Key Takeaways From 2 Months in Silicon Valley

What a journey! What has felt like two years worth of experiences has flown by in two months. I came into this experience nervous and expecting to learn a few things about business, but it has truly been a paradigm shift. I leave the valley with a new perspective, a desire to build great things, a better sense of purpose and most importantly a set of strangers who have now become lifelong friends. Whilst the Stanford ignite program is central to my learnings, I wanted to share some learnings from my experiences outside of the course too.

You are the average of the people you hang around with

I was lucky enough to have one of my best friends from high school, Mike, a short train trip from Palo Alto. On my first weekend when the homesickness had kicked in, I made the journey to visit him. Spending time with him and being surrounded by so many other founders who were in the office from the early hours to well past dark, made me so much more motivated. Hearing all the awesome ideas people were building and the passion that filled the building was something that I loved. This feeling was duplicated around the Stanford Campus. Just seeing everyone in the zone made me want to work harder and forced me to be more productive. It is so easy to get comfortable and associate only with the people who don't push us outside our comfort zones. But, there is so much growth and motivation that can be derived from being the least experienced and least knowledgeable person in the room.

People are at the heart of everything

This is something which has only really started to dawn on me in the past year. I always valued my friends and the people I was around, but only now I realise that people are the reason we do everything. Without great people around you, life isn't the same. I have been so lucky to meet some incredible people from all walks of life, across a range of industries. I can easily say that without these amazing people, the experience wouldn't have been 10% of what it was.

Silicon Valley is nothing special....

Stepping off the train into Palo Alto, my futuristic vision of what Silicon Valley would be was quickly thrown out the window. It was just another regular town, not the thriving tech hub of the world I imagined it to be. If anything, it was the opposite. I had worse reception than what I would get back home 🥲. I tried to find a differentiating factor about the area itself. The only thing that I could find was the highest concentration of Patagonia puffer jackets😜.

Eventually it dawned on me. Silicon valley was really just a congregation of dreamers. Dreamers who were a stones throw away from the largest concentration of venture capital in the world. This made me realise that Silicon valley is more of a meeting place for bright people with big visions. I genuinely believe it is a place that can be recreated around the world. It made me think about all the Aussie founders I had met. All the great talent, the great companies and all the potential jobs that had been whisked away to America, due to the lack of support. I believe cities around the world should be investing more in building startup hubs and reducing roadblocks for institutional investors/VCs.

Don't forget to give back

I was lucky enough to go to multiple talks from founders I admire such as Jensen Huang, Reed Hastings, Pejman. Sitting across the room from these amazing founders was such a surreal experience and it had a huge impact on me. These people are millionaires and billionaires with jam packed schedules and yet they made time to come and talk to sometimes a room of only 15 students. It made me realise the importance of giving back, especially to the next generation. With just a simple lunchtime chat, they could inspire the next generation of founders, which is worth their while.

The 'Greats' are just like you and me

Leading on from the above, meeting these people made me realise something. They aren't some different species or god like figures, they are just regular people. They just have clear visions and are dedicated to making them a reality. This might sound really obvious, but it really put it back into perspective for me. If these people can do it, then we can to.

At one keynote speech, I spotted Roelof Botha, Managing Partner at Sequoia Capital and the host of the 'Crucible Moments' podcast. I was star struck and never thought he would talk to me, but I conquered my fear and went over and introduced myself. He was so humble and took the time to converse with me and even cracked some jokes. This experience ultimatley reminded me that we are all human and we all enjoy genuine connection and conversation.

Ideas are worthless

You could come up with the most revolutionary idea, but in reality there are probably 1000+ others who have had that idea before. Ideas are the starting point, but ideas without action are just dreams. I expected everyone in the valley to keep their ideas super close to their chest and be unwilling to share them. In reality, it is the absolute opposite. 99% of the people I spoke with would happily talk about their idea for hours. At the end of the day, if the only thing protecting your idea is secrecy, then it probably isn't very innovative.

There is a sacrifice

Hearing some of the stories of amazing founders, I realised that succeeding at building a vision does not come cheap. I can still remember when Pejman, the co-founder of Pear VC, recalled the work it took to get him to where he was today. Working 10 hour days, 6 days a week for 17 years, hustling ever other waking hour and then sleeping in an attic with knife to protect him. It humbles you and makes you realise that while we all want the success of great people, it comes at a price. A price which most people aren't willing to pay. This sentiment was echoed time and time again, by other successful founders.

Great things take time

This is very similar to the previous one, but I think it deserves its own title. Today, we are surrounded by posts from overnight crypto-millionaires, people who make $30k/month day trading and 'simple' courses to help you earn passive income. While this may have worked for 0.0001% of people who actually happened to be in the right place at the right time, quick money is never real. Building wealth or mastering a skill, is a result of countless hours, days, years and even decades. Like many, I have been looking for the "big thing" that will make me a success overnight, but hearing stories like Jensen Huang, who got up and got to work every day for 31 years and is only now seeing the fruit of his labour, or Graham Weaver who it took over 20 years of failed attempts to build a billion dollar private equity fund, I now realise the the journey really is the destination. Working everyday on actions targeted towards long term goals will get you there, so keep your head down and keep going.

Startups are a leap of faith

For a long time I have been failing to pursue my venture ideas because I look at the successful people and it seems they understand everything and have a perfect plan, something I don't. I have come to realise that no-one actually knows what they are doing when they start out. It is the process of trying and failing that leads people to develop the experience and gut feel to guide them to success. I heard a founder sum it up perfectly:

"Entrepreneurship is like jumping off a waterfall, it's scary and unknown and no-one can make the leap for you"

Summary

I think Graham Weaver summarised it perfectly, but I wanted to add an extra step in there.

1. Do hard things

2. Do YOUR thing

3. Do it surrounded by A-Players

4. Do it for decades
   

Overall, this has been an incredible adventure. I leave the valley with new found inspiration and while it is sad to say goodbye to our newly formed Stanford family, I am ready to get home and start building. As an aside, I would like to thank everyone who has been reading my weekly posts. I hope you got something out of them and I hope you stick around for the all the future posts to come (Join the mailing list!!)