If you are like 99% of software developers with a great idea, you don’t live next to Google headquarters in Mountain View or drive by Facebook’s offices in Palo Alto on your daily commute. But Silicon Valley still rules the world of Internet startups, so you should probably check it out.
Don’t expect to drop by and pick up a check from a wealthy investor. Relationships take a long time to build and who knows you is still a key element to success.
So what is the best approach for someone out of town to spend some quality time in the Valley?
Where To Go
These are the top events to attend. Plan your trip accordingly:
- Startup2Startup: organized by Dace McClure, this event has great speakers that will always get you to think about how to make your startup better. I always take away several great pieces of advice. But the crowd is also the best I have seen in Silicon Valley. 80% are CEOs of startups. No one is trying to sell you services. The event does a great job of combining an informal mixer, a formal presentation, and a directed discussion with smaller groups.
When: last Thursday of the month
Cost: $80 ($40 for startup rookies)
Speakers:
Networking:
- Churchill Club: one of the more respected gatherings in Silicon Valley, it attracts excellent speakers. Compared to Startup2Startup, the attendance is definitely more conservative. If you are trying to meet VP and directors from established companies, this would be the place. Informal networking is average: the organizers don’t make any particular efforts to help you meet people, so make sure you brush up on your cocktail skills.
When: depends
Cost: $60+
Speakers:
Networking:
- SDForum Startup SIG: SDForum is one of the larger non-profit organizations in the region and it organizes more than 10 events each month. Of particular interest to entrepreneurs is the Startup special interest group (SIG). It gathers a smaller crowd compared to Startup2Startup and Churchill Club. Speakers vary in quality but are usually good. The crowd is a mix of service providers (trying to sell you stuff – annoying), fellow entrepreneurs and software developers. It’s quite informal, cheap, and a great way to get started with meeting people in the Valley.
When: third Monday of the month
Cost: $15
Speakers:
Networking:
Those organizations don’t hold regular meetings but whenever they do, you should definitely try to attend: Y Combinator and TheFunded.com.
Also, European associations (France, Germany and others) get together regularly and organize meetings with broad appeal.
Those events gather people who actively want to meet new faces. If you wonder where all the people who are done with their startup go, check out the Computer History Museum. It’s a small valley secret.
Professional conferences such as OSCON, JavaOne or Web 2.0 are a good place to meet people, but registration tends to be expensive — sometimes up to $3,000 per person. A trick for entrepreneurs on a budget is to register for the free exhibit instead. A lot of the parties, awards and functions are accessible to people with the free badges.
Where To Stay
I assume you are currently bootstrapping your business and every dollar counts. Staying in hotels can become expensive quickly. Instead, make a few friends online. Many people in Silicon Valley believe in karma and are glad to help fellow entrepreneurs.
By staying at a friend’s place for a few days, you also increase your chance of making valuable informal contacts. All it takes is finding someone who shares your interests. When they involve starting a business, Silicon Valley is packed with people who want to help.
True story: A friend of mine met another entrepreneur on a flight back from Paris. The entrepreneur looked like an interesting fellow and he needed a place to stay, so I invited him to use my guest room a few days later. That’s a fairly typical story for Silicon Valley.
Repeat
Try not to be a one-time visitor. You stop by, you present an interesting story, but then you disappear. Don’t make that mistake. It’s better to come for a shorter period of time, say a week at a time, but then come back every few months, than stay once for a month and then go home forever. Again, relationship building takes time. Plus, coming for a shorter amount of time is probably less disruptive for your own plans at home.
Get to know Silicon Valley and come back more and more as you feel appropriate. Maybe eventually you’ll do the big jump and decide to move here permanently. You will know when it’s the right time.
