Living and working in San Francisco carries the mystique of Silicon Valley - the birthplace of the greatest innovations, coolest mobile apps, top gadgets, and a general hotbed of nerdom. If you’re a woman in technology, use technology at work, or are still learning what it means to ‘like’ and ‘follow’ your friends’ latest moves - then follow my series, “The Tech Mystique,” where I’ll share with you all the technology trends and stories you need to know and why. I’ll break down the latest industry happenings across business, consumer and enterprise landscapes, and tell you what’s in it for you and why you should care.
 
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While Silicon Valley is geographically just a small area south of San Francisco on the peninsula, it’s really more of an industry and a state of mind: the Hollywood for nerds, or as one tech reporter noted, "Silicon Valley is a global mindset, not a single geographic destination." You’d be surprised to hear all that goes on here.
 
Still considered a neophyte to some, I’ve worked in the tech industry for only a year, however the lessons have been worth light years. After graduating from Berkeley, I first worked for a startup with co-founders who were less than redeemable characters, showing me that there’s a shadowy side to this industry, with its inflated egotism and cultural ignorance, which is disconnected from solving ‘Big Problems.’ In short, the technology wasn’t iterating fast enough so it failed, or as some would say, the startup wasn’t in the right place at the right time with the right market to entice venture capitalists and angel investors with funding beyond the initial ‘Seed Round.’
 
It’s not surprising for others who have also lived through the startup ecosystem to hear that your company folded. In other industries, bankruptcy or ‘folding’ is total devastation. For the serial entrepreneur in Silicon Valley and many women in technology, it could be just a blip on the radar and the reason to pick up and start the next venture.
 
People are fooled into thinking that working in Silicon Valley will make you millions. The CEOs of heavy-hitters like Google, Facebook, Box, Square, etc. are the Cinderella stories. Coders are king and engineers take on an alpha role where the highest on the food chain often wears a hoodie. The startup ecosystem is mostly comprised of (sometimes) very smart individuals with an idea that needs to be manifested in some way.
 
 
Three-out-of-four startups fail, said a venture capitalist; a huge portion of the other companies that ‘exist’ have employees who work for free, make no revenue and cannot subsist operationally. Silicon Valley is a Darwinian case study. The survival of the fittest may be the rule ultimately, but the quickest to adapt, or ‘disrupt’ or ‘iterate’ are more likely to secure the next round of funding.
 
I now work for a tech strategic communications firm, held together by integrity and 23 years of experience, in the Valley where the company has survived dotcom booms and busts. It’s my job to know the stories that go on in the technology industry, to know what’s on the horizon and what that means for the business decision makers, women in technology, and the technocrat and non-techie.
 
Follow me on twitter @ChristineDeakers and on bSmart on Tech Tuesdays for the latest news, trends, and need-to-know technology for women in technology and for all women who will update their status, ‘like’ something, or upload and put a filter on their latest meal in the next 30 minutes.
 

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