I had just finished up a panel where one of the smarter start up guys out there (Jason Fried of 37Signals) and I had a panel discussion about VCs and Start Ups. I made the point about Canada being an amazing place to start up a company while Jason made an almost impassioned plea to staying the heck out of Silicon Valley. He pointed out he was in Chicago; doing just fine, thank you. I pointed out talent is amazing in Canada and besides getting a little rah rah, basically gave the same message; the valley is not the only show in town.
Then it was off the airport, barely climbing into my seat for a trip to Seattle.
Being in that frame of mind, I crack open the current edition of Business 2.0.
[side note: Old habits die hard. I actually get it via Zinio and forgot; bought the paper version]
The editor’s opening message was how he had given the whole staff a day off. That day off came with the direction that everybody run down from San Francisco to “the Valley” in a breathless attempt to see what the center of the idea universe is going to bring us. This was, of course, the big cover story. The valley is going to save the day, lead the charge, etc.
[side note: The current edition has a great story by Paul Kedrosky (met him in person, very nice/smart guy) on opportunities in search. Worth the price of the mag]
Sigh…
I’ve got nothing against Silicon Valley start ups or Venture Capitalist who feed there. Heck, I look to most of those VC guys for advice and guidance on many things. But when you look at the connected world we live in today, look at all the problems looking for solutions, and look at all the smart people each of are getting exposed to because of blogging, email, forums, etc, you have to ask the obvious question; aren’t there other great places with smart people doing world changing stuff that could use support, exposure, etc? I’m proud to be from my birth country (U.S.A) but there just has to be more out there.
Road Trip!
So, I’m packing a bag, a camera and I’m going to go around the world and take a look.
The objectives of this little trip? Glad you asked:
1. Get more ideas, more solutions for problems, more funding ideas from smart people.
2. Give lots of entrepreneurs a chance to talk to ‘a suit’ for some feedback and a little plug in my (very) small corner of the blogging world.
3. Promote Canada as a great place to set up shop. This is an amazing country and I think one of the best places in the world to have a business. While certainly web services and other Internet businesses can be on an island (with good connectivity), the quality of life, people, business ethics, government programs, etc, all make Canada a super place for business. I know it sounds all rah rah and corny but there you go.
4. Get to know more smart people. This is probably the single most important item on the list. You can never know enough smart people and there isn’t enough time on the planet to meet em all, so I need to get started. Yeah, corny line number two but there you go.
5. Do some evangelism/sales for a couple of my portfolio companies. I don’t do much talking about my portfolio companies in this blog because I don’t want to come off as hawking them or this blog being an advertisement for companies I work with. On this road trip, I’m going to try and help with various projects a number of them have going. It will save them some money and I’m happy to dig in and help with the various company efforts.
Bringing the brains along.
My father once told me the smartest thing I could do was always hang out, hire, and pay attention to, smarter people then me. Therefore, I’m going to crack open the frequent flyer miles vault and invite Shel Israel to tag along. Shel clearly falls into the smarter people then me group and I’m honored that he has agreed to come. Lots of people will be enriched by spending some quality time with him.
What you can do: Meet up!
Spread the worldwide word and let us know where you are and if you’d like to get together to tell us what’s happening in your part of the world. Link love to all your worldwide friends, folks, and let’s see if we can’t get a truly global start up camp of sorts happening.
I’ll be posting the schedule of places shortly but the block of time is August 11th – September 3rd. If you can recommend some places to visit, schools doing cool stuff, people we should talk to, places we should see and/or you want to get a group together and talk about start ups, blogging, venture capital, etc, we’d love to hang out with you and will try to fit in everything we can.
A little blogging, pod casts, and idea sharing on a global basis. Yep, should be fun and I’m looking forward to meeting you in person.
Note to Canada: Don’t flame me, I’m planning a Canadian road show of VC/Start Up things for the fall along with some other VCs.
Not fair, but congrats.
Phoenix should be on the list. Underventured, lots of talent. American Graduate School of International Management, and booming ASU tech school and biotech centers.
Love to host some stuff and set it up.
It's a DRY heat
Posted by: howard Lindzon | May 18, 2006 at 23:05
Apparently you were here already and I missed you. I'll have a group ready to chat in Seattle when you're back in August-September though.
Posted by: Hans Omli | May 18, 2006 at 23:29
Looking forward to catching up with you on the Australian leg :-)
Posted by: Darren | May 19, 2006 at 00:40
Rick (and Shel),
First - I applaud the travel, seeking out interesting smart people all around the world, and highlighting them.
But I have to take issue with Jason's point specifically about Chicago (where I'm from, though not where I am now) and about the description of "the valley".
I blogged about why I left Chicago months ago at my blog (http://blogs.jigzaw.com/?p=46) - the blog post is a letter which I had emailed to Ron May who's "The May Report" has covered the Chicago Tech scene (such as it is) for many years.
Chicago does indeed have 37 Signals, and they do really cool, great stuff. BUT they are small, private, and as best as I could tell from when I was living in Chicago and at least a semi-active member of the "tech scene" they almost never attended any Chicago area events, nor did they appear to be holding their own events or helping with other events (their recent Ruby Conference being a welcome change).
Chicago's tech scene is very limited, with lots of people pursuing generally "small" ideas. While there are many smart people in Chicago both living there and/or attending the University of Chicago, Northwestern or downstate the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, very few of this constant inflow of talent find jobs (or start companies) in Chicago. There is not a virtuous circle of events, investors, employees, and "take over the world" attitude that while perhaps not always needed, certain is helpful in building successful tech based ecosystems with lots of "winners" (in every sense, for the investors, for the founders, for the employees, for the customers and for the world as a whole).
In contrast in just a few months here in the Bay Area (I started spending most of my time out here last Fall, returned to Chicago over Dec, and moved back here full time in mid-January.) I have formed more (and deeper) connections than I had in years in Chicago, sure some of these relationships are built on relationships I had fostered while in Chicago, but many are completely new.
They are renewed not by random, one day "wandering" through "the valley" but by particpating in the highly welcoming and diverse community here in the Bay Area. In the publicly announced events - networking parties, launches, demos, seminars, and in the many gatherings private or semi-private where conversations continue.
Critically these are not all "just talk", many people here are looking very specifically at "how can I help you" (and then at some point in time, usually not at the same time, what help do I need". I've been invited to brainstorming meetings in VC's offices, had dinners where the founders of organizations and companies I had only previously read about just stopped by. But all that aside, and granting that I'm perhaps not the typical transplant to the bay area (though I'm perhaps more typical here than not) that's not what makes this such a vital and helpful place for many startups.
[quick explanation of above. I run MeshForum (http://www.meshforum.org) a conference where Shel just spoke at, I've also since this Fall been helping co-organize SFWIN (http://www.sfwin.org) a monthly networking event for web 2.0 in San Francisco where about 5 companies each month demo their applications. I'm also trying to sell off technology I had built while in Chicago, assisting a number of startups, consulting, helping with a number of other events, exploring some event related businesses, and writing a book on Economics as Networks. So probably not a typical transplant but as I said more typical out there than nearly anywhere else]
What does make a huge difference out here is the deep connectivity of technology and "start up culture" into the general fabric of life here. It is extremely easy here (though impossible in a city such as Chicago generally) to almost ONLY know people who are also working for startups or in many cases successful tech companies such as Google, yahoo, etc. People expect (here in the Bay Area) to also change jobs and try many different things - in just the few months I've been out here, people I know have been moving between academia and businesses, between one company and another, between consulting and starting up their own firms. Others have finally gotten their next (or first) round of funding and are starting to "ramp up".
But there is a general, pervasive understanding of "how to do it" (which has had to shift somewhat with the changing cost structures, but entrepreneurs do tend to shift rather quickly). People "get" what to do to grow a successful company - and they see all around them up and down the valley, in San Francisco and even in the East Bay proof of the ability of a relatively few people, with a great idea, business model, technology, some luck and the right funding to truly change the world. And while I've been lucky to suddenly begin to know personally people who have either directly or just one "degree" away from this process have built very successful, large companies, in some cases many times over, many people here "know people who know people".
The critical difference here, however, is also that even if you do not, if you have just moved here not knowing anyone, you can still get to know people in a variety of forums - and then follow up with them. People will meet you for coffee, invite you to their offices to see a demo (or ask to see yours). They will introduce you to their investors (if they think there is a fit) or if not, they will point you to the multitude of events and resources that might help you figure out the next steps.
This attitude of "how can I help you", of talking with and interacting with apparent competitors, is not rare here. Sure there are exceptions, the entrepreneurs or their companies that suffer from a "not-invented here" perspective and often an unwillingness to help others) but not uncommonly their staff will take a different view.
So I wouldn't dismiss the Valley and I would encourage you to in your travels seek out not just the entrepreneurs whom you identify in some manner, but also take a look at the communities around them - how they find employees, how the community comes together to connect people to each other, the formal (and as importantly the informal) ways in which ties and bonds are formed and renewed.
Look also at the attitude and perspective people are taking - here I've met many people who very seriously are trying to change the world, trying to shape (or reshape or reframe) how people think about the world. Sure, not everyone succeeds, but so many have and are it is inspiring to those of us who are ourselves trying to change the world.
The impact and role of social bonds - formed through events such as Burning Man probably can't be overstated. These events (and that's not the only one) help weave communities here in the bay area together - and from those ties and bonds comes introductions, referrals, ideas, support, and at times staff, funding and customers.
In Chicago, while there were friendships I made while networking at tech events (including the ones I helped organize and run) these were relatively rare contrasted with out here, and there were far fewer chances to renew and enhance those bonds - fewer times we met for coffee, grabbed lunch, shared a ride, or talked while at the same party/event.
Still - great luck to you on your travels and I know you will find some great companies and people scattered across the country (and the world).
Shannon
Posted by: Shannon Clark | May 19, 2006 at 01:00
see you in Vancouver in the fall!
Posted by: Roland Tanglao | May 19, 2006 at 01:20
Hope you make it to Bombay. Your last trip to Asia was China, this time try India. There are a lot of very interesting things going on here. If you do make it I would really enjoy a conversation.
Posted by: Amit Doshi | May 19, 2006 at 01:44
Please let me know when your London dates are firmed up, I can't guarantee 'Smarts' but will show you some interesting stuff, have a great conversation and buy you a English ale ;)
regards
Al
Posted by: Al | May 19, 2006 at 01:58
You should have a poll and let your readers decide where you should go.
If you do India, Bangalore and Pune should be absolute musts...
Posted by: Raj Bala | May 19, 2006 at 04:14
If you land in the West Country of England, Rick, give me a shout. We're a bit like Robert Scoble's Montana down here, but there's huge potential.
Posted by: John Evans (Syntagma) | May 19, 2006 at 06:05
I think that the Roadshow for VC across Canada is an excellent idea.
My 2 Cents, after meshin with students- they bring some good ideas out and are highly motivated ! So troll the universities !!
Posted by: /pd | May 19, 2006 at 06:14
Let us know your itinerary so we can spread the news. Oh, and in case this wasn't a given, awesome idea Rick!
Posted by: Jeremy Wright | May 19, 2006 at 07:08
Planning on heading out to NYC?
Posted by: Akshay Navle | May 19, 2006 at 07:59
Obviously you will be swinging by Cork, Ireland on part of your trip.
Shel is coming here for our Web 2.0 conference (conference)">http://www.itcork.ie/index.cfm?page=events&eventId=68">conference) on June 8th - he can do the advance recon for you!
Posted by: Tom Raftery | May 19, 2006 at 08:14
You should take a quick detour to Africa - the mostly-forgotten continent when it comes to technology. South Africa might be the furthest ahead as far as web technology is concerned. Check out some of the attendees at the upcoming BarCamp Cape Town for leaders in the field there.
Posted by: hash | May 19, 2006 at 11:09
The best ideas won't be in bits and bytes ;-)
Posted by: PJ | May 19, 2006 at 11:16
Wanna swing through Anchorage and Fairbanks, AK? I'd be happy to make the trip up from my place in Homer to join you - it's a small crowd, but fun.
Posted by: Brad Feld | May 19, 2006 at 11:35
just for GN..Zinio has discontinued Business 2.0 a few months ago.
Posted by: ron | May 19, 2006 at 16:41
Let me know how I can be of help in hooking you up with the right folks in Paris.
Posted by: Jeff Clavier | May 19, 2006 at 16:53
Um, Rick, didn't you just get back from circling the globe? What's up?
Posted by: Stuart | May 19, 2006 at 20:12
Hope to see you in Tokyo/Japan too. I'd be glad to offer my assistance in filling up your itiniary whilst you're here.
Posted by: fukumimi | May 21, 2006 at 20:40
missed that you were in Asia.
if you are in Shanghai am more than happy to help you as translator - and hook you up with a lot of the Chinese bloggers.
Posted by: nicolas | May 22, 2006 at 03:47
Great idea. Wish I could be there!
Israel is doing scary stuff with voice, communication, and collaborative technologies. Unfortunately, lots of other scary stuff there too....
Way out in left field - Casa Iguana in Little corn Island, Nicaragua, is in the middle of nowhere, they generate their own electricity and are otherwise primitive, but have high speed internet, email, VOIP phone, etc, thanks to satellite, and get almost all of their business from the net.......Basically this place couldn't exist without modern technology. Great excuse for a break in the tour, and probably a good case study in how the net changes things...
http://www.casaiguana.net/
I'll see if I can think of some more...
Posted by: Brian Benz | May 22, 2006 at 11:21
Looking forward to seeing you in Winnipeg when you do your Canadian Roadtrip. There's lots happening here and the word needs to get out.
You should definitely check out Minneapolis as well, there is a lot going on there too that is worthy of closer examination.
Darren
Posted by: Darren | May 22, 2006 at 15:21
Hi Rick,
Here are a few HOT Indian Tech Cities:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberabad - Hyderabad (Cyberabad/HiTec City)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chennai - Chennai
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pune - Pune
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurgaon - Gurgaon
Expensive places you can leave out :)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noida (Not exactly a city)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumbai - Mumbai
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangalore - Bangalore
Regards,
NagB /at/
Startups.in
Posted by: Startups.in | May 22, 2006 at 20:32
Who's afraid of the New Europe?
How off-shoring and tax competition will change the economic and political landscape of Europe
http://www.thersa.org/audio/
http://www.thersa.org/events/detail.asp?eventID=1853
Posted by: Dimitar Vesselinov | May 23, 2006 at 11:35