In 2003 the state of the art with startup talking was Guy Kawasaki, a guy who did some marketing in the 80s and has ridden that wave since. Nothing actionable.

In 2003 the state of the art with startup talking was Guy Kawasaki, a guy who did some marketing in the 80s and has ridden that wave since. Nothing actionable. In 2003, there wasn't a way, as an "outsider," to get into the funding scene. The system felt more closed than now. You still need to "know someone who knows someone," but before, everybody who knew anybody was probably out of reach. In 2003, Google was still a mystery. Nobody knew they were making billions of dollars a year. In 2003, a startup wasn't something you just did. Startups were for serious people doing serious things who would give 60% of their company to a VC for a $3M A round. Seed rounds were $20k friends and family or $100k "I know a rich guy" rounds. ...and if you were in elementary school in 2003, I feel tragically old and unsuccessful.