Transforming Visions into Ventures:

     Many people will say that location is everything. Technology has challenged that importance, but the Bay Area is an outstanding example of why that may still be true. Besides its beautiful offices and views, the sheer number of individuals in tech and entrepreneurship there is immense. I was delighted to experience the supportive culture that saturates the city. People are shockingly open to talking to young people, and many are genuinely interested in how they can help you succeed. That brings me to the first thing that I learned – just talk to people. Luck plays a role in outcomes, but serendipity is encouraged by initiating conversations with people doing interesting things. There were many people on this trip I would have never met had it not been for the trip itself, but those conversations ended up being the most productive and enlightening in ways I never would have expected. There is no replacement for in-person interactions, and since you reflect who you are around, places like the Bay Area allow you to surround yourself with smart and interesting people that will likely rub off onto you.

     People move fast in the Bay Area, but technology seems to move faster, pushing towards a future where people can do what they want at the speed of thought. The frontier of the workforce is changing accordingly. Now, getting people to do things is seemingly harder than getting computers to do things. Many of the trip’s speakers reinforced the necessary foundation of written and verbal communication, which is often summed up in the buzzy phrase, “prompt engineering.” In order to coordinate increasingly capable computers with the many brilliant minds working in industry, it takes a leader skilled in the ability to clearly and effectively communicate ideas. One individual compared new technology to the periodic table -  just as elements are discovered in science, we are living through a time where new elements are constantly being created in technology. I could not be more excited to see how these new elements (spatial computing, AI, robotics, etc.) mix and interact with the world’s industries to change humanity for the better.

     With so many new elements to react with and compound together, it is an exciting time to work at a small and upcoming company capable of genuine revolution. What makes ideas succeed and grow into companies are their leaders. Speaking to leaders (and to VC’s who select these great leaders), there were a few key characteristics of effective leaders that I identified. Perhaps most important is a leader’s compassionate understanding and action towards their people, their product, and their market. Through genuine understanding and passion for their product, great leaders are obsessed with the problem they are solving and know how to empower and entrust a team to tackle it. Teams offer a variety of perspectives, which is crucial to success. A leader should not pretend they know everything about the world and their mission, rather they should find a way to balance their magnetic personality with connecting and platforming quiet voices in a space. Equally important is a leader’s unambiguity combined with low ego and high confidence. Clarity and transparency about what leaders know and care about only enhances focus within a team, allowing for higher bars of excellence and efficiency. In the end, a clear mission should be the “North Star” of a company, and its leader should be a servant to that mission.

     Great technology and inspiring leaders are the world’s best tools to tackle seemingly insurmountable challenges. Walking away from this trip, at the beginning of my exploration of careers, there are many things that I have been inspired to consider. The first is to invest in being curious, take thoughtful risks, and turn success into significance. Opportunities find their way to people through curiosity and connection, but it takes courage to leap through a 1-way door in order to seize the opportunity for greatness. A happy life is made of happy days, which encourages living without regrets and with frequent times of reflection. While I am still defining my “North Star,” I understand that careers can and often do require uncomfortable pivots when people think it is “too late.” I am encouraged to stay at the frontier of my potential in pursuit of my purpose, and I genuinely cannot wait for what the future holds.

     I also want to extend the largest of thank you’s to everyone involved in this trip – to our incredible speakers who took time out of their busy schedules to accommodate us and our questions, to the fellow Trekkers for teaching me just as much outside of these conversations as in them, and to the trip leaders, Reuel Williams and Linda Chen, for facilitating this life-changing experience.

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