what's eating silicon valley _ andrew yang _ linkedin

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What's Eating Silicon Valley

This article originally appeared in Quartz

Like most people, I look up to and admire the heroes of Silicon Valley (the real

ones, not the ones from the TV show). Theyve given rise to services (e.g., Google,

Facebook, Uber, LinkedIn, Airbnb) that we use every day and make the world a

better place. Theyve created value, wealth, and opportunity at unprecedented

historic levels.

Ive also had the chance to meet some of the leading CEOs and entrepreneurs of

the Valley and they are, by and large, good-natured, brilliant, and thoughtful

people. Theyre earnest and committed to building positive things. Some of them

are donors to my organization, for which Im immensely grateful. Its clear that

Silicon Valley is today more than ever the center of innovation and technological

progress.

That said, there are a few things about it that are starting to make me nervous.

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to rejoin the real world. A successful entrepreneur told me he fantasizes about

that his money would effectively triple as soon as he left. Another successful

entrepreneur who moved to San Francisco said he felt like just another cow in

the pen, and that he enjoyed spending time in other parts of the country because

it made him feel more like he was making a difference.

What are these people talking about? What are the things that are starting to

freak people out about Silicon Valley? There are a few themes that come up again

and again:

The epicenter of wealth and young money

There are a lot of young people, generally from very good colleges, making more

money than most people will ever see. These are summer college interns

(non-engineers) who are being paid $7,000+ a month and getting perks like free

flights home to visit on weekends. Bidding wars and five and six-digit signing

bonuses are being paid out for freshly minted engineering grads, particularly

from Stanford. Average salaries are now close to $200,000 in the Valley, to say

nothing of the upside of equity-based compensation, which can be dramatically

higher.

All of the above makes business senseId offer the same thing to a young person

whom I thought could potentially be a difference-maker. But its a lot relatively

early in peoples careers.

Supercompetitive

Technology companies tend to operate in winner-take-all spaces and thus adopt a

very high-commitment culture. That is, if there are 10 or 100 mapping apps or

social networks, the one company left standing is worth billions, and the rest are

worth a very small fraction of that (probably only what people will pay for thetalent on hand). As a result, the organizations are ultra-efficient and expect long

hours and constant availability. Its either win or lose big for a lot of companies,

and theres not much in-between.

Hard work is awesome. But when you see an army of people staring at their

computer screens in the evening post-dinnertime, its a little eerie.



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companies are now on the hunt for talent like never before, building massive

recruitment pipelines to hoover up top prospects and engineers. Google recruits

the heck out of Stanford, Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon, MIT, and other top schools

offering six-figures to start, plus bonuses. Facebook sponsors hackathons at thetop schools, stays in touch with professors, and invests tons of resources in order

to be the most visible and obvious employer.

Dont think that the smart kids havent noticedthe proportion of Stanford

students majoring in the Humanities has plummeted from over 20% to only 7%

this past year, prompting wails among History and English professors whose

classes no longer have students. One administrator joked to me that Stanford is

now the Stanford Institute of Technology. In 2014, more Harvard Business School

Grads went into technology than into banking for the first time since the dot-com

era.

Again, Id do the same thing. But is this the optimal assignment of our best and

brightest? And is it a good thing that one of our nations top universities seems to

be going vocational?

Insular culture/Not awesome at diversity

The corporate campuses and workplace amenities of Apple, Google, Facebook,

etc. are legendary. Theyre insider tourist attractions. For the average employee,

you wake up and drive from a leafy suburb to a grounded spaceship. You stay

there and eat the subsidized gourmet dinner with someone whos a lot like you.

Or maybe you take the dark-windowed company bus from San Francisco and tap

out emails with headphones on. Even smaller companies are competing on rock

climbing walls and ping-pong tables.

This way of life doesnt generally expose you to people who are living differentways of life. And the people on the bus and spaceship arent representative of

most of society based on gender or race or education or age. Silicon Valley is a

bubble doesnt refer to valuations or moneyit refers to the fact that you live in a

bubble.

Crazy high cost of living



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Area right now. Modest houses for well over a million dollars. Little apartments

home in Santa Clara county sold for $1.25 million in August of 2015, up 9% from

last year. How is a teacher or just about any regular person going to live there?

Even if you can afford to live in a neighborhood, the elevated costs make it easy tocompare yourself to others and say, Well, sure Im richer than anyone I grew up

with, but Im not that rich, because look at that guy I work with or went to school

with or who lives down the block. That guys really rich. Its not an environment

of plenty, but one of keeping up with the Joneses.

These are some of the things that are making people uncomfortable both in and

about the Valley. None of these issues are anyones fault. Its just the market at

workthe capital market, the market for talent, the real estate market.

It reminds me a fair amount of Wall Street. Wall Streets public image took a hit

post-financial crisis in part because they were bailed out by the government, in

part because they contributed to the crisis, and in part because they dont produce

tangible goods and services (no one got as mad at Chrysler, for example).

But another reason Wall Street had trouble maintaining goodwill was because of

some of the attributes abovehard-charging, too much too soon, parallel reality,

money flowing everywhere, rich white guys, etc. To use a sports metaphor, its like

the Yankees or Duke University or the Patriotsthey start getting hard to root

for, unless theyre your home team.

Solve the big problems

Perhaps the biggest critique of Silicon Valley comes from a technologist quoted in

Vanity Fairs recent article by Nick BiltonSF tech culture is focused on solving

one problem: What is my mother no longer doing for me?

Getting a car on demand, finding something online, business productivity tools,connecting with peoplethese are solutions that the market demands and

rewards. They make money. Silicon Valley is like Wall Street in that it will fill and

pursue market opportunities to their logical extremes.

If theres one way that Silicon Valley can lead and distance itself from critiques of

insularity and out-of-touchness, its to tackle the big, thorny, difficult problems

that would improve the state of the world. Problems that are messy, protracted,



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market. They affect rich and poor alike. They touch flawed systems. Theyre less

proud? They require you to do more than cut a check, and instead hunker down

and grind away for years.

What problems do I mean? Here are a few that come to mind that would giveSilicon Valley the moral leadership to match its economic and intellectual might:

Water

We all know that California is stuck in a multi-year drought. Its the great

equalizer. The Bay Area has been hit less hard by water rationing than Southern

California, but the dry spell is finally starting to impact peoples ability to water

their lawns and take out the Slip N Slide, not to mention its influence on the epic

wildfires that are destroying homes all over the state.

Imagine if the resources of Silicon Valley were to tackle this challenge. How about

building a water pipeline from Canada to northern California? Megascale

desalination, Israeli-style? Large-scale conservation technologies? If theres

something that would get everyone in California declaring companies as heroes

its this. Water is free in California, but not reallyso be the water bringer.

Traffic/infrastructure

One CEO commented that it took him about an hour to make a 15-mile commute

in the morning to Palo Alto. I found myself shaking my head at the thought of all

of these millionaires inching along in standstill traffic twice a day, even those that

did their best to engineer a short commute. While some of their Teslas can drive

themselves so the driver can send emails and whatnot, commute length is the

single biggest determinant of day-to-day happiness according to psychologists.

What use is being a mega-baller if youre stuck in traffic every day?

I know, Google self-driving cars will go mainstream by 2030 and greatly reduce

traffic (and potentially eliminate hundreds of thousands of driving jobs). In the

meantime, how about dynamic tolling? Staggered commute times? Jetpacks? A

public-private partnership to add four lanes to widen Route 101? Again, whoever

did this would be a hero, and could probably name the new lanes after their

company.



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is rising, and were heading toward a country where the non-white majority in

2043 will have lower levels of income, wealth, education, physical freedom, and

political participation than the white minority. Thats the country kids are

growing into.

Technology companies are starting to focus on getting more diversity in their own

organizations, which is a great place to start. But theres much more that can be

done.

Take the current controversy over policing. Youre telling me that the best

non-lethal weapon we can give an officer in 2016 is a Taser with a range of 25 feet

that was developed back in 1974? Or that I can have a video camera on my phone

but we cant stick one on every badge?

Is there really no better system than to rely on overworked guidance counselors

and standardized testing at age 16 to identify talented minorities in inner cities?

Technologists could do a lot to lead in the right direction.

Education

National SAT scores are at their lowest points in a decade. Online education is

ubiquitous, yet we dont seem to be getting any smarter. If anything, its kind of

the opposite. We have decades of research on effective education that isnt being

implemented nationwide. Meanwhile, we plow millions of kids through a factory

system that was designed in the agrarian era.

I love Altschool, Minerva Project, and the Khan Academy, but were still just

scratching the surface of both the opportunity and the need around the country.

So many people want this, its unreal. Theres even money in this onethe USspends $621 billion on public education, with uneven results.

Is filling out bubbles with a pencil on a test designed in 1901 still the best we can

do to measure human potential?

Im optimistic because this generation of techies is starting to have kids. Nothing

motivates you to figure out whats going on with a system more than when your



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When technologists interact with government, they tend to focus either on things

that are good for their business interests (immigration, internet access) or

libertarianism (stay out of the way). Otherwise, money gets lost in a maze. Its aswamp, another world. The operating system of the government is out-of-date

and needs an updateonly its not capable of updating itself.

Dont let the system scare you off. Look at Lawrence Lessighes a law professor

whos trying to get money out of politics and crowdfunded $11 million dollars to

do it. Thats how much Google spent on lobbying last year.

Or Jen Pahlka and Code for America, which sends coders and designers to save

cities money by showing them what a lean, talented team can do.

Or Megan Smith who left Google to become CTO of the US, along with the wave o

heroes who moved to Washington DC to save Healthcare.gov.

Its still your country. Dont give up on it.

Unsexy entrepreneurship

For Silicon Valley denizens, this is the golden age of entrepreneurship. But if you

look across the country, entrepreneurship is at a 24-year low and most young

people are not starting businesses, online or otherwise. Theyre looking for jobs in

Baltimore, Detroit, New Orleans, Cleveland, St. Louis, Providence, Cincinnati,

San Antonio, upstate New York, and wherever else to pay back loans and maybe

start a family.

Entrepreneurship in these other cities looks quite different than it does in the

Valley. Its unsexy and gritty, measured in credit card debt rather than VCmeetings, by getting customers instead of visitors or users, by changing the

neighborhood instead of changing the world. Companies are started not with a

desire to be huge, but because theres a problem to be solved.

These entrepreneurs look up to the people in the Valley for inspiration. You

wouldnt believe how big a difference it would make to have tech rockstars spend

time in these cities and commit to making them better. It would make these



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Written by

choose just about anything under the sun that you felt strongly about, as long as it

came from a good place.

When I ran a company, I didnt have time for much else. I thought that the workthat I was doing represented the most profound impact and good I could make in

the world. I was focused. I wanted to be rich. If someone asked me for help I

would make a small contribution, but I felt my greatest contribution was my day

ob.

After we got acquired, I thought about joining or starting another company.

Instead I wound up founding a non-profit to make entrepreneurship more

accessible and distributed throughout the US.

That decision has driven the last five years. Its been a struggle and a massive

education. The markets fuzzier. Nothing is as clean as you want it to be. The

humanity of it can be overwhelming.

But underlying the humanity is the conviction that the problem youre addressing

is worth solving. It challenges you in ways similar to having a childyou grow up

or you quit, only quitting would make you a loser.

Heres the plea to Silicon Valley: were worried youre losing your soul. Please

take on challenges that are worthy of you, that demand your heart, reputation,

treasure, commitment, conviction, and valuesnot just what the markets asking

of you. Youre the builders of this era. Its not enough. We need you to lead.

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Incredible Things That Happen Once You Learn to

Love Being Alone

We live in a world of constant contacta place thats losing sight of the

importance of being alone. Offices are abandoning cubicles in favor of shared

desks and wide-open common spaces, and rather than sitting at their desks

working independently, school children are placed in groups. It seems that a

never-ending ping has become our cultures omnipresent background noise,

instantly informing us of every text, tweet, and notification. Even something as

mundane as cooking dinner has become worthy of social sharing.

One result of all this social connection is that many of us rarely have any time

venkataram Sharmavenkataram Sharma

Yes USA spending lot of money in IT and education but outsourcing it toYes USA spending lot of money in IT and education but outsourcing it to

other countries I couldn't understand if they want to create next gen techother countries I couldn't understand if they want to create next gen tech

people y they r hiring outsider or outsourcing , also in education 30% r nonpeople y they r hiring outsider or outsourcing , also in education 30% r non

USA people, and whole California becoming worst natural catastrophe likeUSA people, and whole California becoming worst natural catastrophe like

drought traffic pollution etc.tey need to conserve nature by afforestation waterdrought traffic pollution etc.tey need to conserve nature by afforestation water

management , Solar consultant [email protected] , Solar consultant [email protected]

LikeLike ReplyReply 12 hours ago12 hours ago

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around other people is necessary for a fulfilled life, you can certainly have too

A study of 600 computer programmers at 92 companies found that while

productivity levels were relatively stable within each company, they varied greatly

from one company to the next. The more productive companies had one thing in

common: they ditched the ultra-hip open office in favor of private workspaces

that granted freedom from interruptions. Of the top performers, 62% said they

had adequate privacy at work, while only 19% of the worst performers shared that

opinion. And, among the low performers, 76% said they were often unnecessarilyinterrupted.

Solitude isnt just a professional plus; its also good for your mental and

emotional well-being. To get the most out of life, you must learn to enjoy

spending time alone. The benefits of solitude are too numerous to catalog, but

here are some of the best.

ou recuperate and recharge. All of useven the hopeless extroverts among

usneed time to recuperate and recharge. Theres nothing like spending time

alone to make this happen. The peace, quiet, and mental solitude you experience

when youre by yourself are essential to recovering from the stresses of daily

living.

ou can do what you want.As fun as it is to spend time with other people, it

inevitably leads to compromise. Youre constantly modifying your ideas to

accommodate other peoples desires and opinions. Being alone frees you up to do

exactly what you want when you want. You can throw on whatever you feel like

wearing, eat what you feel like eating, and work on projects that are meaningful to

you.

ou learn to trust yourself.Freedom is more than doing what you want; its

the ability to trust your gut and to think clearly, without any pressure or outside

influence. Being alone helps you form a clear understanding of who you are, what

you know, and whats right for you. It teaches you to trust yourself. When around

others, even when you dont realize it, you monitor peoples reactions in order to



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its all on you. You develop your own ideas and opinions, without having them

youll discover what youre truly capable of, without the constraints of other

peoples thinking.

It increases your emotional intelligence.Emotional intelligence (EQ) isyour ability to recognize and understand emotions in yourself and others and

your ability to use this awareness to manage your behavior and relationships.

TalentSmarthas tested more than a million people and found that 90% of top

performers are high in EQ. Self-awareness is the foundation of emotional

intelligence, and you cant increase your EQ without it. Since self-awareness

requires understanding your emotions and how you react to various people and

situations, this necessitates careful self-reflection, and self-reflection happens

best when youre alone.

It boosts your self-esteem.Enjoying your own company is a huge confidence

booster. If youre bored and restless when youre by yourself, its easy to start

thinking that youreboring or that you need other people around to enjoy

yourself. Learning to enjoy time alone boosts your self-esteem by confirming that

you are enough.

ou appreciate other people more.Absence really does make the heart grow

fonder. Time alone lets you see people in a whole new light, and it helps you to

develop a renewed sense of gratitude for who they are and what they do.

ou get more done. Its said that more hands make light work, and while

that might be true when it comes to raking leaves, its a completely different story

with cognitive tasks. Even the effectiveness of brainstorming is more myth than

reality. Researchers from Texas A&M found that group brainstorming hinders

productivity due to cognitive fixation. Cognitive fixation is the tendency for

people working in groups to get stuck on other peoples ideas, reducing their

ability to come up with anything new, and the bigger the group, the more fixatedeveryone becomes. Spending time alone not only eliminates distractions but also

ensures that you dont have trouble with too many cooks.

Everyone benefits from solitude. Take the opportunity this week to spend some

time alone.



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comments section below as I learn just as much from you as you do from me.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Dr. Travis Bradberryis the award-winning co-author of the #1 bestselling

book,Emotional Intelligence 2.0,and the cofounder of TalentSmart, the world'sleading provider of emotional intelligence testsand training, serving more than

75% of Fortune 500 companies. His bestselling books have been translated into

25 languages and are available in more than 150 countries. Dr. Bradberry has

written for, or been covered by,Newsweek, TIME, BusinessWeek, Fortune,

Forbes, Fast Company, Inc., USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The

Washington Post, and The Harvard Business Review.

If you'd like to learn how to increase your emotional intelligence (EQ), consider

taking the onlineEmotional Intelligence Appraisaltest that's included with the

Emotional Intelligence 2.0book. Your test results will pinpoint which of the

book's 66 emotional intelligence strategies will increase your EQ the most.



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what's eating silicon valley _ andrew yang _ linkedin

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