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Startup ecosystems can be fragmented, competitive, and hidden to newcomers, which is detrimental for local startups and community growth. The Startup Ecosystem Canvas seeks to provide local entrepreneurs with a clear list of resources for every stage of their startup journey - from ideation to scaling - and outline a basic framework for communities to map their ecosystem.

With applications open for the Silicon Valley Founder Institute, we are excited to release the updated Silicon Valley Startup Ecosystem Canvas, which is currently in v4 below! It was developed by Silicon Valley Founder Institute Directors, Ryan Micheletti, Mercedes Bankston, Scout Tweedie-YatesMike Suprovici, and Russell Brand.

We spent about 20 hours doing this research, but this is just a draft. More input is needed, so please leave your comments on this collaborative Google document and it will be considered for the next update.

Are you looking to build a startup in Silicon Valley? Then apply to the Silicon Valley Founder Institute today

The resources from the infographic have also been listed below, for reference. 


Startup Stages


There is no one right way to build a technology company, but for the sake of simplicity we have outlined a basic, common, sequential framework.

Idea Stage

This is where new entrepreneurs get inspired, learn best practices, develop skills, validate ideas, and begin to build their team and product.

  • Inspire
    • Startup Media: Centralized local information, listings, and news. (i.e. startup blogs/ publications/ lists/ FB groups/ newsletters)
      1. Chris Saad
      2. LegalForce
      3. Radivision
      4. Silicon Beat
      5. Silicon Tap
      6. Silicon Valley
      7. Silicon Valley Entrepreneurs & Startups
      8. Silicon Valley News
      9. Silicon Valley Startups & Angel Funding
      10. Silicon Valley Watcher
      11. Simulation Series
      12. Startup Digest Silicon Valley - SF Bay Area
      13. Startup Lessons Learned
      14. Steve Blank
      15. Tech Central SF
      16. Tech.Co SF
      17. This Week in Startups
    • Inspirational Events: Open, inclusive, beginner startup events (i.e. Startup Weekend, idea fairs, and inspirational meetups) 
      1. 106 Miles
      2. Creative Coffee San Francisco
      3. Got Startup?
      4. Latino Startup Alliance
      5. Silicon House
      6. Silicon Valley Chinese Entrepreneurs
      7. Startup Focus Thought Leadership
      8. Startup Socials Silicon Valley
      9. Startup Weekend Silicon Valley
      10. Tech 'N The City
      11. Women 2.0 Silicon Valley
      12. Women Who Code Silicon Valley
  • Educate
    • Best Practices: Beginner knowledge-sharing events. (i.e. beginner events that serve to educate more than inspire, like Startup Founder 101, etc).
      1. Hello Alice
      2. Lean Startup Circle Silicon Valley
      3. Silicon Valley Entrepreneurs Toastmasters Club
      4. Silicon Valley Startup Idea to IPO
      5. Startup Founder 101 Silicon Valley
      6. Startup Grind Silicon Valley
      7. Startup Leadership
      8. Startup School
      9. Startup Speakers Toastmasters
      10. Step2Growth
      11. TDWI Silicon Valley Chapter
      12. Tech in Motion Silicon Valley
      13. YouNoodle
    • Training & Feedback: Skill & Idea development. (Ex. bootcamps and comprehensive training programs, like Founder Institute)
      1. 42 Coding Bootcamp
      2. Anyone Can Learn to Code
      3. App Academy
      4. Apprentice.io
      5. Big Nerd Ranch
      6. Blackbox Connect
      7. CodePath
      8. Coder Camps
      9. Codify Academy
      10. Coding Dojo
      11. Coding House
      12. Data Science Dojo
      13. Dev Bootcamp
      14. Draper University of Heroes
      15. Founder Institute
      16. Galvanize
      17. General Assembly
      18. Go Live Labs
      19. Hackbright Academy
      20. Hackership
      21. Hack Reactor
      22. Insight
      23. Invasive Code
      24. Koru
      25. Lean Startup Machine Silicon Valley
      26. Learntech Labs
      27. Local Food Lab
      28. MakerSquare
      29. Make School
      30. Mobile Makers Academy
      31. Praxis Data Science
      32. Product School
      33. SeedReady
      34. Silicon Valley Innovation Center
      35. Silicon Valley Innovation Institute
      36. Silicon Valley Technology Venture Launch Program
      37. Square Code Camp
      38. Startup Pitch Bootcamp
      39. Startup Saturdays
      40. SV In.Fusion
      41. Thinkful
      42. Tradecraft
      43. Trepcamp
      44. Zipfian Academy

  • Validate
    • Team Formation: Resources for teaming up. (i.e. events or other resources that facilitate early-stage recruitment and cofounder matching)
      1. Bootstrappers Breakfast
      2. Cofounder Club
      3. CoFoundersLab
      4. Founder2be
      5. Founder Dating
      6. Igniters: Stanford Entrepreneurs & Silicon Valley Founders
      7. Instant Teams
      8. McChrystal Group
      9. New Co. Silicon Valley
      10. SF New Tech
      11. Silicon Valley Startup Founders
      12. Silicon Valley Startup Incubation and Acceleration Network
      13. Startup Cofounders
    • Build First Product: Hackathons & resources to build. (i.e. hackathons and other builder-focused events and resources)
      1. AngelHack Silicon Valley
      2. ChimeHack
      3. CodeDay Silicon Valley
      4. CODEX Hackathon
      5. FLIR's "Bring the Heat" Hacker & Maker Challenge: San Francisco
      6. Greylock Hackfest
      7. Hack My Ride 2.0
      8. Hack The People
      9. Hacker Dojo
      10. Hacking 4 Health
      11. Hacking EDU
      12. Hacking Generation Y
      13. Integrate 2015 Hackathon
      14. iOS Dev Camp 2015: Wearables, Security, CONNECTEDCAR and Civic Engagement
      15. Lincoln Labs Reboot 2015 Hackathon
      16. Microsoft Azure
      17. Omdena
      18. Outside Hacks
      19. RandTech Hackathon
      20. Silicon Valley Hackathons
      21. Sunnyvale Hacker Home - Mobile App Hackathon
      22. Women in STEM Hackathon Apps for Social Impact
      23. WWCode Silicon Valley Hackathon
      24. Yeti

Launch Stage

In this stage, entrepreneurs establish and formalize the company, develop the product, get feedback from customers, and prepare for the next step.

  • Start
    • Establish: Law firms & banks for startups 
      1. Bank of America
      2. Bank Leumi USA
      3. Bend Law Group
      4. Bottom Line Law Group
      5. Chase Bank
      6. Chris Barsness, Esq.
      7. Comerica Bank
      8. ComputerLaw Group LLP
      9. Criterion Law
      10. Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP
      11. DLA Piper
      12. Dorsey & Whitney LLP
      13. Fenwick & West LLP
      14. First Republic Bank
      15. Goodwin Procter LLP
      16. Grellas Shah LLP
      17. Gunderson Dettmer
      18. ImmiPartner
      19. Innovation Capital Law Group
      20. Kastner Kim LLP
      21. Latham & Watkins LLP
      22. Morrison & Foerster LLP
      23. Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP
      24. Perkins Coie
      25. Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman
      26. Royse Law Firm
      27. Silicon Valley Bank
      28. Springmeyer Law
      29. Square 1 Bank
      30. Start It Law
      31. Stripe Atlas
      32. Structure Law Group LLP
      33. US Bank
      34. Walker Corporate Law
      35. Wells Fargo Bank
      36. White Summers Caffee & James
      37. Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
      38. Yoichiro Taku
    • Workspace: Co-working and flexible workspaces (note: “official” office space goes in 3.1.a. Infrastructure) 
      1. 20Mission
      2. Anchor
      3. BioCurious
      4. BootUp World
      5. Citizen Space
      6. Co Spot
      7. Connections SF
      8. Design Spaces
      9. Enerspace
      10. Firehouse 8
      11. First Floor Labs
      12. Founders Den
      13. Galvanize
      14. GSV Labs
      15. Geekdom SF
      16. Hacker Dojo
      17. Hatch Today
      18. Hero City
      19. Impact Hub San Francisco
      20. Invention Hub
      21. Makeshift Society
      22. Mission Social
      23. NextSpace
      24. Noisebridge 
      25. PariSOMA
      26. Plug and Play Tech Center
      27. Reactor SF
      28. RocketSpace
      29. RockIT CoLabs
      30. Runway Incubator
      31. Sandbox Suites
      32. Scaale Bay Area
      33. Shared
      34. SpherePad
      35. Startup BaseCamp
      36. Startup Embassy
      37. Startup House
      38. Startup HQ
      39. Taqueria Trabajo
      40. TechSpace
      41. The Office of Silicon Valley
      42. The Pad Silicon Valley
      43. Third Workplace
      44. WeWork
      45. Work Happy
      46. The Hivery
  • Develop
    • Formalize: Accounting, development and HR for early-stage startups. 
      1. 55 Minutes
      2. Andersen Tax
      3. Appstem
      4. ArcTouch
      5. Arkenea
      6. Blue Rocket
      7. Dayspring Technologies
      8. Doppler
      9. Early Growth Financial Services
      10. EdgeWater Recruiting
      11. Execustaff HR
      12. Exygy
      13. Futurist Labs
      14. Grio
      15. July Systems
      16. Keating Consulting Group
      17. Kranz & Associate
      18. Main
      19. Moss Adams LLP
      20. OUM & Co. LLP
      21. Prolific Interactive
      22. Quick Left
      23. Riviera Partners
      24. Rocket Pro Forma
      25. SVT Group
      26. Silicon Valley Accounting Solutions
      27. Silicon Valley Finance Group
      28. Silicon Valley Tax and Accounting Services
      29. SpiralScout
      30. Tano Digital
      31. The Brenner Group
      32. The Spider
      33. ThinkApps
      34. UpTrending
      35. VonChurch
      36. WeMo Technologies
      37. WorldZOO
      38. Y Media Labs
      39. Zipper Studios
    • Prepare for Seed: Incubators and advanced mentorship. (i.e. advanced knowledge sharing, later stage events and resources for startup TEAMS)
      1. Archimedes Labs
      2. Digital Garage
      3. e-Man
      4. Founder Institute
      5. Founders Space
      6. Greenstart
      7. InnoSpring
      8. Lemnos Labs
      9. Runway Incubator
      10. Startup Next Bay Area
      11. Startup Next San Jose
      12. Teens in Tech Incubator
      13. Y Combinator
      14. YouWeb Incubator
  • Launch
    • Seed Accelerators: Seed funding mentor programs (Techstars-style programs that provide funding)
      1. 500 Startups
      2. Alchemist Accelerator
      3. AngelPad
      4. BlackBox Accelerate
      5. Boost
      6. Citrix Startup Accelerator
      7. Dogpatch Labs
      8. Gateway Incubator
      9. German Accelerator
      10. i/o Ventures
      11. Imagine K12
      12. Manos Accelerator
      13. Matter
      14. Momentum
      15. One Traction Accelerator
      16. Orange Fab
      17. PITME Labs
      18. Plug and Play Tech Center
      19. Rock Health
      20. SVB Accelerator
      21. Semantic Seed
      22. StartX
      23. Tandem
      24. TechStars
      25. TiE Launchpad
      26. UpWest Labs
      27. Women's Startup Lab
    • Pitch & Demo: Show local startups for investment (i.e. demo days for companies seeking seed investment)
      1. Creative Convergence Silicon Valley
      2. DEMO Traction
      3. Disrupt SF  
      4. Finovate  
      5. Founder Showcase
      6. Incubate 2015
      7. Launch Festival
      8. PitchForce
      9. Silicon Valley Elevator Pitch
      10. Silicon Valley Entrepreneurs San Francisco Pitch Fest
      11. Silicon Valley Entrepreneurs South Bay Pitch and Demo Fest
      12. Startup Basecamp International Pitch Night
      13. Startup Pitch Night SF
      14. Startup Pitch Night Silicon Valley
      15. Startups Showcase Pitch & DEMO Expo and Business Mixer

Growth Stage

Here, a startup proves their utility, receives recognition, and scales up. This usually requires funding, angels, VCs, and ways to connect them to startups.

  • Recognition 
    • Investor Networking:  Connect professional investors with founders. (i.e. events or groups that facilitate connections with professional investors)
      1. Angel's Forum
      2. Astia Angels
      3. Band of Angels
      4. F50
      5. Golden Seeds Angel Investor Network
      6. Joint Venture Silicon Valley
      7. Keiretsu Forum
      8. Life Science Angels
      9. Open Silicon Valley Forum
      10. Sand Hill Angels
      11. Seed Forum
      12. SF Angels Group
      13. Silicon Valley Forum
      14. Silicon Valley Investment Forum
      15. Silicon Valley Open Doors
      16. Silicon Valley Technology Innovation & Entrepreneurship Forum
      17. Startup Teahouse Investor Forum
      18. TiE Angels Silicon Valley
      19. US Angel Investors
    • Major Media: Mainstream local business press. (i.e. major local or regional publications that frequently champion local businesses)
      1. ABC
      2. CBS SF Bay Area
      3. FOX
      4. KLIV Silicon Valley News
      5. NBC Bay Area
      6. SF Gate
      7. San Francisco Business Times
      8. San Francisco Chronicle
      9. San Francisco Examiner
      10. San Jose Mercury News
      11. Silicon Valley Business Journal
      12. Venture Beat
  • Funding
    • Angels / Micro-VCs: Seed-stage investors 
      1. Adeo Ressi
      2. Alexis Ohanian
      3. Andrea Zurek
      4. Aydin Senkut
      5. Benjamin Ling
      6. Biz Stone
      7. Bobby Yazdani
      8. Chris Sacca
      9. Christine Tsai
      10. Cyan Banister
      11. Dave McClure
      12. Dave Morin
      13. David Cohen
      14. Eric Reis
      15. Evan Williams
      16. Felix Shpilman
      17. Garry Tan
      18. Gil Penchina
      19. Jason Calacanis
      20. Jeff Clavier
      21. Joel Yarmon
      22. Josh Kopelman
      23. Joshua Schachter
      24. Keith Rabois
      25. Kevin Colleran
      26. Kevin Rose
      27. Marc Andreessen
      28. Marissa Mayer
      29. Matt Ocko
      30. Max Levchin
      31. Mitch Kapor
      32. Morris Wheeler
      33. Naval Ravikant
      34. Paige Craig
      35. Parker Thompson
      36. Paul Buchheit
      37. Paul Singh
      38. Pejman Nozad
      39. Peter Kellner
      40. Reid Hoffman
      41. Scott and Cyan Banister
      42. Sean Percival
      43. Shervin Pishevar
      44. Thomas Korte
      45. Tim Draper
      46. Tim Ferriss
      47. Tim O'Reilly
      48. Tom Fallows
      49. Ullas Naik
      50. Zachary Aarons
      51. Venture University
    • Venture Capitalists: Series A and beyond
      1. Accel Partners
      2. Andreessen Horowitz
      3. August Capital
      4. Benchmark Capital
      5. Bessemer Venture Partners
      6. Canaan Partners
      7. DFJ Venture
      8. Emergence Capital
      9. First Round Capital
      10. Founders Fund
      11. General Catalyst Partners
      12. Google Ventures
      13. Greylock Partners
      14. Highland Capital Partners
      15. Innovation Endeavors
      16. Khosla Ventures
      17. Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield and Byers
      18. Learn Capital
      19. Lightspeed Venture Partners
      20. Matrix Partners
      21. Menlo Ventures
      22. Mighty Capital
      23. New Enterprise Associates
      24. Norwest Venture Partners
      25. Owl Ventures
      26. Reach Capital
      27. Rosecliff Ventures
      28. RRE Ventures
      29. Sequoia Capital
      30. Social Capital
      31. Spark Capital
      32. Transmedia Capital
      33. True Ventures
      34. Venrock
  • Growth
    • Infrastructure: Office space, HR, local business insurance. (i.e. office space/ HR/ insurance providers for capital-rich companies to grow and scale)
      1. 42 Floors
      2. Algentis
      3. Avery Associates
      4. Borelli Investment Company
      5. Escalon Services
      6. Heffernan Insurance Brokers
      7. Insurance by Allied Brokers
      8. Integra Insurance
      9. LoopNet
      10. MassMutual Silicon Valley
      11. MelitaGroup
      12. Pacific Workplaces
      13. Regus
      14. Rofo
      15. Silicon Valley Office Space
      16. Sweet & Baker Insurance Brokers
      17. Taylor Benefits Insurance Agency
      18. Zenefits
    • Expansion: Growth accelerators/consultants. (i.e. programs and business consultants for capital-rich companies to grow and scale)
      1. A23 Advisors
      2. Bain & Company
      3. Cayenne Consulting
      4. CFO Hub
      5. Dynamic Strategic Alignment
      6. Invisor Consulting
      7. KPMG
      8. Keystone Business Group
      9. Motava
      10. Now CFO
      11. PwC
      12. Silicon Valley SCORE
      13. Startup ISAO
      14. Venture Archetypes
      15. Worldwide Tech Services

4. Success Stories

Successful homegrown companies that have raised significant institutional funding, employ a large workforce, or have achieved liquidity.

  1. Too many to name.. :)  

Supporters

To facilitate the steps, every ecosystem needs strong supporters.

1. Evangelists

Successful local founders who lead the ecosystem & frequently mentor newbies. 

  1. Adeo Ressi
  2. Ahmad Sufian Bayram
  3. André Eidskrem
  4. Andrea Barrica
  5. Andy Alterini
  6. Angelika Blendstrup
  7. Ankit Jain
  8. Beth Kindig
  9. Bipin Agravat
  10. Christina Ellwood
  11. Dario Mutabdzija
  12. Elyse Phillips
  13. Ezequiel Trivino
  14. Guy Kawasaki
  15. Jolanta Baran
  16. Jordan Koene
  17. Kevin Morgan
  18. Lina Constantinovici
  19. Malcolm Ong
  20. Mario Valle Reyes
  21. Mercedes Bankston
  22. Marwan Forzley
  23. Matt Gardner
  24. Mike Suprovici
  25. Mitchell Levy
  26. Nima Adelkhani
  27. Roy Sehgal
  28. Russell Brand
  29. Russel Clímaco-Estado
  30. Ryan Micheletti
  31. Saumitra Bhide
  32. Scout Tweedie-Yates
  33. Shahid Khan
  34. Shaahin Cheyenne
  35. Sharon Goldstein
  36. Shira Abel
  37. Sven Deichfuss
  38. Toby Morning
  39. Vitaly Golomb
  40. Yossi Ghinsberg

2. Government

Public organizations that facilitate local economic development  

  1. Bunker Labs
  2. California Israel Chamber of Commerce
  3. Chamber of Commerce Mountain View
  4. Cupertino Chamber of Commerce
  5. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Silicon Valley
  6. Innovation Hub
  7. International Space Station
  8. NASA Ames
  9. National Security Innovation Network
  10. Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce
  11. Patriot Bootcamp
  12. Rainbow Chamber of Commerce
  13. SRI International
  14. San Francisco Chamber of Commerce
  15. San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber
  16. Santa Clara Chamber of Commerce
  17. Security Innovation Network
  18. SBIR Advisors
  19. Silicon Valley Black Chamber of Commerce
  20. Silicon Valley Competitiveness and Innovation Project
  21. Silicon Valley Talent Partnership
  22. The Veterans Trust
  23. VET-TECH
  24. Vets in Tech
  25. VHA
  26. Women’s Veterans Alliance

3. Talent

Major local business or tech universities and employers that attract and retain local talent.

  • Local Universities (universities with prominent technical or business programs)
    1. Academy of Art University
    2. Art Institute of California San Francisco
    3. Art Institute of California Silicon Valley
    4. Carnegie Mellon University Silicon Valley Campus
    5. City College San Francisco
    6. De Anza College
    7. Harvard Business School
    8. Herguan University
    9. Hult International Business School
    10. International Technological University
    11. Menlo College
    12. Mission College
    13. Palo Alto University
    14. San Francisco State University
    15. San Jose City College
    16. San Jose State University
    17. Santa Clara University
    18. Silicon Valley Polytechnic Institute
    19. Silicon Valley University
    20. Stanford University
    21. University of California San Francisco
    22. University of San Francisco
  • Local Employers (Major technical employers, like Microsoft or Google or large local companies, with large local offices) 
    1. AMD
    2. Adobe
    3. Apple
    4. Cisco
    5. eBay
    6. Ericsson
    7. Facebook
    8. Flickr
    9. Fujitsu
    10. Google
    11. HP
    12. IBM
    13. Intel Corporation
    14. LinkedIn
    15. Microsoft
    16. Motorola
    17. Oracle
    18. PayPal
    19. Square
    20. Tesla Motors
    21. Texas Instruments
    22. Twitter
    23. Yahoo!

*  *  *

Learn more about the Startup Ecosystem Canvas here, and leave us your thoughts on the Silicon Valley Canvas on this collaborative Google document (This is just a DRAFT, and more input is needed!)

Are you looking to build a startup in Silicon Valley? Then apply to the Silicon Valley Founder Institute today

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