The next step

- by Yuval Oren 

The second week in Silicon Valley has taken us to the next step in our research of the entrepreneurial environment of Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. This week we got the opportunity to move away from the theoretical background we built so far, and speak to real entrepreneurs, people who are working in the area day-in and day-out, know exactly how it works, and are creating great success.

We had an inspirational presentation by Saul Griffith, PhD & Founder of Otherlab. Saul is an engineer by education, who has a very genuine view of entrepreneurship in general, and in Silicon Valley specifically. See him as a Ted speaker here or here. Saul has founded multiple startups in the area, including one that wishes to produce wind energy using autonomous flights, which will produce more energy, and with significantly lower investment then a regular wind turbine, you can se the prototype here, 

In my opinion the most interesting thing about Saul, was his point of view over the way the western world uses his money, saying that we invest hundreds on millions of dollars in websites and mobile applications such as Facebook, or Zynga, and instead of things that are truly important of our existence, such as finding another source of energy which will be efficient enough to cover for the traditional fossil fuels we currently use. Mr Griffith is an untraditional character, who tries to focus on what really important, be it clean energy, or his fascination with robots, and their applicability in helping paraplegic people walk again, and not on lesser things like what VCs think, or what to wear (see picture bellow).

Another very interesting meeting was our meeting with André Sloth Eriksen, founder of Asetek. Taking his company from Jutland, Denmark, to San Jose, California, Andre has a very hands-on, no-bullshit approach to life as an entrepreneur, a CEO of a startup, and life in the bay area in general. Andre gave us a very inspiring presentation of his view on what's really important to focus at when you try to push your good idea, into a successful and profitable venture. The team you choose to help you in the development process of your product or service holds a very important position in his view. He has also introduced us to the fact that being an entrepreneur is not just a rose garden, it is a process which includes also difficult times, and tough decisions, many of them relate directly back the choices you made when you were building your team. Entrepreneurs need to develop elephant skin, in order to deal with the pressures from investors, costumers and employees, especially during less good times,  in order to stay on your feet, and push yourself back up to achieving your true  potential.

Meetings with these guys which talk to you on eye-level, not with theories, but in a ver matter-of-fact way, give in my opinion the best insight into entrepreneurship, and the day to day life of a founder of a small company. I think that theory can take you only so far, and from that point on it is all about going in there, and do it for yourself, and this, in a nut shell, is the reason we are all here in Silicon Valley to begin with - getting first-hand knowledge, the kind you simply cannot find in a classroom.