The Essentials
Contains Over
125
Hours of Content
Over 50
Programs
Unlocking the Secrets of Innovative Entrepreneurship and VC Investing
Do you dream of creating your own technology startup and making it the next unicorn? Or dream of finding the world's best innovators as an angel or venture investor?
Innovative entrepreneurship unleashes opportunity for anyone with the audacity to dream, create, and execute.
Join now to learn how.
For Entrepreneurs
If you learned entrepreneurship, you probably learned lessons in vogue 30 years ago which bear little resemblance to the core principles employed by the world's most innovative and explosive growth companies. The best investors and companies have a modern playbook of best practices and core principles, which you must master to become a serious technology entrepreneur.
For Investors
Venture investment makes up less than 0.2% of U.S. GDP, but produces 21% of U.S. GDP measured by revenues. A small handful of funds find and invest in the vast majority of U.S. companies worth over US$1 billion. How do these funds keep repeating their successes? The answer is a highly replicable playbook, which can be taught to any serious angel or venture capital investor.
MY story
Why I Created Demystifying Silicon Valley
My name is David Frazee. My goal is to create the single best learning platform for innovative entrepreneurship. I grew up under the poverty level in rural Kansas and innovative entrepreneurship was my way out. I want everyone to have that opportunity, whether as an entrepreneur or investor.
Silicon Valley has created enormous wealth and enriched our lives. The tools we have pioneered here are critical to building a better future that belongs to everyone. You have access to more information and fewer technology barriers to build a startup than Bill Gates and Steve Jobs did when they began. So, what is holding you back? I have unlocked here the secrets of Silicon Valley insiders for everyone.*
We need to unleash the talent of every person who can dream, create, and execute to transform our world. What would the world look like if everyone could achieve their dreams? Let’s find out together.
Learn Everything About Startups and Venture Investing
I divide The Essentials courses* into these substantive areas:
Creating Innovation | Protecting Innovation | Creating Companies | Financing Innovation | Legal | Talent | Realizing Value | Surviving Distress | Investing | Fund Management | Technology
*Courses subject to change and are released over a schedule
The Essentials
What Others Are Saying
"What David has created is substantially more practical and insightful than what students pay $75,000 a year to learn in traditional universities. I wish I had these courses myself when I was first starting out."
Dr. Salman Azhar
Duke University The Fuqua School of Business faculty, serial entrepreneur, VC fund partner, advisor to over 125 startups, Ph.D. Computer Science
"It’s the bible for entrepreneurs with high standards and big ambitions. Finally, a high quality and practical course aimed at people who want to start businesses based on proven best practices for launching and growing a scalable, fast-growing company following the Silicon Valley playbook."
Effie Datson
Senior financial services executive, entrepreneur, board member, founder of 100 Women in Finance in EMEA, Harvard MBA
"David's decades of experience as a successful entrepreneur, global attorney, and venture fund founder brings an expertise in the rarified air of venture training that is without equal. And the ability to re-visit topics (since all are recorded) enables greater insights. So glad I joined!."
David Lefkowitz
CPA and Managing Member and Founder, Brickell Avenue Consulting and Lefkowitz & Company LLP
"David makes the ins and outs of startups easy to understand and accessible. Thanks to DSV, I’ve gone from 'analysis paralysis' to actually founding my own startup! As a first generation entrepreneur, this course has given me the foundational knowledge and confidence to advance through the stages of launching my business."
Brandee Blocker Anderson
CEO & Founder of The Antiracism Academy, Adjunct Law Professor, Columbia JD
"As a first time female entrepreneur, David and his program, DSV has opened a new world of possibility that I believed was not accessible to me. David's teaching style, program content, and real world experience is captivating. I continue to revisit the program content when I'm stuck or need insight and it's helped me evaluate my capabilities, passion, and drive to solve really challenging and complex problems. I believe DSV is a must have curriculum for any inspiring entrepreneur."
Min Pomper
CEO & Founder, MyCareLinq, Stanford Health Care, Kaiser Permanente
"David makes innovation and entrepreneurship clear and unintimidating, bringing humor, insight, and a conversational approach to a field that has been exclusionary for too long. He is the Neil DeGrasse Tyson of business, making complex subjects so clear and fun you don't even realize how much you've learned."
Adisa Banjoko
Award-winning author, historian, entrepreneur, and teacher. Host of Bishop Chronicles podcast
"If looking up into the night sky is looking into the past, then being a member of DSV is looking into the future. The platform is a nebula of never-ending knowledge surrounding topics that are crucial for individuals in or wanting to enter the entrepreneurial/ venture capital ecosystem. David’s thoughtful, concise, and articulate approach to complex material provides a digestible framework that makes learning fun and sustainable. He taught me so much I needed to survive as a Venture Associate and founder of my own non-profit. David is the Halley’s Comet that never leaves your night sky; he is always there when needed."
Marielle Ednalino
Senior Associate at Initial Capital, Founding Executive Director of htmelle, advocate girls and women in innovation, technology, and venture capital
"David’s videos take you deep down the rabbit hole of venture capital. It’s like being given the keys to a vault... and a set of instructions on how best to leverage the contents of the vault... and then, instructions on how to create your own vault. DSV blows the lid off the Valley with exciting deep dives into every aspect of the culture. DSV de-fangs venture capital by sharing the perspectives of both founders and investors."
Adam Sgrenci
Executive Director, Center for Infrastructure and Society, advisor to tech startups, innovator, agitator, and facilitator of regenerative development globally.
Sign Up For Two Free Classes!
Episode 31. Four Quick Fundraising Lessons
This week’s Entrepreneur Minute covers four quick lessons for fundraising. First, raise money like your future as an entrepreneur depends upon it. It does. Second, raise money sooner than you think you need to, and budget to achieve milestones well before you crash. Third, spend precious funds in your bank account like you will never raise another round of financing. Finally, when you fall behind, cut twice and deep and twice and fast as you think you need to.
Advice for a First Time CTO
I am leaving a large company as an IT exec to join a friend’s startup as the startup’s initial CTO. Do you have any advice for a first-time startup CTO?
I will assume you have the basics, such as up-to-date relevant technical excellence, the ability to design, manage, and create projects, a history of delivering work on time, communicating deliverables, learning to say no, and the like. I also assume you are fanatical about security, privacy, and other areas which typically fall into the engineering side of most startups. Let me therefore focus on a few common issues I see among startup CTOs….
Expert Webinars
Secrets of a Unicorn Hunter with Tim Connors
A small number of early stage Series Seed and Series A investors find and mentor a disproportionate number of “unicorns,” companies valued at over US$1 billion. Tim Connors is one of the industry’s best unicorn hunters. Tim was named to the Forbes 2020 Midas List for being among the world’s best dealmakers in venture capital. In this Expert Webinar, we will learn from Tim some of his secrets for identifying great technical founders, vetting hard computer science “under the hood,” and applying his fundamentals-focused Lean approach to building extraordinary value.
The Science of Scaling with Mark Roberge
“When to scale?” and “How fast?” These two questions are mission-critical for startup organizations. Yet, as entrepreneurs, we lack a rigorous approach to answering them.
The “Science of Scaling” provides a scientific, data-driven approach to uncovering answers to these critical questions. After peering inside the go-to-market machinery of hundreds of startups over the last three years, Stage 2 Capital Managing Partner Mark Roberge found five issues as the most common diagnoses for failed scale attempts. The resulting Science of Scaling approach has been the bedrock of Stage 2 Capital’s method in guiding entrepreneurs and their new ventures through the scaling process. You can sign up for Mark’s eBook, “The Science of Scaling,” here.
Secrets of a Serial Entrepreneur with Gene Hoffman
Gene Hoffman builds companies that disrupt industries. Gene is President of Chia Network, a blockchain based on proofs of space and time to make a cryptocurrency which is less wasteful, more decentralized, and more secure. Prior to that, he was co-founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of Vindicia, a subscription management solutions company sold to Amdocs. Prior to Vindicia, he was co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Emusic, acquired by Vivendi/Universal. Gene has been recognized by the San Francisco Business Times with the “40 under 40 Emerging Leaders Award,” was featured on the cover of Forbes Magazine as a member of the July 1999 E-Gang, was named one of the 100 most influential entrepreneurs in technology in Upside Magazine, and was the youngest NASDAQ CEO in history. Gene also attended the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill where he was a manager of the men’s collegiate basketball program under Dean Smith and Bill Guthridge.
Join the Best Startup Learning Community
Select the membership level that is right for you. If you cannot afford to pay full price, or are a student, a teacher, or 24 years old or under, read my page on reduced pricing.
