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9 things to do as a founder visiting Silicon Valley
Image Credit: David Yu
Silicon Valley – The Hollywood for startups. You’ve heard about it, you’ve watched it on HBO and fantasized about the billion dollar pitches.
If you are like me and do not have the luxury of relocating to the epicenter of the startup world, the next best alternative would be to pack your bags for a startup adventure. When I was planning for my trip, I could not find any resources to guide me and ended up scouring information from friends and fellow founders.
Therefore, I am now consolidating 9 highlights and resources for planning a short trip if you can get a glimpse into the life of a Valley entrepreneur. Get ready to quash some rumors of the perceived reality, where it’s really all hustle, sweat, and grind. This is a mindset after all.
1) Join Meetups – Multiple startup events happen everyday
Get ready to meet tons of aspiring startups, at all stages and be sure to know what is going on at the meetup, if not you would be wasting your time. Visit websites like Meetup and Eventbrite to find listings for startup related talks that happen everyday. Do plan ahead and its rather convenient to get around in the city (note: San Francisco is not close to Palo Alto, Mountain View area, think Pasir Ris to Tuas distance, where you will have to take a Caltrain). Do not make the mistake where I missed the hourly trains upwards to SF.
Our Singaporean startup meetups are similar with beers and pizzas thrown into the mix. I attended almost 6 in a period of 3 weeks while I was there, including the Yahoo Dev meetups and SVE bay entrepreneur sessions.
2) Schedule meetings with young aspiring entrepreneurs – especially from Stanford
Think of Stanford as the breeding ground and hotbed for aspiring entrepreneurs, with tons of distinguished alumni like Reid Hoffman, Elon Musk, Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Do exchange notes and experiences on cultural and geographical differences, and share on what works in the ASEAN region. I found that after chatting with many of them, its really not the fear of failure but the increased probability of success that spurs many of them forward.
3) Live in a hacker house in downtown Palo Alto or Mountain View area – No, Pied Pieper does not exist, sadly.
To get that HBO Silicon Valley vibe, try living with a group of international hackers who have descended upon the valley to work on their dreams. For example, I stayed in Startup Embassy – a house where there was literally 2 Swiss, 1 Brazilian, 1 Indian, 1 Canadian, 1 Australian and 3 Americans living under one house working on different ideas. That’s really the magnet of the valley mindset. And interestingly, it was messy and day-old Ramen sat atop fridges, giving justice to the hacker life.
4) Work at a hot-desking space – Yes, tons of startups are bootstrapping to get things on the road along with you
For Singaporean startups, consider getting in touch with a newly setup incubator – Block71SF, which is really one of the initiatives that has left me astounded. NUS Enterprise, Singtel Innov8, and IIPL came together to create this soft-landing for local companies to work there and managed an awesome community manager who would love to be your bridge to the bay area. If hot-desks are not a thing for you, then you can choose to work at the multiple cafes around the city. Philz Coffee is a good one in SF, if not, literally every corner has a Starbucks.
5) Visit big tech companies – But for the right reasons
Get inspired – dream big and know that one day you too can build a campus. Use Google Maps to find your way around from the Caltrain stations and use Uber from there. It’s amazingly convenient. Oh yes, try getting in touch with some of the employees of these firms and it would be good to get to tour of the sprawling campuses and know their history. Mostly, they would have a small museum and gift shops and it is really exciting to note that these ‘startups’ were small once too.
6) Join a hackathon – technical experience not required but a bonus
A friend on the NUS Overseas Colleges program recommended me to attend a hackathon and I found that to be a good experience. They happen every weekend and tons of local and international hackers gather together to build something in 2 days. I was lucky enough to have joined a random team by literally showing up… Sleeping less than 3 hours, it was fun to learn from their mindset as builders and hackers. Since I was not technical, I helped with the pitching and business angle. The culture of building and pitching is very h3 in the valley.
7) Visit a café
This is the best experience ever. Literally when you enter cafes in the SF area, you will find yourself in a very charged up environment. Coders working on the latest builds, investor pitches and co-founders discussing business plans. I literally went there with the intention to read a book, but ended up eavesdropping on conversations around… The open concept really struck me and a cup of coffee can really energise you in the right environment. Oh and on a side note, a latte costs about USD3, so it’s reasonably affordable.
Here are a few good ones: The Creamery (SF), Philz (SF), Red Rock (Mountain View), Coupa Café (Palo Alto). Some of these cafes were where startup legends came to pitch and raise funds.
8) Visit the Computer History Museum – Where legends were born
I literally spent the whole day here, from opening to closing hours: 10am to 5pm. The Computer History Museum was amazing, especially for geeks and hackers. From simple abacus, to data cards, to the whole internet boom and bust, till a projection into the future. This was where a whole lifetime of computing has been curated and needless to say, relics from the Apple II, Xerox printers, Pac-man consoles have all been well displayed. And indeed, many startup events and pitches happen there as well, for example the Y Combinator demo days.
9) Visit Yosemite National park – Nature at its best
Where do geeks go to relax? Well, the closest and biggest national park is by far a big draw for visitors and tourists alike. When I was nearing the end of my 3 week journey in the startup land, I was rather jaded and needed to get in touch with nature. Therefore, I headed out to see the majestic sights of the Yosemite region. It’s a kind reminder to the balance of life and nature, that life is not just binary. Also, in South East Asia, you don’t get sprawling landscapes and giant Sequoia trees. This 2-day bus tour was informative and affordable.
Written by yours truly, Kenneth Lou
Conclusion:
There’s really no experience like going to the heart of technology, especially if you are very startup driven and need motivation. This is a must do for any entrepreneur, especially for founders who want to be at the forefront of technology. At the same time, find ways to bootstrap, as the cost of living is really high. Watch this video to further get inspired and take the leap! Cheerios!
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