Startup School 2007

We’re hearing about the dawning of another dot-com explosion on a daily basis. The new bubble, as it’s being called, is full of Web 2.0 startups that are routinely receiving millions in investment cash, and 2007’s slated to be an extra good year for the tech sector as a whole, some even say too good. But whether that’s the case or not is for the investors and investees to sort out. Why?

Because though history does tend to repeat itself – with some caveats – you need to dig deep to find the root of the issue at hand. The new Internet revolution isn’t overly excited. But deep analysis of its traits and trends can lead one to see the real “signs” (like the pre-SEC days when stocks were being street corners alongside hot dogs) and look past the talk of impending doom. I think it’s safe to say that the investment funds and the markets to which they belong are well aware of the implications of oversaturation in the tech world.

One of the measures that is addressing the stability of the new bubble is being hosted by a joint effort between YCombinator, a firm specializing in getting startups "off the ground", and Stanford University. The “measure” is called Startup School. It is a free event, though seating is limited, and only through an application process (a short one) can you gain entry. Most important is what Startup School is about.

They say Startup School speaks to attendees about all the things one needs to know to start a company. Pretty simple. Straightforward. Maybe even a little boring-sounding. But really, it’s quite an interesting concept to have brought to fruition.

The copy posted on the event’s webpage is almost textbook. “What makes a good startup idea. What to look for in a co-founder. How to get angel and VC funding. How to incorporate a company. How to apply for patents. What can go wrong in a startup? How the acquisition process works.” And I’m sure the speakers will talk about those particular topics. But one can hardly imagine that this is a series of lectures meant only for computer science majors (and minors). There’s bound to be a lot of back-and-forth going on, and lots of talk about how the web’s finest got to where they are, what bad steps some industry stars have taken, how those bad moves were rectified, when to realize you’ve got a great idea, and when to realize that idea you thought was great wasn’t too good to begin with.

It must seem like I’m going through a table of contents, rattling off on something I don’t know much about. But I’m sure many of you can agree that in March, in Kresge Auditorium at Stanford University, there’ll be a good amount of PowerPoint slides being shown as well as some interesting discourse on the state of the Net, where it’s headed, what to look out for, and a lot more interesting goodies.

Startup School '07:

Application

Expected Speakers:

Chris Anderson – Editor in Chief, Wired Magazine

Paul Buchbeit - Creator of GMail

Paul Graham - Partner, Y Combinator; Founder, Viaweb

Mitchell Kapor – President, Open Source Applications Foundation; Founder, Lotus

Max Levchin – Founder, Slide; Founder, Paypal

Mark Macenka – Partner, Goodwin Procter

Michael Mandel – Chief Economist, BusinessWeek

Greg McAdoo – Partner, Sequoia Capital

Ali Partovi – Founder, iLike; CEO, GarageBand.com; Founder, LinkExchange