Recommended reading

The Art of the Start, by Guy Kawasaki

Winning, by Jack Welch

The Innovator's Dilemma, by Clayton M. Christensen

Starting Someting: An Entrepreneur's Tale of Control, Confrontation, & Corporate Culture, by Wayne McVicker

Entrepreneur Events

We recognize that entrepreneurs have limited amount of free time, but we highly recommend these events as excellent investments of a bit of your time.

Pillsbury Winthrop's "Backstage Pass" Program

Pillsbury Winthrop runs an excellent series on starting and managing startups for CEO's. Guest speakers from the venture capital community, Silicon Valley executives, and consultants provide good practical advice on key issues. Contact Chad Lynch ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) for details and a current schedule.

Deloitte & Touche LLP Accelerator Program

Deloitte provides end-to-end solutions that combine tax, accounting, human capital, financial advisory and information technology expertise to help growth companies optimize performance, manage and strategize about key early-stage company issues and prepare for liquidity events.

These solutions include programs to enhance top level executives' effectiveness:

• Workshops — Development workshops covering such topics as Optimizing Board Effectiveness, Building a Compelling Fundraising Story, Public Relations Strategies and Sales Traction.
• Online Tools and Templates — Checklists and quick tools designed to assist you, the CEO, and your executive team with establishing key, fundamental processes within your organization.

SVASE — The Silicon Valley Association of Startup Entrepreneurs

The SVASE mission is to accelerate the formation, growth and success of high growth technology based companies, by empowering entrepreneurs. SVASE, the Silicon Valley Association of Startup Entrepreneurs, is the largest and fastest growing nonprofit association in Northern California dedicated exclusively to helping early stage entrepreneurs across all technology sectors build successful companies.

Some programs SVASE runs for entrepreneurs:

• First Impressions
• Learn from the Legends