1. Ikhlaq Sidhu, content author
Ikhlaq Sidhu
Founding Faculty Director
Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology
Department of Industrial Engineering & Operations Research
IEOR Emerging Area Professor Award
Demystifying Silicon Valley Entrepreneurship
New Ventures Tactics and Culture
4. Ikhlaq Sidhu, content author
Misconception: We used to think that learning business and
management would help technology innovators
Reading
business cases
studies on
innovation
Management
practices and
financial statements
Making a
presentation to
raise funds
Studying
business
frameworks
Making a
business
plan
Waiting for
a great
idea
6 things are not the main ingredient to deploy innovation or
start ventures.
10. Ikhlaq Sidhu, content author
Silicon Valley – What is it like?
• Approx. 6M people
• 400,000+ tech jobs (~25% of the work force)
• More millionaires & billionaires per capita than anywhere else in US and Europe
• Thousands of experienced entrepreneurs.
• 50% of all venture investing in the US
• 2,000+ angel investors, 29 of the 100 largest US companies have HQ in SV
• Decisions are made at lightning speed
• Follow up in hours, not days or weeks
Data from USMAC
21. Ikhlaq Sidhu, content author
The Path to New Initiatives and New
Businesses
T
S
Progress on
Technology and/or
Product
Social Progress in Developing Stakeholder Ecosystem
24. Ikhlaq Sidhu, content author
Identify the
Stage of
Your
Product
Business Investment Readiness
System Test,
Launch, Ops
Technical Readiness
System/Subsystem
Demonstration
Development Progress
Feasibility
Research
Insight Story /
Value
Validation Business
Model
Sales
Process
Complete
Ecosystem
Operational
Metrics
X
Y
Z
25. Ikhlaq Sidhu, content author
Identify
you making
progress?
Business Investment Readiness
System Test,
Launch, Ops
Technical Readiness
System/Subsystem
Demonstration
Development Progress
Feasibility
Research
Insight Story /
Value
Validation Business
Model
Sales
Process
Complete
Ecosystem
Operational
Metrics
X
Y
Z
Progress: Logic, Market, Size,
Value Proposition, Execution…
Progress: Connectors, People Are Joining,
Story Resonates, PR/News, Lots of friends…