E-Circle: How to Launch Tech Startups in a New Ecosystem
by Edward Cruz
1. Flash Forward: 2015
1.1. A new Tucson tech startup launched
1.2. OneGreek
1.3. Two founders, one goal.
1.4. Launched for $8k, acquired >330k users
1.5. Successful exit! Acquired by Austin company.
2. Flashback: 1980s
2.1. The Tucson Tech Scene
2.2. Tucson on level playing field
2.3. Got unlucky: Recession in 1989
3. The Dot Com Boom
3.1. Moved to Silicon Valley
3.2. Got lucky again
3.3. Amazing transformational event
4. Look! G4V did it again
4.1. 2016: Look, VR platform, now on Amazon
4.2. 2017: Inara, AI company in Phoenix
4.3. 2018: G4V officially launches. 3 new startups: Sidecar Learning, OneRescue, Clearly
4.4. 2019: CLIMB/Spring with 12 participants, 7 graduates, 3 going on to market. First Phoenix CLIMB Cohort with 5 new startups. Plus one more exit.
4.5. So how do we do it?
5. Get the Right Founders
5.1. Deep domain expertise
5.2. A well vetted business or social impact model
5.3. A reason to use technology to scale
5.4. Fire in the belly
6. Go Big or Go Home
6.1. Don't build a startup for the local market
6.2. Imperative to develop ideas that scale globally
6.3. #thinklocalgoglobal
7. Build Products, Not Ideas
7.1. Startup ideas don't matter
7.2. What you deliver and what your customers actually think of it is what matters.
7.3. Figure out: who it's for, what they need, and how you are going to deliver it.
8. Skip Agile
8.1. Approximation and failure: not a good idea.
8.2. Figure out what you would learn from failure first, then do that.
8.3. #getitrightthefirsttime
9. Design then code
9.1. Create a killer user experience
9.2. The bar is set really high for startups
9.3. Many startups go for coding right away: bad idea.
10. Validate!
10.1. Yes, code after design
10.2. Build prototypes, not full systems
10.3. R.A.T.s
11. Offshoring
11.1. For everything you can't do yourself
11.2. Upwork is your startup team
11.3. After validation, traction and funding, hire local.
12. Learn (a lot) more!
12.1. CLIMB Tucson/Winter 2020
12.2. 12-week accelerator program
12.3. Sponsored by G4V and Startup Tucson
12.4. Geared towards tech startups
12.5. You can learn how to develop technology
13. Questions?
13.1. Edward Cruz
13.1.1. Go For Vertical
13.1.2. WE BUILD TECHNOLOGY AND LAUNCH STARTUPS
13.1.3. @goforvertical
13.1.4. [email protected]