Last month, Techboard interviewed Graeme Speak who is the CEO of BankVault to talk about the Perth tech startup scene as well as to give advice to any budding entrepreneur who wants to make it big in the Silicon Valley.

Techboard is an Australian website where startups can list their venture on their website and are ranked based on their announcements and other activities online. It’s a great way to become more visible in the community as it can be seen by not only other tech startup owners but also potential investors, customers, and and your fans.

Advice for Startups Going to the Silicon Valley

Many tech startups dream of going to Silicon Valley to check it out and hopefully make some positive connections while they are there – all in the span of a couple of weeks. Unless you have it all planned out, this is far too short to be there. Graeme Speak’s advice is to be there for a few months to make the meetings and follow up to make the most of your time there as it will give you the greatest impact of being in the US.
While BankVault has had great success at the World Cup Tech Forum pitch event where we were the winner in the FinTech division, being in the USA isn’t only good for going to pitch events. The most important thing is to make lots of meaningful connections who can help you along your way. Just like in Perth, it’s all about who you know. Referrals are always critical in business. There are some companies in the USA who specialise in making introductions to help boost your business such as law firms however Graeme says that it is best to try and do it yourself in any way that you can such as going to pitch events.