Welcome To The Refiners
Today is a big day. We are officially launching The Refiners, a Cross Border accelerator based in San Francisco to help french and foreign startups to thrive in the Silicon Valley.I’m super excited by this new venture, it’s a superb opportunity to give back to the ecosystem, to help startups who need to be global from the very beginning.We strongly advocate there are 4 core factors Startups & Entrepreneurs in the digital space can’t afford to forget to succeed.
Think Global — Your Assets are Cross Border
International does not exists anymore. Now, you cannot say I’m starting my company in France and then I’ll open an office in Germany, Spain, may be in the US. This expansion model is obsolete: too slow, too expensive. Internet is a nation and Silicon Valley is its capital. Everything is global, as a foreign startup you have a unique opportunity to build cross border companies from scratch.
Grow your assets where they are: Europe has amazing engineers, Silicon Valley is a nightmare to recruit and keep tech talents. In the meantime Silicon Valley offers unique opportunity in term of networking and business development. Do like Facebook does with it’s Artificial intelligence research lab, develop from Silicon Valley and build R&D in France.
Share & Listen — Outreach your comfort zone
Mentorship is key. Beyond your network find key people you can share with and SV is the perfect place to learn from the best. Let’s say you are in fashion and have to design next collection. Where are you going to stay to get the inspiration required? Paris, London, NYC or Milan. Yes, this happening too in the digital space. San Francisco is where you can create a “meeting place of experiences” around your project. Your best quality will be to listen. If you listen to others you are able challenge your conviction and move forward in a constructive way.
Accelerate, Execute sharply since the beginning
When you start, you’ll go from ideation to validation. But what is next.
Consider your project as a rocket. When you put it on the launch pad it’s not about money, it’s about being certain that you’ve went through the checklist before ignition. Check list is key.
Beyond usual startup criteria (team, technology, market…) an acceleration Program will help you to prepare you for the best trajectory possible.
Investors in the silicon valley check 3 important elements: be in the center of your industry, prepare your startup with an acceleration program, Prove momentum — You want to be on that track.
You are a Missionary, Not a Mercenary
Success is not a destination, it’s a journey. You must have a vision, your own Moon Shot. You are entering a journey where you will fail, restart, fail again and eventually achieve your goals.
I love John Doerr statement on Missionaries vs Mercenary entrepreneurs. You want to be a Missionary entrepreneur. They are not opportunistic, they are driven by passion, they are running a marathon. While they recognize the importance of money, missionaries entrepreneurs are fundamentally driven by the desire to make meaning. This will the only way to have an positive impact on the world.
Check TheRefiners — 1st fleet September 12th in San Francisco, with an amazing god father, Brian Solis.
Apply now!
Credit Photo: (c) AdsVark Media / FrenchWeb / Joseph Postec
