I’ve said it before but I’ll repeat it. In my opinion, Silicon Valley is the most vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem in the world. The sheer amount of venture capital available helps but there’s a lot more than money that you can’t quantify and makes it unique. It’s hard to replicate the dozens of tech meetups happening everyday where people discuss any startup-related subject you can imagine. It’s even harder to replicate the collaborative culture you can find here. Everyone openly discusses their future plans and you feel like anyone you stop on the street can give you extensive and valuable feedback for your business.

This is what I call the “insider bias”. Just by being here, you’re exposed to ideas and concepts that others don’t have access to, but you hear them so many times that at some point you think everyone knows it. Everyone knows about the lean startup cycle, the 90/9/1 ratio, or the freemium conversion funnel, right? Wrong! One of the things that impressed me the most about Silicon Valley is the level of tech-related discussions you can get. With anyone! They might not know the difference between income and revenue but they can give you a half hour talk about how UI is different than UX.

You can’t replicate that, but you can immerse yourself in this ecosystem even without being here. How? Connecting to the Silicon Valley information hubs, attending virtual events, reading, interacting with local people, even working for people in Silicon Valley. It’s an organic process and can take its time, but slowly you can start feeling as if you were here. Here is how I did it.

1. Twitter. First, I started following relevant people on Twitter. The particular list of names is personal and debatable (the list of people I follow is public and you can check it at twitter.com/hugobernardo), and it will depend on the type of business you’re running. If you’re into tech, then you might want to check Techcrunch, Business Insider, or the newest Pandodaily. If you’re going to be a founder, you should follow some VCs and angels. You can check “The Most Respected Venture Capitalists” to start with. If you’re in the wine business, like I am, follow the most relevant wine bloggers and reviewers. You don’t have to be checking every single tweet, and you should definitely curate your list, but Twitter has this strange effect that makes you feel like you’re best friends with the people you follow, which makes you a little more of an insider. Even if you and I know you’re not ;)
2. Hacker News. I find Hacker News, Y Combinator’s news and discussion forum, is an invaluable source of help and information, in a way I don’t find anywhere else (except maybe attending live events). The name says it all - most people hanging out there are hackers, a lot from outside Silicon Valley. Try to contribute whenever you can, but even if you don’t, you can read about the latest in technology, and learn from people who are the real deal.
3. eMeetings & classes. Meetups are an incredible way of learning and receiving feedback. The problem, of course, is that you need to be here to attend. However, a lot of events now stream live, and the number is increasing. Of course, you don’t get to network but you’ll learn a lot. Go to meetup.com and find the groups that interest you the most, then check which events stream live. Also, Stanford has a lot of online resources (classes, conferences, etc), and attendance is free. Here’s the link.

Do these 3 things and you’ll quickly feel as if you were here. That way, whenever you decide to come to Silicon Valley, you won’t sound as if you’re alien. Plus, you’ll likely establish useful connections in the process that will make the transition a lot easier.

 

When I first started writing this blog, the idea was to illustrate what it feels like to be an immigrant entrepreneur in the Silicon Valley, and in the process help others who, like me, wanted to make the jump. 

However, when I recently sat in a couple of panels with Portuguese entrepreneurs, I quickly realized my posts had an insider bias. Even if I’ve only been here for 2 years, there’s already a lot of knowledge I take for granted that people outside the US (or even Silicon Valley) don’t have access to.

So I decided to start a series of posts that hopefully will help the aspiring immigrant entrepreneur to better understand the (unquestionably?) world’s most vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem. I feel most blogs I read assume that people have already a decent knowledge of how things work in the US and in Silicon Valley in particular. The idea of this series is to be basic, sort of an intro to Silicon Valley.

I’m planning to write 11 posts but feedback is very welcome and I might change the lineup. Leave your comments here or send me an email with your ideas.

Here are the planned posts:

1. Immerse yourself in the Silicon Valley community without being here
2. Forget your local market. Think global, think big, and act accordingly
3. Understand the startup cycle - team, prototype, traction, funding
4. Look for help, be connected, but don't take help for granted
5. Don't blow intros, respect everyone, manage your email
6. It’s never been easier to stay connected - use all resources available
7. Leverage your local market but don't over-invest in its uniqueness
8. The necessary bureaucracy - visas, lawyers, banks, accountants
9. What to localize and what to outsource
10. Basic rules for fundraising
11. Crossing the pond - commitment and timeline

 

Image: gaebler.com

The President of Portugal was in California last Sunday and Monday and that was big news. For most people it was big news because the last time a President visited California was 20 years ago. To me it was big news because a good part of the visit focused on entrepreneurship and Silicon Valley. Usually our politicians like to visit big companies and announce big investments that generate big headlines back home. But it’s hard to make big announcements theses days so it’s fitting that the focus turned to startups and entrepreneurs.

I spoke yesterday on a panel about entrepreneurship in Portugal vs Silicon Valley and one of thing I was very happy to hear was the enthusiasm around building strong ties among Portuguese entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and between us and those in Portugal. A strong network means more opportunities for those in Portugal and there’s no other place in the world like Silicon Valley if you want to be a tech entrepreneur. A better network here means higher probability of success and we desperately need success stories.

One of the problems we historically had in Portugal is jealousy. Whereas in Silicon Valley we look at someone else’s success and think “how can I do the same?”, in Portugal we think “I wish she crashes and burns”. The first reaction means entrepreneurship, because we see success as a source of motivation. The second reaction generates inaction and a toxic environment where people are secretly hoping that you fail.

How do you change that? You do with repeated success and with a transparent path to success. When I say transparent I don’t mean formulaic. I mean giving people a chance to succeed the same way other did. I mean equal opportunities for real.

One of the reasons people in Portugal are suspicious about success stories is that they perceive it’s not transparent - maybe you need connections, maybe you need a rich parent, maybe you need to play dirty.

I believe Silicon Valley is an equal opportunity land (I do, despite recent disputes) and the Portuguese entrepreneurs I’ve met here are generally very down to earth. A strong Portuguese network in Silicon Valley means more opportunities for those of us here and in Portugal, which means more chances to build success in a way we can replicate.

The other key step is collaboration. That’s what made Silicon Valley so special and historically Portugal hasn't been good at collaborating. That’s why I was so excited to see such level of enthusiasm about building a community here. This is a step in the right direction and one that can help entrepreneurs here and in Portugal. And Portugal desperately needs its entrepreneurs.

 

Image: jscreationzs / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I’ve heard a few politicians in Portugal, including the President, asking entrepreneurs to be the engines of the economic recovery. These are not newcomers, these are people who have been in the political scene for a while, and for those who don’t know, the President himself was prime minister for 10 years during the 90s. So after decades doing nothing or very little to help entrepreneurs, these men now request them to be the saviors of the country. It’s a really wrong approach to the proverb “teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”. Instead, these politicians are telling a man to fish without giving him a fishing rod.

I already wrote about how to build an entrepreneurial culture and Portugal has a long way to go until entrepreneurs can be a relevant class. This change won’t happen overnight and we need more than political statements to make it happen.

For years, entrepreneurs have fought an uphill battle due to unnecessary bureaucracy, a dysfunctional judicial system, lack of VC money, and excessive government weight in the economy among others. If we exclude some measures to reduce bureaucracy, nothing has been done to solve these issues. As a result, nothing has substantially changed to promote real entrepreneurship.

My fear is that politicians think that an empty statement will make any difference. It won’t. I feel the situation is changing. Mostly because of the dire economic situation, more people are considering starting their own business, and as I said before, we should take advantage of momentum, wherever it comes from, to promote entrepreneurship. If a domestic economic recession combined with an overheated VC industry abroad can give you that momentum, take it and do something useful with it. Go fix what’s wrong, get yourself out of the way. But please, don’t just say empty words.

 

I recently heard someone ask, “Why aren’t there more African American (AA) founders?” I’m no expert in US entrepreneurship history so I listened to the different arguments brought to the table and the most compelling one hit close to home – the lack of role models.

The argument was that the lack of AA entrepreneurs is a vicious circle. If there aren’t many AA entrepreneurs it’s less likely to see a success story happen, and therefore less likely that a role model will emerge. As a result, when an AA kid is dreaming about his future it’s unlikely he’s thinking of becoming an entrepreneur.

A similar problem happens back home in Portugal. Much has been said and done to promote entrepreneurship in Portugal and so far everything has failed. True, the VC industry is practically inexistent and the market is small, but that’s not the entire story. You can still bootstrap, and companies don’t have to limit themselves to the domestic market.

The lack of role models, however, is a huge barrier. There are not enough entrepreneurs that I can look at and say, “I want to be like him”. Most of the (few) stories of “the person who started with an idea and became a millionaire” involve some sort of shady business and/or practice.

I believe we have a deal flow problem (i.e. not enough stories to tell about) but it’s possible that we’re just not publicizing properly the good stories that do exist. That would be a much easier problem to solve.

How to solve this problem? As usual, there’s no short-term solution. If we do have success stories and real role models, we should be publicizing those, inviting those people to schools to talk about why/how they became entrepreneurs. If we don’t have many of those stories, use the few we have and over-publicize them. I know we have some. Go beyond that, use stories and role models from elsewhere. It might be less effective but it’s better than nothing. Create an aura around the entrepreneur in a way that people will want to become one.

I’m not saying that entrepreneurs will take Portugal out of the hole it’s in now, but in a country so dependent on government spending, having a strong entrepreneurial community would help a lot.

 

Lately, a few people lately have asked me why I made the decision to quit my job and become an entrepreneur. In particular, I feel people are mostly interested in understanding how, as a stranger who landed in the US a few years ago, I took the necessary steps to find a team, build a network and start a company.

Motivations

I think a lot has been written on the motivations to become an entrepreneur. I particularly like Mark Suster’s view on what makes an entrepreneur and Brad Feld’s more fundamental perspective (which I first heard when I was a student at MIT) on how to approach your career decisions.

I don’t think of myself as a serial entrepreneur that has to be permanently starting something new. I have worked for large and small companies and have been happy with that. But when I look back, I was happiest when I started my company and that’s for a combination of reasons – the learning experience, the satisfaction of building something novel, the personal growth, the emotional rollercoaster, the adrenaline rush anticipating big decisions. So the decision to quit my former job and start Piictu was a no brainer. How did I go from getting in the US to starting a company?

Read

As an immigrant who wanted to do business in the US, I felt I had to read more than normal. Let’s face it, I’m at disadvantage when it comes to understanding a market or industry. I can read a lot of market research and collect all the data I want and I will still miss the tacit knowledge that surrounds it. It’s inevitable. I’m talking about very broad topics – how business is done, the history of VC and entrepreneurship, what industries are strong where – and small details that locals take for granted – I still don’t get baseball metaphors but at least I’m getting better at tipping rules. Believe me, knowing these details helps a lot when you’re building a business (plus, you don’t sound stupid).

My recommendation is to read blogs, as that’s where tacit knowledge is articulated. Read everything you’re interested in, read a lot, and read regularly. You’re not going to learn these things in a day.

Socialize with locals

I don’t care if you’re a social person or not but the best way to learn the small details I was just talking about is by meeting local people. As a foreigner, it’s very easy to look for other foreigners and get closed in that community. The drawback is that you’re less likely to understand the local habits and culture.

In addition, socializing is networking and you’ll need a network once you start your business.

Network

Before you start a business you need a network but that’s not the only reason to network. Before you start a business you need to start discussing business. If you are an idea person you need to probe your ideas, ask for feedback, listen to external opinions. If you are not an idea person you want to start looking for ideas. Anyhow, networking means invaluable learning and great friendships.

I don’t recommend approaching networking from a utilitarian standpoint – it’s unnecessary pressure for yourself and it makes you sound less authentic. Again, it’s about socializing. Just start attending events and meeting people (you naturally will). Be willing to help in whatever capacity you can and you will soon see a snowball effect happening.

Put yourself out there

Finally, once you’re ready to make the jump, put yourself out there – start telling people you’re looking for a co-founder, or an idea, or money whatever it’s your case. People will try to help you, or they might remember you next time they hear a matching request from someone else. Leverage the network you’ve been building. Don’t be shy to ask for favors.

 

Some resources I found useful:

startupdigest.com – great to know what events are happening in your area

letslunch.com – great networking tool (for now only in the Bay Area)

meetup.com – look for informal meetups in your geography and area of interest

For blogs and written resources, I’ll default to the awesome list put together by Tom Eisenmann (all four posts on Launching Tech Ventures).

 

As I watch the economic and financial crisis unfold in Portugal, I’ve been thinking about the reasons why, as a nation, we became so risk-averse and so dependent on the government and big corporations. I extend this analysis to the vast majority of European countries, as they're not dramatically different in this particular aspect.

Culture vs. Education

Growing up, I heard again and again that entrepreneurship is something you cannot teach – it’s cultural they say. The US are naturally entrepreneurial because it’s a nation of immigrants that had little to lose and a lot to build. I say that’s bullshit. It’s obvious that today the US have a much stronger entrepreneurial culture, supported by a huge startup community and large amounts of VC money. Can you replicate something like this? Absolutely! It starts with education. How much does a 20-year-old kid fresh out of college have to lose? We need to instill entrepreneurial values while these kids are in school – show them some success cases, let them talk to inspiring entrepreneurs, let them know about the risks but also the rewards. Damn! You just have to put it side by side with the shitty entry-level corporate job they can aspire to and it’s obvious they have very little to lose.

The ecosystem

The second step (with many middle steps) is to build the ecosystem that can support entrepreneurship – VCs, incubators, supportive community, entrepreneur-friendly legislation. This is trickier. I'll ignore legislation as I don't think it's a significant roadblock at this point. For years now, the European Union has tried to build this ecosystem in a centralized and bureaucratic way – the only way the EU knows. Centralize the major funds to support innovation, distribute some more money to national governments, and expect people to be creative. This approach has given very little results – you cannot build many small communities spread around Europe from an office space in Brussels. The ecosystem cannot ignore the education system, which will feed the community with fresh wannabe entrepreneurs that, by nature, will run away from bureucracy and 100-page long application forms.

Leadership

Finally, in order to build an entrepreneurial ecosystem you need consistent leadership – not one that changes every 4-5 years and is more interested in political results than long-term effects. You need a bunch of very smart people committed to the cause and a long-term vision that they're willing to sustain. Portugal, as most European countries, has decided that the government is the most qualified agent to lead this process. The results are visibly painful.

When I first came to the US, almost 4 years ago, it was hard to imagine that I would end up where I am today. After a mildly successful startup out of college and two failed attempts to start a new venture in Portugal, I thought my times as an entrepreneur were gone. After all, I was coming to business school with the promise of a juicy 6-figure salary. I underestimated two effects: a startup-friendly environment, not only at MIT but later in the Bay Area, and my appetite to build new products and businesses with the implied increased risk.

Today I feel the same rush I felt the day I decided to turn down my well-paid job offer out of college and start my own company. There is a huge difference though – the amount of support and encouragement I’ve been getting from the startup community in the Bay Area is hardly comparable to that I received in Portugal and Spain 12 years ago.

As an immigrant in the US, it is now evident to me why this country has been able to sustain its leadership in innovation – the creative energy and support to entrepreneurship is incomparable to what I’ve seen in other parts of the world and it pushes you to come up with new ideas and build new products, some of which will change the world.

This is day 1 as immigrant entrepreneur in the US and I’m hoping this is the beginning of my contribution to change the world.