Featured Essays for Assignment #1

As part of CS183C, the students write essays reflecting on the lectures and speakers they’ve seen. In many cases, they explore how blitzscaling applies to their own professional lives.

Here are the essays from Assignment #1 that we’ve chosen to feature:

Essay #1 — On scaling companies at the family stage:

Axel found a way to digest the class material in his own unique way, and produced a synthesis of those ideas.

Blitzscaling Diversity

Jorge applied the notion of blitzscaling techniques to the problem of diversity in Silicon Valley, a very real and thorny problem.

Oguzhan makes a good point about the danger of the base rate fallacy. Side note: The US represents about 2/3 of VC investment. Silicon Valley represents about 40% of US investment dollars and 30% of the deals. If Silicon Valley represents 20% of deals and 50% of Unicorns, it is still overrepresented.

Startup Ven Diagrams and Blinders

Jocelyn discuss the need for startup founders to maintain both blacklists and whitelists; a useful metaphor for achieving focus.

Robert offered an interesting perspective on Silicon Valley’s version of the Protestant work ethic.