The Wall Street Journal recently wrote an article stating that the current recession has been kinder to most start-ups compared to the dot-com bust of 2000-01, but has it? Silicon Valley’s unemployment rate has increased this past month to 11.9% which is higher, Business Insider’s Henry Blodget states, than after the dot-com bust. The results are thousands of people unemployed and desperately searching for jobs.
In response to the rise of the unemployment rate, many individuals have ventured to start their own businesses. According to the San Jose Mercury News’ Scott Duke Harris, “Bay Area startups, which usually attract about one-third of venture investments, landed a remarkable 46 percent of venture dollars during the quarter.” Online community groups such as MeetUp.com are also gaining in popularity for people trying to start their own business and build network contacts. For example, the Silicon Valley- Stanford Web Consortium’s next event is “Seven Entrepreneurial Techniques to Help You Thrive in Any Economy,” targeted at entrepreneurs and start-up companies.
As the holiday season comes near, we can only hope that we have seen the worst of the recession’s damages and can look forward to a positive return in 2010.
Read the full article “Start-Up Shakeout” at
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125978866772073393.html
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At SVP we pride ourselves of the community we have. Because our renters have diverse areas of expertise centered on some of the same industries it’s easy to get advice from someone sitting at the next desk or develop a more formal business relationship.
One of the advantages is that there’s no charges for this or any expectations, it just happens naturally after interacting at our monthly social gatherings or over coffee in the break room. At SVP we simply provide the environment and the basics needs any startup or business has to hopefully succeed.
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At SVP we have 4 meeting rooms available for our renters to use as much as they like. We don’t charge extra for this or have a cap on the number of hours/week you can use it. Access to the meeting rooms are included in the monthly fee.
Meeting rooms are booked via a shared online Google calendar, which makes it easy for everyone to see what’s available and when and who has booked what room. We rarely if ever have overlaps. Our most popular room is the video conference room which makes it easier for the renters to conduct meeting with colleagues and clients overseas.
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We are happy to welcome back the 490 MeetUp group on Tuesday, July 21. It seems they have decided to use SVP as their permanent MeetUp location. J You can find more info on 490 here: http://www.meetup.com/Group490/
You will find a list of all upcoming events in our reception as well as on our website (under News & Events).
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This has been a busy week so far; we had the opportunity to host two different MeetUp groups. In addition to Centered Leadership, we hosted the Silicon Valley CTO MeetUp. They have used our space for a while and are drawing quite a crowd. The event is co-sponsored by Cogniane (www.cogniance.com) they provide the lunch and we provide the space and soft drinks.
If you’re interested in hosting a MeetUp event at SVP just send me an email and I’ll be happy to give you a tour of the space.
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Last night we hosted the Centered Leadership MeetUp group for the first time (more info here http://www.meetup.com/Centered-Leadership/ ). The theme of the MeetUp was “Inspiring Creativity as a Leader” and the presenter was Mr. Xavier Lee. 14 people attended the event and Mr. Lee did a great job explaining and illustrating why creativity is important in a leader.
As always, SVP provided the room free of charge as well as soft drinks and snacks. We look forward to hosting Centered Leadership again in the future.
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Today was the day of the monthly SVP lunch. Since the weather was excellent we decided that it was time to get the BBQ out and take advantage of our lovely outdoor area. There was enough hotdogs for an army, but we finished it off pretty well (with room for dessert).
Our monthly lunch is open for current and potential renters as well as people interested in learning more about SVP and our renters. Just email me for the date of our next lunch if you’re interested: stine @ siliconvalleypad . com
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