redwoods

Shoreditch - Silicon Ditch - is a great area to work - it has a great buzz and creativity - and living is not too expensive if you head further into east london - you don't have to live in west london, which admittedly is too pricey.

This is not quite right: 1. In the UK you are not required to work three months after giving notice unless it is a provision of your contract of employment. If you don't have a written contract - then you will be entitled to a statutory notice period that roughly accrues in weekly units depending on years worked - but with cap. However,you can be paid in lieu of notice. It is fine to employ someone on one months notice - and less if they have worked for you for less than twelve months. 2. Restrictive covenants are unenforceable in the UK if they are unreasonably wide. ie you may be restricted for a year from hopping into a company that does the same thing in the same area. But not from using you transferable skills in a different company or different area. If someone tries to get you to sign to a two year, 200 mile radius, transferable skill / different business restriction - sign it and don't worry as it will not be enforceable.

Silicon Muskeg? According to wiki: Muskeg is an acidic soil type common in Arctic and boreal areas, although it is found in other northern climates as well. Muskeg is more-or-less synonymous with bogland but muskeg is the standard term in Western Canada and Alaska (while bog is more common elsewhere).

That would be better for the tech hub near Cambridge, UK - Silicon Fen - not Shoreditch, East London

I still prefer Silicon Ditch - where we already have the pure essence of innovation permeating the landscape. Its just a grimey landscape, with fewer palms.

Yes but Silicon Ditch definitely evokes the grimey feel of Old Street. A founder of Huddle described Silicon Valley as Reading (UK) but with sun and palm trees. Even if you filled Old Street with sun and palm trees - it would still be grime - central (though I love working there).

How about "Silicon Ditch?" "Silicon Roundabout" is one name that has stuck for the tech cluster around the ugly traffic circle in the Old Street area of Shoreditch, East London. I think "Silicon Ditch" is catchier and maybe articulates the British penchant for self-deprecation better...

Any votes for Silicon Ditch? "Silicon Roundabout" is one name that has stuck for the tech cluster around the ugly traffic circle in the Old Street area of Shoreditch, East London. I think "Silicon Ditch" is catchier and maybe articulates the British penchant for self-deprecation better...

NB: not sure why I got down votes on this post - if an investor has put $ into a company, then he can't just pull it out at short notice unless the shareholders agreement allows for this. If you put cash in, you put it in. It won't come out unless there are either a) dividends or b) a liquidity event of some kind. An investment company is not a bank holding deposits and investors shouldn't put money in and then create waves by expecting it out again outside of a) or b) - unless they have a redeemable convertible note of some kind.... But maybe I missed something?

Really easy to forget this stuff so thank you. When I feel the answer to my success lies with other people I tend to overask. When I am confident my success lies with me my perspiration andinspiration, and a little luck, then I'm less likely to over-reach a relationship.

My wife has a beautiful friend who wants to marry a nerdy guy... her phrase . So your strategy could pay off! There's a great song by an English band: "sit down next to me" by James, which works for me when I feel dorky.

Genuinely surprising - though with the cuts that have just been announced by the chancellor, government spending on IT infrastructure (which makes up a meaningful part of these numbers I imagine) will fall and our numbers will take a dent. Even so it is an encouragement to people selling to and into the UK.

Thank you

These are great questions. Exactly the ones I am asking myself right now as a non technical guy trying to work out which piece of the puzzle to start with in building out my project .

It's great when people are so helpful. It's the little things that change how you feel about your day.

Congratulations.

Classic!

Yes. If there is one universal truth in the land of parents with newborns, it's that you'll get a sore back. Especially when you have to spend hours leaning over as they hold your fingers learning to walk. I'm now friends with my physio!

1. It's the best thing ever. Do it when your ready but if your ready younger that's great. You need all the energy you can get. If I could have done it younger I would. 2. I only felt truly grown up when I became a dad at 43.there's something about putting your own sleeping child to bed, the privilege, joy and responsibility are amazing. It's not that your not grown up if u don't have kids but it made me feel more solid and that's a better platform for launching a business - for me anyway. 3. While you will be more risk averse with kids the benefit is assessing opportunities more clearly. 4. I have just started reading "Raising Babies" by Steve Biddulph a psychologist. Very enlightening on the issue of putting tiny kids into day care. Basically, avoid at all costs if possible according to the latest research. The best thing in the world is looking after your own kids and when they are tiny this is best for them too. As another post says : don't shoehorn them into your life, change your life to fit around them. 5. The first 12 months of a new baby are a blur of exhaustion. Don't fight it, accept it. You can't do 10 eighteen hour days in a row anymore... And that's a good thing too!

1. Keep the investment, assuming the shareholders agreement provides for this. Do not jeopardise your cash position for the emotional convenience. 2. Instruct a lawyer to commence filing suit for breach of employment contract. This usually sobers up aggressive types. 3. Tenaciously and repeatedly communicate this persons breaches to them whenever they accuse you. Do not admit wrongdoing.

Yup

Nice.

How many YC companies failed to get in first time but got in on later applications - any knowledge on this?

Great article tho I worry that it makes raising seed $$ sound easy.

Great thanks

The ABA are the last people to listen to on this subject. Their mortgage payments are inextricably linked to the status quo and thus cannot be expected to enjoy an objective perspective.

Interesting