Some believe that Silicon Valley is like the Mecca for entrepreneurship, and every founder should visit San Francisco at least once in their lifetime. Our opinion is not as dogmatic but we strongly encourage all entrepreneurs to make their way to the Bay Area.
If you are planning to go, you should spend some time strategizing and preparing. Every hour should be worth of your time, money and effort. At the same time, you are a founder and might be short on all those elements. But worry not, we are here to help and give you a few shortcuts.
Welcome to our Playbook! We present you with best practices and useful tips on how to prepare your SF visit and spend your time there. Enjoy 🐉
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Disclaimer: as everything in startups, this is also a work on progress. If you have any feedback / comments / suggestions what to add to make it even more useful for all founders, feel free to reach out to Diana Koziarska from SMOK Ventures ([email protected]).
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This is the essence of your trip, the mission you set on. The most important section of this Playbook. Read carefully!
Pro tip 1: Start by going to open meetups, make connections and later focus on invite only meetups and dinners.
Pro tip 2: Get a later stage founder who’s based in SF as an advisor / angel investor. They’re getting the most invites and can help you embed faster within the ecosystem.
Pro tip 3: Make sure you attend some events that are not in tech. Connect with people outside tech events, as everyone is already in tech anyway. Genuine connection happens most often at non-tech related events.