Post on 08-May-2015
transcript
Silicon Valley and Startups Founded by Students
June 10th 2014, Kyoto University
Kenshin Fujiwara
Venture Partner, Miyako Capital
My first job. Software Engineer at Sony PlayStation
Director at Founder Institute Kansai
About Founder Institute
• Silicon Valley based startup accelerator
• 3 months part-time program
• One session per week
• 20 hours assignment and workshop
• Need to register your company to graduate
• Exclusive military bootcamp for entrepreneurs
Mentors at Founder Institute
Adeo Ressi Founder Institute
Robin Chase Zipcar
Peter Vesterbacka Rovio
Jeffrey Paine Golden Gate Ventures
Aaron Patzer Mint.com
Phil Libin Evernote
Top CEOs & Founders as Local Mentors
Hiroyasu Koma, GLM Norio Murakami
Hitoshi Tanii, Synergy Marketing Allen Miner, SunBridge Group
So Silicon Valley…
Don Valentine, Sequoia Capital: "Target Big Markets” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKN-abRJMEw
Some People Started Their Business While in University And Become World Class
“Very few went to Stanford business school.”
by Don Valentine, Sequoia Capital
(laugh)
• He started SAT prep company
called Accolade while in school.
• Kept working at various startups
since then.
• And eventually founded Dropbox.
Drew Houston
He didn’t start Dropbox while in University but …
Why he became successful?
No simple answer, of course, but…
• He created the service out of his frustration. = He was easting his own dog food. Important.
• He challenged everyone’s big problem. = This led his company go after big market. Important.
• He was able to bring his product to the market. = Because he was a hardcore engineer. Important.
• He moved to Silicon Valley and raised capital. = He was accepted by Y Combinator. Important.
And, the product must be superior
• Super easy-to-use.
• Simple interface.
• Strong viral feature built into the product. (Invite your friends and get extra storage for free.)
• First one in the market.
• Innovation in online storage space brought by AWS & S3.
When you do startup as a student:
1. Focus on a problem that you care most.
2. Build a product or service for yourself.
3. Surround yourself with right people (not friends.) (Co-founders, engineers, advisers, mentors, etc.)
4. Release initial version asap and then iterate.
5. Join a startup accelerator or incubator.
Can I join a startup accelerator or incubator without quitting school?
Remember?
Founder Institute is a part-time program. You can join it without quitting school at all.
http://fi.co/apply/kansai
There are alternatives too.
http://startupweekend.org
Startup Weekend is:
• 54 hours events to launch your startup.
• Developers, designers, marketers, startup enthusiasts.
• Pitching idea, forming a team, doing customer validation, and release MVP (Minimum Viable Product.)
• Lots of benefits and awards such as a free ticket to Silicon Valley and privilege to pitch to top-tier investors.
• Best place for students to learn startup by doing.
Successful Startups out of Startup Weekend
Startup Weekend Companies:
• Startup Weekend Los Angeles. • Raised $1M right after the event. • Raised $15M in total.
• Women 2.0 Startup Weekend. • Raised $3.75M in total. • Acquired by OpenTable for $10M.
• Four of teammates joined the company full-time in the following week.
Startup Weekend Kyoto
http://kyoto.startupweekend.org/
August 8th at Kyoto Research Park
Wrapping up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDc4zjAdp5A
http://kenshinfujiwara.com
https://www.facebook.com/kenshin.fujiwara
https://twitter.com/ensnk
http://www.slideshare.net/kenshinfujiwara
Places where you can reach out to me
Thank you.