Switching Cultures
The power of the people and having good teams
Two weeks and thirty-two companies later, Tech Trek abroad came to an end; and after being home for a couple of days, my reflection was bound to come. Although I might not be most fit to talk about the technicalities of what we saw in our journey — for I’m the youngest of the group and only recently started my university studies — , I spent most of my childhood inside an office due to my family background, so I most certainly can express what shocked me about the working environment in Silicon Valley. Regardless of the nature of the business, its size, or whether it delivered a good or a service, there was a clear common factor between all of them: the need to be the best at what they do and the willingness to push every limit to achieve that goal.
Our Tech Trek journey began with our visit to Virgin America, where we encountered for the first time this new way of thinking — this new culture. Virgin America pursues the goal of being a distinct airline, offering a unique experience throughout the whole process of planning a trip, from beginning to end. The airline presented itself as “A breath of fresh airline”, highlighting how it places consumer experience before profits. Coming from Argentina, where everything is money-driven, it seemed surreal to hear an Argentinian mention this about his workplace.
Later that day, we got to meet another Argentinian at AmazonLabs 126. This company bases its whole business model in fourteen points that serve as a guideline to show who they are and where they’re aiming to, as well as their way of working. Some of these points are: Customer Obsession, Learn and be Curious, Hire and Develop the Best, Insist on the Highest Standards, Earn Trust, Deliver Results. Only by reading these points one can see how Amazon’s whole culture insists on excellence, as well as on the delivery of the best possible results to its customer by having the best possible team of employees. It’s worth noting how the work team receives constant training in order to become better at their jobs and acquire new skills as they grow inside the company.
A few days later we visited Prenav, a start-up that focuses on building self-driven drones for specific jobs. There, we got to talk to the CEO, who mentioned how being in a start-up is all about hard work, being open to learning, and always having in mind that whatever you do has to be for the customers, not for profit.
We also went to LinkedIn, a large company with about 10,000 employees that follows a strict culture centered on the idea of “Communication and Collaboration”. By meeting its employees, we got to see how, no matter the size of the company, some core values stick from a start-up to a large multinational. The willingness to work, the need for a strong sense of identity, and having constant courses and on-site rotation for employees to learn new skills make the backbone of LinkedIn’s culture.
Another visit that had a huge impact on us was Jawbone. There , we got to meet with a bunch of different employees that gave us their unique perspective on the company and what they do. Once again, we evidenced the consumer-driven nature that is a common factor between all of these businesses. Jawbone’s aim is to create a change of habits in people, in order to promote a holistic state of wellness. In order to achieve excellence in what they do, Jawbone periodically sends surveys to customers and has its own employees use its products. The company follows a policy of not only thinking about the small changes to everyday use, but also thinking about the bigger picture and the macro impact.
We also paid a visit to Tint, a growing start-up in social media that had a huge impact on me based on its culture. The company is located on a small building in Mission District, where we were received at 10 am by a HR girl who toured us around and lead us to Ryo, Tint’s co-founder and current COO. Ryo introduced us to Tint’s four core values:
“Trust yourself and trust others, Be transparent, Better yourself every day, [and] Be humble and stay tenacious”
In a relaxed environment, where most of their employees were with their pets and had no office hours, you would expect nearly no work to be done. And yet all employees seen on site were focused on their jobs and making sure they were performing to the best of their abilities. Ryo explained to us how, no matter what your place in the company is, everyone can pitch ideas in order to get different points of view. Updates and new features are mostly taken out of internal hackathons; in addition to conferences, courses and training classes given to employees to encourage them to be better. Tint focuses on integration between all employees, regardless of their specific duties.
These five companies are only a small sample of what we saw during the two weeks in which Tech Trek took place. I probably didn’t learn as much technical stuff as my Tech Trek friends did; yet I know for sure that I won’t forget how this trip changed the way in which I see the world and want to live in it. The Tech Trek experience taught me that, regardless of your background, success will come if you team up with people who believe in you and your ideas — people who are willing to work hard to achieve the goals you have in mind Taken from a Chilean teacher we met at Berkeley:
“If you have a good team, you can do anything”
