Log Off And Tune In - Guide To Startup Success...

By Tom Foremski - February 29, 2008

We spend way too much time inside our small Silicon Valley worlds. It often feels as if I constantly see the 400 or so people that run this place, and that drive the main conversations here, it is like a high school cafeteria.

I liked it a lot last year, I still like the life here, but increasingly I think the best advice is to get out into the real world occasionally. Yet I know plenty of people that hardly ever, except for family occasions, spend any time outside of the closeted worlds of Silicon Valley.

And I know plenty more that would love to step outside of their geek worlds but don't know how, they don't have the contacts.

I think that's a big mistake. A business will only succeed if it understands the culture of its broader society, and that means getting outside of Silicon Valley's debates on tech esoterica. Do us a favor, figure out which end of the egg we should crack and send us an email, because the world outside doesn't care.

Heck, most of my friends on the East Coast barely will touch Facebook, let alone Twitter. Yet these are just two of our current fascinations.

I spent much of December in London and New York and I learned a lot. I recommend it.

Log off and tune in - is my new recipe for success.

Here is more at my ZDNet column In My Humble Opinion:

The key rule to startup success…

If you spend less time in the the geek world you will get a better perspective on the culture around you. The more you understand that culture the more successful will be your business.

Businesses need to become a part of their broader culture, yet I come across many that aren’t, and don’t understand this point, or understand it only intellectually. That’s why Silicon Valley Watcher reports on the business and culture of Silicon Valley because culture is important to business and vice versa. And there are plenty of interesting stories to tell too.

Geek feast fatigue…and the key rule for startup success



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By Tom Foremski - February 29, 2008 | Permalink | Comment | Category: Culture Watch
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Comments (9)

vinnie mirchandani:

Tom, great insight...I wrote recently "Silicon Valley = first among equals"

http://dealarchitect.typepad.com/deal_architect/2008/02/silicon-valley.html

having said that people from around the world (and from the US) should similarly spend a few days or weeks a year in the Valley..when I travel I see way too many emerging countries and places proud of their achievements..but clearly it is all relative and a dose of what is happening elsewhere is always good...

Posted: February 29, 2008 6:43 AM

Rob Adler:

Even living and working in San Francisco, as opposed to the Valley, gives you a much greater opportunity to interact with people outside tech.

I think it gives you more perspective and balance in your life.

Posted: February 29, 2008 7:06 AM

Dragos ILINCA:

Honestly, I don't know if there was ever a successful consumer online project that originated from some tech challenge.

Even social networking and Twitter originated from cultural needs.

Posted: February 29, 2008 7:10 AM

Matt:

I'm part of a tech startup based here in NYC and the same holds true here.

While there are a lot of cultural outlets to step out of the tech world (music, art, food), I also find it valuable to get out of the city for a change of pace.

Changing both the cultural perspective and pace do wonders when you get back to tech.

Posted: February 29, 2008 8:31 AM

Tom Foremski:

Vinnie: Yes, I wouldn't trade being here for anywhere else in the world right now...
Rob: SF has more diversity but is still very much part of the valley...
Dragos: The things that make it out are the ones that find a need and fill it, it is often difficult to see that when we are so close to the process...
Matt: Let's do an apartment swap for a week. Actually maybe we can do a geek-to-geek apartment swap SF & NYC (ours are slightly larger, only slightly:-)

Posted: February 29, 2008 3:23 PM

Miiko Mentz:

Hey Tom, I couldn't agree more. Great post! It's so important to "log out" and get out of the Bay Area from time to time because it does give us perspective. I know it helps me stay balanced, and helps me remember that not every waking moment needs to revolve around the next big news item or cool gadget or social startup or whiz-bang widget. We tend to drink our own Kool-Aid in Silicon Valley, which (in my opinion) does include SF. Look how many Web 2.0 startups are in South Park. I would say there's just as much tech life and startups in SF, as there are in the South Bay.

I have a lot of friends outside of the Bay Area who do not work in tech and I always find it refreshing to hang out with them and hear about what's of interest to them and trust me, it's not a social networking site or widget. In fact, most of them are not even on Facebook, Twitter or any other Web 2.0 social site. :)

Posted: March 3, 2008 11:28 PM

Tom Foremski:

Thanks Miiko. Sometimes I feel that we are canaries in a coal mine, that we get to experience life in the future a little bit ahead of others. But in the process we lose a few canaries, and some of those canaries might be things like Twitter users, or those of other du jour web services.

But it is difficult to predict winners and losers, some web services develop loyal communities of users in different countries or different sectors. "Big in Japan" is a term that applies to many different web services and it's not a term that specifically applies to the country of Japan :-)

Posted: March 4, 2008 10:42 AM

Jitendra:

Tom, Great post...I still think though that the value of a company can get amplified significantly if its gets the right buzz in the valley...even without wider adoption elsewhere. In that sense being in the valley is a huge advantage.

-Jitendra

Posted: March 5, 2008 9:22 AM

Tom Foremski:

Jitendra, you are dead right about being located in Silicon Valley. That's not the issue, it is spending too much time on Silicon Valley issues, which won't get you beyond the buzz. And it matters where the buzz comes from...

Posted: March 5, 2008 3:56 PM

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