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Founder Space was a very unique experience.
Besides the eyeopening workshop and networking with many key people in the startup world, the real value is being part of a community with a like-minded people.
Thank you Funders Space!
Founders Space is a place where makers become founders. They enter with ideas, and in some cases products. They leave with the tools to be founders wherever they go and whatever they do.
Naomi Kokubo and Steve Hoffman, the founders of Founders Space, are dedicated to helping virgin entrepreneurs understand both the opportunities and the pitfalls of starting a business. Lectures and workshops on team building, marketing, legal, public relations, pitching investors and more are led by seasoned entrepreneurs, who are experts in their fields.
Opportunities are provided to pitch investors directly and receive immediate feedback. I saw one startup get an angel investment after their first pitch. And there are numerous networking events organized by Steve and Naomi, as well partner events, that all program participants are invited to for free.
Startup life is great, dynamic and sets you free in many ways. Though most of the time it also feels as if I have more questions than answers and it’s not always clear where to go for “real advice”. That’s why I’m forever thankful for being part of the Founders Space community.
When I followed the program in September 2014, I learned a lot from our mentors Steve and Scott. Each of them gave us answers on important questions that we all faced. Questions like “Where to incorporate?”, “How and where to raise money?”, “ How to pitch to investors?” and many others. The way they helped us better understand the start-up world clearly showed that they went through this themselves. Unlike some of the “self-claimed” experts out there that have no clue whatsoever and that will waste your time and money.
In the meantime I’ve incorporated my new company Qcify and we’ll be launching our product(s) later this year. We’ve already taken pre-orders and are currently raising money. The experience at Founders Space definitely helped us avoid some of the common startup mistakes. I’m actually thinking of going through the program again together with some of my co-founders/colleagues. It would absolutely be worth the time and money.
The Accelerator Program at Founders Space was an absolutely incredible experience! The videos with Captain Hoffman were quite informative and engaging. I felt like every time I watched a video, it was like he was casually speaking to me. Each video was full of information that very easy to retain. The articles also contained very valuable information that I am sure we will be referring to as we move forward.
The classroom part of the program was more than I could have imagined. As a business woman, I thought I had a pretty good idea of what needed to be done to launch a business. I could not have been more wrong! I am here to say, you need an accelerator to take your business to the next level! The primary mentors, Scott Gray, Steve Austin, and Nathan Schor, were incredibly helpful and supportive. Their knowledge helped craft our pitch as well as streamline our Deck. The guest speakers were also awesome and, had a wealth of information to share with us.
Our fellow classmates were great! We truly bonded during this process, and created a true collaborative atmosphere. We have even linked with some of our classmates on different social media platforms due to the friendships that were formed there.
Every year there are many new business books which find their way to the market. Whilst all offer advice and will assist in running a successful business there are a few which stand out more than all the others. There advice will truly help you drive your business forward; the best five are as follows:
- How to Win Friends and Influence People
This book was first written by Dale Carnegie in 1936 and is still well worth reading today. A revised version was released in 1981 which updated it for a more modern society. As the title suggests, How to Win Friends and Influence People is designed to show you how to win people over to your way of thinking. This is an important skill as being able to do this opens up doors to more clients, more friends and more influence. It is also shows you how to handle complaints and to give good public speeches. The fact that the book is as relevant today as it was when first published says volumes about both the business world and the vision of its author.
- Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation and Delivery
Reading this book will change the way you present information to any group of people. No matter how good you are at delivering presentations you will find some useful information and tips in Presentation Zen. The book focuses on how PowerPoint is used when creating and delivering a presentation. It claims and shows that the methods which most people use are actually hindering their speech and that there is a better way. The methods described include the importance of pictures in a presentation and how these should be utilized in a speech to maximize the results. Reading this will make you realize that a speech should be kept simple; this will ensure people take in the information.
The last company I founded I IPO’ed and my co-founders and I have collectively founded and exited six companies in the last ten years. But nothing prepared us for the 30-day crash course we were about to receive at Founders Space. Any entrepreneur looking to start a business would be wise to apply.
Spending over 2,000 hours mind sharing and learning from some of the smartest people in the Silicon Valley and San Francisco was incredibly valuable to us. Whether it was Scott Gray’s teachings on the latest marketing techniques to Steve Austin’s drill-sergeant approach to sales and budgets, even us serial entrepreneurs were able to learn something new. We were exposed to the latest theories and technologies, like Nathan Schor’s seminar on neuro social science and persuasion for founders and engineers – incredibly useful.
The contacts you make while at FS, whether its fellow entrepreneurs or the venture capital community are invaluable. Coupled with opportunities to pitch to investors, ongoing follow-ups and alumni events after you graduate, makes Founders Space truly one of the top accelerators in the United States.
Social proof is one of the most important tools that a young and relatively unknown company can use to establish credibility. Since most startups aren’t founded by a former Google executive, or have the backing of a prestigious accelerator like Y Combinator, they must find other means of validating their services to the general public. Fortunately, more social proof indicators exist now than ever before, including content marketing opportunities, customer testimonials, and Twitter followers.
Given the large number of opportunities that exist for a company looking to establish credibility, many startups are often misled by prioritizing one over the other, or failing to take advantage of them all together. We spoke with a number of different startup founders and asked what their preferred methods are for establishing social proof. Here’s what they had to say.
“By far I believe customer testimonial offer the best credibility – those can come in the form or traditional case study, video as well as product review on other sites. People relate to review or case study and don’t treat it as a sales pitch (although obviously most companies will put their most friendly customers there and ask reviewers who, they believe will provide positive review to review that product). In fact, I’ve seen research showing how testimonials and word of mouth are driving force behind 20-50% of all purchasing decisions. While the numbers may vary in B2B vs. B2C, we, as a B2B business had number of customers saying that case studies on our site as well as customers reviews of our service on independent sites, helped them making the decision to give Stackify a try and eventually buying it.”
I just returned from 7 weeks at Founders Space – an entrepreneurial accelerator program in the tech hub of San Francisco.
Think of it as bootcamp for entrepreneurs. Imagine founders, developers, investors and mentors all in one space, exchanging ideas and challenging one another. The end result has been a mix of inspiration, collaboration and several sleepless nights, turning dreams and ambitions into business projections and investor pitches.
Android Developer, Amy Fan, and I attended most of the program, with iOS Developer Wolfgang attending the last week and assisting in demo day. Each day was like a day in the School for Startups, with hands-on courses taught by business mentors from different backgrounds.
As member of Constant Contact’s founding team, Alec learned invaluable lessons as he helped the company through its initial building stages, go-to-market and growth.
Having also worked with thousands of new and growing small businesses along the way, Alec has distilled some of his knowledge and experience into his “Ten Pillars for Achieving Small Business Success,” a strategy that will help any business gain perspective and learn effective tactics that can be put into practice both quickly and easily.
It will also help businesses think about different ways they can gain additional exposure, deepen their current customer relationships and create new ones.
