In August we announced a great first Keynote Speaker for the 12th Founder Showcase, taking place on Wednesday, November 7th at the Mission Bay Conference Center in San Francisco: David Sacks, Founder & CEO of Yammer. Yammer, an enterprise social network that brings together employees, content, conversations, and business data in a single location, was acquired by Microsoft earlier this Summer for $1.2 billion.
Earlier today David was interviewed onstage at the Techcrunch Disrupt Conference by Michael Arrington. One of the topics centered around his recent controverial post on his Facebook page;
"I think silicon valley as we know it may be coming to an end. In order to create a successful new company, you have to find an idea that (1) has escaped the attention of the major Internet companies, which are better run than ever before; (2) is capable of being launched and proven out for ~$5M, the typical seed plus series A investment; and (3) is protectable from the onslaught of those big companies once they figure out what you're onto. How many ideas like that are left?"
In the conversation, David describes how the internet ecosystem has matured, likening it to a "forest" now covered by a canopy of established companies ("redwoods"). He encourages entrepreneurs to, rather than try to "cut down" the redwoods by attacking huge opportunities (like TV), to instead go after "the outskirts of the forest" and "find new opportunities where the internet is disrupting those industries" (like Uber).
It is a worthwhile watch for any entrepreneur;
We look forward to hearing David’s story at the Founder Showcase on November 7th.
Get your tickets today - half priced tickets are available until Sunday, September 23rd.
