01/19/2018
It's the end of another work week, and our last full day in Menlo Park! Today we had some very bizarre weather: one minute it would be sunny and 55 then quickly turn to 50 and down-pouring. However, we were able to keep from getting too wet!
Today started off by visiting the non-profit company Benetech, which has multiple projects and missions they are currently working on: Booksource, which involves designing technology so that people can have access to and read several books if they are unable to do so because of blindness or other disabilities. Another project involves work in human rights, working through several media to find human rights violators and bring justice through that regard. The last that we heard about is their Benetech Lab, which our host, Ann, was primarily involved with. Their lab works with customers to design pieces of equipment to best serve people with technology such as eSight to provide the equipment necessary for them to overcome obstacles they face.
Ann had gotten her PhD in English and was excited and passionate about non-profit work because she feels that that has a much better impact on the community, even if it means having a lower salary for yourself.
Ann discussed B-corporations, which have two bottom lines instead of one: the normal revenue line, that is most often used to measure success, and the other is the social impact line, which allows them to know whether their work is doing the most justice to the community for the amount of work put in.
Ann also discussed several other topics, including Web 2.0, and how a second bubble burst could have both positive and negative impact on Benetech specifically. The positive impact being that it may drive them specifically to have a better place in the market and/or move them towards their primary goal: going out of business (meaning their services aren't needed any more). Also that they are fairly unaffected from drastic market change. The negative impact would be that they would be out of jobs too soon.
Finally, we talked about how Benetech goes where the market has failed. By doing so, they can run a non-profit and still be able to have a positive impact on the community. She also talked about how, out is Silicon Valley, there is no "balance" between work and life. Instead there is work-life, where your work is the passion that drives you and it consumes your life instead.
After our meeting with Ann, Anna gave her book report on Sound Recording before we went for a short visit to the Stanford University campus and bookstore, although we couldn't stay long due to the lack of parking spaces.
We then met Scott at Tibco, where he dove into the importance of unit testing, and how getting a PhD can be a very complex thing that doesn't always pay off in the way you expect. He also seemed to advocate planning and thinking very seriously about what you love to do, and then deciding how to pursue that! For example, he dislikes being a manager, even though he easily could be one by now. He just needed to be honest about what he likes to do and decide to stay at a lower level position if that means doing something you like doing more.
Lots of information that I found valuable today! Time for the weekend, which means possibly being unresponsive for a couple days. Redwood Forest hike tomorrow, and then we move to San Francisco!
Erik Nelson
Friday, January 19, 2018
Thursday, January 18, 2018
Day 11: LinkedIn and the Computer History Museum!
01/18/2018
Today, I was thoroughly surprised, impressed, and welcomed by LinkedIn and their buildings in Silicon Valley!
First, we were welcomed to their impressive facilities with a sign welcoming us to their facilities, which is the first one we've received! Their hospitality was refreshing and very much appreciated.
We met with several people while we were there, but the primary people I talked to during my experience was Della and Greg McMillan (Della is an alumnus from Luther College), who shared their main pieces of advice: if you never try, you will never know whether you succeed! And they are also very aware that working for big companies isn't for everyone, and with hard work, you can find what you are passionate about and pursue that path.
I asked Greg about one piece of advice he would give for a senior graduating this spring (besides building connections on LinkedIn), is to find your niche, and make yourself as unique as you can. When an employer reads a resume, they only see things that you have done, but that doesn't give an idea as to what kind of person you are. Therefore, giving them any indication as to who you are and what kind of person you are is extremely helpful!
There was definitely a keyword that was emphasized during this visit: passion. Finding what your'e passionate about, and changing your entire occupation to follow that passion is huge, and that often means following a roller coaster of a path in jobs. But finding what you love, learning from it, and letting that drive you forward, is one of the key things they emphasized.
After our visit to LinkedIn, we visited the Computer History Museum, which was so cool in every regard, there were so many artifacts in this museum that revolutionized how the entire world computed, and it was cool to see the different ways that computers were developed and invented.
We have our visit with Benetech tomorrow, a nonprofit organization, which is very different from anything thus far!
Wednesday, January 17, 2018
Day 10: Full day at Google!
01/17/2018
Day 10 lived up to all the hype for me! Today was our full day at Google and Googleplex, their headquarters in Silicon Valley!
We started the day meeting our two hosts, Ellen and Craig, who led us across their campus throughout the entire day. We started by taking a walk to our conference room, discussing some of the logistics behind their campus, their history, and how the do their part to leave very little footprint on the environment in this sunny, warm area. It was very interesting to hear about the very different ways that people commute to Google, whether by bus, car, electric car, or bike.
I found that the atmosphere on this campus was very refreshing! While the business and work behind their doors is serious and innovative in every aspect, it is also fascinating to see all of the components of their campus dedicated to their employees and their mental, emotional, and physical well-being.
Next, we went to our conference room to meet with a programmer over conference call, who's main advice was to say 'yes' as much as you can! If you don't, you could easily miss out on an opportunity to change your life. He told us about the plentiful projects he has been a part of, whether they succeeded or not, and how he got involved with Google. We heard from Anurag Batra, a product manager at Google, who told us about the importance of team chemistry, and how working in various team sizes can actually be much better, even if the number of members is much larger.
We met with two members of their University Education program, one of which got her Ph.D in English and taught while holding administrative roles for several years, and is very fresh to the program. These people taught me how much Google can reach out towards other industries and influence many people without having a technical inclination to change their products.
We then went to lunch on campus, where they had wonderful Indian food which was exactly what I was craving at the time!
Next, Craig opened up about the challenges, difficulties, and tough conversations that go into a couple's decision to move long distances for a job for one of them. This resonated with me and I learned that following the two questions "What's the worst that can happen?" and "Is that 'worst' worth it?". Craig also taught me that large companies, even though they can seem the most enticing, they simply aren't for everyone, and that's okay! Even though he was enthusiastic about Google, he definitely understands that following one's own path is the most important thing.
Below is a picture of me in front of one of the four main buildings that make up Googleplex and their campus.
This was a very eye-opening, fun day full of touring, discussion, and enjoyable conversation with a great host!
LinkedIn tomorrow!
Tuesday, January 16, 2018
Day 9: Venture Capitalist, Alpine Burger, and last thoughts on Seattle!
01/16/18
The first full day in Silicon Valley is in the books!
But before diving into the details of my day, I would like to share the picture below that, to me, captures a great deal of our experience in Seattle. I say this because this picture demonstrates the very rainy weather we experienced most of the time we were there! It shows the Space Needle under construction, which signifies a city in constant growth, development, and booming technological industry. The Ferris Wheel in the foreground also symbolizes the exciting, fun environment that Seatlle contains, with great attractions such as the Pike Place Market. In these ways, the picture below seems to perfectly capture the atmosphere of Seattle in January 2018.
Anyways, today held some very fun, informative meeting with Shomit Ghose, who is a venture capitalist at Onset Ventures, and Joel Mjolsness, a Luther College alumnus who is very experienced in startups, entrepreneurship, and other business insights. This allowed me to hear a much more detailed explanation of what goes in to starting a company, but from a very unique perspective. Some of the main takeaways include NETWORKING! It is very important to build your network, for it is what you know and who you know that gets you jobs in today's business world.
There were also discussions over what might make one startup successful and worthy of investments while others may not be worth that time or money. We talked data-driven companies, where they are relying less on the manufacturing of a product and more on the data as a source for its success (i.e. Google, Amazon, and Facebook). I inquired Joel about his experience leaving Luther and looking for a position right after graduation and what went into that process. Other topics included the "Bubble 2.0"involving the large amount of investing in "Unicorn" startups that could lead to a pop in this bubble of growth we seem to be finding ourselves in, cost of living in the San Francisco bay area, and what makes it so high.
After our meeting, we drove to a nearby shack for burgers in a quiet part of the area, where we enjoyed delicious burgers outdoors in the partly cloudy 55 degree weather!
That's all for today! Google tomorrow, which I'm very excited for!
The first full day in Silicon Valley is in the books!
But before diving into the details of my day, I would like to share the picture below that, to me, captures a great deal of our experience in Seattle. I say this because this picture demonstrates the very rainy weather we experienced most of the time we were there! It shows the Space Needle under construction, which signifies a city in constant growth, development, and booming technological industry. The Ferris Wheel in the foreground also symbolizes the exciting, fun environment that Seatlle contains, with great attractions such as the Pike Place Market. In these ways, the picture below seems to perfectly capture the atmosphere of Seattle in January 2018.
Anyways, today held some very fun, informative meeting with Shomit Ghose, who is a venture capitalist at Onset Ventures, and Joel Mjolsness, a Luther College alumnus who is very experienced in startups, entrepreneurship, and other business insights. This allowed me to hear a much more detailed explanation of what goes in to starting a company, but from a very unique perspective. Some of the main takeaways include NETWORKING! It is very important to build your network, for it is what you know and who you know that gets you jobs in today's business world.
There were also discussions over what might make one startup successful and worthy of investments while others may not be worth that time or money. We talked data-driven companies, where they are relying less on the manufacturing of a product and more on the data as a source for its success (i.e. Google, Amazon, and Facebook). I inquired Joel about his experience leaving Luther and looking for a position right after graduation and what went into that process. Other topics included the "Bubble 2.0"involving the large amount of investing in "Unicorn" startups that could lead to a pop in this bubble of growth we seem to be finding ourselves in, cost of living in the San Francisco bay area, and what makes it so high.
After our meeting, we drove to a nearby shack for burgers in a quiet part of the area, where we enjoyed delicious burgers outdoors in the partly cloudy 55 degree weather!
That's all for today! Google tomorrow, which I'm very excited for!
Monday, January 15, 2018
Days 6-8: Weekend at Bainbridge Island and Underground Tour, Plus Menlo Park!!
01/15/18
What a wonderful, action-packed final couple days in Seattle!
Saturday, I we finally had a partly cloudy sky and even saw some sun for the first time! We took a ferry over to Bainbridge Island, which is a small island off of the city, full of beautiful silence, natural smells, and views! We adventured the island Saturday afternoon before traveling back for a pancake dinner as an entire group.
Sunday, I walked with some members of the group to the space needle to see the popular landmark up close. Although I didn't travel up the needle, it was cool to be in the base of it, and to see the under-construction needle up close, plus explore the surrounding region! We then walked to Lake Union Park where we saw countless sailboats enjoying the day as well. We even took a tour of the Virginia V, one of the oldest vessels to date. After the long walk back, we rested before taking the Underground Tour of Seattle for $20! Very reasonable given how wonderful, funny, and educational this tour is! I highly recommend it to anyone visiting Seattle, as it is possibly my favorite part of my experience.
As it is late here and we will be having our first tours in Menlo Park tomorrow, I have decided to share my defining picture of Seattle tomorrow. The flight here was rather turbulent, but with a smooth landing this time! and the weather is actually very wonderful, with about 55 degrees and mostly cloudy.
Much more tomorrow! Pictures to follow!
Erik Nelson
What a wonderful, action-packed final couple days in Seattle!
Saturday, I we finally had a partly cloudy sky and even saw some sun for the first time! We took a ferry over to Bainbridge Island, which is a small island off of the city, full of beautiful silence, natural smells, and views! We adventured the island Saturday afternoon before traveling back for a pancake dinner as an entire group.
Sunday, I walked with some members of the group to the space needle to see the popular landmark up close. Although I didn't travel up the needle, it was cool to be in the base of it, and to see the under-construction needle up close, plus explore the surrounding region! We then walked to Lake Union Park where we saw countless sailboats enjoying the day as well. We even took a tour of the Virginia V, one of the oldest vessels to date. After the long walk back, we rested before taking the Underground Tour of Seattle for $20! Very reasonable given how wonderful, funny, and educational this tour is! I highly recommend it to anyone visiting Seattle, as it is possibly my favorite part of my experience.
As it is late here and we will be having our first tours in Menlo Park tomorrow, I have decided to share my defining picture of Seattle tomorrow. The flight here was rather turbulent, but with a smooth landing this time! and the weather is actually very wonderful, with about 55 degrees and mostly cloudy.
Much more tomorrow! Pictures to follow!
Erik Nelson
Friday, January 12, 2018
Day 5: Tignis with John Hurlocker, Tat's, and my book report!
01/12/2018
7
Today concludes the end to the first week of our trip! Although we still have two days in Seattle, time is already beginning to fly by!
Today, we started the morning with our first actual startup of the trip, Tignis, which is looking to reduce the amount of coal burned by nearly 10%! We met with John Hurlocker, who is one of the founders of this company of about 7 people, and he told us his backstory, including being a VP at VMWare, and how he decided to turn to this project with some of his closest friends. He has just hired some new employees with backgrounds varying between astrophysics degrees, and one person who never got a 4 year degree. It was interesting to hear various aspects about business models, seed investments, venture capitalism, and angels (which give their own money to support companies they believe in). I learned about the lean startup, which involves pitching the idea of a product to a prospective customer or investor, before that product is actually made.
I feel I learned an even greater amount from the three (fresh) employees, who just joined this company in the recent past. They discussed the openness and relaxation of being part of a much smaller company, not feeling the pressure of meeting a quota, and getting to experience the growth and management of every part of the company (not just one piece of the puzzle, within the confides of a small team, segregated from the operations of the rest of the company). They talked about interview questions (how many trees are there in the state of Oregon?), and the real test behind those kinds of questions. I thoroughly enjoyed hearing what they liked and didn't like about their past jobs or interests that led them here, and about the steep learning curve they've had to experience.
Once we finished meeting with them, I went with some others from my group to a place called Tat's delicatessen for lunch! This was another remarkable sandwich shop, inspired by east coast foods such as hoagies. I ordered a 12-inch chicken Parmesan sub that was out of this world! it was huge, and layered with melted cheese! It was almost too much food, but it definitely hit the spot.
From there, we walked back to our condos, where I gave my book report to the rest of the group! I talked about the "One-Minute Insights" found within my book and what I found to like or dislike about the book. I then led 6 discussion questions related to the book or to concepts covered in the book. It seemed to get us engaged about some in-depth perspectives on entrepreneurship.
Well that's it for today! There may be a break in my posting over the weekend, but I look to come back with a few more pictures that define my stay in Seattle before our Monday departure for the San Francisco bay area!
Erik Nelson
7
Today concludes the end to the first week of our trip! Although we still have two days in Seattle, time is already beginning to fly by!
Today, we started the morning with our first actual startup of the trip, Tignis, which is looking to reduce the amount of coal burned by nearly 10%! We met with John Hurlocker, who is one of the founders of this company of about 7 people, and he told us his backstory, including being a VP at VMWare, and how he decided to turn to this project with some of his closest friends. He has just hired some new employees with backgrounds varying between astrophysics degrees, and one person who never got a 4 year degree. It was interesting to hear various aspects about business models, seed investments, venture capitalism, and angels (which give their own money to support companies they believe in). I learned about the lean startup, which involves pitching the idea of a product to a prospective customer or investor, before that product is actually made.
I feel I learned an even greater amount from the three (fresh) employees, who just joined this company in the recent past. They discussed the openness and relaxation of being part of a much smaller company, not feeling the pressure of meeting a quota, and getting to experience the growth and management of every part of the company (not just one piece of the puzzle, within the confides of a small team, segregated from the operations of the rest of the company). They talked about interview questions (how many trees are there in the state of Oregon?), and the real test behind those kinds of questions. I thoroughly enjoyed hearing what they liked and didn't like about their past jobs or interests that led them here, and about the steep learning curve they've had to experience.
Once we finished meeting with them, I went with some others from my group to a place called Tat's delicatessen for lunch! This was another remarkable sandwich shop, inspired by east coast foods such as hoagies. I ordered a 12-inch chicken Parmesan sub that was out of this world! it was huge, and layered with melted cheese! It was almost too much food, but it definitely hit the spot.
From there, we walked back to our condos, where I gave my book report to the rest of the group! I talked about the "One-Minute Insights" found within my book and what I found to like or dislike about the book. I then led 6 discussion questions related to the book or to concepts covered in the book. It seemed to get us engaged about some in-depth perspectives on entrepreneurship.
Well that's it for today! There may be a break in my posting over the weekend, but I look to come back with a few more pictures that define my stay in Seattle before our Monday departure for the San Francisco bay area!
Erik Nelson
Thursday, January 11, 2018
Day 4: Microsoft and lots of rain!
01/11/2018
Day 4, and the Seattle weather only gets wetter! We had a much earlier start today, leaving our stay at 7:30 for a very rainy walk to our bus stop. However, we missed our first bus ride by only a minute, and stood in the medium rain for another 10 minutes, watching the Seattle traffic, as we waited for the next bus!
Once the bus arrived, we had a 30 minute ride to our stop, which we forgot to get off at! We then got off at the next stop and walked for another 30 minutes to our destination. As unfortunate as this may seem, we got the opportunity to walk through a large portion of the Microsoft campus, which is both beautiful and jaw-dropping. It can be safely said that this was the most impressive set of building belonging to one company that we have seen thus far.
Only a few minutes late, we arrived at the Envisioning Center, where we got to explore a room with futuristic technical design. This area had new equipment and technology that could possibly be incorporated into the daily lives of many within the next 3-7 years. As amazing as some of this equipment was, it was also very out-of-the-ordinary, and definitely seems like an innovative challenge for the future.
We then took a much shorter walk to the next building, where we stayed the rest of the day. This building was the first of the 4 main buildings built first on the Microsoft campus. This led to a day of insightful meetings with employees with various experiences, backgrounds, and areas of expertise. For example, our first guest was a code developer who innovates the code that programmers use today. Another guest was a leading developer with artificial intelligence, and another was a marketing specialist who had been with Microsoft for over 15 years!
Some of the major takeaways from these meetings had to do with the setup of a workplace: understanding, communicating, and unifying within the teams and within the company can make the workplace far more efficient. We learned about code design, and why C# is such a loved and used programming language today. Some basic thoughts behind marketing decisions were also considered. I also learned about what it is like to stay with a company for a very long time, and to see projects come and go, and how much luck and faith have to do with how every person ends up on their career path.
That's about it today! Visiting a small startup tomorrow, before giving my own book report to the group!
Erik Nelson
Day 4, and the Seattle weather only gets wetter! We had a much earlier start today, leaving our stay at 7:30 for a very rainy walk to our bus stop. However, we missed our first bus ride by only a minute, and stood in the medium rain for another 10 minutes, watching the Seattle traffic, as we waited for the next bus!
Once the bus arrived, we had a 30 minute ride to our stop, which we forgot to get off at! We then got off at the next stop and walked for another 30 minutes to our destination. As unfortunate as this may seem, we got the opportunity to walk through a large portion of the Microsoft campus, which is both beautiful and jaw-dropping. It can be safely said that this was the most impressive set of building belonging to one company that we have seen thus far.
Only a few minutes late, we arrived at the Envisioning Center, where we got to explore a room with futuristic technical design. This area had new equipment and technology that could possibly be incorporated into the daily lives of many within the next 3-7 years. As amazing as some of this equipment was, it was also very out-of-the-ordinary, and definitely seems like an innovative challenge for the future.
We then took a much shorter walk to the next building, where we stayed the rest of the day. This building was the first of the 4 main buildings built first on the Microsoft campus. This led to a day of insightful meetings with employees with various experiences, backgrounds, and areas of expertise. For example, our first guest was a code developer who innovates the code that programmers use today. Another guest was a leading developer with artificial intelligence, and another was a marketing specialist who had been with Microsoft for over 15 years!
Some of the major takeaways from these meetings had to do with the setup of a workplace: understanding, communicating, and unifying within the teams and within the company can make the workplace far more efficient. We learned about code design, and why C# is such a loved and used programming language today. Some basic thoughts behind marketing decisions were also considered. I also learned about what it is like to stay with a company for a very long time, and to see projects come and go, and how much luck and faith have to do with how every person ends up on their career path.
That's about it today! Visiting a small startup tomorrow, before giving my own book report to the group!
Erik Nelson
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)