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This seems like bad advice. The next-big-thing model is not in fact the default model in the Valley. And the kind of startups it works for, like Facebook and

by pg 17y ago

This seems like bad advice. The next-big-thing model is not in fact the default model in the Valley. And the kind of startups it works for, like Facebook and Twitter, it would work for outside the Valley. It's certainly true that trying to force a startup into the next-big-thing model will generally destroy you. But the way it destroys you is by failing to get users, and that is not a function of your location. My advice would be simply to use the right model for the kind of startup you have, regardless of where you are. Make something people want. If you manage to make something people want so much that it grows explosively, go for it. But don't assume you will.

rjurney 17y ago
'The next big thing' may not be the default model in the valley - in fact I was impressed by the thousands of startups building tools for the guy at the 'next bench.' Unfortunately though, the 'Next Big Thing' is pop culture, and we here in Atlanta tend to draw the game plan that I oultined from what we THINK we know about the valley. Even when what we're pursuing isn't a 'next big thing' opportunity, and even when nobody here would ever fund such a thing - we have the reality on the ground in CA in our minds, and look forward to raising money instead of getting our first check from a customer. Our ideas are larger than our budget. Its there in most everyone, at a deep, deep level because the stories of the icons we look up to enforce it. Therefore I would submit that my advice is good, because I've seen the pattern play itself out here a hundred times. We need customer driven development in Atlanta. Those are the kinds of opportunities we can pursue and do well at. But I don't presume to give advice to SV startups - I don't know anything about those. Obviously someone like you can pursue any idea he wants and make that work - you and your companies have a thousandfold more resources than we have available to us by virtue of your experience and location, and you have first-rate talent for building and picking startups. The 'right model for the right kind of startup' is right - but most people mess that up terribly, so the advice is insufficient. My suggestion is that Customer Driven Development be the default that we hold in our heads - rather than the California State of Mind, which is ruinous to us. Bad advice is espousing and embracing the Valley model (as we understand it) to the rest of us, because it does not apply. How many of your companies raise series A's right out of Y-Combinator? Do you have any idea how unlikely that sort of thing is here? A Y-Combinator startup has options other than customer-funding once they reach the stage of exiting Y-Combinator. An Atlanta startup usually does not, unless they leave. The sooner we accept that reality and deal with it, the sooner our rate of growth will increase.
rjurney 17y ago
Also - Paul... of course you can buy a Silicon Valley. Stanford bought theirs ;)
access_denied 17y ago
> But the way it destroys you is by failing to get users, and that is not a function of your location. Well, it is easier to meet Joe Influencer at the evening at build up some buzz if the flight to the 'party where this guy got an invitation to doesn't take too long.
- rjurney 17y ago
  Its also easier to build something people want in the consumer space if you are in a pool of two million early adopters.

by pg 17y ago

rjurney 17y ago

'The next big thing' may not be the default model in the valley - in fact I was impressed by the thousands of startups building tools for the guy at the 'next bench.' Unfortunately though, the 'Next Big Thing' is pop culture, and we here in Atlanta tend to draw the game plan that I oultined from what we THINK we know about the valley. Even when what we're pursuing isn't a 'next big thing' opportunity, and even when nobody here would ever fund such a thing - we have the reality on the ground in CA in our minds, and look forward to raising money instead of getting our first check from a customer. Our ideas are larger than our budget. Its there in most everyone, at a deep, deep level because the stories of the icons we look up to enforce it. Therefore I would submit that my advice is good, because I've seen the pattern play itself out here a hundred times. We need customer driven development in Atlanta. Those are the kinds of opportunities we can pursue and do well at. But I don't presume to give advice to SV startups - I don't know anything about those. Obviously someone like you can pursue any idea he wants and make that work - you and your companies have a thousandfold more resources than we have available to us by virtue of your experience and location, and you have first-rate talent for building and picking startups. The 'right model for the right kind of startup' is right - but most people mess that up terribly, so the advice is insufficient. My suggestion is that Customer Driven Development be the default that we hold in our heads - rather than the California State of Mind, which is ruinous to us. Bad advice is espousing and embracing the Valley model (as we understand it) to the rest of us, because it does not apply. How many of your companies raise series A's right out of Y-Combinator? Do you have any idea how unlikely that sort of thing is here? A Y-Combinator startup has options other than customer-funding once they reach the stage of exiting Y-Combinator. An Atlanta startup usually does not, unless they leave. The sooner we accept that reality and deal with it, the sooner our rate of growth will increase.

rjurney 17y ago

Also - Paul... of course you can buy a Silicon Valley. Stanford bought theirs ;)

access_denied 17y ago

> But the way it destroys you is by failing to get users, and that is not a function of your location. Well, it is easier to meet Joe Influencer at the evening at build up some buzz if the flight to the 'party where this guy got an invitation to doesn't take too long.

rjurney 17y ago
Its also easier to build something people want in the consumer space if you are in a pool of two million early adopters.