trendpreneur

27 is my lucky number. Today I turn 28, and the last year has been the most exciting one yet. I have a slight feeling of having passed the top of the rollercoaster, but then I look ahead and realise how unrealistic that is.

In the last year: I ‘graduated’ from EPIS, launched FestBuzz, visited Silicon Valley twice and then moved here, learnt to pitch and spent a lot of time doing it, spoke at TechCrunch, hammered out my business idea and execution in the forges of Astia, Cambridge University, Informatics Ventures/Ken Morse workshops, NESTA, UKTI and countless other events, and had some eye-opening and enlightening moments at various conferences, especially concerning the marketplace and competition.

The high points of the last year encompass all of the above, and more; small achievements (quitting World of Warcraft cold-turkey due to having absolutely no spare time; learning to run and completing two 5Ks) and improvements in my personal life all add up to an amazing year. I couldn’t have asked for more.

Moving to Silicon Valley has been a hectic and interesting experience so far, and it’s set to make my 28th year very interesting indeed. (Or is that 29th? One’s first year is when one is age zero…)

Having so much on the proverbial doorstep is at once overwhelming and inducive of complacency. The echo chamber is intimidating and shallow. And yet there’s something in the air; some ‘zeal’ carried in the water supply. When people ask you at events “What does your startup do?”, not “What do you do?”, it’s strangely liberating.

There’s also a difference in attitude. Everyone here thinks their startup is the next Facebook, Google, Twitter, etc. When asked, I have a tendency to hedge and mumble; “Oh, it’s a Scottish social media AI startup, you probably won’t have heard of it”. When I’m truly attuned to the Silicon Valley frequency, I’ll be answering “We’re reinventing information, and if you read TechCrunch you’ve probably read about us”.

I’m hard-pressed to keep a straight face with some of the startups I run into; although Europe is characterised as having a lot of “me-too-in-Deutsch” type companies, me-toos definitely exist in the Bay Area! “We’re Facebook for dog-lovers”, etc. Despite the melting-pot nature of the area, there are also quite a few startups working on very inward-focused areas, jumping on technology bandwagons (though there are plenty of tech-for-techies startups, many funded by YC, that will probably do quite well in their niches).

Plenty of people design for themselves, for their Silicon Valley lifestyle/friends/needs/itches, and don’t look outwards. I haven’t met enough startups to really put a finger on how prevalent this is, but every so often I’ll run into someone and my first thought will be: “This wouldn’t work in Edinburgh”. (This even applies to some of Google’s ideas, it’s not just the small guys). I’m hoping that my experience of living in a country without free wi-fi, prevalent plug outlets, geographic population density/early-adopter critical mass, reliable 3G/GPS, a good public transport and healthcare system, and Topshop (I miss Topshop) will help some people here.

My mind has been buzzing with ideas since I landed, and there’s nothing quite as inspirational as your own personal itches/problems/difficulties as a newbie in a strange land armed with a Linode server and terminal. Being out of my comfort zone and living in a strange country has been an interesting start to the year, and I actually recommend it. It definitely broadens the mind.

Much as I miss Edinburgh and all the wonderful people there, and even the opportunities I’ve given up or walked away from, I believe the connections and knowledge to be had over here are invaluable. Hopefully I can bring a piece of Silicon Valley back!