This gorgeous California morning found the trekkers once again in San Francisco. Frequent SVCO guest Jerry Sanders hosted us at his San Francisco Science office in the Presidio, and to open the day he arranged a private tour of the grounds. After getting our fill of historic military buildings and Yoda fountains we sat in his conference room to discuss his company and our goals.

Yoda fountains

San Francisco Science seeks out unique technologies and brings them to market. The current portfolio ranges from medical devices to social-finance, and even includes Saïd Business School alum Cameron Turner’s ClickStream Technologies. The goal with each of these companies is a profitable early exit. In Jerry’s words, San Francisco Science specializes in base hits, not home runs. We then asked Jerry to share some insights with us. Never one to mince words, Jerry’s advice was simple – in this economy, take whatever job you can get right away. The risk otherwise is that you’ll be seen as damaged goods, making the job search even more difficult. The most important thing is that first job, and then from there to build the knowledge and networks for your future.

Insight from Jerry Sanders: Jerry’s recommendation is consistent with his company’s philosophy. Now, more than ever, we should be looking for that base-hit career step rather than waiting around for the home run.

For our closing act, we stopped by Linden Labs to see Second Life creator Philip Rosedale. Philip explained how the Second Life virtual world works and even showed us how the company uses Second Life to host all of its staff meetings. He then talked about the challenges he faced as an entrepreneur trying to pitch the idea. Philip explained that genuinely new ideas are rare, and they don’t fit the venture capital risk model. “If you have an idea like that, your best bet for funding is to find someone as visionary (read: crazy) as yourself who has more money.”

I was part of the Cisco team, and I was thoroughly impressed with the depth of analysis they apply to each potential partner. They consider the technology, obviously, but even more so the people. If the cultural fit isn’t there, they don’t make the move; ” They’re the best at acquisitions for a reason”

For the afternoon, the trekkers were treated to an impressive array of events at Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business. Our hosts, Dean Barry Posner and Professor Al Bruno, arranged a panel of local entrepreneurs, a discussion about their social incubator, a lecture on the current economic crisis and outlook, and even let us sit in on one of their classes. They topped this all off with a reception where we got to meet professors and current students.

If you’re going to be in Silicon Valley, make sure you get to know Al Bruno and Dean Posner. Not only do they know today’s leaders, but they’re ensuring that they’ll know tomorrow’s as well.

Thursday, April 9th
Silicon Valley is an area proud of its history (and justifiably so), and this day started out with the trekkers gaining a little historical perspective. Joe DiNucci arranged a morning tour of the Computer History Museum in Mountain View. There we saw everything from punched card processors to supercomputers, including one machine with a built-in ashtray. They certainly don’t make them like that anymore.

After two hours of computing history, we were jolted with a vision of the future. Qik founder Ramu Sunkara showed us how his software can turn a cell phone camera into a real-time webcam. The technology is still under development, but the current results are impressive.

In classic Silicon Valley style, Ramu started Qik in his garage. His advice was simple – team up with the smartest person you know, and don’t let failure get you down. Even when all hope seems lost, success can be just around the corner.

For our afternoon session, the trekkers were treated to three hours with LinkedIn founder and CEO (and Oxford alumnus) Reid Hoffman. Reid spent a few minutes talking about his background and about LinkedIn, and then he shifted to giving us direction on finding jobs and funding ventures in this economy. To give justice to the quality and quantity of information Reid (aka “The Godfather”) shared with us this afternoon would take 1000+ words, so I’ll just summarize as best I can. With money tight and jobs scarce, social networks are even more critical to finding funds and employment. Build those networks… and then use them!

Insight from Reid Hoffman:

Get LinkedIn or be left out.

Insight from YouNoodle;

Here’s my own algorithm for predicting start-up success – count the number of Oxonians on staff. YouNoodle sports three, including CEO and co-founder Bob Goodson. I’m thinking they’ll do just fine.

Our next stop was Y Combinator, which provides seed funding and mentorship to early-stage companies. Partner Paul Graham spoke to us about what he considers the keys to a successful entrepreneurial venture. It seems everything hinges on the team. Teams of two or three work best, and determination trumps intelligence every time. He also encouraged us to consider taste as a key element in web/product design. If you don’t have it, find someone who does.

What perspectives did we gain from Y Combinator? Does an MBA prepare you for entrepreneurship? Not according to Paul. The trekkers could find that troubling, but in reality it should just serve as a reminder that in entrepreneurship, like anything else, there’s no substitute for hard work.

Our evening was spent with Joe DiNucci’s friends at Coulomb Technologies. While partaking in start-up cuisine (read: pizza and beer), the trekkers listened to CEO Richard Lowenthal describe the Coulomb vision. Coulomb approached electric car charging as a network problem and leveraged their experience to come up with a compelling solution.

Insight from Coulomb;

 Culture is key. Most of these guys have already done so well that money is not an issue, and yet they are all working hard to make Coulomb a success. Why? Because they love the environment (pun intended).

Our first official stop was at Twitter. Befitting the hype surrounding the Valley’s hottest start-up, we showed up with a camera crew from NBC-affiliate KNTV and a reporter from the San Jose Mercury News (thanks to Mike Malone!). Wanna see how much the camera loves me? Check out this;

Insight from Twitter:

Think of your investors as employees you can’t fire. Make sure their expectations align with the goals of your company.

After Twitter, we paid a visit to Saïd Business School alum Dave Rosenheim, CEO of JamBase. He introduced us to Andy Gadiel, who founded the company ten years ago. It started as a project to help track the bands he wanted to see, but once he began organizing all the information he realized there could be a business in it. Thus, JamBase was born and profitable from day one.

Insight from JamBase:

If you love something enough to spend your spare time doing it, why not turn it into a company?

Our final event of the day was an Saïd Business School Alumni/VIP gathering at Raymond Nasr’s Palo Alto home. We enjoyed fine wine (specially chosen by Raymond) and canapés while networking with some of Silicon Valley’s best and brightest. Our SBS predecessors have established a vibrant local alumni chapter, and several trekkers are hoping to join them later this year.