3/13/2015

Off to San Francisco we go. The class started today off at a business I actually never heard of. Which surprised me because of it’s successfulness. The company was TuneIn and I loved what they do, how they do it. They approached the radio industry with style and bulk. An app that gives you access to every radio station in the world. The second company we visited was a Target location. We were greeted by Sean Edge a Curry alum. This Target’s location was a team focused on innovation for their next big idea to improve their revenue. 

3/12/2015 

Thursday was a very cool day. We started off with a visit to Apple. We had a meeting with some employees that shared valuable information on career insight. We then ate at the Cafe Mac, great food. Then we went to the top floor to see the view and the construction site of the building Apple is constructing, We then went to one infinite loop, the main campus to see the courtyard. All very cool stuff, and nice insight to the Apple culture. 

Yesterday, one of the highlights was Boxfish. Boxfish founded by Kevin and Eoin is a really cool company that records every word on tv. It then takes the analytics from that and helps develop target audiences for social and other networks. We then went to Criteo. Another cool company focused on cost per click advertising. After that visit we went out to dinner with some alum which was a great time and better food.

Today was another interesting day. We took a tour of Stanford, we went to the Computer History Museum, we went to an incubator called Hacker Dojo and met the Co-founder of Contastic. I have never seen an incubator  before and I loved the concept of random strangers meeting up and discussing and working on their projects. Yet, I was very impressed with Contastic with what they do and how professional they were. I am interested in analytics so their business concept really stood out to me. 

Yesterday we met with Jeff Goodall from VMware. Since it was the first company we visited out here in the Silicon Valley it will always be memorable to me.  I was very impressed with their company and their facilities. Another memorable thing came up when we were talking about green initiative, and Jeff asked if we were worried about leaving a carbon footprint. I have totally gained a whole new respect for recycling and the green initiative after seeing the passion for it in the Silicon Valley. However that question got me thinking more about recycling. Not only do we leave our carbon footprint, but what kind of life footprint will I have when I am gone? Will I be able to say I am happy with what I have done in my life.

Today was the day we left for California. The six hour flight, the time change and the many preparations for the week all exhausted me. We had a tour of Palo Alto today seeing some historical houses. However, I couldn’t be happier to experience the Valley tomorrow. Tomorrow, we will experience VMware. VMware virtualizes computing, from the data center to cloud. 

In our textbook, the History of Silicon Valley we learn about the environment of the Valley and how some of the companies came together. A common theme in these companies is failure and persistence. Another detail we learned is that in Silicon Valley the lawyers are more cooperative compared to the east coast's aggressive style. Many companies came into the market too early. Although, the ideas may have been good, just too early. We also learn the art of investing in the Silicon fashion.  They would rather risk all their money to hit it big than to be conservative and turn a small profit.