Silicon Valley brushed my three views.

I have been longing for this mysterious and challenging place before, but now I have the honor to travel in depth and deepen my understanding of it. If you love him, let him work in Silicon Valley. If you hate him, let him work in Silicon Valley.

On June+10, 5438, I saw the Tech Trek selection of the school, that is, alumni of Silicon Valley organized students to visit major companies in Silicon Valley and attend alumni lectures, aiming to help Central American students better understand the more competitive environment in the West, expand their interpersonal circle and finally find an ideal job. I didn't want to have a chance to be chosen at that time. After all, as an international student, I have the courage to try everything. I am very grateful to Marcus for finally choosing me. Because of this opportunity, he got a job on Twitter. I hope I can thank him in person again in the future.

This trip is divided into three days:

The first night, I basically didn't sleep. I drove to the airport at 3:30 in the morning, flew out at 6:50, arrived in San Francisco at 12:00 and stayed in a hotel.

After arranging the luggage, go to Brad's company Ripple, whose alumni are also one of the sponsors of this event.

The interior of Silicon Valley startups is generally more technical. The embryonic houses have been rebuilt, and ventilation pipes and wires can be seen everywhere. This is called entrepreneurial feeling. After a simple lunch in the conference room, the activity officially began.

The first is a group discussion, which is divided into three sessions. The first scene is about recent graduates sharing why they came to work in Silicon Valley and how they found their first internship and job. The second scenario is that the CEO of a startup company shares his entrepreneurial experience; The third game is that the executives of venture capital companies share their investment experience and what kind of companies are worth investing in. After each round of sharing, there is a corresponding Q &；; Part a is for students to ask questions.

Asked my opinion on the WeChat application number, whether the native app will eventually be replaced. The previous view was that the national conditions were different. There is no dominant application like WeChat in the United States, but it's hard to say in China, who knows ~

After the discussion, we attended the alumni dinner. On the one hand, we listened to the alumni's life experiences, on the other hand, we also publicized ourselves, hoping that the alumni could provide internship opportunities.

We sat together in groups. As I am a design student, we were received by Beth, the former product manager of Google Earth. Her husband is Brian McClendon, the inventor of Google Earth, our alumnus and another sponsor. He is in charge of engineering students.

Talking face to face with these big cows really broadens our horizons and plays a great role in building self-confidence. The most important thing is to look at their optimistic attitude towards life, attitude determines attitude, and finally your career height. Beth is really a nice lady, and she is also very beautiful. If I photographed my expression at that time, I would be infatuated with flowers like a fan.

Beth said that the work in Silicon Valley is both hard and happy. In the end, it depends on whether you feel happy. If you are happy, come here. If you feel uncomfortable with this kind of work pressure, leave as soon as possible. Work continuously after graduation 16 years, no time to have children. She frequently changed her job roles, maximizing her potential and sacrificing a lot. But she thinks she is happy and she loves her job. In addition, she said that once you really enter a job, work and life are inseparable, and your choice depends on what kind of person you want to be. It seems that you have heard similar words in Ma Yun's speech. Finally, according to our personal situation, Beth gave us some suggestions on career development.

Generally speaking, the first day was the most valuable, and I felt the hardships of working in Silicon Valley [high work intensity and high cost of living] and the enthusiasm of changing the world. At the same time, I also felt a more equal atmosphere abroad. No matter which country you come from, everyone is basically the same. As for your performance, you can only rely on your own efforts. Life is long, so you can cherish it.

After sleeping for 6 hours, I started the next day's entrepreneurial journey in full swing. These companies are all in the city, not far from each other, and they can be reached on foot. The architectural style is similar to that of office buildings in Beijing.

1. Super

In fact, Uber is no longer a startup, but it has only been established for less than six years. In Uber's conference room, the director of operations shared the company's vision-hope that traffic can become like water, lead people to any corner of the world, and finally completely subvert the current transportation system. At the same time, we shared the training, operation and development of Uber in different regions. In the questioning session, I asked about the localization operation of Uber in China, and he said that the government is still difficult to deal with ~

Rating: 4.5

The company is very cohesive and has great potential for development of work ability. The only fly in the ointment is that the development prospect may conflict with the future social stability, and the glorious development period has passed, leaving few opportunities for graduates.

Step 2 fight for fun

Compared with Uber, Pinterest is much smaller, after all, the business is relatively simple. But as the hottest photo website in the world, it still has great development potential. At the same time, as a graduate, you can show your value more here, glow and have a stronger sense of belonging. Pinterest has just moved to the Bay Area, and only a few employees work here, but the atmosphere inside the company is very lively, the restaurant and work area are integrated, and there is a special game area.

Rating: 4.3

The company has great development potential and lively atmosphere, which is very suitable for graduates.

3. Airbnb (short rent Platform)

I like it so much. I fell in love with this company as soon as I entered the company gate. Fun, fun, fun!

From the mental state of employees, the decoration of the company gives people a feeling of vigor and vitality, whether there is positive energy or not! The company will arrange the most suitable job for you according to everyone's skills, and attach great importance to corporate culture, so that you can deeply feel the pride of being a member of the company. The company has all kinds of interesting rooms, a unique studio in each country, a programmer's vent room, and a studio that stays up late.

Rating: 4.6

The company has begun to take shape, with perfect training system and active working atmosphere. As a company with great potential for future development [five-star hotels may be destroyed from now on], you deserve Airbnb.

4. Twitter

Twitter, yes, Weibo copied it, although Weibo has many better improvements than Twitter. As a veteran of Weibo, Twitter has become a global enterprise, with employees from all over the world and a good company development system, giving people a feeling of "big company". In the chat with employees, I found that although Twitter is large, the overall working atmosphere is still very relaxed and lively, suitable for young people to exercise and develop themselves. I asked a common question on UGC website, besides advertising, how to keep profits rising continuously? The director said that he hired you to solve this problem. ...

Rating: 4.4

With its large scale, relaxed atmosphere and internationalization, the company is a paradise for media or journalists.

Step 5 yell

Yelp was established very early, and it was established in 2004, which is similar to domestic public comments. However, according to personal experience, the user experience is very general, the information structure is not very clear, coupons are rarely offered, and online payment is not supported. It may have something to do with the complicated banking system in the United States. The development of online payment abroad is very slow [I have to say that Alipay and WeChat payment are really great and should be the most convenient online payment system in the world], but Yelp is still the largest comment platform in the United States.

Rating: 4.0

The company lacks passion, its products are mediocre, and it pays more attention to operation than technology and design, which has a certain gap compared with other startups.

In the evening, I attended an alumni party, ordered a California light beer, introduced each other in the crowd, and asked some questions I was interested in. Everyone is new here and will feel embarrassed at first. After a few more adaptations, they will like the process. Spoken English, we must practice, do not require the level of mother tongue, at least require clear logic and clear views. The bay area faces the sea, and the cool breeze blows head-on at night. I think I must come to this place again.

Drive to the suburbs and visit the most prestigious technology company in the world. Because the company is very big, I got up at 6:30 in the morning, because I have to catch the plane of 65438+ 0:00 in the afternoon to go back to school. After yesterday's explosion information implantation, it is much calmer today.

1. Google

I don't think we need to introduce Google too much. It is difficult for me to express my admiration in words for a company that has changed the world and is about to change the present. The company has a very large park in Silicon Valley. It's hard to imagine Larry Page starting this company in the garage. There is always a dream. What if it comes true?

Rating: 4.9

Technology changes the world, and the company has an engineer atmosphere. If you love technology, there is no better company than Google.

2. Photo wall

Although Instagram was acquired by Facebook, it still operates as an independent subsidiary of Facebook, unlike many companies that disappeared on the day of acquisition [where is Shenma search ... ].Instagram has just moved to Facebook's campus. Its campus is more like Disney land. Strolling through it seems to be theme parks, studios, memorial halls, game rooms, art galleries and various restaurants.

We were received by the technical director of Instagram, who encouraged students to participate in more technical projects and not to be bound by the school curriculum. Scores do not represent ability, diplomas only represent the past, not the future. Keep an optimistic and inclusive attitude, do what you like and keep working hard.

Rating: 4.9

The company's arrogance, strong technical atmosphere and young culture may be related to the fact that the company is still young [mark zuckerberg has fully given it autonomy]. If you are young and come here, you won't regret it.

3. Samsung Electronics

As the oldest giant among the above companies, my first impression is that I am really rich, with extremely tall parks, gyms and world-class cafeterias [sorry, there is no picture here]. As a Korean company, the parks in Silicon Valley are equivalent to R&; D technology research and development center, the company has many foreign workers [many Koreans].

But in the introduction of executives, I can clearly feel Samsung's problems. The product line is too big to do everything, and the user experience of the product is not good enough. The company looks huge, but every product has invested so much manpower and material resources that it is normal to do it badly. For example, the Samsung smart watch and Samsung pay they promoted are very general. No Apple product focuses on the user experience, but only realizes the function technically. Secondly, there are too many people, and many employees are in a state of paid work. They punch in and out of work every day, the work content is too complicated and they lack the motivation to improve themselves. Of course, the company did not provide them with enough opportunities. The PPT presentation they made was the only one I found that the picture was not high definition, and it also gave us too many technical details. However, as a user, we should learn from Luo Yonghao's speech, focusing on results and neglecting details.

Rating: 4.4

The company has a long history, perfect system and generous welfare, but the company structure is bloated, which is more suitable for joining after working for a period of time, not suitable for graduates.

On the return flight, my brain kept searching. What kind of thoughts did this trip leave me [which may have a great impact on my life]? Finally, I summarized the following three aspects:

1. Be ambitious: aim high and always keep lofty ideals, which must be beyond your ability. Confident, dare to think, dare not think, certainly won't do it.

2. Hard work: It is not easy for every Silicon Valley practitioner, and it needs to compete with the smartest people in the world. If you don't work hard, you will naturally be surpassed by the people behind you. Many people get up at 5 o'clock every morning and only sleep for 6 hours every day. In fact, life is very hard, far from the glamorous imagination, and everyone is working hard for their dreams.

3. Network: social. If you are extroverted, take an active part in social activities. If you are introverted, force yourself to participate in social activities. There are hundreds of entrepreneurial meetings and social gatherings in Silicon Valley every day, where people share ideas and experiences and meet potential bosses, employees or partners. Without circles, there is no survival.

At the same time, compared with China, I think there are several aspects that China can improve in the future:

Unfortunately, because of the nature of the meeting and the privacy of the company, I didn't take too many internal photos of the company. I hope to record where I live and work when I have the opportunity to work in Silicon Valley in the future.

Rock chalk Jayhawk

Original link