Silicon Valley

Startup Grind Silicon Valley Welcomes Ann Miura-Ko (Floodgate)

May 1, 2012 by Derek Andersen

After finishing my interview with Steve Blank a few weeks ago he immediately said, “You have to interview Ann Miura-Ko.” Ann is a co-founding partner at FLOODGATE  where their investments include: Branchout, Chegg, Digg, IMVU, Kongregate, MILK, Reputation, Revision3, Smule, Twitter, and Zimride. We’re excited to have her coming to speak to us on July 18 in Palo Alto.

In addition to serving at FLOODGATE, Ann is a lecturer in the School of Engineering at Stanford University, where she got her PhD focused on mathematical modeling of computer security. She teaches High Tech Entrepreneurship with Steve Blank and is a frequent lecturer in courses such as Technology Venture Formation, High-tech Entrepreneurship, and the Mayfield Fellows Program. Many of her students have gone on to secure Angel and VC funding for their ideas.
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Founders

Great Entrepreneurs Have No Problem Swallowing Their Pride

April 30, 2012 by Derek Andersen

I often get asked about how Startup Grind gets such great speakers. One of the main reasons is that I never take offense to any of the responses or lack there of from potential speakers. I have asked some speakers 10 times over the course of 7-months only to finally have them say they’ll do it. Regardless I absolutely never take it personally.

One thing I see from a lot of immature founders is an abundance of pride. Recently a founder walked up to me at an event and said something like, “You didn’t respond to my email to grab lunch. What’s your problem?” Another example is when I recently invited a non-funded founder to fill in for a cancelled speaker who has 1MM+ downloads on his product. It was a massive opportunity for his bootstrapped startup to be showcased with the big dogs. His response was, “I won’t participate in the panel, I honestly don’t like to be a stopgap.” Could his pride really blindside him that much? Yes it could, and it did.

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Events

Patrick Collison Founder @Stripe, Live At Startup Grind (VIDEO)

April 27, 2012 by Derek Andersen

It’s been a whilwind couple of days. We had Michael Tchong speak last night at our inagural Marin event, and we had Patrick Collison the night before that in Palo Alto. Patrick is CEO of one of the most interesting startups in Silicon Valley. He’s taken a decade old problem and completely turned it upside down on it’s head.

He and his brother have taken an idea and in two years built a 20+ person company valued at well over $100MM. Patrick is a fascinating person. At only 23-years old he’s already won a national science award (in Ireland), sold a company for $5MM, and now he’s onto his next massive hit set to disrupt the entire payments industry. Remember the name Stripe, because you’ll be hearing a lot about it.

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Silicon Valley

Circle’s People Discovery App Puts Emphasis On Design And Networks

April 26, 2012 by Derek Andersen



First Look: I’ve wanted to write about Circle for months and now my chance has finally come. Circle is a location aware iPhone app that released a few weeks ago that helps you find people to meet in the networks that are most meaningful to you. When I sat down with CEO Evan Reas a few months ago, I was immediately struck by how beautiful this application is.  Hawthorn Labs, the parent company behind the app, has always had great design, but this app takes it to the next level. Read more →

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Silicon Valley

The Top 10 Things I Learned Interviewing The Founder/CEO of Pinterest

April 20, 2012 by Derek Andersen

When Ben Silbermann joined me on the Startup Grind stage in Palo Alto California on  February 28 the small room was packed 300+ full of entrepreneurs, founders, and fans of the product. In the 45-minute interview we talked about the background and history of where the product had been and where it is headed. Here are the top 10 things that I learned.

1. The founder grew up in the midwest and he planned to be a doctor before college.

2. After four months Pinterest only had around 200 users but they were passionate about the product. Read more →

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Silicon Valley

Everything You Need To Know About Pinterest In The Past 2-Months

April 19, 2012 by Derek Andersen

Over the past few months we’ve written a lot about Pinterest and the ins and outs of the Palo Alto based company. In case you’ve missed some of them, here is a recap of some of the more memorable and newsworthy things that have happened to the company:

The Story Of Pinterest’s Unlikely Journey To Top Of The Startup Mountain

Cold Brew Labs’ (Pinterest) First Product Was An App Called Tote

The Evolution Of Pinterest’s Incubator: Cold Brew Labs

Exclusive: Pinterest Co-Founder Paul Sciarra Is Leaving The Company

Pinterest Updates Its Terms Of Use Read more →

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Events

Startup Grind Hosts Jason Putorti of Votizen & Mint (5/16)

April 19, 2012 by Joel Fernandes

Excited to have Jason Putorti join us on stage next month. Jason is the co-founder and designer of Votizen which is building the first social lobbying product for registered voters. He joined Mint.com from early 2007 through launch and exit via an acquisition to Intuit in November 2009. Prior to Mint he co-founded a book, publisher, founded a design agency, and spun off a software company, all in Pittsburgh. After Mint.com he became the first Designer-in-Residence at Bessemer Venture Partners.

Join us as we talk about the upcoming election, design strategies and philosophies, and how to be successful in Silcon Valley. Reserve your ticket today.

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New Startups

StartupDigest Team Launches CupidCurated. A Dating Site That Gives Women The Control

April 18, 2012 by Derek Andersen

First Look: Entrepreneurs around the world know Startup Digest as one of the best resources to help startups get connected to events and interesting things happening in their area. The team behind that successful venture is launching a new product today to help people everywhere finally get a date. It’s called CupidCurated. It’s a dating site that is focused around letting women control the experience and act as the VIPs.

First off you can’t join the site or browse members unless one of their female curators approves you and lets you join. This will maintain the quality of guys, and improve the experience for women. They call this the “Sadie Hawkins dance” methodology. The team believes that putting women in charge of the dating experience will make it better for everyone.  If you’ve ever been on a date planned by a woman then you understand this algorithm is spot on. Read more →

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Silicon Valley

Silicon Valley Startups Embrace the B-Corp Movement

April 18, 2012 by Guest Contributor

**This post was written by Dave Wamsley founder at GravityEight and the Marin Startup Grind chapter director***

Governmental agencies and nonprofits are necessary, but operating alone they are insufficient to address society’s greatest challenges.  Corporations, which wield undisputed power and influence, must do their part to create the change we now desperately need.

Imagine if, from their inception, high-tech startups were able to build into their “corporate DNA” the means to make a healthy profit for shareholders, but also to leave the world a better place as well.  Sounds crazy, right?  Well, no not really.  In an interview with Piers Morgan, Starbucks CEO, Howard Schultz, made the simple but provocative proclamation that his company would no longer view “profit” as their number one business objective.   Read more →

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Silicon Valley

A Great Story About 1980′s Apple (VIDEO)

April 18, 2012 by Derek Andersen

In 1987 Michael Tchong founded MacWeek and started covering Apple news as he puts it “25 years too early.” I met him a few weeks ago in preparation for the first Startup Grind event in Marin on 4/26 for which he is the featured speaker, and he told me a great story about the early culture of Apple.

In 1988 Apple launched the Macintosh IIcx and printed a full color spread for all Apple employees for the launch. I will let Michael tell the story in the short video below of what happened next but MacWeek had scooped the product before the launch by dumpster diving for Apple employee trash. Interesting to hear that even during the John Sculley days they maintained that secretive nature that they’re famous for.

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