The Silicon Valley Accelerator program from FutureX aims to develop close ties between British and US firms, while providing UK startups with the opportunity to network with, and learn from, industry leaders in America’s tech heartland. After my experiences on the trip earlier this month, I can definitely say that it achieves its aims.

As a Founder and the CTO of Novosound, I was amongst five start-ups chosen to spend a week in the Bay Area. I was excited to understand how the Silicon Valley ecosystem and culture could be translated from what is typically a software led endeavour, to a hardware company such as Novosound.

The Bay Area of SV has almost one quarter of all the worlds unicorns. This is primarily because they understand the dynamics of scale and speed but also have significant access to funding. All of these are key things which I wanted to understand and bring back home to Novosound.

A Diverse Group

My cohort was a great mix of pre-seed (John Connor from Dooey), seed round (myself) and established businesses (Tarryn Gore of Kafoodle, Craig Lemmon of Miigen, and Brian Williamson of ThinkWhere). This allowed each of us to bounce ideas around for very well-rounded discussions.

Before I say too much about the trip, I have to say that meeting the people on the cohort was one of the greatest aspects of the experience. It can be quite lonely being a Founder or CEO/CTO of tech start-up, but I have a strong feeling that the five of us will be meeting up regularly as we grow our businesses for support and pep-talks.

Thought-Provoking

Every day on the program was packed with meetings and visits to key locations in the Bay Area. We had extremely informative round-tables with experts such as Duncan Logan of Rocketspace and Eric McAfee, thought provoking sessions at 500 Start-ups and WSGR, and wonderful insights in to Silicon Valley culture at Google and Facebook.

FutureX arranged the program in a way that there was plenty time for reflection. Here we could discuss, openly, how the trip was having an effect on our personal entrepreneurial journey. It was at these sessions that I could really contextualise my own place in the Silicon Valley ecosystem and how I would have to adapt to survive.

Not that there is much adaptation needed for Scots entrepreneurs in San Francisco! One of the biggest things that I have taken away from the visit is that, as Scottish entrepreneurs, the support that we get here in Scotland for training and developing entrepreneurs is second to none.

As an example, the pitch and investor training which I have received from the Converge Challenge and Informatics Ventures’ EIE programs allowed me to stand my own ground when in the valley. I seriously don’t think that anyone who has been through these have anything to worry about over in San Francisco!

During the trip, our group was introduced either as a Scottish Accelerator Program or as a Trade Envoy. I like to think of the program as being a bit of both, but mainly it is an Introduction Service. The companies who choose to go on the trip only get out what they are committed to putting in. If the companies have the right motivation and are at the right stage on the growth-curve then it all comes together, and you have a really rewarding time.

I’ve spoken with the rest of the cohort, and I know I’m not alone in saying that I would recommend the program to any Scottish based entrepreneur who wants to expand their business on the other side of the Atlantic.