Bob Goedjen: SCORE Silicon Valley, the most experienced coaches an Entrepreneur can find.

SCORE "Counselors to America's Small Business" is a nonprofit association dedicated to educating entrepreneurs and the formation, growth and success of small business nationwide. 

Founded in 1964, SCORE has 389 chapters throughout the United States and its territories, with 10,500 volunteers nationwide. Both working and retired executives and business owners donate time and expertise as business counselors. 

The SCORE Chapter of Silicon Valley is probably one of the most special Chapters of the organization. Bob Goedjen is the Marketing Chair, a real privilege for the Silicon Valley’s Entrepreneurs.

Senior Counselors with Hi-Tech Background.

<<Our difference is that a large number of our members are out of the technical field, Hi-Tech. That changes the dynamics a little bit if you compare us with other SCORE Chapters. Many of us came out to startups, so we know that environment>>, says Goedjen

<<We are a non-profit organization. We do not charge anything because we are not compensated other than the pleasure of helping entrepreneurs>>.

<<We have about 45 active counselors here, and the amount of experience and contacts they have is incredible>>.

Early stage education and consulting.

<<We work in a pretty early stage. 30% to 40% of our clients are in business, but the rest of them are just starting their businesses>>.

<<Our distribution of clients is all over the map, from a gardener to a Hi-Tech company, but probably we have more people than other SCORE Chapters starting something in technology. Most of them we counsel are well before they are ready for Venture Capital; they are in the stage of collecting their own backers>>.

<<Therefore we help them to write business plans. We do not write their business plan, but we help them understand their business plan will be vital in eventually getting capital and review their drafts for improvement suggestions>>.

Entrepreneurial Engineers.

<<We see a lot of engineers either frustrated with their company because it does not recognize their idea, or engineers who have planned for starting their own company for a long time>>.

<<A lot of us recognize that an engineer sometimes lacks what he needs to become a businessman. We have inventors, but the greatest idea on Earth is not going anywhere without money and marketing. The major thing they need to know is marketing and business. So we teach a lot of classes, and the seminars are really good to help them to understand and decide if they really want to start up a company. Because in some cases it turns out not to be a good idea. Perhaps they do not like the risks necessary or they do not have the communication and people skills. Perhaps they need to find the right partners>>.

Vissionaries.

<<Another group of people are visionaries. They are tremendous at seeing the future and they are usually heavy risk-takers, but they hate the detail. And in that case we teach them that they cannot ignore this. And that helps, because when they talk with Venture Capitalists or Angel investors, and this area has a lot of investors, they have to be talking as business managers>>.

The Immigrant Entrepreneur.

<<We do have a lot of people who have moved here from a lot of countries, this is a very international area. They go to school here, they form friendships and networks, and pretty soon they say: “I am going to start my own company”>>.

<<I estimate 60-70% of the technology startups here are created by those not born in America. We also counsel many in the import-export field and that also attracts a lot of attention from especially immigrants>>.

Lack of Hispanic Counselors and Entrepreneurs.

<<We have spent the last 4 or 5 years trying to get volunteer Hispanic counselors and we just cannot find many of them. Somehow, we need to better connect with the Latino community in Silicon Valley>>.

Step by step

<<Most of our clients are in too much of a hurry. They want to do whatever they want to do by tomorrow or the next day. We know that it gets a little tedious, but they do have to develop a timeline and they have to have the steps in place and a current business plan>>.

Case by case. First of all, marketing research.

<<We work on a case by case basis. We try to ask the right questions. As we say in our sales training program, a question is frequently better than a statement. So we really emphasize doing the marketing research prior to starting a business>>.

Business Plan, the crucial tool.

<<It gets tiring after a while, but we force them, as much as we can, to write a business plan. If they cannot pass that requirement, then it will probably not work or at least it will take much longer to be successful>>.

<<We emphasize one thing, which is that the easiest business plan to write is after you have discovered the people who have the strongest need, and you work from that need back to supplying them what they need instead of trying to push your product or service. We try to teach our clients to think that way, because engineers are generally problem-solvers. We then ask, are you sure that there are enough people with this problem that are waiting for your solution?>>

The team, the network.

<<Small business should not be a solo effort. You cannot easily be a solo business person, no matter what business you are in. In counseling we do not use the word “team” as much as we use the word “network”. Networks are critical to meet every challenge for a small business>>.

<<We also suggest than anyone going into business plan to have a CPA and an Attorney, and probably an Insurance person they can contact relatively early in the life of the company>>.

Match the entrepreneurial team.

<<Many of the entrepreneurial teams were to created among work colleagues, and this is a very limited approach. That is why the entrepreneurs have to break out of that network and extend it to other skills. The Angel Investors can be helpful in that case, and also other initiatives like the yearly Startup Camp of Sun Micro>>.

Silicon Valley networks.

<<We like to work in conjunction with a many of the Chambers of Commerce and Business Associations. They often mixer events, and the Entrepreneur needs to go to some of the mixers that are rich in opportunities for networking. Silicon Valley is full of talented individuals interested in helping>>.

Key differences of being in Silicon Valley

<<Just being here you potentially are connected and you are close to the State of the Art, and you can be on the way to being connected to available money and to serious and well-informed investors>>.

International bridges.

<<We are locally oriented, but we are always interested in connecting with entrepreneurs outside of the area who are thinking seriously of establishing themselves here, especially in fields like technology, trade or intellectual property>>.

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