What to pack when going to the Valley for two weeks

It was with great excitement that I received the news that I was chosen among 15 startup entrepreneurs to participate in an all-expenses paid two-week engulfment in Silicon Valley culture via the BlackBox Connect program.

Now the time has come to go!

I have taken some time to prepare and for this amazing learning experience:

• packed clothes
• connected to the other participants via the BlackBox WhatsApp group
• packed camera and sunscreen (assuming I will have some time to spend outdoors)
• packed running shoes and dancing shoes — I must get some exercise while there
• created a list of my contacts that are based in SF or nearby so I can call them up to go for coffee, along with booking a couple of meetings with investors. Thanks to LinkedIn for helping me search my contacts by location.
• packed extensive reading — ie what I am currently reading, including: Scaling up — by Verne Harnish, The Jelly Effect — by Andy Bounds, as well as the Oliver Sacks autobiography On the Move.
• And I have done my best to give the Repositive team all the support they need to continue to deliver great results while I am out of the office with only occasional catch-ups on Skype or email.

Not to worry though, they will do great. And I will be exhausted.

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In my day job I run a charity (DNAdigest) and a company (Repositive) where everything we do is about making efficient use of research data to have the most positive impact for research in health and disease.