Difference between revisions of "1415T1g1 Silicon Valley/Participant Information/Reflection/12 Dec"
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| − | <div> | + | <div> Microsoft, the company the world loves to hate. After killing Nokia, everyone has found a reason to hate Microsoft. Nevertheless, we were treated to a VIP tour around the Microsoft building. We were shown some exciting use cases such as the “Emperor Chair”, a fully immersive experience followed by large touch screens and 3D printing/scanning. The talk given by Matt Thomson was enlightening. It’s definitely true that despite the flak that the company is receiving, they have contributed to the startup ecosystem in many ways. I've heard of the BizSpark program before and it is refreshing that he has mentioned it again during the talk. What was particularity interesting to me was that the average worker in Silicon Valley is 50% more productive compared to the average worker around the world. In addition, more money is invested in Silicon Valley by VCs than anywhere else in the world. At the end of the presentation, he mentioned that the main difference between starting a company in Singapore and Silicon Valley is that it is difficult to find talent in Singapore willing to work for low pay and high equity for an extended period of time. Maybe this is a problem with the education system and culture of Singapore? With a free book and snacks, we felt like were VIPs in Microsoft, compared to the other startups that we went to. They have most definitely left a good impression on us. After a quick tour around the Microsoft store and lunch at their cafeteria, we headed to Serena software. |
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| + | At Serena, we were ushered into a meeting room where they showed us what they are all about. In essence, they control software changes in enterprises. Yawns. Boring stuff. But they are doing pretty well. Many fortune 1000 companies are using Serena Software to assist them in developing and deploying their software. After the introduction, they moved us to a small room to mingle. It was humbling to see that the CEO was really open and came to engage us despite us being students. He mentioned that the company currently has about 400 employees, a middle sized company. Not huge like Google but also large enough that it doesn’t have to worry that it’ll be bankrupt the next day. A sweet spot that few companies enjoy. Would this breed complacency? Maybe. But Serena doesn’t seem to have many competitors to begin with. If you thought the first presentation wasn’t interesting, the demo would make you sleep like a baby. Though I get the gist of what they guy was demoing, I doubt I would ever use such a software in the future, simple because I would probably not work for a large enterprise. If you compare the demo skills between PayPal and Serena, PayPal wins by a mile. Similarly to Microsoft, we were treated like VIPs at Serena. We got a free copy of their software, among other paraphernalia. I thought that the atmosphere of the company was extremely welcoming and inviting. Might be because it isn’t too big like most other enterprises. | ||
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| + | At Stanford, we were greeted by Monica, a sophomore studying mechanical engineering. It turns out that she’s only a PR in Singapore and she has been travelling around since her mom moved to Switzerland when she was 15. Stanford has an amazing campus. We had to take a campus bus to get in, just to give you an idea how big is it. Surrounded by beautiful architecture and landscaping, it’s an amazing place to study. She first brought us to the Computer Science building and its named “Gates”, after Bill Gates. The amount of history that was made behind the walls of this school is mindblowing. The school is pretty empty at this time so we just walked around a bit before making our way to the small classroom where we saw the NUS peeps. I soon learnt that the NUS students just finished their 6 month local internship before finishing their module with this trip. As much as I envy them, I hope SMU thinks of doing starting the NOC program soon. It would greatly benefit students who are hoping to intern and eventually secure a job overseas. Anyone could also notice the stark difference between SMU and NUS students. NUS students still have some way to go with their social skills. But I’m sure there are some areas where we, SMU students, are lacking too and can learn from them. NUS made it compulsory to accept an even ratio of students from the different schools. I feel that this is a good initiative to promote diversity and encourage more differing views in their trip. This is something that SMU can learn. I’m not just saying this because I’m the only business student haha. Anyway, it was good to learn that Mohammed, the guy who is working at Google, didn’t go in through the normal route. Instead, he had a decent portfolio on GitHub and recruiters spotted him. Hard work pays off, eventually. It was 5 years before they called him! Before we knew it, it was time to head back. </div> | ||
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Revision as of 15:34, 13 December 2014
At Serena, we were ushered into a meeting room where they showed us what they are all about. In essence, they control software changes in enterprises. Yawns. Boring stuff. But they are doing pretty well. Many fortune 1000 companies are using Serena Software to assist them in developing and deploying their software. After the introduction, they moved us to a small room to mingle. It was humbling to see that the CEO was really open and came to engage us despite us being students. He mentioned that the company currently has about 400 employees, a middle sized company. Not huge like Google but also large enough that it doesn’t have to worry that it’ll be bankrupt the next day. A sweet spot that few companies enjoy. Would this breed complacency? Maybe. But Serena doesn’t seem to have many competitors to begin with. If you thought the first presentation wasn’t interesting, the demo would make you sleep like a baby. Though I get the gist of what they guy was demoing, I doubt I would ever use such a software in the future, simple because I would probably not work for a large enterprise. If you compare the demo skills between PayPal and Serena, PayPal wins by a mile. Similarly to Microsoft, we were treated like VIPs at Serena. We got a free copy of their software, among other paraphernalia. I thought that the atmosphere of the company was extremely welcoming and inviting. Might be because it isn’t too big like most other enterprises.
At Stanford, we were greeted by Monica, a sophomore studying mechanical engineering. It turns out that she’s only a PR in Singapore and she has been travelling around since her mom moved to Switzerland when she was 15. Stanford has an amazing campus. We had to take a campus bus to get in, just to give you an idea how big is it. Surrounded by beautiful architecture and landscaping, it’s an amazing place to study. She first brought us to the Computer Science building and its named “Gates”, after Bill Gates. The amount of history that was made behind the walls of this school is mindblowing. The school is pretty empty at this time so we just walked around a bit before making our way to the small classroom where we saw the NUS peeps. I soon learnt that the NUS students just finished their 6 month local internship before finishing their module with this trip. As much as I envy them, I hope SMU thinks of doing starting the NOC program soon. It would greatly benefit students who are hoping to intern and eventually secure a job overseas. Anyone could also notice the stark difference between SMU and NUS students. NUS students still have some way to go with their social skills. But I’m sure there are some areas where we, SMU students, are lacking too and can learn from them. NUS made it compulsory to accept an even ratio of students from the different schools. I feel that this is a good initiative to promote diversity and encourage more differing views in their trip. This is something that SMU can learn. I’m not just saying this because I’m the only business student haha. Anyway, it was good to learn that Mohammed, the guy who is working at Google, didn’t go in through the normal route. Instead, he had a decent portfolio on GitHub and recruiters spotted him. Hard work pays off, eventually. It was 5 years before they called him! Before we knew it, it was time to head back.
- TBC
- TBC
- TBC
- TBC
- TBC
- TBC
Another thing I learn from Microsoft is, for tech startup it is ideal for them to move to the valley. Of course for the support (as mentioned above) but also, this is the place where tech talent is blooming. This is also the place where the most expensive resource, manpower is easily available. In this I mean where the people here are more willing to accept a lower pay for equity. As a startup it's important to invest whatever funding that you have into quality resources like manpower. The short term benefits are lesser yes, but the long term benefit is better - assuming that the startup is successful then manpower will ride on the success of the company.
Unfortunately, Singapore does not have a very good startup mindset. The government does have different policies that help small companies, such as PIC grant(http://www.iras.gov.sg/irashome/PIcredit.aspx%23About_Productivity_and_Innovation_Credit) however, at the end of the day Singaporeans do not want to work for a startup that pays less but give equity. Most of us prefer to work in big companies that pays a lot, but at the end of the day it all boils down to one’s preference. Yes, one may learn a lot from big companies, but it comes with a lot of stress. In smaller companies, you will lean a lot but you take ownership of a particular initiative. Singapore itself markets itself as a financial, education and medical hub, but it rarely markets itself as a technology hub. Therefore it is harder to get people with sound technical skills.
This is what I learn from Microsoft.
Serana - Change management is an important aspect in daily operations. I understand this as I used to use Serena ChangeMan ZMF when I was in Citibank. I developed a REXX utility that automated the approval process of installing new code into production using ChangeMan ZMF. While ChangeMan work was to ensure that old code is backup-ed and then new code is installed into production, someone had to invoke the installation process. This was costing the bank a lot of money as they were paying quite a bit for someone to wake up during silent hours to initiate the installation process.
That was 6 years ago. It’s good to see that Serena is still surviving. The bank may not be using ChangeMan ZMF already, but it is really heartwarming to see that they are actually doing pretty well today.
Change is important in today’s world. With requirements changing very frequently, it is not uncommon to have developers changing code on a daily basis. The business requirements changes everyday, it is impossible to keep up with the needs of the consumers. Having a change management tool helps in ensuring that the upgrade of code is not sloppy or a rush job. It ensures that enough backup is done to prevent a terrible disaster from happening. In the event of a disaster, all the user has to do is just to press one button to ensure that the rollback process is done.
When I organized the Stanford dinner, I do not know what to expect. All I know was, NUS will be joining us, and so with the company hosts. But that was the first time I’m meeting the Yahooooooo I got head hunted by Google guy. He gave me another insight into Google from a mobile developer perspective. But most importantly, his success story. Starting off in 3 different startups, he never imagined that he was going to be headhunted by Google. His startup wasn’t necessarily the best – for instance the game company that he has wasn’t doing well, he learnt to cut the losses and move on to better ideas and most importantly work hard.
I didn’t have much time to network with the students from NUS as I was busy ensuring that food was enough, people came and all, but I had a short time discussing with Arthur the program director of NUS Overseas College. He shared that they have two weeks of companies to visit, but at the end of the trip, they must come out with a pitch to pitch their ideas to someone. It may not necessarily turn into a successful pitch, but it is graded. While I don’t have an idea yet, I believe that this is a good idea for us to try – this will definitely help us by giving us a head start into entrepreneurship.
This marks the end of the TSM. It has been an interesting journey. When I embarked on this module, I thought maybe this might be a chance for me to figure out possible ideas to think about and cash in on it. But until now, I do not know what to do. But what I learnt was, from the company that I use the least - Microsoft. Microsoft taught me to inspire, to just try and try and try. But that’s if I have an idea.
What if I don’t have an idea? Well a good suggestion is to work with a startup - this gives me an opportunity to get my hands dirty, experience and build up my network. I am amazed that there is a close-knit community in SV of Singaporeans. All of them said to me: “if you need a job or internship just drop me an email”
Microsoft
The visit to Microsoft SV was the most informative session of all the company visits in this TSM. Matt Thompson, Microsoft SV’s DX General Manager gave us the insights into VC investments in Silicon Valley and pretty much gave us an overview of the startup up scene in SV as compared to other cities in the US and the world. It’s difficult for startups in Singapore because it’s not easy to find suitable tech talents who are willing to work for benefits other than salary. Here in the valley interns and potential employees are more open to risks and equities as compared to safety of guaranteed job and promise of hard salary figures in Singapore.
In addition, how Microsoft have accumulated an array of products to help startups was interesting. Because the story of Microsoft’s BizSpark startup VC initiative as popular as that of Y-Combinator or TechCrunch Disruptive. Being backed by Microsoft for a startup is a three-in-one match because Microsoft has the technology, the funding and the access to partners to support startups.
Microsoft’s current VC focus is primarily on Internet Of Things (IOT) startups. The story of how a research of a PhD student who figured out a way to inject codes into devices with specific chipsets to shield the running environment of the software and prevent potential hacks and security leaks is an interesting one. The startup was supported by Microsoft and acquired a USD 1 Million contract with the Whitehouse. This comes to show that anyone with a good product/service/solution to offer will be able to find the tech, funding and partnership support in the valley.
Serena
Serena, although a small company, hosted us like many other professional tech MNCs. Serena is one of the companies that has a suite of change management tools designed around best practices to help developers and operations teams work productively.
There are many change management tools out there, but it’s not surprising that companies like Serena survive in the market. Large companies often prefer to pay reputable organizations to help them fulfill certain aspect of their business needs as opposed to developing their own capabilities to cater to their needs. Companies like Serena are able to deliver what they were paid for and thus maintain their reputation among their clients.
This situation was also through about Linux based enterprise systems. Although many Linux products were free and open source, many companies were reluctant to use them in fear of lack of support from experts and specialized organizations. Companies like RedHat and SUSE Linux were able to put a layer of professionalism and specialized services on top of various Linux products and were able to sell a full suite enterprise solution to their clients. Since then, many companies have opted for these services due to the proliferation of expert support from these dedicated organizations. So, it’s not always about inventing an algorithm or developing a new technology, it is also about provide an effective service based on existing but tweaked technologies that can lead to success in Silicon Valley.
Stanford Tour & Dinner
Stanford tour and dinner went exceptionally better than expected. It turned into a unplanned but well organized networking session with SMU and NUS Alumni and current SMU, NUS and Stanford students.
Learning from Adrian, iOS Developer at TripAdvisor, former SMU SIS student, sometimes it’s about just applying for jobs without planning too much that might lead to eventually better career prospects. Adiran received an email from his friend who was interning at a startup in Silicon Valley while doing his NUS NOC program. He decided to apply for the job although he new nothing much about it and eventually got the job at a startup company which was latter acquired by TripAdvisor. From his humble story I was once again reminded of the risks and chances that people in the valley endure to achieve success.
