Anyone else interested in the Silicon Valley/Tech Start-Up arena?

Gambit

Gambit

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Nov 21, 2011
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The whole Silicon Valley / Tech Start-up scene is obviously blowing up right now and tons of companies are getting funded and the companies making smart moves are seeing huge returns from acquisitions and IPOs.

It's something that I keep a watch on and would like to get involved with in the future.

I think a lot people here with their marketing and traffic/lead generation skills here would translate well for tech start-ups. Obviously there are pros and cons to getting funding vs. building everything yourself, but I think if done correctly, jumping into the whole industry can be a huge asset for scaling and gaining exposure/contacts.


Just wondering if anyone here has or is planning to build a legit tech company with the potential to IPO or be bought out for 8-9+ figures.


What are your thoughts?
 


SiliV is seriously hot right now. I blame Shark Tank for the publicity.

Just the Bitcoin stories coming out of there are deafening:

In bid for credibility, largest Bitcoin exchange moves to Silicon Valley | Ars Technica

BitPay Receives Another Round of Venture Capital Funding | Bitcoin Magazine

Coinbase, First Crowd Funded Bitcoin Company, Raises Over $600K

CoinLab Attracts $500,000 in Venture Capital for Bitcoin Projects - Forbes


And let's not forget, where else could you see a billboard like this other than there?

ofxqi.jpg
 
Hate start-ups.

1)Build something that solves a problem with money you already have.

2)Sell product.

3)Grow organically.

4)Profit.

5)Lulz in the face of start-ups who have investors up their anal cavity all day.

6)Be more successful than 99% of start-ups.

7)Browse wickedfire for the rest of your life.
 
Wait you guys think silicon valley is heating up now? That hot bed where 99% of major tech startups have emerged for the last 30 years?

And no, I'm not interested in it. I hate the circle jerk VC world. Silicon Valley pumps out a whole lot of bullshit "companies" funded by douchebag MBA having VCs. Sure, there are a lot of very talented business people up there, but I unfortunately think that's the exception in this day and age.
 
dchuk said:
Wait you guys think silicon valley is heating up now? That hot bed where 99% of major tech startups have emerged for the last 30 years?

And no, I'm not interested in it. I hate the circle jerk VC world. Silicon Valley pumps out a whole lot of bullshit "companies" funded by douchebag MBA having VCs. Sure, there are a lot of very talented business people up there, but I unfortunately think that's the exception in this day and age.
Click to expand...

Start 1000 companies.


3 of those companies end up having a dramatic impact on the internet and help the world in some meaningful way.

From the POV of a VC, maybe 1-10% of those 1,000 companies end up giving them their money back. That money is what makes it all worth it for them.

So yeah, it's a numbers game. If you do your research well and you have some sort of way for that startup to benefit from your connections, then you can absolutely get more out of it.
 
yeah it's getting iron hot, have you guys heard about xerox parc and apple yet?
 
Ever worked with a startup as a vendor? 2 of our largest contracts were (key word) with startups and from my experience they are so caught up in the greed, speed, IMAGE, and exit strategy that they miss the boat on building an incredible product or service. We parted ways with one and were fired by another as their ego's would get in the way of getting shit done right. Both companies had stodgy baby boomer board of directors that had unqualified gen Y CEO's. Both companies were wrought with narcissists, feminists, and beta's for management. Yeah I know, sounds like the old corporate job right, felt like it too.

Observing how much difficulty the founding members would have to even make "the machine" move, innovate, and produce I would say that you have a much better chance of building your own successful product with a nimble and savvy team and at least grab some market share first, have a very strong understanding of your target market, your current customers, and your competitors (if any), and THEN look for additional funding if you need it (and only if you need it). This gives the founding members more leverage, control, and bargaining power when it comes to investor money and control of day to day operations if they did enter the picture.

I think it's more status, image, and laziness than anything. I think it's a lot of people that would rather beg for money than get to fucking work and do it themselves (pride anybody?), even if it takes a year longer without "daddy" handing out an allowance and lunch money when daddy wants and feels it's needed. Fuck that! 10-20k goes a hell of a long way in the digital space if you know what you are doing and have the right connections.

One company had a dude as a CEO STRAIGHT out of college from winning a business plan competition. Seriously, he's totally ready to run a $XX,XXX,XXX company.
 
Right. It's been big for the last 3-4 years. We all got that part.

My point is there are still companies getting tons of funding.

Take SnapChat for example...

When SnapChat grew from 3,000 users to 30,000 users in a month, they were able to raise $485,000 in funding. Most people here can easily do that in a month, right?

Snapchat Raises $13.5M Series A Led By Benchmark, Now Sees 60M Snaps Sent Per Day | TechCrunch

Now they're valued at up over $70 million and will likely go to IPO and cash out. Pretty good gig if you ask me.

I see everyone's complaint about not wanting to be some VC's bitch, but if you come to them with a track record and stats to back it up, you'll actually have some negotiating leverage (unlike some programming scrub that has no clue how a business works.)
 
KopfjägerSEO said:
Ever worked with a startup as a vendor? 2 of our largest contracts were (key word) with startups and from my experience they are so caught up in the greed, speed, IMAGE, and exit strategy that they miss the boat on building an incredible product or service. We parted ways with one and were fired by another as their ego's would get in the way of getting shit done right. Both companies had stodgy baby boomer board of directors that had unqualified gen Y CEO's. Both companies were wrought with narcissists, feminists, and beta's for management. Yeah I know, sounds like the old corporate job right, felt like it too.

Observing how much difficulty the founding members would have to even make "the machine" move, innovate, and produce I would say that you have a much better chance of building your own successful product with a nimble and savvy team and at least grab some market share first, have a very strong understanding of your target market, your current customers, and your competitors (if any), and THEN look for additional funding if you need it (and only if you need it). This gives the founding members more leverage, control, and bargaining power when it comes to investor money and control of day to day operations if they did enter the picture.

I think it's more status, image, and laziness than anything. I think it's a lot of people that would rather beg for money than get to fucking work and do it themselves (pride anybody?), even if it takes a year longer without "daddy" handing out an allowance and lunch money when daddy wants and feels it's needed. Fuck that! 10-20k goes a hell of a long way in the digital space if you know what you are doing and have the right connections.

One company had a dude as a CEO STRAIGHT out of college from winning a business plan competition. Seriously, he's totally ready to run a $XX,XXX,XXX company.
Click to expand...

Awesome post. Good points about the politics for building a VC backed company. The start-up community does seem to trend a bit toward style over substance. And it sounds like a pain in the ass dealing with those clients.

I agree that having some leverage when looking for funding goes a long way to prevent being screwed over. Good to hear a response from someone that has been in/around the start-up trenches.
 
If I found a legit tech company, I'd feel much better bootstrapping and charging for a product a la 37 Signals and the like. Sucking VC dick for cash just doesn't sound like a world I want to live in.
 
Zsaleem said:
My cousin in Silicon Valley ( who was the cofounder) was forced by VC's to resign the company with hardly any money.
Click to expand...
This is my impression also.
I have just dug into my own pockets to build what i am building right now.
After speaking to several possible investors, it looked like i would lose control to someone who would in the end probably try to wrestle control of my company from me.

Almost finished building our first project, opening in April. In June we launch the affiliate program.


Booyah
 
I'm not entirely familiar with the whole Silicon Valley aspect of things.. I know a bit about seed money and terms and what not..

But I don't think I could ever take an investment like that. Just doesn't feel right to be a business owner and give someone else power over what you've built..

A part of me feels foolish, the other half responsible.. I've turned down a few offers in the past.. Just never really wanted to understand the details, or take on any credit other than what I can handle..

I cringe when I see website start ups getting $xxx,xxx to over a million for projects.. While I sit here thinking if I could afford to shell out $20K cash myself, it would be more than enough to produce something 100x as profitable. For now, I'll just keep paying it myself slowly, spending $1-2K/month here and there. I know you're supposed to take advantage of other people's $$, but I'm not sure I could do that..
 
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