5 Things You Should KnowAbout Silicon Valley Before You Go
Ofa
1. The Valley
The Valley is not a valleySAP
40
CiscoYahoo
TechShop
GoogleApple Facebook
LinkedInPalo Alto
Stanford
Mountain ViewY-Combinator
20
Mobile
SlackTwitter Coin
2. Culture
Hire Slow, Fire Fast
If you’re trying to get a real feel of the culture, apply and interview for jobs in three Silicon Valley companies even if you don’t
want any of them.
The interview will teach your more about Silicon Valley company culture and the
valley than any tour.
—Steve Blank @ Google Tech Talk
3. Homework
Do Your Homework!• Personal: LinkedIn, Twitter, Reddit,
Instagram • Company: Crunchbase, Angelist,
ProductHunt, Hackernews • Reference:
• My Blog: https://ofafa.wordpress.com • Paul Graham’s essays: http://
www.paulgraham.com/articles • 90 by
4. Challenges
The Hard Things
• Transportation
• Safety
• Financial support
5. Easy
Yes/No Free Lunch
• You can get real lunch free easily, but there’s no easy money for you
• Build impact • Try to get access to
private events
—“How to create wealth”, Paul Graham
–Paul Graham
“If you go to see Silicon Valley, what you’ll see are buildings. But it’s the people that make it Silicon
Valley, not the buildings.”