{"id":1053,"date":"2016-01-22T17:43:55","date_gmt":"2016-01-22T22:43:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/linacolucci.com\/?p=1053"},"modified":"2024-04-05T12:27:00","modified_gmt":"2024-04-05T16:27:00","slug":"svbtrek-advice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/linacolucci.com\/2016\/01\/svbtrek-advice\/","title":{"rendered":"SVBTrek Part 1: Advice from Some of the Best of Silicon Valley"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Silicon Valley Bank <\/a>(SVB) organized an incredible trip for 20 students from around the US to travel to Silicon Valley and experience the entrepreneurial ecosystem out there. We heard from inspiring people at Twitter, Medium, Twist Biosystems, Kleiner Perkins, Andreessen Horowitz, and more. Here are my favorite insights from the four-day #SVBTrek<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ashraf Hebela<\/a><\/strong>, Chief of Staff at SVB<\/a><\/span><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

“You need to start running yourself like a business. Smart doesn\u2019t really cut it<\/strong>. Smart is commoditized. Relationships are the most important thing you can invest in. You\u2019re constantly recruiting your business partners in life.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you need help with your business registration in Australia, check out Acclime’s business registration services for Australia<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Our data shows that 80% of successful startups have more than 1 founder. 2 founders<\/strong> is the best arrangement. 3 founders is the second best arrangement. Every other arrangement is significantly worse.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Don\u2019t dismiss anyone<\/strong> you meet as not worthy of your time.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Remember you are always pitching<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scott Kupor<\/a><\/span><\/strong>, Managing Pa<\/span>rtner at Andreessen Horowitz<\/a><\/span><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

“Early in your career<\/strong> you should optimize for: (1) putting yourself in a spot where you see lots of different facets of business, and (2) working for someone who cares for your career development.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Your goal should be to never apply to jobs<\/strong> by sending in your resume. Ideally you have relationships built up with lots of people who know you and your work so well that they offer you a position based on that history.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“In school, it\u2019s possible to get straight A\u2019s. In the real world, the grading curve changes<\/strong>. A good grade in management is C. There is no A+. Unless you accept that you\u2019ll never feel like you\u2019re succeeding and you\u2019ll always be depressed.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fun Fact: Scott is prominently featured in the legendary book, “Hard Things About Hard Things<\/a>” (Ben Horowitz<\/a>).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Semil Shah<\/a><\/strong>, Writer, VC and Founder of Haystack<\/a><\/span><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

“The way to start a relationship<\/strong> is to bring gifts. And by gifts I don\u2019t mean wine or candy. Gifts are information that\u2019s valuable and relevant to the other person.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The questions and updates that people post on Twitter or other social media platforms are invitations to help<\/strong>. Help them.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn Silicon Valley, if you\u2019re being generous, there are maybe 2000<\/strong> people <\/strong>who are creating products that really matter. All the others are trying and failing, or are awesome at email<\/strong>.\u201d (The two VCs on this panel admitted that they were in the \u2018awesome at email\u2019 category. I don\u2019t want to be in that category and some of their advice wasn’t making much sense to me. When taking advice from other people, it’s important to identify which category they\u2019re coming from and see if that\u2019s the category you want to be in. While we’re on this topic, read this if you haven’t yet: \u201cMaker\u2019s Schedule, Manager\u2019s Schedule\u201d<\/a>) <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The world doesn\u2019t know that you\u2019re a star<\/strong> and it\u2019s your job and not anyone else\u2019s to prove that in a new community.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aileen Lee<\/a><\/strong>, Founder and VC at Cowboy Ventures<\/a><\/span>
\n Tina Sharkey<\/a><\/strong>, Serial entrepreneur and CEO of Sherpa Foundry<\/a><\/span><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

How to Succeed in Life: <\/strong>
\n\u201cPut your head down. Work really hard<\/strong>. Help everyone around you.\u201d
\n\u201cDo your day job. Do it really well. Exceed expectations<\/strong>.\u201d
\n\u201cTry to chill. Work really hard. Elevate the people around you<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAlways get in the car<\/strong> (or helicopter).\u201d If you have projects you want to propose, always have a deck in your bag printed and ready to go. The CEO of a big company won\u2019t have time to put you on the calendar so you need to fit between the cracks of their schedule<\/strong>. Both Aileen and Tina have either run next to their boss\u2019s car to pitch a project as he was driving away or hopped into the helicopter with an executive to get an answer to a question. \u201cDon\u2019t play victim that you couldn\u2019t get on the calendar.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“There\u2019s no such thing as work-life balance<\/strong>. It\u2019s about work-life integration. It\u2019s fluid. There\u2019ll be periods where you focus solely on family and periods where you focus mostly on work. There\u2019s no such thing as a perfectly architected \u2018balanced\u2019 day.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Your career is one of the lanes on your super highway of life<\/strong>. Career, friendships, family, marriage, faith, etc. are also on there. If you don\u2019t focus on the other lanes you will not be fulfilled.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fun Fact: Aileen is credited with first coining the term “unicorn<\/a>” and Tina with coining the term “social media<\/a>” (thought it’s a contested and unclear history. See Mary Hodder’s comment below to learn more).  <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jennifer Lum<\/a><\/strong>, Founder at Adelphic<\/a><\/span><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

“To become a founder you need to have at least 1 \u2018superpower\u2019<\/strong> (an insight or technology advantage) that will convince people to join your team and back you. You must be able to sell no matter what.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeff Ma<\/a><\/strong> and Sachin Agarwal<\/a><\/strong>, Founders whose companies got acquired by Twitter<\/a><\/span><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

“Building a company is the hardest thing.<\/strong> Everything is on your shoulders. High are the highest highs. Lows are the lowest lows. As a founder, the lows are on you. Don\u2019t let it affect your team.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Don\u2019t start a company alone<\/strong>. It\u2019s incredibly lonely and way too hard. Have co-founders.” And no matter what type of business you have, it\u2019s important to accept credit card payments from your customers. Get the cheapest card payment machine<\/a> that you can find so you can accept both credit and debit cards as payment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“If you start a company with the intent to sell it off, you’re a shitty entrepreneur<\/strong>. You should start a company to change the world. To accomplish some mission. Great employees have these motivations as well. Find those people.” If you are starting a newsletter business<\/a>, the Founder Club can help you build a successful company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fun Fact: Jeff Ma is the basis for the main character in the movie 21<\/a> and the book Bringing Down the House<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chef David Barzelay<\/a><\/strong>, Founder and Chef of <\/span>Lazy Bear<\/span> <\/a><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

“How much employees care during the hours they work for you relates to the quality of your business.<\/strong> How far down the chain do you have people who care?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, if you are an employee and believe that you have been discriminated against in your employment on certain grounds, you have a right to file a complaint with that agency with the help of reliable employment attorneys<\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"svbtrek_figures_for“Find employees with perfectionism and passion<\/strong> and inspire others to have the same attitude. Make sure everyone knows your mission and is bought into it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sam Altman<\/a><\/strong>, President of Y Combinator <\/a><\/span><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

What qualities does YC look for in the entrepreneurs they invest in?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. “Determination<\/strong> is the most important quality in an entrepreneur. It\u2019s the #1 personal quality that YC looks for. If the entrepreneur is new to a venture, YC will have to prod around a little bit to try to figure out their determination and commitment to the venture. If they\u2019ve been working on their venture for a while, you can easily tell the determination bit because they\u2019ve already inevitably dealt with hard things at the beginning.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. “Whatever circumstances that this person was born into, have they performed in the top 1%<\/strong> of what was possible?”<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    “The most important things<\/strong> you need for a startup company to succeed are low costs and fast cycle times<\/strong>. Startup trends relate to where these two things are possible. In 2011 it was hardware. In 2016 it\u2019s looking like biology.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    There are 2 types of successful pivots:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    1. “Over the course of developing your business, you realize you need a tool that doesn\u2019t yet exist and you build it out of necessity. Slack, AirBnB, and Stripe are examples of this.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. “The founder builds what he\/she wanted to build in the first place before people talked them out of it. Instagram is an example of this.”<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      What are the biggest challenges that startups face?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n
      1. “The biggest challenge that startups have to overcome is making a product or service that people really love<\/em><\/strong>. A deadly mistake is making a product that people like a little bit. Often startups find lots of people who like their product a little bit and start to focus on growth instead of product. If you have a product that people love, even if you have very few users, you will see incredible engagement. You can tell people love the product if (A) retention and user engagement metrics are off the charts, and (B) users\u00a0spontaneously recommend the product\u00a0to their friends. Amazing products don\u2019t need a heavy marketing team, and you can do it with backlinks and other strategies that you can read here<\/a>. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
      2. “The second biggest challenge startups face are team issues<\/strong>. YC\u2019s new rule is no random co-founders, i.e. people who are just coming together for the purpose of creating a startup. The founders have to know each other before. This can be people who did a summer internship together at Google or they can be lifelong friends. The important thing is having people who care about each other. Over the course of a startup, sometimes the expectation of ROI from the company dips negative and you need to have some credit in the relationship bank account to get through those times.”<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
        Jess Verrilli<\/strong>,<\/a> Director of Corporate Development and Strategy at Twitter<\/a><\/span><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

        (Regarding acquisitions and how much money to sell for)<\/em> “If you have the ability to build a company that society thinks is valuable enough to buy up, money is not going to be the limiting factor in your life<\/strong>. What will be is the time and opportunities to do something extraordinary.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        John Maeda<\/a><\/strong>, Partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers<\/a><\/span><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

        When John Maeda was President of RISD he implemented changes that were popular with students but very unpopular with other professors. Professors voted to have him kicked out and John was struggling with how to win them over to his ways of thinking about an arts and design education. He hired a PR firm to help him work on public relations but they didn\u2019t do much. Then he hired a political strategist. He hired the Democratic correspondent for FOX news (\u201cShe was super hardcore\u201d) and changed everything:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n

        \u201cYou know, John,” she said to him. “Your problem is that you think that if you do the right thing, the right thing will happen. You came out of nowhere. You\u2019re the son of a tofu farmer. You started at the bottom and throughout your life you worked hard and kept rising up. Your experiences have confirmed that this is how the world works. But it\u2019s not.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

        She drew a diagram. If the population is a bell curve, on the left are the people who will unequivocally love you. On the right are the people who will hate you no matter what you do. In the middle is the undecided majority<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \"svbtrek_figures_for<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
        \n

        “Do you know what the undecided majority’s goal is, John?”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

        He didn’t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n

        “Their goal is to be on the winning side when the dust clears.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

        Most people don’t care to come up with their own opinion about what is right or wrong. They just want to make sure that they are on the right side of history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        John applied techniques from the biography “Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon B. Johnson”<\/a> to try to turn around his popularity (and thereby effectiveness) at RISD. The metric he used to measure success was to count the number of professors that attended the receptions he hosted. At the end of his time as president John had the highest number of professors at his reception that had ever attended a RISD function.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Fun Fact: John led the movement to transform STEM<\/a> (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) to STEAM<\/a> by adding Art. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Credits<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

        Featured image courtesy SVB<\/a> by photographer Josh Edelson<\/a>. Clip art from http:\/\/pixgood.com\/dishes-clipart.html and http:\/\/cliparts.co\/free-chef-hat-clipart. Graphics by me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) organized an incredible trip for 20 students from around the US to travel to Silicon Valley and experience the entrepreneurial ecosystem out there. We heard from inspiring people at Twitter, Medium, Twist Biosystems, Kleiner Perkins, Andreessen Horowitz, and more. Here are my favorite insights from the four-day #SVBTrek. Ashraf Hebela, Chief of Staff at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1079,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,20],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/linacolucci.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/CYNI8r9WkAEPwbU.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/linacolucci.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1053"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/linacolucci.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/linacolucci.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linacolucci.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linacolucci.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1053"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/linacolucci.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1053\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2599,"href":"https:\/\/linacolucci.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1053\/revisions\/2599"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linacolucci.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/linacolucci.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linacolucci.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linacolucci.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}