{"id":18618,"date":"2023-06-09T22:17:12","date_gmt":"2023-06-10T02:17:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/?p=18618"},"modified":"2023-06-10T23:34:23","modified_gmt":"2023-06-11T03:34:23","slug":"the-seven-best-places-to-close-a-deal-in-silicon-valley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/the-seven-best-places-to-close-a-deal-in-silicon-valley\/","title":{"rendered":"The Seven Best Places to Close a Deal in Silicon Valley by fake Larry Chiang"},"content":{"rendered":"

Larry Chiang\u2019s 5th book, WTDTYASBS, launched at a Harvard Law School keynote, so he knows about grand openings (He even attends and promotes the ones he isn\u2019t invited to also). As CEO of Duck9, he leads an army to help college student\u00a0consumers get a FICO<\/a>\u00a0over 770. Post H.L.S. keynote, Harvard Business wrote: \u201cWhat They Don\u2019t Teach You at Stanford Business School<\/a>\u201d (his latest Harbus post: \u201cSetting an intention for SXSWi\u201d.<\/p>\n

I like studying what works and what doesn\u2019t. I focus more of my time on the former, but often learn more from the latter. I compile tactical, earthy techniques from my mentors\u2019 books and sprinkle in a bit of technology. Think of my maneuvers as real-world Google Analytics, but with a focus on extrapolating future conditions and outlining countermeasure options for when the shitake hits the fan.<\/p>\n

With that introduction\u2026Here is my list of the seven best places to close a deal in Silicon Valley. It\u2019s meant to give you a home-field advantage even when you\u2019re on the road. It\u2019s street smart to have an array of spots to close deals; here is a window into mine.<\/p>\n

1)\u00a0Menlo Park Starbucks<\/a><\/p>\n

Meetings that happen in the office on Sand Hill road are official. Official meetings suck.<\/p>\n

They suck because<\/p>\n

a) You are in a bullpen office designated solely for meeting with entrepreneurs where the \u201cno\u201d rate is 90+ percent
\nb) They are scheduled back-to-back-to-back
\nc) Before you go to an office the size of my dog\u2019s crate, you have to hang in the holding zone of the receptionist\u2019s area
\nd) It feels corporate.<\/p>\n

As my military strategist mentor taught me\u2026where you fight matters. I say meet off-site. Away from the offices.<\/p>\n

Taking a meeting at the Menlo Park Starbucks says, \u201cIf my venture fund won\u2019t fund your startup, I might cut you a check from my personal account.\u201d<\/p>\n

2)\u00a0The AlwaysOn Venture Summit<\/a><\/p>\n

VCs love to look like they have lots of meetings lined up. It\u2019s like they think that having more meetings translates into a direct return for their LPs.<\/p>\n

It is most important for a VC to look busy when they are at a conference. They want to impress the other VCs with whom they might syndicate their next deal (or slide into the back-half of a tech deal they have no clue on, but appears hot and sought after). The best place to do this is at a venture conference and\u00a0AlwaysOn is hosting one this week<\/a>\u00a0(December 13-15).<\/p>\n

3)\u00a0Fraiche Yogurt<\/a>\u00a0vs.\u00a0Palo Alto Starbucks<\/a><\/p>\n

entrepreneurs with zero hope of ever reaching revenue dollar number one.<\/p>\n

Skip the Starbucks and head to Fraiche. Frozen yogurt is where VCs go to meet friends and future friends. If you fail to close a deal there, at least you will have a fair shot at another meeting.<\/p>\n

4)\u00a0Madera<\/a>, Table 60<\/p>\n

This is the default hangout of VC associates. It\u2019s at the Rosewood Sand Hill. Table 60 is right by the fireplace and is ideal. Make sure you put the VC with his back to the fireplace so that you appear in the best light. This is critical during the day, when the early afternoon sun will put you in the power position to close your deal.<\/p>\n

5)\u00a0Evvia<\/a><\/p>\n

Monday nights here during the double dip recession of 2008-2010 are as packed as they were during the boom times. Good things have numbers in common:\u00a0Table 60 is the only booth and it seats two 250-pound bean-counters and two founders comfortably. During lunch, this booth is as close to a D.C. power-broker, \u201csee and be seen\u201d table as you will find.<\/p>\n

6)\u00a0Sugar Cafe<\/a><\/p>\n

I have this theory: Eight women control all the networking power in Silicon Valley. These eight are ever-changing, but they all seem to gravitate to Sugar Cafe. Me, I suck up to these women and\u00a0man-charm<\/a>\u00a0the men.<\/p>\n

7)\u00a0Four Seasons San Francisco<\/a>: Not the private dining room, but the hotel bar nook. It feels like youre in Philadelphia. Make sure you avoid eye contact with other customers. Palm three waters from the downstairs valet and you will emote \u201cI-sleep-three-hours-per-night-so-I-hydrate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eight Bonus Spots to Close a Deal:<\/p>\n

Palace Hotel breakfast buffet during Web 2.0 Summit
\nSt Regis Hotel, 4th Floor
\nRudy\u2019s
\n410 Townsend
\nTaco truck parked outside of Stanford CS 147 Demo Night
\nStanford Bishop Auditorium patio area (losers\u2019 bracket of a business plan competition)
\nVia Fax Machine
\nThe Crunchies AfterParty<\/p>\n

Conclusion: It\u2019s just good planning to have a selection of meeting spots in your head, for those times when you\u2019re setting up an important face-to-face. In the comments, share some of yours.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Larry Chiang\u2019s 5th book, WTDTYASBS, launched at a Harvard Law School keynote, so he knows about grand openings (He even attends and promotes the ones he isn\u2019t invited to also). As CEO of Duck9, he leads an army to help college student\u00a0consumers get a FICO\u00a0over 770. Post H.L.S. keynote, Harvard Business wrote: \u201cWhat They Don\u2019t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stanford-engineering"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18618"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18618\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18685,"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18618\/revisions\/18685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}