

Ask YC: visiting silicon valley? - Tichy

Just read this blog post: http://www.immadsnewworld.com/2007/10/tips-for-founders-doing-their-first.html#links where visiting sillicon valley is being recommend for startuppers.<p>I have been wondering about that myself, but I wonder, how would it go down to go there? What if I went there for two weeks on vacation, would I be able to make any contacts, go to startup parties and so on? I am not usually the kind of person who makes a lot of friends easily and gets invited to strangers houses while traveling.<p>Of course, just to see some famous company buildings, hackers with their MacBooks at Starbucks etc. might be inspiring by itself. On the other hand I am worried about becoming depressed by endless roads and "Office Space" sterile IT buildings (you can see I have no idea what SV is like).<p>Any advice would be welcome!
======
neilc
I would say it's not worth the trip unless you've got a plan, and already know
a few people in the Valley who you can meetup with, and who can introduce you
to the local scene. SV isn't particularly worth seeing as a tourist (it is
basically a cultural wasteland, although Stanford is a nice campus and of
course SF is a great city). The great work that is done inside the buildings
isn't really apparent from the outside.

So if you decide to come, definitely plan ahead.

------
iamelgringo
I like the Computer History Museum in Mountain View:
<http://www.computerhistory.org/>

They do a very nice 2 hour tour, and have a lot of cool artifacts from the
early days of computing. Anything from a panel of ENIAC to PDP's to one of the
first Space Wars arcade games to CRAY 1, 2 + 3's. It's inspiring to see the
fruits of all the startups that have come and gone before. Really, if you're a
geek, and you're in the area, you need to go.

Yeah, there's a lot of office buildings and office parks, but you'll come
across cool names that you recognize pretty frequently.

Also, perhaps check in to going to meetups. Chances are, there's a meetup for
the language/technology of your choice going on. Also, there's things like Bay
Piggies, which is a Python user group meeting that occurs the 2nd Thursday of
every month at GOOG.

And, if you're coming in to town, post a note on Hacker news, and see if
anyone wants to get together for coffee or something. You might be surprised
at who takes you up.

Oh, if you do visit, get GPS. It helps a lot.

------
immad
Tichy: Since 3boobs.de is too funny and you read my blog. If you get the
chance to come over I can introduce you to some YC companies and go out for
dinner/drinks. Give me an email...

Also I would follow the advice from the other people here, and try to arrange
as many events and people to see as possible so that you maximize your time
here.

~~~
Tichy
Thanks for the offer! It might take me a while to do the trip (unless YC
accepts my application, if I submit one), because it is a long way to go. But
the answers to my question here have been very inspiring, so I hope I can make
it eventually.

------
hbien
I actually grew up in silicon valley. I'm not really great at making contacts
either. For some companies (especially startups) you might be able to make a
call and stop by their offices, or have lunch with some of the people who work
there.

My advice is to call ahead and go with a friend. Even if you can't meet any
new faces you can always explore the area (SF, stanford + cal ..) and go to
hacker events (user group meetings, maybe even a conf)

------
skmurphy
We facilitate two "Bootstrapper Breakfasts" a month see
<http://www.bootstrappersbreakfast.com/> You buy your own breakfast and take
part in a serious conversation with other bootstrapping entrepreneurs from
7:30am to 9:00am. Sign up in advance to let us know you are coming and drop by
when you are in town.

------
PStamatiou
I first visited SF as a Yahoo! intern (my first time in CA) and it was quite
an experience. I didn't know anyone except for an online friend or two at the
time but just driving down the 101 and seeing the HQ of big companies was
inspiring. I say just go! Follow all the techie SF-based hackers on Twitter
and you'll find some event to go to during your stay.

~~~
Tichy
Good idea about Twitter - I am not a user yet, but for SV it really makes
sense.

------
jmzachary
Would a group of out-of-towners be interested in going to SV? Might be easier
to arrange tours and meet-ups with the locals if a bunch of us organized into
a geek horde.

~~~
sabat
That's actually a very good idea. If there are enough people who are
interested in moving here, it makes sense to 'tour' the bay area and get a
feel for it.

~~~
jmzachary
Who's in? If we reach a critical mass, maybe pg would agree to meet with us if
his schedule permits.

------
merrick33
The valley is huge, and many campuses while impressive in size are dull in
aesthetics. That said, I think it's worth going to San Jose and driving up to
San Francisco.

Paul Stamatiou made a trip to the valley last summer and shared his
experience. It's worth reading each of his three posts, the last is full of
pictures of headquarters for startups.

<http://paulstamatiou.com/2006/06/25/california>

[http://paulstamatiou.com/2006/07/29/more-reasons-why-i-
love-...](http://paulstamatiou.com/2006/07/29/more-reasons-why-i-love-
california)

<http://paulstamatiou.com/2007/07/21/california-hq-pics>

~~~
mikelikespie
I agree. San Jose is pretty boring by the way, but while you're in the area
and if you get hungry I have some recommendations here (scroll to the San Jose
part):

<http://lolrus.org/archives/55>

~~~
PStamatiou
oh and the SJC airport sucks! It's rather small. I had to fly back to Atlanta
from there and past security there is only one bathroom for several gates so
there is often a line. Needless to say I barely made it on my plane waiting to
use the restroom first.

------
imperator
Go to as many events with open atmospheres as possible.

For example, <http://ruby.meetup.com/99/?gj=sj2> (Ruby meetup)

<http://superhappydevhouse.org/> (Hacker Party, not sure when we're having our
next one)

If you have a blog, ask a hacker you like if you can buy them lunch and cover
him or her in an interview, or just talk. Worst they can say is no.

Also there are a lot of coworking spaces opening up in SV, so if you get stuck
with nothing to do for a day, you can try one of those.

~~~
icky
Seconded DevHouse. Really, even if there were no other reason to be in SV,
DevHouse would still beckon...

------
omnipath
Ask for tours. I believe Google gives a tour of their campus, and I'm not sure
about CNet (it's further south of San Fran), but I'm sure other companies
aren't adverse to tours.

------
DarrenStuart
"hackers with their MacBooks at Starbucks"

I was in SF late last year and went to a lot of starbucks and boy is there a
lot of em and I didn't see anyone with a macbook. Maybe down in the valley you
might find this but in San Fran city I didn't see any and nore in berkley
either.

I wanted to go down to the valley to do the tour but the wife wouldn't have
been impressed :p

have a look at upcoming.org

~~~
ardit33
Duh.... 1\. You most likeley were checking out toursity areas. The starbucks
will have mostly toursit (I imagine, union sq. metreon area). 2\. True hackers
don't like starbucks. They prefer local shops, that have better coffee, and
free wi-fi.

The closest starbucks near my home, is open 24hrs, and at midnight is hard to
find open seating (lots of students with their laptops, and books). It is so
refreshing when at the midle of the night there are so many people around
doing stuff. I moved in here from the Boston area (Cambridge), where at
midnight everything was closed, and everybody was home.

And I see quite often people doing coding in their laptops. Actually, I am
going to my favorite coffe place (cafe Cubano), and do some coding there (they
have free wi-fi also).

You just have to go away form the touristy areas.

------
jsrfded
You need to book appointments before you go.

Use Linkedin, Facebook, friends-of-friends, help-me posts on wherever... get
meetings.

Say "I'm an entrepreneur from xxx and I'll be visiting the bay area on xxx.
I'd like to meet with interesting valley technologists and businesspeople. If
you could spare a few minutes of your time, I'd love to chat, get coffee, or
have lunch. Thanks!"

[alter as necessary for audience, indirection, etc.]

Looking at one-story office parks is boring. Go inside and talk to the right
people.

~~~
jsrfded
Another comment here suggests an idea..

The YC folks here in the sfbay are supposedly all together in a building in
Sunnyvale. They commune there daily and share wisdom. Can you ask, here, if
one of those companies will host your visit and invite you in to chat?

This is just 1-2 hours of everyone's time, but will make all the difference.
Besides, maybe one of them wants to hire you. :)

------
danielha
Plan your trip and have a go. There's not much to look at in the south bay,
but you can have your fill of tech company logos.

Email a few of your favorite companies and tell them your story. Most would be
happy to show you around.

The web is social now, right? Use it to your advantage. Facebook, Twitter,
Upcoming, and even Valleywag is full of local event schedules.

------
mikelikespie
Try going to a BarCamp or some other event. Do a presentation or something too
perhaps.

------
Skyhoper
There are plenty of couches to stay on if that helps a bit.

------
mynameishere
I've been there and it looks like any other giant strip mall. Do yourself a
serious favor and go to Thailand for vacation.

------
sabat
"becoming depressed by endless roads and "Office Space" sterile IT buildings
(you can see I have no idea what SV is like)"

It's a lot like you're imagining. Better background scenery, and some of the
buildings are nicer, but ... like, Apple, for one, has surprisingly sterile
buildings. You'd think that One Infinite Loop would be an amazing art deco
building or something. It's not, sadly.

------
sabat
Definitely have a plan. As Douglas Coupland once said, SV does not really have
a user interface. But if you plan ahead -- parties, open houses, visits, and
other stuff I'm sure we can come up with -- you can build your own interface.

