Slashdot Mirror
Sergey Brin: Don't Come To Silicon Valley To Start a Business (businessinsider.com)
An anonymous reader shares a Business Insider report:If you're itching to start a company out of a garage, then you shouldn't pick up and move to Silicon Valley, according to Google cofounder Sergey Brin. It's easier to start a company outside the Valley than in it, he said onstage at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit. "I know that sort of contradicts what everyone here has been saying," he said with a laugh. "During the boom cycles, the expectations around the costs -- real estate, salaries -- the expectations people and employees have ... it can be hard to make a scrappy initial business that's self-sustaining," he said. "Whereas in other parts of the world you might have an easier time for that."But he adds that Silicon Valley is good for scaling that opportunity.
We've seen IPOs dry up.
What you seen is venture capitalists and investors no longer throwing money at every potential "unicorn" (a startup with a $1B+ valuation) that comes along. A lot of these unicorns have very little to show for after blowing cash through the wazoo. One notable unicorn had to cut back on employee perks because it was costing $25K per year per employee. VCs and investors want to see profits from business operations. That's not a bubble bursting, it's reality sinking in.
I am trying to start up my own business and it is a lot of trouble to find investors.
Is it really that capital intensive? Can you start off small?
Here's a strategy that I've seen work time and time again: start local and small and build a profitable base (of course CYA on the IP department with patents, trademarks and copyrights - if you want.). Expand with retained earnings. Nothing proves a concept like actually being a profitable business. And it gives you leverage with investors - "I don't NEED you, I just want to get bigger faster." or "I need more capital than I have because [insert big needed capital expenditure here] but, I'll get it eventually."
The best book I've seen as a guide - believe it or not - the "Portable MBA in Entrepreneurship". They even have links to spreadsheets to to do a lot of the grunt work for you.
Good luck! I hope you succeed and add wealth to our society.
Start your company anywhere... but if you want VC money, get your ass to Sand Hill Road because VCs can't see past the end of their own driveway.
Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
Worked and lived in Mountain View in the late 1980's; visited the peninsula many times since then.
Got out when I realized that I would not be able to afford a house unless I hit the startup lottery.
Also, realized I did not want to rear children in either side of Palo Alto (east or west).
Still, having some direct experience of Silicon Valley has been useful ever since; it helped me get every job I've had since that time.
To a Lisp hacker, XML is S-expressions in drag.