Today we hear from Joel Riff, a Chicago native who studied software and law at U of Michigan and U of Chicago. Joel knew his calling was to help protect startups, so he went to the startup capital of the world, Silicon Valley. He then spent 25 years working with various startups, counseling them on key partnerships and deals.
I had a great time speaking with Joel about his experience in the Valley. He is a wealth of knowledge for founders looking to replicate the success of those early startups in Silicon Valley. "The best place to be is second, the first firm does the heavy lifting proving the market this will give investors confidence" Joel responded as to his advice to early founders.
Joel also had opinions on the future of Apple, which makes sense since his time in the Valley seemed to be in the shadow of Steve Jobs. "Jobs was a visionary... he led the market... but I don't believe Apple is the same company" he responded in regards to Apple's announcement of the iPhone 7. "They will keep falling from the number one spot... they will be fine in the long run, but they won't ever be number one in their valuation again" he clarified.
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