Decoding Silicon Valley: The Insider's Guide

I have lived and worked in Silicon Valley for 37 years—and have had the great fortune of spending all these years at the birthplace of lots of amazing tech innovations, SRI International (formerly Stanford Research Institute) and then with a spin-out from SRI, Strategic Business Insights, located on the SRI campus. In part because of my SRI connection, I have given lots of presentations to visiting delegations, especially from the Nordics, about Silicon Valley. And as an economist, with strong interest in regional economics and the role of technology, who has long studied and discussed the dynamics of Silicon Valley with colleagues and friends in the region, I think I have a pretty good understanding of how the Valley works. But I was still intrigued when I saw that Jon and Michelle had written Decoding Silicon Valley, and ordered it immediately to see what I could learn—as this is a very complex and dynamic ecosystem, and anyone who thinks he or she understands it all, and has nothing to learn, would be sadly mistaken. And I am very happy I bought and read the book, as it is filled with lots of interesting personal anecdotes and perspectives from a wide variety of people, each with observations that I found interesting and insightful. As a member of the Board of Silicon Vikings, my colleagues and I interact with lots of Nordic entrepreneurs, academics, government officials and others who come to the Valley to study its ways, and learn. I will now recommend they all read Decoding Silicon Valley on the flight over, as this will prepare them well for what they will see and experience once their plane touches down in this amazing place.

Think of Decoding Silicon Valley as a tourguide for out-of-towners. What do they need to know to make sense of our eco-system? What preconceptions about our culture and practices would they do well to let go of, before they arrive, because they’re the stuff of myth and legend? This is that tourguide.For those of us who live here, there’s so much truth and insight embedded that we’ll likely learn something about how we work that we didn’t realize ourselves. Perhaps even more interesting, we will likely, by implication, get a sense of just how different the rest of the country – and even more so the rest of the world – really is from this magical Bay Area in which we live.

The book got recommended in the first week of my 3 month stay in Silicon Valley. It was awesome timing and it helped me to dive into the Valley way faster then without it. It took away the magic in a good way. All the people are just people after all. It gave good advice where necessary pointed out differences where appropriate and demystified where the stories about the Valley are just stories.In my situation (entrepreneur, being in the Valley for about 3 month) a very good perspective to start from. As always: I don't thing the author is always right, but he also never stated that. It is just his experience and his opinion or the opinion of the people he interviewed.Definitely a book I will read a second time!

A great perspective on Silicon Valley for the outsider. I bought this for my husband who has been a startup lawyer and then a VC over the last 30 years. He said that the book's accurate and incisive, that he particularly enjoyed the way "insider stories" illustrate the authors' points. Also it's largely written in bullet-point format which VCs love! A very effective way for someone who lives outside this strange place to figure out how to maneuver through its special culture.

If you're interested in separating the hype/myth of Silicon Valley from the reality, read this. I wish I had this book a decade ago when we started our first startup outside the Valley. It would have saved me a ton of wasted angst/envy/energy from the misinformed perspectives people have outside the Valley. having worked here these past few years, I'm learnt many of these same lessons through the school of hard knocks.

Worthwhile, and easy to read. I found it a bit repetitive and rambling, but I still felt it contained interesting and useful information. The short sidebars from well-known entrepreneurs and VCs varied a lot in usefulness; on the whole I think they could have been left out.

Great and comprehensive summary on how Silicon Valley works, a must-read for visitors, startups ecosystems developers and entrepreneurs.

I'd say is the best book I ever read about Silicon Valley for those who are planning to move here. It is very educational and very helpful. By following the recommendations the entrepreneurs will save a lot of time and reduce significantly the learning curve and the "installation" in the culture of Silicon Valley.

This great book helps first timers in the Valley, especially startup entrepreneurs, understand how the region and its mindset works, how it developed to be what it is, and how we can "get in the game" there quickly and/or have a "silicon valley mindset" and apply it into our startups wherever they are.Also some solid advice for governments, investors and mentors on how to create local ecosystems with the SV mindset.Congrats for the authors for this great book! :)

Reading this book will make you feel inside Silicon Valley. It's a complete journey through the mindset of the most innovative ecosystem in USA and gives you precious tips. It's a must read!