I believe that we all have a responsibility to give back. No one becomes successful without lots of hard work, support from others, and a little luck. Giving back creates a virtuous cycle that makes everyone more successful.
Ron Conway
Tech people like to stick to their knitting, and they measure their accomplishments by the growth of their company. Now the tech community is popping up and saying, 'We do need to be involved in our surroundings.'
By working to ensure we live in a society that prioritizes public safety, education, and innovation, entrepreneurship can thrive and create a better world for all of us to live in.
Technology does more than delight, entertain and make our lives more convenient, it's also an agent for social good. That is why it's important for tech startups to stay informed about, and make a mark on, policies that impact them.
As the tech industry continues to grow and sprout successful startups across the country, it is important that we understand our responsibility to affect positive change in our communities.
Social media is here to stay, and the social phenomenon that is bringing this about is consumers' willingness to share more about themselves, share more about what they're doing... people are even willing to disclose where they're at. And this phenomenon is going to create huge commerce opportunities on the web.
Cities like New York have already followed San Francisco and have started similar organizations like sfCiti; New York has TECH NYC.
The tech community is a closely knit group, which is why it's so powerful. All of these companies have an affinity for each other, even if they compete with each other.
I am most proud of what sfCiti has accomplished with the 'Circle the Schools' program, which engages companies to enter into long-term partnerships with San Francisco public schools, using an adopt-a-school model.
I never said I enjoy anything about using the Internet. I enjoy helping the entrepreneurs who are building this thing that I don't necessarily like or use.
Pinterest is offering consumers a way to discover things on the web, in a serendipitous way, with a beautiful user interface. So it's offering a whole new paradigm called 'discover' and allowing users to be creative.
Anytime is a good time to start a company.
The more angels we have in Silicon Valley, the better. We are funding innovation. We are funding the next Facebook, Google, and Twitter.
I really don't have a lot of interest in national politics, and it's because I'm a skeptic. I think you can accomplish a lot more locally. I don't want to spin the wheels and not get anything done.
Entrepreneurs, because they need money, they are willing to share their crystal ball with someone like me. That's the best thing ever.
By welcoming eager, talented workers, we expand America's potential for growth, and our competitive culture of invention and possibility.
You can't learn to be ambitious and driven.
All the biggest companies are based on a founder who had a need, hacked it together, and said, 'Hey, other people might want this.'
I couldn't care less who is mad at me as long as the entrepreneur comes out ahead.
I started sfCiti because I believed that technology companies needed to take a 'One City' approach and build a shared sense of community and civic responsibility in San Francisco.
Facebook is becoming the web. Everything you need is there... it is the universe.
When you first meet an investor, you've got to be able to say in one compelling sentence - that you should practice like crazy - what your product does, so that the investor that you are talking to can immediately picture the product in their own mind.
