StartupDigest in Colombia
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“Life is too short to work at a boring company” Colombia | October 6, 2011
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A talk I gave at the University de National in Bogota, Colombia
Transcript of StartupDigest in Colombia
“Life is too short to work at a boring company”
Colombia | October 6, 2011
1. What Startup Life is like2. Game3. MVP’s4. Multidisciplinary learning5. What University gives you– Not what you expect
6. Questions7. Short explanation of Silicon Valley– Past / History– Present / Culture
Words of Caution
• Yo no hablo Español• This is about high growth tech startups• I am not university trained in all the
topics I bring up• Some of this might be challenging to the
current education model
Background
Events by city in 67 citiesArticles by skill and markets
StartupDigest
0
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
300,000
StartupDigest
Frank Denbow > NYC
Dan Rosen > Payments
Herman Ng > Product Manager
Curators
What is “curating”
Picking the best stuff
Startu
pSo
cial
NYCDesi
gn
Gaming
Retail
London
Health
Educati
on
Wash
ington DC
Paris
IndiaBizd
ev
Toro
nto
Marketi
ng
Shan
ghai
Beijing
Sydney
San Dieg
o
Philadelp
hia
Baltimore
Montreal
Dallas
Copenhag
en Italy
Silico
n Prairie
Cape T
own
Indianap
olis
Buenos A
ires
Pittsburgh
New O
rlean
s
Malaysi
a
Portlan
d
Michiga
n
Netherl
ands
Lexingto
n
Cincinnati
Barcelo
na
Genev
a
Czech Rep
ublic0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
30000
Fun part of Startup Life
Learn
Normal Path
Entrepreneurship
Game
Minimal Viable Product
Absolute simplest & efficient way to test a hypothesis.
while Traction is not True:Idea = HypothesisExperiment = MarketTraction = True or FalseIdea + Experiment = Traction
Caution
MVP is not a startup, it’s step 0
Entrepreneurship is a game about learning
Multidisciplinary
Math student, Math graduate, Math post-doc.
Everything will look like a math problem to you.
This is not true.
Multidisciplinary
1. Engineering• Computer science, Thermodynamics,
2. Design• Contrast, alignment,
3. Psychology• Social proof, reciprocity
4. Mathematics• Statistics, power law,
5. Business• Accounting, economics
Engineering*
Easier: Engineering > BusinessHarder: Business > Engineering
Absolute must if you are starting an internet
company
Best way to learn new skills
• Khanacademy.com
University – Doesn’t do what you think
1. Not skills2. Not funding3. Not a path
What it does:4. Team5. Situation (Debt, Marital, Risk)6. Time (Curiosity, Serendipity)
Action Items
1. Take 1 class not related to your major or watch Khan Academy
2. Try one Minimal Viable Product
3. Work at something you are excited about this summer, think about what that is now.
Do I need to move to Silicon Valley?
What is traction?
Do I need to raise money? What’s next after the MVP?
How do I learn about new subjects?
How do I learn programming?
Who taught you the multidisciplinary learning?
What if my advisors won’t let me take other classes?
How else can I get started now?
How does SD make money?
History
Leland Stanford1824-1983 “Robber Barron”Founder of Stanford
• Bell Telephone Laboratories • Hewlett-Packard• Shockley Semiconductor > Farchild
Semiconductor > Intel
• PayPal, Google, Facebook
Silicon Valley Culture
• “Pay it forward”• Non-Materialism• Founders investing in Founders• Sharing (Hippy)• Variation• Most Important:– Very high “social pressure”
