I’ve labored in each Silicon Valley and Wall Road. I’ve been bitten by each the “construct cool shit” bug and the “earn more money” bug. I’ve worn a swimsuit & tie for my job in addition to a hoodie & shorts to my office.
It’s fascinating to discover these contrasting worlds and the completely different sides of our personalities by the lens of Valley and NYC.
So, how is the Silicon Valley mindset completely different from the New York mindset for creating companies, fixing issues, and promoting merchandise & providers?
Listed here are 3 ways how enterprise is completed otherwise:
In Silicon Valley, founders usually provide you with new concepts from their every day walks of life, develop a speculation, construct the product, and assume that clients could be interested in it like a magnet if it’s a cool product. They don’t search permission/approval and are solely restricted by their creativeness.
In New York, it’s extra widespread to gather all the necessities from a consumer upfront, map out their programs & constraints, put every thing on paper, and shut a sale. That is good as a result of they aren’t playing on an untested concept. However on the opposite excessive, it might additionally end in “vapor promoting”, wherein services or products are promoted & bought earlier than they even exist.
The Silicon Valley mindset is usually related to a tradition of experimentation, a willingness to take dangers, and embrace failure as a studying alternative. Because of this the Silicon Valley mindset could also be extra conducive to pursuing moonshot initiatives which can be extremely formidable and dangerous.
In distinction, the New York mindset is usually extra centered on minimizing danger & uncertainty and maximizing returns. Because of this there’s a higher emphasis on belief and reliability. Because of this, the New York mindset could also be extra centered on roofshot initiatives which have extra predictable economics however decrease chances of outsized rewards.
The hustle mindset and tradition of working laborious on Wall Road are pushed by excessive strain and the expectation of lengthy hours. Those that are in a position to put of their blood & sweat and say “sure” to new alternatives are sometimes those who thrive and have higher profession success. It’s superb to see a lot one can humanly accomplish by pushing their boundaries and dealing 16-hour days.
Silicon Valley’s hacker tradition prides itself in saying “no” to the grind. They consider that lowering stress & prioritizing total well-being is vital to inventive exploration. Techies pursue a meditative frame of mind to enhance focus, productiveness, and unconventional pondering. When you understand that having an uncluttered frame of mind creates the headspace to assume exterior the field. That may’t be achieved if you’re continually burned out, leaping from one process to a different.
Is one mindset higher than the opposite? Most likely not. I’d assume the reality lies someplace within the center.
