Over the last few days I have been on the Web Mission 08 trip watching 20 UK tech start ups try and make a name for themselves in Silicon Valley. This has largely meant hanging out in dodgy San Francisco bars, chomping on business brunches and watching entrepreneurs as they pitch their business ideas to VCs, bloggers and to each other.

To be honest it has actually felt a little like an anthropological field trip and I feel I have learnt an awful lot about the psyche of people stupid brave enough to try and create their own Google, YouTube or Bebo.

So here then is my extremely noddy eleven point guide to being a UK tech entrepreneur

1 You need to have a monster ego – Obviously no one on the Web Mission trip would admit to this but to have a business idea and execute it you need to be a bit, how shall we say, full of it. There are not many shrinking violets in this party.
You probably need to have had an eventful childhood too. There are a lot of people on the trip with a point to prove. So be careful who you bully at school as they might end up as the next Jeff Bezos….