Friday, August 8, 2014

[Fireside Chat] Real Startup Scene in Silicon Valley


Subject
Real Startup Scene in Silicon Valley
Place
D.CAMP 6th fl.
Time
August 6, 2014 (Wed) 19:00~21:00
Speaker
Sandro Mur (CEO, Bellabeat), Willie Williams (developer, Tsumobi)
Host
AppCenter
Focus
advice on how to make global startup

  1. lesson:
    1. as a founder
      1. need to sell vision and stories to partners, customers, investors, and other people
      2. understand everything
      3. don’t be afraid because companies fail a lot of times in the beginning
    2. lessons from Y Combinator
      1. work super hard like 24/7: learn everything, more open, share with people, do everything to survive
      2. time to focus: shouldn’t be thinking anything else but your product; talk to customers all the time; focus on your product, customer, and direction
    3. biggest challenge
      1. hiring good and positive people (e.g. developers)- test them by giving them projects and work with them
      2. managing things (e.g. customers)
      3. designing UI which follows trends
    4. pitching to investors
      1. sell your stories: good clean pitch (don’t say too much; always say and show less and say as clear as possible)
    5. find similar people who are going through the same process
      1. your network grows and you will find existing solutions
    6. raising funds
      1. wrong
        1. give unbounded time
      2. right
        1. build momentum (while your business is hot and popular): focus one month and then tell other investors about the investments you received from other investors
        2. use networks: no need to look for new investors; instead of being introduced, you are already best friends
  2. Q&A
    1. globalization strategy: test in small scale (e.g. in one country) and spread
    2. patent?
      1. file as few as possible
      2. file for defense
    3. what keeps you going?
      1. I have a belief that I can change things that no one can
    4. why Y Combinator?: mainly for financial needs
  3. Announcement
    1. in 3 weeks, designers from Uber, Instagram, and Spotify will come and share wisdom
    2. in 6 weeks? Growth Hacking
  4. Personal takeaway
    1. computer is good at recognizing patterns
    2. work hard!