What do you call a failed entrepreneur in Silicon Valley? Experienced.
Anywhere else in the US and you have to change your name, move to another town, or parents hang their head in shame toward friends. In Silicon Valley after hearing about your first failure they ask, “What’s your next company going to be?” The culture of the US innovation, that change is inevitable, that leasing office space to 20 year olds is not unheard of, that taking a $2 million dollar check and building a company around solving a problem is the most important part of a startup culture. This culture needs in the US schools, colleges and universities, businesses, and government institutions.
Want some hands on experience with your startup idea? Check out these sites:
- YCombinator - http://ycombinator.com/
- TechStars - http://www.techstars.org/
- SeedCamp - http://www.seedcamp.com/
- LaunchBoxDigital - http://www.launchboxdigital.com/
- SPARK Business Accelerator – http://www.annarborusa.org/start-ups/spark-business-accelerator/
- Shotput Ventures – http://www.shotputventures.com
- Capital Factory – http://www.capitalfactory.com
- TechRanch Austin – http://techranchaustin.com
- Berkley Ventures – http://www.berkeleyventures.com
- Sproutbox – http://www.sproutbox.com
- IBM Smartcamp – http://www.ibm.com/ie/smarterplanet/smartcamp/
- Start@Spark – http://www.sparkcapital.com/start/
- iVentures10 – http://www.iventures10.com
- Excelerate Labs – http://www.exceleratelabs.com
- Tech Wildcatters – http://techwildcatters.com
- Bizdom U – http://www.bizdom.com
- NextStart – http://www.nextstart.org
- Houston Tech Center – http://www.houstontech.org
- Summer@Highland Capital – http://www.hcp.com/summer/
- The Awesome Inc. Experience – http://awesomeinc.org/the-awesome-experience
- LaunchPadLA – http://www.launchpad.la
- Lightspeed Venture Partners Summer Grants – http://lightspeedvp.com/summergrants.aspx
- BOLIDEA – http://blog.bolidea.com
- Flow Ventures Accelerator Program – http://www.flowventures.com
- Montreal Startup – http://montrealstartup.com
- JumpStart Foundry – http://www.jumpstartfoundry.com
- FirstGrowth Venture Network – http://www.firstgrowthvn.com
- The Hatchery – http://www.hatchery.vc
- NYC SeedStart – http://www.nycseed.com/seedstart.html
- OCTANe LaunchPad – http://www.octaneoc.org
- BoomStartup – http://boomstartup.com
- Gangplank – http://gangplankhq.com
- DreamIt Ventures – http://www.dreamitventures.com
- Startl – partners with DreamIt Ventures – http://startl.org/apply/accelerator-apply/
- AlphaLab – http://alphalab.org
- The Portland Ten – http://www.portlandten.com
- Betaspring – http://www.betaspring.com
- Silicon Valley Association of Startup Entrepreneurs (SVASE) Seed Program – http://www.svase.org
- The Start Project – http://thestartproject.com
- Springboard program at CONNECT.org – http://www.connect.org/springboard/
- i/o Ventures – http://www.ventures.io
- Founders Co-op – http://www.founderscoop.com
- PayPal Startup Accelerator – http://www.x.com/community/ppx/xspaces/accelerator
- Startup Utah – http://startuputah.com
- Momentum – http://www.momentum-mi.com
Or, you can watch this video of Steve Blank, Keynote: Customer Development 2.0 (“Why Accountants Don’t Run Startups”)
Watch live video from Startup Lessons Learned on Justin.tv
Steve Blanks Books for Startups also has a GREAT list.
What would you recommend?
