Blackbox Connect № 14: Week 1
Blackbox Connect is a two-week, residential program designed to immerse international startup founders in the Silicon Valley culture. It gives founders a foundation of knowledge and access to the expertise they need to expand their vision and scale their company globally. What can you learn from it?
Three years ago, when I was studying in the Netherlands, Steve Blank appeared on a big screen from Stanford to deliver a session in an entrepreneurship conference. The audience was overall quite engaged and people went out learning a lot about the current state of the global startup scene. One thing that he said, however, was specially memorable.
“If you want to build a global startup, you can’t do it outside of Silicon Valley.” — Steve Blank
Three years later I have experienced the startup ecosystems of places as diverse as Berlin, Prague, Lahore and even Tripoli. So when Blackbox invited me to help with the 14th edition of Blackbox connect as Jr. Entrepreneur in Residence, I didn’t waste time in booking my tickets to the Valley.
After a week of staying here and seeing 12 startups from across the world being introduced to the resources and opportunities the Valley has to offer, I’ve finally come to the conclusion that to scale globally, it’s almost necessary to experience the startup culture here. Blackbox helps accelerate the process by offering a quick introduction to colleagues, mentors and culture. These combine to form the Silicon Valley experience which is very valuable if you’re targeting a global audience with your startup.
For any learning environment to be productive, it’s always a good idea to have people who’re on the same journey together. Learning from each other’s weaknesses and strengths accelerates the tiresome process of building a startup.
Silicon Valley in general, and Blackbox in particular, provide a built in network of colleagues. 12 startups from different, countries, backgrounds and industries go through the same program for two weeks together, learning and sharing.
This year we have startups from the following countries:
These startups have been selected after an extensive application process. From consumer apps like SafeBeyond (a digital time capsule that reveals content to the user’s loved ones periodically after the user passes away) and Eyeread (a startup part of the global learning Xprize) to IOT solutions like Cozify (smart homes). Almost half the startups in this edition are sponsored. Tekes from Finland is responsible for Fastfingers (making mobile sharing faster) & Cozify. Lebnet in Lebanon is supporting NAR(drones that fight fires) and Rational Pixels (realtime ad placement in videos)while Neode is helping make diagnosis quicker with sponsoring 1DropDiagnostics. ITU Gate is also supporting Hangaarlab (wearables for the workforce). The subcontinent is well represented as always with NonMovingInventory (literally does what the name says) and WCCFTech (breaking tech news fast). Other startups include IronScales (automatic phishing mitigation) and some impressive EdTech from Prollster.
I’ve definitely seen that this shared experience has been very valuable for all the startups and is certainly something new startups should strive for. Surround yourself with people as ambitious as you and the results won’t disappoint.
Besides access to people on the same level as you, it’s important to be mentored by people who’ve been through the path you’ve just chosen for yourself. Being in Silicon Valley allows you to connect with people who’re industry leaders. Once again, the whole idea of Blackbox is to make this process easier for you. Over the last week, we’ve had some very impressive speakers at Blackbox.
From in house talks and advice from Bill Joos and Fadi Bishara to conversations with leading thinkers like John Markoff to investors like Niko Bonatsos and Etienne Deffarges, we’ve seen it all. People like Pascal Finnette from Singularity University have truly challenged how our founders think about the tech world. As one of our speakers Marc Canter put it, weather we like it or not the the trends of the global startup ecosystem depend on what some influential people in the valley think and say. Being here means being at the heart of the influence.
Advice and stories from Renee Blodgett, Duncan Davidson & Daniel Zimmermann went on to add to this idea of Silicon Valley knowledge. In a place as complex as the valley, contradictory advice is abundant. The participants got to look at everything differently after hearing the impressive bootstrapping story of Maura and Scott Stouffer.
Very frequently what some of the startups are doing connects with what the speakers are looking for and this leads to longer term mentorships and partnerships. You can have mentorships anywhere in the world but in Silicon Valley the doors opened are much more influential.
The distinction between culture and location is crucial here. I do not think it’s important to be located in Silicon Valley full time to be a global startup but it is indeed crucial to be a part of the culture. This can be done by visiting the valley and forming strong connections. This is exactly what Blackbox enables our startups to do.
Silicon Valley’s culture is very different from all startup cultures I’ve experienced before. While all of them attempt to be like the valley, they’re not willing to take the same amount of risks. Investors in the Valley are mature and experienced enough to know what it takes to get to real growth. They’re willing to have a long periods of only burning cash. This is something that’s certainly lacking in European investors.
Other than this very crucial point, people here seem to be very helpful when it comes to sharing their stories or helping form important connections. San Francisco billboards are filled with app ads and the whole environment of the city truly puts you at the centre of the global tech scene. I’ve literally heard a group of girls going out to party while discussing a TechCrunch article. Where else can you get that?
Have a startup?
Apply to Blackbox and experience the best of the valley in two weeks. Otherwise at least come here for a trip and push yourself to find colleagues, connect with mentors and become a part of the culture before you leave.
Already in the Valley?
Come visit us and hear our startups pitch on our open Demo Day this Friday.
Find live details and more info on Facebook & Twitter
Written by Asad J. Malik
Jr. Entrepreneur in Residence
Blackbox ‘16
