Blackbox: Inside Silicon Valley’s bootcamp for technology start ups

RUNS every morning, workshops all day and dorm beds at night. Welcome to Blackbox. One Aussie takes us inside Silicon Valley’s exclusive bootcamp .

KATHERINE Wood is the co-founder of Phonics Hero, a start-up that aims to teach children around the world to read and spell. Her idea recently won an all-expenses paid trip from Google to attend Blackbox Connect — a Silicon Valley based “immersion program” where entrepreneurs live, breathe and sleep all things tech — and network with tech superstars to hone their idea.

Here she writes for news.com.au about her experience.

Twenty seven individuals, 16 start-ups, 15 countries all under the same roof for two weeks. Welcome to Silicon Valley’s Big Brother.

Back in July my start-up, Phonics Hero, was selected to attend Blackbox, which intends to “empower born global start-ups with Silicon Valley resources”.

Cowper Inn, our home for the two weeks, was normally a cute bed and breakfast. It’s the kind of place you can imagine some American rom-com taking place; the fire roaring while you sip sherry as the grandfather clock chimes.

Not for these two weeks. The furniture was packed away and it became Blackbox HQ.

Katherine Wood and her business partner Jonathan pictured at the Inn.

We spent every breakfast, lunch and dinner with our fellow Blackboxers. Mornings started with a jog past Steve Job’s house or, in my case, sit-ups and push-ups in the grounds of Stanford University.

After catching up with our teams at home we got started. For the next eight hours we boot camped our business with pitching coaches, branding workshops and mentoring.

Alongside this, we were fortunate enough to hear Eric Schmidt of Google, Marissa Mayer of Yahoo, Adam Cheyer of Siri and a whole host of inspiring ‘made-it’ entrepreneurs.

Inside the house were 26 others and not one person I didn’t get on with. There were Palestinians, Egyptians, French and more ... It didn’t matter where you were from everyone was pulled together by the epic task of trying to create something from scratch.

The next Larry Page or Mark Zuckerberg could be here.

Silicon Valley is a bubble. My business partner, Jonathan, described it as the Truman Show for tech. You hop off the train at Palo Alto and the Nike or Quicksilver T-shirts are suddenly replaced with LinkedIn or Survey Monkey. The conversations switch to tech-mode; “our valuation is 1.2 billion,” or “which language are you coding in?”

One of the most inspiring and Silicon Valley-esque talks was from Google X, which intends to “invent and launch moonshot technologies” — those that make the world a “radically better place”.

Obi Felten (one of Google’s moonshot staff members) took us through Google Glass, the driverless car and how they are bringing the internet to the Third World. It was inspiring to hear how they’re tackling these incredibly complex and tough challenges.

Silicon Valley’s success has seen other parts of the country like southern California try to replicate it. Picture: Mark J. Terrill.

At Phonics Hero we have a moonshot challenge; tackling the one in four Australian children who struggle with reading difficulties. Often it can feel like an uphill battle but as Obi put it: “when you find your passion, you are unstoppable”.

The irony of the trip is the godfathers of the Valley weren’t the ones that inspired me. You can Google that stuff. It was the other entrepreneurs, who were one step ahead, or one step behind in the journey.

There was Boxcrytor, the Germans, who were on a path to millions, Restored Hearing who have invented a product which reduces work based hearing damage by 15 per cent and then us, Phonics Hero, who have a lofty but very determined vision to ensure every child can read and spell.

Santa Monica also wants to replicate Silicon Valley’s success. Picture: Reed Saxon, File.

Tech companies have bought immense wealth to parts of California driving up property prices for locals. Picture: AP/Richard Vogel.

What’s your valuation man? Picture: AP/Paul Sakuma, File.

I’ve come back feeling much more confident; at every step of the journey there will be something which is rocking the boat. It’s part and parcel of the start-up game; ride the wave, because there will be another wave behind it.

Adam Cheyer of Siri talked about “appreciating the moment, appreciating the phase”. Entrepreneurs pang for the next stage of development; more funding, more revenues. Adam had sold Siri to Apple for a reported $200 million leading to years of Apple meetings and structure, but I sensed he had longed to be back in his bedroom coding like the old days. Success doesn’t necessarily mean you will enjoy the outcome.

Google did a great talk about the method they use to keep focused. It’s called “Objectives, Key Results”. Essentially you can have three objectives a quarter; they need to be broad but measurable. Don’t say how you will get there, that’s for the person actioning it to worry about. By limiting ourselves to three objectives I feel freed.

As a start-up it’s always so tempting to run after the shiny thing that’s caught your eye. There is an unconscious voice which says: “but this might give you the tipping point”. It won’t, it will just distract you from the important things. I now say no more often than yes.

Doing the all-important pitch.

Listening to local start up ideas in Sydney.

Inside Sydney’s Fishburners, a co-working space for local start-ups.

Another great piece of advice was from Blackbox founder Fadi Bishari who spoke on what makes Silicon Valley tick. He said it’s all about connecting the dots — networks are everything. Investors will only take meetings with you through referral so spend the time networking.

I’ve neglected this, there is always something pressing to work on. But in an Australian ecosystem, which is small, networking is even more crucial; you are only ever one conversation from the right person.

I was at an Australian conference before I left and one of the speakers said “you’ll come back three inches taller when you realise that the people there are just like you”. He was right; they are, they just have a bigger market. It’s sobering when you realise Australia has the same population as Madagascar.

So I now I am home, it’s back to reality; a little bit taller, a lot more focused and a lot more enthused that we can be the team to ensure every child learns to read and spell.

Read more on Katherine’s company at Phonics Hero