Escaping The Black Hole

Who Am I?

• East Coast Editor Of TechCrunch

• john@techcrunch.com

• @johnbiggs

• http://jdbny.me/startup

Who Am I?

• Exhausted

• Jaded

• Annoyed

• Charming (mostly)

• I like to help the little guy

Three Types Of Founders

• Hard core

• Strivers

• Everyone else

Hard Core

• Will kill and eat you

• Lots of friends in the valley

• Works smarter, not harder

• Lots of their ideas are ridiculous

• They get lots of funding

The Striver

• Won't stop networking

• Is convinced of success

• Won't pay developers

• Won't pay anyone

• The idea is a permutation of something

You

Everyone Else

• Solid ideas that fill a need

• Funding is hard to find

• Plenty of sharks ready to bite

• With enough perseverance you can make it

A Quick Word About Incubators

There Is Hope

Super Secret Three Step Plan

What I See

• Poorly written pitches

• "Do Everything" Founders

• Ideas That Have Promise But Are Poorly Executed

Step 1.Polish

Step 2.Write Your Story

Step 3.Figure Out Who

To Tell It To

Step 4.Find The

Next Story To Tell

Making It In The Valley

Incorporate in the US

Kickstart something

Hire a local partner

Just go and live there

Network

Success Is A Journey, Not A

Destination

Merely Existing Is A Triumph

You Can Get Out Of The Black Hole

Tips

• Fire all your engines

• Get a new engineering crew

• Get into a new ship

Thanks

@johnbiggs