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25 Business Lessons from HBO’s Silicon Valley
If you enjoy watching comedy series, or you’re a tech enthusiast, chances are that you have heard about HBO’s Silicon Valley. The story is about a startup in Silicon Valley, called Pied Piper, and the struggles they face to fulfill their goal, which is to change the way we browse the internet.
However, if you haven’t watched the series, you should know that apart from the fact that the show is a great parody of the real Silicon Valley, it also combines comedy with business, and gives a lot of useful information about how to run a tech startup in today’s world. So if you’re interested in running a startup, here are some tips that you can learn from Silicon Valley.
Minor spoilers ahead
1. Try to network
Pied Piper’s founder Richard Hendricks was offered a $10 million buyout for his startup by Hooli CEO Gavin Belson. Instead, he decided to take a smaller fund from Peter Gregory, a VC who would mentor him. One of the reasons he accepted Gregory’s offer, was because Richard pitched his idea to Gregory after a TED talk.
This proves to show that you shouldn’t be shy to ask for insights or to pitch an idea. You should always try to network because you never know when an opportunity might come. And as the saying goes, if you don’t ask, the answer is always no.
2. Focus on your core idea
While you’re working on perfecting your product, a new, great idea might come up. Many entrepreneurs have jumped over to chase a new idea over their original, which from time to time isn’t always the best business choice. Try to avoid distractions, because you will lose focus on your core idea, and as time passes by, you might lose energy and resources. If you put too much effort into side projects, you might never fulfill your main idea.
3. Get to know your audience
In Silicon Valley, the one member that knows what the customer thinks the most is Erlich. In a meeting with Peter Gregory, Erlich says that today’s user wants access to all their files, from all their devices. He states that this is the reason why cloud-based tech is the Holy Grail and sets Dropbox as an example.
