Lessons Learned: Growing Up in the Silicon Valley
“Where are you from?” “Around here.”
Drifting through my first few weeks at Stanford, there wasn’t a day that went by without someone asking me the ice-breaker “hometown” question. At first I said California, but that inevitably led to “where in California?”, so I began answering with the less descriptive but somehow more satisfactory “around here”.
But where is … around here? Palo Alto? The Bay Area? Northern California? You see, when people ask you where you’re from, they’re asking for more than where you’re born. They’re looking for an image of suburban schoolboy in Texas, or suit-clad businesswoman in metropolitan New York City. While largely oblivious to it growing up, I’ve come to realize how much living in the Silicon Valley has impacted who I am today, and I am incredibly fortunate to call this sunshine-filled hub of knowledge my home.
Here are three lessons I learned from being a part of this thriving community of techies and entrepreneurs:
Privilege is Having a Home, Not Going to Stanford
I went to high school in a relatively well-off Bay Area suburb. While not all of my friends had parents working white-collar jobs, engineers, doctors, and financiers were by far the commonplace. We weren’t the super rich — I went to a public school and tutored in my free time all throughout high school. But at the very least, I never worried about going hungry or homeless, and it wasn’t until college that I realized the tremendous amount of privilege, and therefore responsibility, I had grown up with. I still distinctly remember how flustered and ashamed I was when I first heard the acronym FLI in college and didn’t know what it stood for (First Generation Low Income). After intimately engaging with people of different backgrounds, I found even more beauty in my own life life, as well as inspiration in others’. Being able to recognize these small privileges (meals growing up, parents who cared) has taught me to see the brightness in even the worst situations, and has helped enable me to better use what I have to support others around me.
Lesson #1: Recognize and appreciate the small things in life. No matter who you are, we all have some degree of privilege that allows us to inspire others and create positive change. The next time you’re feeling down, think about all that you’ve succeeded in and smile at how fortunate you are to be the person you are today.
Communication is the Key, Not a Negotiable Asset
My first job at a Silicon Valley company was with a small start-up building technology platforms for microfinance institutions. When I joined, I was the 17-year-old intern on a 3-person tech team building out a production product that would be used internationally within months. First few weeks on the job, I felt like I was being firehoused with foreign terms and new skills I needed to pick up on, and looking back now, I realize how extremely intimidated I was. Afraid of appearing incompetent, I would spend hours on StackOverflow every day trying to figure out errors instead of asking for help, and I regret it looking back now. After a few weeks of working with my team, I realized how unnecessary my initial worries were. Daring to questions (not all perfect!) and contribute ideas not only allowed me to learn so much more, but also taught me to contribute to the growth of my team. Teams succeed because they communicate and overcome problems collective, not solely because they are big or they are individually smart. Communication of thoughts and expectations creates an open space for growth, and this is true not only in the workspace but also in everyday relationships. Most importantly, communication is a skill that requires fine-tuning and practice, because at the heart of the Silicon Valley is a network of individuals who iteratively practiced clear and effective communication to drive innovation.
Lesson #2: Learn to actively communicate thoughts and recognize the value of collaboration. There are no mind-readers — last time I checked — and all great ideas take root in a learning exchange. In fact, most people want to help others, but it’s hard to help when you don’t understand the other person’s ideas and needs.
Fail Hard, Fail Often, Fail Fast
Before embarking on a venture, any seasoned veteran will tell you that 90% of startups fail. It isn’t to scare off the prospective entrepreneur (though if it does, it was probably better off that way), but rather to push the future founder to embrace risks and execute with determination. The 1-in-10 principle is a hard and bleak truth VCs and founders in the valley are all too aware of, and it’s precisely this quality that makes the Silicon Valley the explosive hub of innovation and creation that it is. Someone once told me that if it weren’t for all of these failures, we wouldn’t be making anything new. It’s true. Successful people fail a lot, because no failure means no risks. After crashing into my fair share of walls, I’ve learned to gather them as experience for future ventures. So how do you maximize growth and learning?
Lesson #3: Dare to dream far and envision things others might find impossible. This doesn’t mean to blindly chase after ideals, but to allow yourself the necessary room to imagine, execute, and most importantly, fail. All it requires is a propensity for action, so move fast and learn.
I can’t say I’ve mastered all of these lessons myself, but I know I’ll be taking them with me moving forward. I realize that there are many other great takeaways that could be written about here, but I chose these three because they resonated strongly with me. Hopefully they touch a chord somewhere for you as well…
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