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This is the year to start a great company. I thought it would be obvious, but since at parties I hear people wonder about it, frequently maintaining a gloomy view, here are my proverbial 2 cents (now also in the European currency) on the topic of when to start a company.
First of all: Not at the height of a bubble! We are through the worst part of the recession, it seems, and great companies are founded at the start of the upturn, not at its peak. So 2004 is the year.
If you wonder about investment money: Here in the valley, the VCs are investing again. Until last year, you needed a mature product, stellar team, and customers to raise venture capital. This year a great idea and a great team are sufficient. At least that's what the VCs are telling us at the school. Most deals get syndicated so that down the road the VCs can say "the other guys were as stupid as we were" but as an entrepreneur, you don't care. You may want to watch out not to end up in a mature fund, otherwise you might find yourself in a forced exit 3-4 years down the road. But that's about it.
This is the year! 5 years on from now, we will refer to the vintage 2004 companies as the motor of the new wealth generation.
Cheers to 2004!
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