Day 2 from the Golden state saw all the participants set out on their separate ways with the google maps and über apps a prerequisite for a successful day in the Valley.
Today was all about maximising the location, getting as many meetings in the diary as possible, using the PwC network, the participants own relationships and a little bit of brass neck to fill the day with meetings.
With the first meeting kicking off at 7.30am for Ardbrin's founder Geraldine Fusciardi and the last back to the fold being Displaynote's Paul Brown at 9.30pm it was an exhausting day but the buzz from the meetings remained visible under the bleary eyes.
The meetings ranged from VC pitches, angel investor discussions, through to sales opportunities and potential partnering conversations.
The Silicon Valley's VCs gave some really valuable insight into pitch approach, how to make a strong impression and the comment that resonated for all participants was the 'why now?' challenge for any start up seeking to provide a solution.
Sandhill Angel investors were extremely generous with their time giving direct one to one feedback on the propositions, market and angel investor culture in Silicon Valley, as well as opening their little black book to create wider connections to create some tangible next steps for our entrepreneurs.
Having quickly learned that a 30 minute meeting in San Fran is not necessarily a disaster, Flowlens Rich Dale and Geraldine visited San Francisco's accelerator hub Rocketspace, whose recent success stories include Uber and Spotify. An accelerator based around the top start ups, success through collaboration supported by workshops and networks, its arrival in the UK later this year will be a real boost for the UK start up community and definitely something for NI start ups to look out for.
Day 2's objective was to maximise the opportunity Stateside and the generosity of the Silicon Valley network, the tenacity of the Ignite participants in knocking on doors and setting up meetings saw a really successful, informative and opportunistic day!
A further learning from our day in the Valley was how ever long you believe it will take to drive around the area...multiply by 5!! A few reschedules were required, testing the patience of our hosts but thankfully they understood.
We also said goodbye to Datactics CEO Staurt Harvey who was travelling to the East Coast to partake in a key trade show for the business.
