Any advice for an entrepreneur visiting the Silicon Valley for the first time for a couple weeks (which I am currently doing). How to make the best of it and connect with relevant people when you don't have a big network locally and not much time to cultivate one?

I have a new concept which is quite simple and once I pitch it I am afraid the investors may no longer need me. Any tips on how to protect myself? The idea is nothing like groupon but has many of the same attributes like: It's a website, easily scalable, no barrier to entry. First to market is very important.

I have an excellent idea. Most of my friends appreciated that. But probably that's not a sufficient sample set to judge an idea :) What steps do you propose to "test the idea" ? Or should I say how to do the "market study" ?

We are working on our deck and exec summary to look for seed funds early next year. The deck is using all the 'presentation zen' type principals, so it has little text that supports the speaker's narrative, but this means that deck doesn't do a great job of standing alone. When VCs ask us to send them something, should it be the deck and the exec summary or just the desk or just the exec summary? And I have found 1 page exec summaries and 2-3 page ones; what do you prefer?

I have a potential investor who's willing to put in $250k if I can raise an additional $250k from others... I that a red flag that they won't put up the whole amount of our ask?

How important is it for me to be at all the scenester conferences and events?

How would you advise your companies to get their first bits of press (assuming no funding yet)?

What's the biggest hole in present-day ecommerce in your opinion?

I want to learn how to sell. I'm creative and motivated, and I want to learn how to develop leads and turn them into money. What skill set should I be developing?

I'm in my final year of college. I know I want to work in a design and/or sales capacity with a startup. What should I be doing right now?