Visitors come to Silicon Valley every day, drawn to the wealth of knowledge, the opportunities for funding and business development, and the sheer energy of this place. Such trips cost lost opportunity time at the home office and thousands of dollars in airfare and hotels, so this time should be well spent.
Too often, companies come without much planning, trying to arrange meetings at the last minute or once they arrive. For high impact meetings, a certain finesse and effort is required, and local contacts make it much easier.
Advanced planning also helps you pick interesting events to attend, arrange visits to big companies, and meet the widest range of potential investors, mentors, customers and partners.
Over the last seven years, I have arranged around 1000 meetings and visits for companies around the world, resulting in funding, new customers, new partners, new advisory relationships, rewritten business plans and strategies and a path forward once the visit is over.