1.5
SAN FRANCISCO
Home to hipsters, hippies, high rental rates, and even higher gentrification, San Francisco is Silicon Valley’s Wes Anderson–loving older brother, who prefers writing a passive-aggressive Yelp review to actual confrontation. While it can never quite be considered its own startup ecosystem, only in San Francisco can college tech interns party over the summer without parents having a clue. And only in San Francisco will people give you a look for walking into the office with your Starbucks at 11 a.m. (with Philz, Blue Bottle, and Sightglass across the street, you chose Starbucks?). Yet the talent in San Francisco is ridiculous: with the unicorns, ubercorns, and big business aplenty. San Francisco’s local, organic charm draws the best of the best from across the world. And while it may be chided for its youth and immaturity, San Francisco is where youngsters thrive, thrown into a city where rules are seldom and startups are many; a city where entrepreneurs are not only born, but made.
VENTURE ACTIVITY Q4’15 - Q3’16
VC FUNDING: $18.2B
DEALS: 1179
EXITS: 220
5 YEAR YoY FUNDING GROWTH: 24.6%
5 YEAR YoY DEAL GROWTH: 7.6%
Source: CB Insights
MO’ MUNI MO’ PROBLEMS
Some of the many not quite optimal transportation systems in San Francisco.
SF Municipal Railway
Muni for short—pronounced mew-knee—the public transit system of the city consisting of mainly trains, buses, and mediocrity.
Muni Bus
Make sure to have a couple dollars change in your pocket as you get ready to board the 44 local bus lines. You’ll be able to traverse the city of SF, stopping at each and every crack in the sidewalk.
Muni Metro
A great option for the working entrepreneur on a budget, but its arrival time is as unpredictable as what kind of meat you’ll find in a McDonald’s McChicken sandwich.
Cable Cars
More on the expensive, touristy side, but a nice reminder of life before technology, skyscrapers, and optimization.
Uber/Lyft/Any other ride company with VC money to spend
Usually cheaper than the taxis.
Taxis
Not cheaper than the taxis.
ONE MAN’S APARTMENT IS A CASTLE IN ITALY
Average Apartment Rental: $3803/Month
Median Apartment Sale Price: $1,130,000
Median 1 Bed Apartment Sale Price: $797,000
Meanwhile…
Castle in Marche, Italy with watchtower and pool $897,000
Fairy Island, Wisconsin (1-acre island) $560,000
HOW TO BE A STEALTH BANDWAGON GIANTS FAN
1 KNOW THE ROSTER. And don’t only know the roster, periodically quiz every supposed “Giants fan” about who that jersey number is, what that nickname is, etc. Madison Bumgarner? His name is “MadBurn” you poser, you just don’t know the spirit of the game
2 GET DRUNK AND YELL. It could be about the game, about the ump, about your seats, about anything really. Nothing says passion like one too many beers and leaving in between every strike-out to relieve yourself.
3 FABRICATE A STORY. You need a reason to become a Giants fan. Maybe your dog died watching a Giants game. Maybe your father’s college roommate’s sister’s husband’s great-aunt was from San Francisco. Whatever the case, never let the die-hard fans who now have to pay exorbitant ticket prices know the actual reason: You needed something to believe in.
GSVlabs
In 1970, Xerox Corporation launched Xerox PARC in Palo Alto to create “the office of the future.” Assembling a world-class team of experts in information technology and physical sciences, Xerox PARC was a catalyst for innovation—it yielded the original design for the personal computer (and famously inspired Steve Jobs to create the first Macintosh), the first graphical user interface, and even the computer mouse. And with that, Silicon Valley 1.0 was created.
Historically, Silicon Valley titans Apple, HP, and Google were all started in a garage, with the founders scrappily building their eventual multibillion-dollar companies from recycled metals and borrowed (or stolen) items inside of a dimly lit facility designed to store parked cars.
Fast-forward to today, and now, one-third of all startups that raised a Series A went through an accelerator. Why? The best explanation is if you want a job, create it yourself. Thus came the rise of startup incubators and accelerators. These communities provide would-be entrepreneurs with information, education, insights, resources, relationships, and—in some cases—capital to help bring their ideas to life. Budding college graduate–entrepreneurs don’t have to work out of a garage to build their businesses but are now able to be with other like-minded crazies that are trying to do big things to change the world.
Founded in 2012, GSVlabs is a global innovation platform based in Silicon Valley that accelerates startups and connects corporations to exponential technologies, business models, and entrepreneurs. We believe this is a next-generation Xerox PARC. Welcome to Silicon Valley 3.0.
Connecting The World to Silicon Valley… And Silicon Valley to The World
At the core of GSVlabs is a community of game-changing entrepreneurs focused on key verticals, including big data, sustainability, education technology (EdTech), entertainment, and mobile. GSVlabs is home to over 170 startups that raised $200 million in 2015.
GSVlabs generates outsize economic value by accelerating both startups and corporate innovation, enhanced by a proprietary talent and advisory network. By combining these elements in a single platform, GSVlabs unlocks powerful network effects. Top entrepreneurs are typically drawn to an ecosystem with high-value resources and relationships, which in turn draws in global businesses and talent.
Silicon Valley remains the center of global innovation, with 15,000+ active startups and $27+ billion of venture capital deployed in 2015. But what’s exciting is an emerging Global Silicon Valley, with $129 billion of VC investment worldwide in 2015.
The flagship event of GSVlabs, the Pioneer Summit, brings some of the biggest names in technology as speakers for the two-day event. Speakers at the summit included Bill Campbell, Anne Wojcicki, John Donahoe, Joe Lonsdale, Ann Miura Ko, Carol Bartz, Mike Abbott, Ron Johnson, Lila Ibrahim, Carlos Watson, Diane Greene, and Nikesh Arora, and startups featured at the summit have raised over $5 billion.
Michael Moe and Joe Lonsdale
THE GLOBAL SILICON VALLEY HALL OF FAME
Silicon Valley is not just about bits, bytes and chips. It’s a mindset of innovation, growth and entrepreneurship. We created the Global Silicon Valley Hall of Fame to celebrate the Pioneers who created the foundation of Silicon Valley, which have changed the world for good.
These Pioneers inducted into the Global Silicon Valley Hall of Fame built a foundation in the 60 miles between San Francisco and San Jose that has transformed the world. Today, we’re excited to be witnessing the dawn of a new era of global entrepreneurship and innovation. The values listed below have defined Silicon Valley and are being exported around the world to the leaders who are building tomorrow.
PAY IT FORWARD: People help you with the expectation that, in turn, you will help others, with no obligation or financial upside.
DREAM BIG: Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.
FAILURE = SUCCESS: Failing because you are lazy is never OK. But when you give it your all and it doesn’t work, it’s a growing process.
MERITOCRACY: It doesn’t matter who your parents were, or where you went to school. What matters is how hard you work, how open you are the learn and how relentless you can be.
DON’T STOP THINKING ABOUT TOMORROW: Today’s “disruptor” is tomorrow’s “disrupted.”
THINK DIFFERENTLY: If you don’t want to change anything, come up with an idea that people agree with.
IN MEMORIAM BILL CAMPBELL (1940-2016)
It’s impossible to overstate Bill Campbell’s impact on Silicon Valley. He headed west to Palo Alto in 1982 to be a quota-carrying salesman at Apple Computer after being the head football coach at his alma mater, Columbia University. Nine months later, he was running sales, and in no time, Bill became the CEO of Claris Software, a key Apple division. In 1994, he was named the CEO of Intuit. But Bill’s legacy wasn’t forged until Kleiner Perkins’ John Doerr inserted him as a “coach” to promising KPCB companies after noticing his incredible ability to cultivate leaders. Bill mentored Jeff Bezos at Amazon and Google’s Eric Schmidt and Larry Page. A close friend and advisor to Steve Jobs, Bill served on Apple’s Board for 17 years. What made Bill so special was his ability to make everybody feel like they were his best friend and that he cared deeply about them… because he was, and he did. We miss Bill every day but his spirit lives on and spurs us to change the world for good.
OFFICE SPACE
Silicon Valley offices are quite unlike others. Offices here are a cross between a fraternity house, spa, and playground. Oh, and don’t be surprised to see graffiti artists spray-painting the walls, too.
Every playground and Silicon Valley startup needs a slide.
Engineers love donuts unless a donut becomes your startup’s value.
No time for the great outdoors? We’ll bring the great outdoors to you.
Art that hangs from the ceiling made with ping pong balls found under desks after endless beer pong tournaments.
A giant chess set, because ones that fit on tables are small time.
A gaming lounge and arcade, where you can blow off steam during breaks.
A plethora of alcohol in the form of full-stocked bars… How else do you think people get work done around here?
Ceiling with no ceiling tiles because it looks more “industrial.”
Giant, beautiful wall murals that have the dual purpose of covering ugly paint jobs and serving as a great source of branding
Egg chairs—the best place where new ideas are hatched.
Executive’s office or a six-year-old’s dream playroom?
Dogs are often liked more and treated better than employees in the office.
Couches for those that need to powernap, i.e. recover from a hangover.
Mini putt-putt green, where employees can practice the sport of business.
Napping room where employees engage in intercompany hook ups.
Giant bean bag with an even larger teddy bear—a place where real men show their colors.
This West Wing replica is the closest most Silicon Valley executives want to get to the White House.
UNITED STATES TOP ACCELERATOR LOCATIONS
