Our last day...

In the morning we had book talks at Peet’s Café. I was excited to try this place because my Marketing professor had put so much hype on the company. I got a Soy Chai Latte, it was alright. I think Starbucks might have been better for that option, but all their other teas looked pretty glamorous and the staff was great. Pyz talked about a book the ‘4 Hour Work Week’ which was an interesting book to hear about before we went to Intel later in the day. I would like to read this book, since I think the author’s points are more realistic to human nature rather than sitting in a tiny grey cubical for 8 hours at a time (Intel… gross). Bryan read the Numerati, which we briefly read in the marketing class. I liked the realistic point of view the book took on manipulating people’s data to help discover trends, although I am still curious as to how privacy policies will be effected in the future with this trend. Aaron gave us a debriefing on Accidental Billionaires, which talked about the dramatic beginning of Facebook. Not many ethics were included in that start-up.

At Facebook we met up with Dave Heggaren, who had the same haircut as me. Don’t know how I feel about that. He was very informative and energetic about the company- his passion really showed. He managed a small team (only seven, surprisingly) of engineers that worked on the mobile part of the company. I asked him why he thought facebook got ahead from other social networks like myspace, livejournal, xanga, etc. He didn’t have an answer, but I believe it’s the simplicity of its website that makes it so easy to use for everyone, and it’s not cluttered with music, background design, etc. The other websites got too into detail and forgot their main objective, which is to allow people to communicate with their social network through search and other means while still allowing them to identify themselves without being a distraction to the process.

I was impressed at facebook’s intern program, because the interns actually had influence on the end products, like the “like” button, etc. The majority of the people in the company were young and their work environment was very open- no cubicles or designated work space. It was similar to the library at Luther, since there were many open meeting rooms and work places. Some people mentioned that this environment could be a real distraction, but I disagree. At the development office at Luther, the lack of social interaction with others causes employees to take prolonged breaks for an hour or more and several intervals during the day (and these people are much older than the facebook employees, who one would think to be more social. The employees who get the most done are the ones that have an open space and are not so isolated from others. I believe the facebook method is more realistic to human nature.

Like many other companies in the Silicon Valley, Microsoft is data driven. This also applies to careers, where motivated employees can excel by using this data ideal (such as the former Luther student Enwe Xie who has been a rocket moving up the company). I can see why it’s advised to put data-related facts on your resume now. I was excited to hear that Microsoft continually hires college graduates, which is probably better for the others in the group than myself… it was an interesting company and I enjoyed the experience of being there quite a bit, but I don’t see myself working there any time soon. The company itself is gigantic, with 5 big business divisions that include 40 product groups, which translates into being a 12+ billion dollar business annually. Crazy! This is probably why they can afford to have such an impressive R&D department, which includes 900+ Ph. D’s and operated officially under the slogan “Further the state of the art: and make sure Microsoft has a future.” Their R&D people have a lot of freedom in what they do and where they go with that information (much different than Intel), which I’m sure makes them want to stay with Microsoft. Smart move Bill Gates.

Dan’l left us with some advice before we moved on to look at some projects the company is working on. Life is 10% of what it gives you and 90% of what you do with it. Pick up the phone, call someone, take initiative, seize opportunities, be enthusiastic, and do what you say you’re going to do. Wow. Sounds easy enough…. Finally, The technologies that Microsoft is envisioning are awesome, I was completely blown away (just hope they follow through on a video they showed us modeling different projects)- I can’t wait for the future.At Microsoft we were introduced by Dan’l Lewin, who I discovered after the meeting that was quite famous in the computer world (one of Apple’s first employees I guess). At Microsoft, he is currently the Vice President of Strategic and Emerging Business Development where he finds the connection between technological innovation and economic opportunity for the corporation- which roughly translates into finding a way to engage with entrepreneurs around the world. His background story was very fascinating to me- he was the first of his family to go to college and went to Princeton, not too bad. He advised that we read a Harvard Business Review article by Regis McKinna that was published in ’91, which argues that marketing is everything to a company in the context of which they operate, either market driven or driving the market. Factors to consider in this context are the weighing the importance of the product to lifestyles, values, attitudes, mentality, etc., to the eventual customer. In this way, one can identify their target market and also what will motivate to buy from the company. I’m going to look this up when we have more free time next week.

He also spoke about your product being sticky, which is something I also read about in the Tipping Point. In his description, Dan’l said that a product that is sticky is an asset upon which other build. An example of this would be the iPhone and all the Apps that are being constructed for it by entrepreneurial developers. These people trust the brand and will drag it along to future markets, introducing it to new markets and generations, which will improve its likelihood of success. Dan’l told us that empowering employees allows them stay motivated in such a large company. The career path is up to the employee, and it is their responsibility to ensure their dreams of promotion are manifested. This ideal is reinstated by the company’s core values and principles system, which executive leadership is careful to always promote and live by.

Intel was probably the most traditional company we visited on the trip. The entire interior of the building was the same shade of grey, and there was a sea of cubicles every time we entered a new floor. It even had section numbers like M3, as if we were in a parking garage. It was a complete reality check at this point in the trip- the company culture of the Silicon Valley is much different than the rest of the US at this point, but I hope that this trend continues on to the West Coast because it is a much more natural to human nature.

We ate our final dinner at La Strada, an Italian bistro that was very delicious & had a wonderful atmosphere for our last night together. The girls got a little dressed up beforehand, and we enjoyed some great Californian Chardonnay (thanks Brad!) It was a great last day and a fabulous end to this trip.

We watched our friend Robin Williams on Conan O’Brien last night while we packed, which was hilarious because it was Conan’s second to last show. I got all my pictures on Facebook (the album is called I left my heart in San Francisco, check it out!) and currently we are at the airport, waiting for our flight that has been delayed to Midwest weather. I’m truly going to miss this place.