Next steps
Thoughts on the way to San Francisco
We prepared for San Francisco, but we still have some points to be worked out with Gabor, who joined me in London. As I am sitting on the plane I obviously picture an idea to myself about the meetings and discussions. We are well aware of the fact that a plan is a plan, everything is different in our heads, and one of the most important factors of success is will.
The events we want to see — market research, if nothing else — can be found via Meetup.com and Eventbrite. There is nothing else to do, we have to download the applications on our phone and not to forget to change the geographic location from London to Palo Alto (our place of living for the next 2 months, practically a walking distance from the Google Headquarters in Mountain View). In the case of Meetup.com we need to run the Tech and Business categories to be able to see the upcoming meetups.
Tech is important to be able to get to know developers, see their way of thinking, and understand the chemistry which is definitely very different from what we are used to (by all means, because we haven’t even experienced the environment yet).
Networking with developers is also very important because we are looking for platform cooperatives which could help to develop the ENVIENTA Platform.
Let’s have the example of Wordpress, where we don’t have to program each function-integration because the developers have already created plugins which are exactly what we need.
This could greatly reduce the extent of including capital, as well, because we don’t need to develop everything indoors.
The filter of Meetup Business is definitely important because we have an intention, no secret, to reach Angel or even venture capital investors. Our first meetups will focus exactly on the delivery of performance of the actually presenting startups. It is no wonder because a Hungarian, an English and an American investor all expect different styles, data and presentation model. In the case of America, there is a difference between the East Coast (New York) and the West Coast (California), too. While the venture investors of the West Coast are focusing on the number of users (just think about Twitter, which is still a loss), on the East Coast takings are more important. This is certainly not a general rule, I am just trying to show how important every detail can be.
Finally, I am quoting from one of our kind advisers:
“Sit in the cafés, go to Google in the lunch break. Listen to people’s conversations. Let the television switched on at all times in your room, look at the ads on the bus… breath in the air around you, so that you understand the true dynamics of startup connections.”
If you would like to follow or participate in the ENVIENTA project, come and join our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1549322302054465/
