CC049: Alex Lazarow // why the Silicon Valley playbook is outdated

Interview begins: 7:32 Debrief begins: 50:16 Alex Lazarow is the author or "Out-Innovate: How Global Entrepreneurs from Delhi to Detriot Are Rewriting the Rules of Silicon Valley." Alexandre (Alex) Lazarow has spent his career working at the intersection of investing, innovation, and economic development in the private, public, and social sectors. He is a venture capitalist with Cathay Innovation, a global firm that invests across Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America. Alex is an adjunct professor specializing in impact investment and entrepreneurship at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. He is a Kauffman Fellow, CFA Charterholder, and a Stephen M. Kellen Term Member at the Council on Foreign Relations. He earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and a B.Comm from the University of Manitoba. Alex is a regular columnist with Forbes, and his writing has been featured in the Financial Times, Harvard Business Review, McKinsey Quarterly, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, Business Insider, and Insurance CIO Outlook magazine, among others. He speaks regularly on global innovation trends and has presented at Collision, Endeavor, InsureTech Connect, Harvard Business School, the Social Innovation Summit, SOCAP, and the Corporate Venture Capital Summit. In today's episode, Alex shares his research into innovation outside of Silicon Valley, including successful attributes that are often overlooked when working outside the Valley, and the surprises he found in his research. We discuss: - Ad: Finding experienced employees for your new business with Integrity Power Search (5:08) - Ad: Business calling and texting anytime, anywhere with Tresta (6:32) - Entrepreneurial interest outside the Bay Area (7:35) - Harmful biases from the valley (11:48) - Questioning the necessity of unicorn companies (15:24) - Adapting VC for non-Valley founders (25:37) - Revenue shares with employees (31:57) - Balancing innovation as a startup (36:50) - The "new" trend in remote work (40:22) - Bidirectional innovation from outside Silicon Valley -Ten-year predictions for Valley vs. non-Valley startups Check out Alex's book: https://amzn.to/2JT0MMt Follow Alex on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Alex_Lazarow Follow upside on Twitter: https://twitter.com/upsidefm Advertise with an upside classified: https://upside.fm/classifieds – This episode is sponsored by Integrity Power Search, the #1 full stack high growth startup recruiting firm between the coasts. They partner with venture capitalists, private equity groups and CEOs to build amazing teams for the world’s most disrupting companies. Learn more about or get in touch with Integrity Power Search: https://upside.fm/integrity – This episode of upside is sponsored by Tresta. Tresta is a mobile app that lets you do business calling and texting from anywhere. With Tresta, you can set up your business phone number, download the app, and start calling and texting UNLIMITED right away. Tresta is the best business phone app on the market, whether you’re a founder or freelancer / just starting your business, or you’re already established. Growing your network and your business is all about communication. You’ve got to be available, no matter where you are. Tresta offers the call management features that empower you to communicate smarter and more efficiently, like auto attendants, call recording, user groups, and more. And you don’t need any special equipment – just the smartphone you’re already using. Tresta is easy to configure, so you can set everything up yourself – all online. It’s just $15 per user per month, with no contract, so start your free 30-day trial today at https://tresta.com/upside