On the 28th January we found out that housebites had been selected as a Web Mission 2011 candidate. We’d been singled out as an innovator and disruptor in our field and were heading to the Mecca of the Internet World, Silicon Valley!
 
Web Mission is a competition to identify and support the top 20 fast-growing "Web Economy" technology companies in the UK.  That’s all well and good. But we hadn’t even launched yet!  We were going to be travelling alongside companies already turning over millions per year, such as Skyscanner; and companies that were already venture funded like Rightster.com and MADE.com.  How did we wangle this?
 
Our agenda has been set and we’re off to talk to the banks and lawyers that serve the likes of Facebook and Cisco and visit the companies that keep the internet wheel turning: Microsoft, Twitter, Salesforce…. Oh and there’s the parties: Techcrunch, and DrinkTank at Michael (Bebo) Birch’s house nick-named Birch Castle, amongst others.  This is going to be a heavy week and one that we need to make the most of.
 
Web Mission is also an opportunity to meet investors in the Valley.  Not only do we have a chance to pitch dozens of VCs within our agenda but the exposure we’ve already received around the mission has prompted some to contact us direct.  For those not aware of the VC community and culture, they are a tough bunch to get in front of as they receive 100’s of business plans a month. They prefer being introduced by someone they trust.  So we’ve been given an immediate ‘in’.
 
We’re pitching for money so we can get the housebites model fully built, marketed and adopted. Adoption of a service like housebites is core to making the model work.  We know that our potential market is colossal. But how do we get initial acceptance of the model?  My co-founder and I obsessively follow the blogs, tweets and buzz around Silicon Valley companies that have built communities. Now we have the opportunity to go and meet them, hear directly what worked and, probably more importantly, what didn’t. 
 
Finally Web Mission is giving us an opportunity to explore the idea of bringing our business to the US.  Within our agenda we’ve got key lawyers, bankers, PRs, UK DTI representatives and ex-pats offering knowledge, guidance and contacts.  Previous Web Mission alumni such as Huddle.com and Skimlinks have since relocated to the Valley and their companies have grown as a result.

Clearly it’s a solid idea and execution that will dictate whether a company is a success or not and our focus should be on getting these right. But Web Mission is a great seal of approval and door-opener and we intend to make the most of every second.


Simon Prockter is the CEO and co-founder of housebites, a peer-to-peer social dining platform that enables people to meet through dinner parties in the home. He previously founded SpeedDater which was sold in 2008.