Google founder Larry Page offers Enable some
tips - and valuable insights - to benefit both
entrepreneurs and start-ups.
Enable comes to you today "live" from Silicon Valley. I have just finished an incredible day at Google's offices in Mountain View. Google is the premier search engine that was just chosen by Yahoo as its default search engine provider.
Google's founder and CEO, Larry Page is a truly down to earth guy who raised money from two of the Valley's most prestigious venture firms - Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers and Sequoia Capital. The following are some of Page's insights and tips for entrepreneurs and start-ups.
- If at all possible, try to set up in the Valley. Nothing beats the Valley for infrastructure, contacts, money, and talented, intelligent people.
- Go public only when the time is really right. In a rapidly growing company, going public too soon creates problems in hiring people.
- If you want to start a good company you must stick to your morals and you don't want to ever sacrifice them.
- Try to reduce risk. If you keep reducing risk and you keep improving your company, the odds are that you are going to be a big successful company.
- Don't measure your venture capitalist's value by the amount of time he/she spends with you. Rather, focus on what they are really doing for your company and the doors they can open for you.
- Think BIG! It can often be easier to start something harder and bigger than something small. If you want to be successful, there are a lot of big ideas still left to be done and you should do one of those. Don't try to find solutions to niche problems.
- Don't comprise when it comes to hiring people. Only hire great people. It makes your life a lot easier.
- You must have the best possible product. The web has zero switching costs.
- Have an open corporate culture. Try to communicate as much as possible with your entire company.
- The past predicts the future.
Published by Israel's Business Arena on July 18, 2000.