Startup in Silicon Valley: From Start till Launch

day74 #startuplife Dear friends, we apologize for not updating our #blog so often. We’d like to share our news with you: 1. We are done with our #pitch presentation 2. We’ve decided to make conversion from LLC to Delaware C Corp (as we were told due to the fact that Delaware has a flexible laws for legal entities, investors prefer to invest into Delaware C Corps) 3. Received our rough cuts for videos - we have several remarks, and we hope that the video-studio will eliminate them. 4. Our application for ITIN was rejected. We figured out that the letter from the bank that enabled us for Exception 1(b) was missing crucial phrases such as «tax withholding», «subject to IRS information reporting». We got the new letter and will apply again. #startup #SiliconValley #California

#day60 #startuplife For the first #time we visited #baseball match. It was gr8 atmosphere at the Municipal stadium on the game between @sjgiants and #inlandempire66ers. 1 bad point: none of us knew the rules of the #game, so we had to learn it during the game. Anyways, it didn't spoil our #Friday night. #startup #SiliconValley #baseball

#day59 #startuplife Video shooting is over. It was an #unforgettable experience. Now its #editing turn. Meanwhile, some behind the #scene pictures. #startuplife #California #SiliconValley #video

#day58 #startuplife First day of the shooting has ended! It’s so #nice to realize that your idea is being represented by the real people in front of the video #camera, it’s twice as nice to be there. Neither of us has been to the #film set before and today we’ve got bunch of the positive #emotions. We’re looking forward to #tomorrow and as always #happy to share some today’s pictures with you. #startuplife #California #SiliconValley #video

#day58 #startuplife A few moments left till the start of our video shooting. Excited! #startup #California #SiliconValley

#day52 #startuplife Dear friends! Here is our updates for the last 7 days: 1) we are choosing actors for our promo video 2) also attending different #pitch and networking events 3) have order t-shirts with our #logo 4 )writing our commercial offers to our potential #customers. Because we are all foreigners, we’ve decided that if we include US citizen as co-founder it will not only help us to get around the #market quickly but it also increase our #credibility in front of investors. So, now we have +2 more remarkable people in our #team. #startup #California #SiliconValley

#day44 #startuplife. Let's sum up our week. We've sent our application to @500startups to take part in #batch14 that will start in #SanFrancisco in mid-July. Attended 2 events at @Innovestnow. The first event was about how to pitch your #startup by Roy Terry from #theprimalpitchnow.com. Main advises from Roy: 1.Your answers to questions have to be brief. If question needs longer explanation, then say to the person who has asked it, that you would discuss this matter after the presentation, hence he/she will be interested to talk to you after your #pitch. 2.Don't say to VCs that you've come to #SiliconValley to work with big companies. 3.Clearly state what do you want from investors The second event was about immigration issues for #startuppers. Speaker was Michael Serotte fromserottelaw.com. Main points: 1.2 main visa types for startuppers: E(E1, E2) and L1E1 & E2 visas are available only to those people whose countries have a special treaty with #USA. In order to increase possibility of obtaining E visa, you should invest $100K in your business in the #USA, hire local citizens. If you are sole owner of the company, most likely you'll be rejected, because it means if something happens to you, your US company will stop operating. Therefore you have to have more that 1 founder. In order to be eligible for E visa, you have to own 50% of ownership and control. 2.If you have stable business in your country, you can open its subsidiary in the US. Then you can apply for L1 visa as valuable operational manager. 3.If you have been rejected visa for the 1st time, don't give up, apply again unless you will be issued the required visa 4.Consultation fee in serottelaw.com - $300 5.What does serottelaw.com do in order to obtain visa for you - everything, as Michael said "Do exactly that I say and you'll get a visa". After such words it is hard to resist, but having bad experience with other immigration lawyer leave somewhat distrust. We ended our week by going to Carmel-by-the-Sea town. It is beautiful town surrounded by fairy tale houses and picturesque views. 1 bad thing-expensive prices. #startup #California #SiliconValley #innowest #Carmel

#day35 #startuplife Visited annual USA & China tech luminaries gathering #HYSTA2015 which was held in @computerhistory, #MountainView. Purposes of this conference are: to re-examine the current assumptions of global innovation, and to imagine the #future of a tech world without borders. It will continue tomorrow. Todays speakers included Jerry Yang former CEO of @yahoo, Allen Blue VP product management at @linkedin, Linda Avey co-founder at @23andME, David Wallerstein one of the #tencent founders, Ken Gullicksen chief operation officer at #evernote, Jenny Lee managing partner at #ggvcapital and many other #amazing people. Jerry Yang's fireside chat was very interesting. He stated that is very hard to apply #projects from #SiliconValley to China due to the fact that almost all of #disruptive startups from the Valley are not allowed in China. He said that after @yahoo, he now helps entrepreneurs mainly and he stated that if he was 19 again, he should have studied #chemistry and #biology, because in the next 15 years abovementioned disciplines would be crucial in the entire tech #revolution. Jenny Lee highlighted in her speech following moments: hardware becomes invisible in the form of sensors programmed by sophisticated software which in turn will predict users behavior and process 5200 GB of data per month for 1 human being. #startup #SiliconValley #California

#day34 #startuplife Today we attended Early-Stage Start-Up Valuation Workshop which was held in @Innowestnow. Workshop was conducted by Jeff Faust, director of valuation services in Abbot, Stringham & Lynch. We learned about different types of valuation methods, issues when working with VCs. Jeff said that in #SiliconValley if you need money no one will give it to you, but if you don't need them everyone is willing to invest in you. He also mentioned that you need to have 50 pitches in average in order to persuade 1 investor. You can download pdf slides via this link http://www.godead.com/valworkshop/earlystage2.pdf, password: earlystage2.#SiliconValley #startup #California

#day33 #startuplife #part2 At the evening we attended Pitch your WOW! event with @billrechert, who is one of the most prominent venture capitalists in #SiliconValley. He talked about getting WOW effect when delivering an elevator pitch. It was very interesting and useful presentation. We'd like to share following moments: When pitching you should influence 3 body parts of an investor: head, heart and gut. VC has to understand what are you doing, she/he has to fall in #love with you and your #idea and feel in his/her gut that your #project is something he/she really wants. The most important body part is a #heart, because many decisions that VC's make based on their intuition and affection to the #project, not on revenue estimates or charts and etc. In the first 20 seconds you have to state clearly what do you do (think how might journalist would describe your #project on the front page of @wsj), what compelling benefit do you offer and to whom (one thing that you do incredibly well), how are you different from others (clarify the differences). During the first 20 seconds VC has to understand that you are clear about your #idea, compelling and credible. Don't start your pitch from stating a problem that your #project might solve. Don't explain your #idea in details (don't use technical terms, don't use a lot of numbers) Don't use big markets and don't try to buy VC by stating 9 zeros figure which is circulated in your potential market (investor might think that you cannot do proper market segmentation or you are just liar) Don't lie Use analogy (for example, our service is @netflix for ebooks) Focus on customers Anticipate obvious issues. At the end of presentation @billreichert listened to 6 elevator pitches and provided feedback. Now we will devote more time for visiting similar events, because it is not only an opportunity to know something knew and useful but it also a chance to meet with your potential VC. #startup #California #billreichert

#day33 #startuplife #part1 Yesterday was very useful and busy. We decided to divide it into 2 posts. In the first half of the day we went to @InnowestNow organization. This company provides different kind of help for #startup companies. Very often @InnowestNow organizes and provides space for hosting #pitch events with investors and angels, where every #entrepreneur can pitch his/her project to potential investor or just #networking. Besides, @InnowestNow organizes master classes for startuppers on how to effectively pitch your #idea to your customers or investors. @Innowest offers co-working space for really small price. Depending on your needs and budget you can choose between shared seats to private office. Rent price includes: unlimited usage of conference and meeting rooms; space for hosting events/workshops high-speed #Internet printer/copy coffee/tea/water, office 'perks' projector, whiteboards, flipcharts growing library of resources. Go to innowest.org for more details and join @Innowest groups in @meetup and #facebook to be update about their events. P.S. thank you very much @Innowest for very warm welcome and support. #SiliconValley #startup #California #innowest

#day33 #startuplife Pitch Your WOW event with @billreichert starts in a few seconds. Hope we will get a lot of useful information. And you will certainly will share it with you! #California #SiliconValley #startup (at College of San Mateo)

#day31 #startuplife Today we had a meeting with our video production studio. We were presented initial concepts on how they see our product on the screen. Now we are viewing them and putting our #feedbacks. It is great to work with professionals, hope you'll #enjoy our video. #startup #SiliconValley #California

#day30 #startuplife We spent #Saturday in very wonderful place - @beachboardwalk. Had fun on the thrill rides and increased level of adrenaline before upcoming #week. All day pass ticket cost us $33, unlimited parking - $15, received #impressions - invaluable. It sounds like a cliche, but when you #work hard, make sure you #party #hard as well. #startup #SiliconValley #SantaCruz #California #entertainment

#day26 #startuplife Before applying for @500startups, we would like to find mentors who would vouch for us. Wrote an email to @dmc500 - no response yet. Not giving up, we narrowing down the list of the mentors who we think will be interested in our #project and trying to reach them out by all possible means of communication such as e-mails, #facebook, #linkedin. We want to get into @500stratups so badly, so we visited their office in #MountainView once more hoping that we could find someone from the mentors #team, but none of them were there again. Received surprise bonus from car rental company #budget: instead of economy #Hyundaiaccent for $56 per day (with full coverage), we were given new #fordmustang on the same conditions. Hoorraayy!!! We've always dreamt about driving this one. #startup #SiliconValley #California

#day20 #startuplife Friends, we wish you a great #weekend. What we have done for 5 days: Shape our #code. Did testing. Found a video production studio Got certified copy of Articles of Organization. But the main thing is that we had our first #kick-off meeting with video production studio and discuss our production schedule. It was really important for us, because: we shared our #idea with someone else; we received our first real #feedback; we understood what we need to improve when we would be presenting again. Language barrier shall not be obstacle for you to express your #idea, you have to be #persuasive and bring real arguments, ask #crucial questions. If you have difficulties with explaining when speaking, don't hesitate to change your way of giving a #presentation. Take a pen and paper, draw a scheme, give #real-life examples. Today we learned an invaluable #lesson and we really want to #share it with you. P.S. Preparing a letter to @dmc500, #hope he can meet with us. #stratup #SiliconValley #California

#day18 #startuplife Finally! We signed a contract with video production studio, which will shoot video for our #startup. We spent a lot of time finding suitable company: thousands of videos were watched, hundreds of e-mails were sent, a several dozen of phone conversations were conducted. And at last we found company that offers good quality videos, affordable price and the most important thing we really liked their #attitude. Can't wait for kick-off meeting with #creative team to present our #project. P.S. We took a picture of their awards. #startup #SiliconValley #California