To get a sense of what goes on in this seemingly magical place where the IT giants grew up, one startup after another springs up, and trends are born, I traveled to Disneyland for geeks: Silicon Valley.
I’ve been here for three days, and I have to say: the exceptionally friendly and open-minded mentality of Northern Californians compares very favorably with the often grumpy attitude of Berliners. The sun does people good, and that shows in how they behave.
Yesterday, Ann Mueller, an experienced tech scout, gave me a tour of Silicon Valley. The valley is made up of many small cities, such as Palo Alto, home to Pinterest , Menlo Park, whereFacebook has its headquarters, Mountain View with Google, Stanford with its eponymous elite universityand Cupertino, home to the Apple headquarters. And these cities are anything but one big industrial park. Beautiful little downtowns, large parks, and sweeping views of the landscape create a seemingly perfect work environment – at least as far as external conditions go. And thanks to the nice weather, yesterday I had the chance to spot a unique species of transportation: colorful Google bikes that ferry employees from one building to the next.
However, the influx of successful companies has also driven rents up considerably. Only those whose money is piling up can afford a house here. Even the smallest houses cost around a million dollars. And by small, I mean small! Silicon Valley has long since become a place for the upper class. That is why small startups usually set up shop above the stores in town. For example, Cloudera is located right next to one of the biggest electronics stores in the area. Ann told me that the place is packed after work and on weekends. A cleverly chosen location, if you ask me. Facebook, too, started out in an office above a store in Palo Alto.
Some companies also try to do something for well-being in their immediate surroundings: Google, for example, has set up free Wi-Fi for all of Mountain View. Perfect for sitting in the park, enjoying the sun, and working from there.
To wrap up an extensive tour, we also took a look at the world’s first Apple Store. My thoughts turned to our head graphic designer, who might well have fainted with awe.
To be continued…
JW
