Silicon Valley Bank (SVB)Trek 2020 Reflections & Key Takeaways
My 2020 (and beginning of a new decade!) got off to an incredible start! I spent the first few days of the year in San Francisco, CA for the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) Trek program which took place from January 2–4. I met 24 other students from 20 different schools and 5 countries.
We learned a lot. We laughed a lot. It was an unforgettable experience.
I’ve lived on the East coast for most of my life and was very excited to immerse myself in the Silicon Valley culture and world-renowned startup ecosystem over these four days.
Trek kicked off with an improv activity (led by Patrick Blute, an advisor at EY Digital) where we started to get to know each other better. Right on the spot, we had to pick an adjective that describes ourselves, but it had to start with the first letter of our first names. We had to do a hand or body movement to illustrate it which made the activity even more interesting. This was the fastest I’d ever learned (and actually remembered) more than twenty new names at once. We also did improv pitches of fun startup ideas which were drawn randomly from a stack of index cards. The target customers were replaced with something random and out-of-the-box such as “a dating app for people who have dogs.”
Throughout the week, we learned from and connected with inspiring and highly accomplished executives, entrepreneurs, leaders, and venture capitalists. From sessions like “Making Bets & Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone”, “An Insider’s Guide to Choosing Investors”, “Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain: Reimaging the Foundations of the Internet” and more, the speakers dropped many nuggets of wisdom and advice.
Here are some of my key takeaways (out of many!):
- Determine your personal values and make decisions based on those; don’t compare yourself with others. And take care of your mental health. Burnout is a real problem so it’s important to make sure to be kind to your mind and body. Make time to do what helps you relax and refuel. It will actually make you more productive and efficient!
- Your company’s vision is a key part of its competitive advantage. Coupled with execution, this is a powerful combo for building a company. Great founders have a mission/problem they care about and a vision for where they want their company to go. You can also draft a plan for how to get there; a goal without a plan is a wish.That being said…
- Narrative and story telling are incredibly powerful. By nature, humans feel a sense of connection through stories. One of the speakers, Raymond Nasr, a lecturer at Stanford d.School, said: “Storytelling is the common currency of the human experience.” You should tell your story in a concise, clear, and compelling way. When pitching for venture capital funding especially, it’s important to be able to answer these questions: 1) Why are you going after/solving this problem? 2) Why am I/my team the best to tackle it? 3) Why now? (This last question is especially key because it creates a sense of urgency and stresses the importance of the problem (and induces VC FOMO)). Timing is everything. In fact, luck is simply a function of time.
- There are different paths to becoming a founder or entrepreneur. Not everyone has the same path. Some speakers started off their careers as entrepreneurs, while some started off working in corporate or for government entities. Some were researchers in academia. Some worked at a startup before starting their own company. Founders come from various personal and professional backgrounds and experiences. One of the speakers at Trek, Shruti Shah, started off her career as a teacher before founding her company, Move Loot. Everyone’s journey is unique!
- Determine what kind of funding your venture will need. When it comes to fundraising for your company, a lot of times what people focus on is raising tons of VC funding, but the reality is that not every business will need it. One comment I loved from the session moderated by Jake Mendel was “The best way to fund your business: make money.” Determine what type of funding is best for the type of company you’re building. For VC funding, typically what investors looks for is: exceptional team/individual founder, unique insight into the market they are building a company in, big market ($1B+), traction (are there paying customers yet?), and potential for ROI (through sale, going public, etc.).
- Always put people first. Keep building your network and making connections. Building a company can be a lonely journey if you don’t build a network of people who can support and challenge you. Make the effort to reach out and keep in touch with the people you meet. All of the amazing people I met at Trek are now part of my lifelong network! In fact, in Silicon Valley, an introduction is like a form of currency. At the end of the day, entrepreneurship is about people. It’s about building and solving real problems for people, making life easier for people, and ultimately, creating a better world. We visited Y Combinator, the renowned startup incubator who motto is: “Make something people want.” Also, focus on hiring and bringing the right people on your team. As Josh Browder, founder of DoNotPay and Trek alum, said “ You don’t have to know everything, but know enough to hire the best people.” For example, hiring exceptional designers early on helped propel his company forward.
- Never stop learning. Stay engaged by following interesting people on Twitter (as Shruti Gandhi, Managing Partner at Array Ventures, said in her session on personal branding), reading books and publications focused on topics you’d like to learn about. Listen to podcasts such as How I Built This. You can especially learn from other people’s stories. You can take them out to coffee or lunch, host dinners, send emails, chat by phone, and more!
One thing that was also special about this Trek experience was that I got to celebrate my birthday with my new friends who sang “Happy Birthday” after our delicious dinner at Tamarine!
As I turn 20 this year, I especially loved the “advice for your 20s” by Andre Charoo which are:
1)Take risks and try new things
2) Think big. Set goals that may scare you a bit
3) Be confident in your ability to learn and realize learning is life-long — it never ends
4) Push your limits
5) Don’t be afraid to be uncomfortable. This is how the most growth happens
6) Surround yourself with smart people and mentors
7) Be focused and committed to your goals but don’t be afraid to change course if necessary
From Andre’s session, we also were encouraged to ask ourselves at least these two questions if we are thinking of working at a startup: 1) Would you put your own money into this company? 2) Do you believe in the startup yourself? Do you have convictions?
Ryan Choi, Head of Work for A Startup at Y Combinator, mentioned that to work for a startup, you need: grit, a growth mindset, self awareness, passion, and willingness to roll up your sleeves and do any tasks that are needed.
If I were to share every lesson and insight I gained from this experience, this post would be a short novel. These were some of the many things I learned which have helped me set goals and continue my work with a new mindset. I hope these lessons can help you too!
I can’t wait to keep in touch with all my new friends and continue to support one another as we become visionary founders, investors, and innovators in this entrepreneurial ecosystem!
SVB Trek 2020 was one for the books!
Several speakers also recommended books and articles to read such as:
Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist (Thank you SVB for a copy!)
Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth
Shoe Dog: A Memoir By The Creator of Nike by Phil Knight
Zero To One: Notes On Startups and How To Build The Future by Peter Thiel
The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz
Radical Candor by Kim Scott
How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
Thank you to the amazing people at Silicon Valley Bank — especially Jake, Courtney, Brooke, Heidi, Zach, Shruti, Claire, Priya, Dave, Lewis, Ellen, and Kamir — for such a great experience!
