INTRODUCTIONTO THE SF STARTUP COMMUNITY Zavain Dar VC @ Innovation Endeavors

‣ Early Stage Technology Investor at Innovation Endeavors ‣ Entire life in Bay Area (Hometown: Berkeley, University: Stanford, Current: SF) ‣ Founded Geo-Social Network in 2010 ‣ Early employee at Search Engine Startup acquired by Twitter in 2013 ‣ Taught Stanford’s first Cryptocurrency (Bitcoin) Seminar in 2014 ‣ Will join you for a drink or pickup basketball 9 out of 10 times ‣ Email: zavain@innovationendeavors.com ‣ Twitter: @zavaindar

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HI. I’M ZAVAIN DAR. 2

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WELCOME TO SAN FRANCISCO.

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Manifest Destiny & The Dream: MOVE WEST AND FIND YOUR RICHES

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AND OTHER MYTHS

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SO, WHAT IS IT REALLY?

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A LOT OF HARD WORK

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Cocktail-making robot:

This sign: This energy drink:

This billboard:

These hiring signs: And getting there like this:

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GIVE BACK TO THE COMMUNITY.

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Help other people achieve their goals and aspirations. Generate karma. Bring people together. Give back. To a certain extent, we’re all in this together.

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LEARN, PRACTICE, AND PARTICIPATE. Roll up your sleeves and learn new skills. Try your hand at building something — anything — and share it with people. Think about how to best position your abilities & interests. Be Humble. Try to become a thoughtful creator, not an arrogant thinker.

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WHAT DO YOU (REALLY) WANT?

There’s no “one size fits all” experience in startup world. Think hard about what kinds of environments suit you. Vertical, company size, team culture, role, time commitment, and product are just some of the factors to consider when pursuing opportunities. There are better ways to make money, not everyone is a founder or CEO, it’s grind+hustle+follow through >>> sexy and intellectual work (most of the time)..

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IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT THE SCENE. Don’t get into the startup world because it’s cool, or because it’s an easy way to make money. (Most of the time, it’s neither.) Instead, join a startup or start something new for reasons that resonate with you on a deeper level. What will keep you going when times get tough? (They will.)

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IT’S A MARATHON, NOT A SPRINT. You will fail. Probably multiple times.

Thomas Edison: “I’ve not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Don’t get discouraged though — this happens to everyone, and it’s what allows true innovation to happen. All successful entrepreneurs have been through tough times... but they kept building, kept learning, and eventually found success.

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MEETUPS, MENTORS, CO-WORKING, ANGELS, HACKATHONS,CLASS, INCUBATORS, & VCs

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MEETUPS

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PLUS + ‣ Wide variety ‣ Inexpensive ‣ Mostly in the evenings MINUS - ‣ You will meet too many people to manage ‣ It is more social and not very action based

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MEETUPS

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HACKATHONS

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PLUS + ‣ Action based ‣ Gain experience ‣ Potentially find a cofounder ‣ Prizes! MINUS - ‣ MVP will likely be scrapped after weekend ‣ Requires nontrivial upfront time commitment

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HACKATHONS

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MENTORS

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Experienced, successful, & busy. Tips: ‣ Target a few individuals ‣ Ask short and specific questions ‣ Show you’ve done your research ‣ Don’t give up ‣ Be respectful

PLUS + ‣ Gives you an extraordinary leg-up ‣ Access to people and potentially funding ‣ Learn from others’ mistakes MINUS - ‣ Wrong person takes you down wrong path or wastes your time

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MENTORS

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INCUBATORS/ACCELERATORS

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PLUS + ‣ Seed funding ‣ Structure for your startup ‣ Peer network ‣ Baked in mentorship + advisors MINUS - ‣ Tough to get into ‣ Too many incubators, which one to choose? ‣ Take equity in your company (this isn’t always bad) ‣ Commit to a particular locale

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INCUBATORS/ACCELERATORS

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CLASSES/TALKS

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PLUS + ‣ Structured and Focused learning ‣ Many times in the evening ‣ Great networking MINUS - ‣ Some can be pricey ‣ Specific hours of access

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CLASSES

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CO-WORKING

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PLUS + ‣ Work with other startups ‣ Build Network ‣ Attend classes and events ‣ Have an office away from home MINUS - ‣ Pricey – Average Desk is $500/mo ‣ Some require seed funding ‣ Can be noisy

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CO-WORKING

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ANGELS

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PLUS + ‣ Many do convertible notes or equity ‣ Great advisors ‣ Help with further rounds MINUS – ‣ If you don’t get a seasoned investor, things could get ugly ‣ Diligence your investors! (Just like they diligence you!!)

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ANGELS

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VCS

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But really…

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PLUS + ‣ Funding! ‣ Great Advice, will help you grow your company ‣ Will help with further rounds MINUS - ‣ You have funding, but now you have more accountability ‣ Lose large ownership stake... and sometimes control of your company ‣ The clock is ticking ‣ Understand background of both personal investor and firm.

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VCS

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TIPS FOR GETTING INVOLVED Find your people. Build a community. Do your Research. Keep on testing.

‣ Talk to people. Ask questions. Build your network. Find your community.

Treat San Francisco as an ecosystem. Give as much as (or more than) you take. Everyone and everything is connected. "

‣ Do your research. Learn as much as you can. Go to talks, go to classes, sign up for a course, read blogs online. Never stop researching.

Apply the scientific method to everything. Test your idea, test your interest, test your audience’s interest. It’s all about experimenting to see what works. Iterate though models of the World."

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IT SOUNDS LIKE A LOT, BUT SAN FRANCISCO IS A SUPPORTIVE COMMUNITY.

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GENERAL ASSEMBLY Est. 2011

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GA is creating a global community of individuals empowered to pursue work they love, by offering classes, workshops and full-time immersive programs on the most relevant skills of the 21st century, from web development, to design, to business fundamentals.

THE VISION

INNOVATION ENDEAVORS Est. 2009

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Innovation Endeavors combines an evergreen VC fund, a unique approach to venture-creation, and the support of a dynamic, international founder community to help entrepreneurs build lasting companies that will have significant financial and human impact. We are partnering with people using emerging technologies in large and growing markets, such as energy, healthcare, financial services, cybersecurity, and retail. We are ready to rally behind entrepreneurs developing first-of-their-kind technologies.

THE VISION

GA + WHARTON: SAN FRANCISCO

THANK YOU

Drop me a note if you have any questions about VC, startup life, or living in SF!"

‣ Email: zavain@innovationendeavors.com ‣ Twitter: @zavaindar

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ZAVAIN DAR 39

‣ Front-End Developer (CSS, HTML) ‣ Back-End Developer (Ruby, Python, Java, C++, C) ‣ UX/UI Designer (inDesign, Photoshop) ‣ Product Manager (Light frontend dev, design) ‣ Business Development (Sales, Partnerships) ‣ Marketing/User Acquisition (Email marketing, social media, SEO, data analytics) ‣ Data Scientist (Hadoop, Matlab, SQL) ‣ Sales (willingness to find and follow leads) ‣ Community Management (Social Media) ‣ Operations (Customer service, Office management) ‣ Other roles depending on vertical (education, fashion)

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COMMON ROLES

‣ Chris Dixon — http://cdixon.org ‣ Fred Wilson (A VC) — http://avc.com ‣ BetaBeat — http://betabeat.com ‣ SAI — http://businessinsider.com/sai ‣ Paul Graham’s Essays — http://paulgraham.com ‣ Hacker News — http://news.ycombinator.com ‣ TechCrunch — http://techcrunch.com ‣ General Assembly — http://generalassemb.ly/blog ‣ Venture Hacks – http://venturehacks.com ‣ Bearded Brown Man (yours truly) – http://beardedbrownman.com ‣ VentureBeat - http://venturebeat.com

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APPENDIX: BLOGS TO READ

‣ Startup Digest — http://startupdigest.com ‣ General Assembly — http://generalassemb.ly

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APPENDIX: NEWSLETTERS