
Take me to Silicon Valley: 19 year old designer seeking opportunity - mcxx
http://takemetosiliconvalley.com/
======
jc4p
Is the entire thing just a Photoshop Save for Web document with some jQuery
attached?

Also the "LET MY DREAM COME TRUE" image's hover state not being preloaded made
me sad.

Okay to actually be constructive:

It's a good time to be trying this because it's the beginning of a new year so
H-1B visas are available.

As another self taught young developer who's extremely eager to leave his
full-time job and go to school next semester, I can't say I agree with his
goals. But if that's what you want to do, it's a good attempt at getting out
there.

Most companies I would know that would be willing to set up a visa for a
person who wants to drop out of college in Europe would be start-ups, however
I don't know if a pure Graphic Designer is in demand with start-ups. I would
expect them to rather have someone who's very good at graphic design and can
code the basics of the designs themselves rather than have someone who's
fantastic at graphic design but is just a one-trick pony.

When I worked in a start-up one of the biggest deciding factors we had when
interviewing designers (right after their taste) was how much of the design
they could implement themselves. It made little sense to pay someone to design
a Photoshop document and send to a developer to turn into HTML or a layout
file where we could pay someone else to design it AND make the HTML file
themselves. Most of the time that person didn't ask for 200% of the pay of
someone just doing Photoshop work either.

~~~
FilipSanta
this is about design, forget the code.. i've originally designed this for one
startup from Palo Alto, which's been looking for pure Graphic designer, i
couln't image this up on HackerNews.. i can finish college anytime, but offers
from Silicon Valley are not coming everyday :)

~~~
lyime
I would say the opposite. College is awesome. You could do it anytime but the
best time to go through university or a college is now, while you are young.
On the other hand Silicon Valley is not going anywhere. If you are talented,
there is a place for you in the valley anytime you want.

~~~
SudarshanP
The Economy is cyclical. The best time to grow is during a bubble. In a couple
of years when all those me too incubators have burned themselves up there will
be fewer people willing to tunnel him into the US... He could do his
Graduation during a bust.

~~~
lyime
If you think a company will be able to sponsor his H1B without him having a
degree (usually technical) then think again.

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aaront
Looks great, just a few little things:

* "I am Filip Santa, 19 years old designer from Slovakia" sounds a little strange. Maybe something like "I am Filip Santa, a 19 year old designer from Slovakia"

* In your timeline, instead of "Learning what is layer", maybe "Learning about layers"

* Also in the timeline: "Trying first webs & posters", maybe "Designing first web sites & posters"

And, here's my OCD peeking through, the images seem to have a colour profile
associated with them, which clashes with mine producing:
<http://i.imgur.com/6BV6o.png> (try making the background transparent)

Best of luck!

~~~
kylelibra
It bugged me as well, but I assumed English wasn't his first language, so it
is forgivable in my book.

~~~
FilipSanta
sorry, it's been already years since I've returned from US, so English may not
be perfect

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moocow01
"I would love to join to your team in Palo Alto, California"

You may want to broaden that statement - Palo Alto is a very small piece of
the Silicon Valley pie

~~~
devs1010
Yep, I was just thinking the same thing. A lot of the "hot" startups are
actually in San Francisco itself so may want to take that into account. Beyond
Silicon Valley proper there are companies scattered throughout the Bay Area
region also.

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alexholehouse
For what it's worth, and there's a lot of feedback here relating to technical
issues/lifestyle choices etc, but considering you're applying to be a designer
I thought the site looked and felt _awesome_. Totally engaging, easy to read
and follow, and I read right to the end.

Great pitch.

~~~
metachris
Absolutely agree. The only faux pa i've seen is that the call to action button
on the bottom only starts loading when hovering over it, becoming invisible
for a short moment.

~~~
FilipSanta
thanks.. this should really be just about design, my friend've done coding as
quickly as it was possible so i know it's not css/html masterpiece

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benwerd
He lost me at "hello guys" and a picture of cleavage. Great design otherwise
though.

~~~
cozykozy
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I was wondering if the person was making
a play on words with 'silicon,' but considering his grasp of English, that
might be giving too much credit.

~~~
FilipSanta
yes it was like like a wordplay with "silicon" & "valley" that why u see
silicon boobs in the header :).. i was thinking about putting Pamela Anderson
there sayin' "I know a lot about silicon & I think Filip would definitely fit
there" but i didn't have time to put it in, couse I had to start studyin' for
exam (which I screwed of course, because I spend most of time between
christmas & new years eve working on this :)

~~~
jerfelix
Don't confuse silicon and silicone. You can end up with severely deformed
mother boards.

------
kloncks
As someone who's dropped out of college (three months ago) to start a company
in Silicon Valley, I would urge you to think a lot about this decision. I know
I have. It's a very serious decision and one that a lot of people take
hastily, not knowing what it will really entail until much later.

College is important. I plan on going back before I die. You can get involved
with startups, work with them and learn from them, without leaving college.
Our world is all about networking, and just like I had an amazing network in
SV from my dorm room in Ohio, so can you in Eastern Europe.

I'm not trying to convince you of anything. I've made my decision and I feel
convinced it was the right one. I just think some people make it too hastily.
Feel free to ping me if you have any questions.

~~~
bri3d
I'd urge him to consider carefully not only because dropping out of university
might not be wise, but because he'll probably end up in the US on an H-1B
visa.

An H-1B visa isn't a big deal, but it prevents you from working for a few
weeks on contract to try things out, and it makes it quite a bit harder to
change companies or quit.

Valley companies tend to overwork and under-compensate, and an H-1B makes it
-that much- harder to get out of a terrible situation if you find yourself in
one. An American designer in the Valley can say "no thanks" and change careers
or move elsewhere with a minimum of effort compared to the issues associated
with leaving with an H1B.

EDIT: It turns out I don't know much about visas and it's hard to get an H1B
without a degree (thanks HN - learning a lot!). See replies for a wide variety
of speculation as to which visa type would work in this situation, and feel
free to sub in your choice of visa where I initially said H1B, because I think
the danger of a poor working situation is either similar or even more
pronounced with another type of visa.

~~~
untog
_but because he'll probably end up in the US on an H-1B visa._

Actually, getting an H1B visa without a college education is near-to-
impossible. I have a college education that isn't in computing, and I've had
to provide evidence of six years of work experience as an alternative. I doubt
our 19 year old friend will be able to do that.

Plus he can't "work for food for two months"- in fact, just that being on his
site would probably be a giant red flag for immigration. You have to be paid a
prevailing wage.

The easy answer here is to do internships. I'm not sure what the visa
situation around them is exactly, but I'm sure it's easier than getting an
H1B.

~~~
MetalMASK
The VISA situation for internship would be F1, specifically F1-CPT. It would
be much easier if Filip is studying in the US, but it is still easier compared
to getting H1B.

Getting a silicon valley company to give him an offer would be a per-
requisite.

~~~
46Bit
It's J-1 more likely. F1-CPT from a glance seems to be for things like
placement years as part of a Uni course rather than something personal.

------
samstave
I recommend this guy spend some time learning to code asap.

He is 19 - almost half my age. You have YEARS ahead of you, and if there is
one thing I regret - it was not learning to code when I was a munchkin.

------
phatlovesyou
you seem like kind of a nice guy, and I'm sure you're a great designer. that
said, try to not start your resume off with a picture of some boobs.

~~~
mattblalock
Hrm. Didn't notice boobs, wondering if Filip is really smart and knows it will
lure men in... very good sales pitch, IMHO.

------
justindocanto
Great design, however having your text as images makes me want to cry.

In terms of design, very attractive (minus the cleavage. that's considered
trashy over here) and engaging. I read from top to bottom. Copy is nice
despite being broken english.

Only gripe really is you should use some kind of @font-face (check
fontsquirrel.com to make your own) so that 1. your text is well, actually text
2. highlight-able, click-able & copyable 3. your load time will increase
dramatically 4. SEO!

Great idea. Great execution as a designer. Wishing you the best of luck.

ALSO: Even if you don't get recruited, you still have a bright future ahead of
you. Don't get discouraged and keep trying. =)

------
jpiasetz
Why make the text at the bottom of the page a non-clickable image?

------
RealGeek
He will require a H1-B visa to move and work in US. But unfortunately, you
require a 4 year degree to be eligible for H1-B or 12 years work experience.
So, H1-B is out of question.

The only viable option is to join a University in Silicon Valley and work part
time in a start up.

------
mbesto
There's a lot of sentiment in the HN comments that he should not leave
university. For a community that is fairly bent on restructuring the education
system, I have to ask: what gives? Is going to college worth it or not?

~~~
pakeha
The extent to which having a four-year US degree equivalent will assist this
young man in getting an H1-B visa cannot be exaggerated. It's possible without
it, but, AFAIK, it then becomes a non-standard process which will require
quite a bit of effort/explanation on the part of the sponsor - i.e. the
immigrant will need to be quite a special person. Professional work experience
can be substituted for study (I think at a 3:1 ratio, i.e 12 years of
professional work experience = 4 year degree), but for obvious reasons that
doesn't seem like a good option in this case.

I'm not an expert on this topic by any means, but I do speak from personal
experience.

------
anonymoustrolol
Great marketing for yourself. Unless you are 100% sold on Cali (I've lived
here for 5 years and I'm 50/50), I'd use this to get a contracting job and
live with family and friends. Then come out here and start something when you
feel comfortable/saved up. Preferably this company involves bubbles (you seem
to like them in various forms and are good with them).

------
brainless
More than anything this shows how people all across the world look up to
Silicon Valley. Well ok, nerds and designers (web), tech entrepreneurs and the
type. But still, for this group of people Silicon Valley is like a dream.

I am myself planning to stay, work and learn from the valley sometime soon.
And I am sure there are hundreds like me.

------
shahed
I love this! I'm a 16-year-old entrepreneur of <http://viatask.com>. Hope you
get accepted, feel free to ping me I can possibly hook you up with an
opportunity in Silicon Valley. I have plenty of friends out there!

------
pthreads
Doesn't one need a 4 year college degree (or equivalent work experience) for
H1-B visa?

~~~
fbuilesv
You do, unless the company happens to be pretty well connected (think Google,
Apple). Then they can get you a visa which might not be H1-B but you get the
same "benefits".

~~~
durandal1
H1-B requires 4 year bachelor or 3 years of professional experience in the
relevant field for each missing academic year. The only other working visa I
can think of is the O-1, which is given to "outstanding individuals", which
basically means high profile researchers, world renown designers etc.

His only option is an internship visa.

------
stevoyoung
Stay classy HN. What the hell were you all doing during christmas and new
years when he was doing this? Give the kid some credit - he has more drive
than most people I know...and by the way, what does your resume look like?

------
pork
Very cool, but please don't drop out of university. For the vast majority of
students, this is a decision that will come back and bite you in the ass when
whatever you quit Uni for comes to an end.

~~~
randomdata
> this is a decision that will come back and bite you in the ass when whatever
> you quit Uni for comes to an end.

I know you're trying to help, but these kinds of absolute statements can
really mess with people. I got pretty much the same speech when I decided to
leave school more than a decade ago.

Logically, I still cannot figure out what they were talking about. I have
_never_ met anyone who cared about what school you went, how well you did
there, or if you went at all. Irrationally, however, I wonder how many days I
have left until it hits and all the regret sets in.

Anyway, don't let me stop you. I just wanted to point out that getting so
involved in other people's lives, people you don't even know especially, can
be quite damaging.

------
justjimmy
No matter which choice you make, best of luck! If US doesn't work out, take a
look to the north (Canada - Toronto and Vancouver)!

------
jordaninternets
I am in a very similar situation. Its tough being 19.

~~~
jc4p
I'm also 19, I'm currently leaving a 6-figure a year development job to enter
college. It's not tough if you try hard.

------
hendrix
Not to be too harsh, but why would xyz cool startup hire you when they can
hire someone from the usa with a degree?

~~~
bitops
Because this kid obviously has drive, ambition, and talent. Caring enough
about his dream to put together a site and posting it to HN demonstrates that
he's paying attention and he wants to connect with other driven people. Also
that he spent 4 days on it when he could have been out partying shows a good
deal more vision than a lot of 19-year olds.

He also is willing to make sacrifices and go halfway across the globe to join
a team. Doubt you'll see his manager worrying if he's spending too much time
on reddit.

It's also a big deal to leave your country and go somewhere where you have
little base.

So in a nutshell, because he has the classic immigrants ambition, and won't
rest on his laurels like perhaps someone who was born here would.

