plusieurs associés: Laurent, Bertrand, Fred, Serge, Julien, Gilles, Andrea ... 2. La richesse d'une startup ce sont ses collaborateurs, leur expertise, leur capacité à apprendre de nouveau, à innover, à prendre des risques, à s'entraider et à aller vite.
Je dis toujours à mes associés et aux managers: essayez de recruter des gens encore meilleurs que vous! C'est un grand bonheur pour moi de voir des jeunes qui démarrent dans l'entreprise et démontrent en quelques mois leur potentiel. 3. Vous avez une idée géniale? 4. Recrutez des commerciaux qui ont faim! Why now is the “second golden age” for VC tech investing, says new report. A new report issued today by venture capital company Clearstone Venture Partners on how well the venture capital community is doing says that VCs who put their money into technology startups now will get the best return on their money since the boomtimes of the dotcom era last decade. Titled “The State of Venture Capital in America,” the report says that because conditions have improved considerably due to a shakeout in the number of VC players involved in the tech sector, there’s been a reduction in capital allocated, making the money VCs do invest count even more.
It concluded that the top three reasons for superior performance returning to the venture capital asset class are: a scarcity of capital leading to better returns to those who are investing; far higher valuations being awarded to successful companies at their IPOs; and the rising importance of businesses going global sooner in their life cycle. A Few Key People Really Can Make a Huge Difference. Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Mark Suster (@msuster), a 2x entrepreneur, now VC at GRP Partners. Read more about Suster at Bothsidesofthetable I’m in Seattle this week. People keep asking me if I’ve “seen anything interesting.” Of course I have. I really liked BigDoor, MediaPiston, OpsCode, BuddyTV, SEOMoz and much more.
But I’m not here trolling for deals. I’m inspired by the enthusiasm of the young, emerging startup ecosystem that is here. The ingredients are all here. As I gear up to give a keynote at the annual Seattle 2.0 awards dinner on Thursday night I started to reflect on what it would take to “change the trajectory” for Seattle or for any regional market, really. And I think about the “Seattle issue” as a metaphor for startups and business in general. I was meeting with a first-time CEO of a very promising young startup recently and offering my advice on what his priorities should be. “Your number one priority isn’t any of these things. Him: “I know, I know. Me: 1. 2. First Time vs Serial Entrepreneurs. I've been thinking a lot about the differences between first time and serial entrepreneurs. We invest in both and do not have a preference betweeen the two. But there are significant differences. The best first time entrepreneurs have been stewing on their idea for quite a while.
It is a personal passion of theirs and they bring to it a fresh take, a stubborn insistence on their approach, and they obsess about the idea 24/7. They often get the right product into the market at the right time and they capture the user's attention and usage with that product/market fit. Where first time entrepreneurs often struggle is when the product works so well that they have to quickly build a company to support the product.
Most of the time, the first time founder has not spent anytime thinking about what kind of company they want to build, what kind of people they want to surround themselves with, what kind of culture they want to create, etc. Data Addict.
Venture Capitalists. Sylicon Valley. America’s Most Promising Companies: The Search Begins - Brett Nelson - If We Build It... Innovation. The Evolution of Angels into VC's - robgo.org. The Evolution of Angels into VC’s June 21, 2011 We’ve been witnessing an institutionalizing of angel investing in recent years. For the most part, it’s good. There continues to be a gap in the market for stage appropriate seed investors, especially in the East Coast. But it’s interesting to watch some of these funds pursue a predictable path of evolution. It’s goes something like this.
An angel investor writes a lot of checks and has some level of success. Some LPs agree, and the angel becomes a small VC (aka a super angel). Then, they realize something. To make matters worse, the Super Angel is not in a great position to lead many deals. The super angel also realizes that they need a follow on strategy. At this point, the portfolio is starting to get pretty hefty. So, here are all the motivators that have arised to raise a bigger fund: 1. 2. 3. 4. So, what happens next? Parting Thoughts: 1. 2. 3. Author robchogo | Filed under regular.