Breakfast and Kremlin

Yesterday was my first day of the Moscow trip.

There was a parade in Red Square, so we ate breakfast at a nearby cafe.  I'm guessing it was an Americanized cafe, because there was pizza on the menu and no borscht.

Service was slow.  It took 20 minutes before any food was brought to the table.  My food arrived 15 minutes before my dad's pizza, so I finished eating before his food arrived.

Why are Russian restaurants so slow?

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

The Kremlin is surrounded by a tall wall.  Walking around it looking for an entrance felt like the Mongolians trying to circle around the Great Wall.

Walt Disney Family Museum

Walt Disney was a badass.  He starts a company at age 20 making cartoon commercials.  It goes bankrupt.  He starts another company doing animated short films.  After 8 years, he creates a popular rabbit character Oswald.

His Hollywood boss cheats him out of the intellectual rights for the rabbit.  Walt loses the profits and rights.

This happens in New York, and Walt faces a two-day train ride coming back to California.  Just before getting on the train, he telegrams to his brother (and business partner) "Don't worry".  Then he boards the train.

During the train ride, he comes up with the idea for Mickey Mouse.

Walt Disney is such a baller!

I went to the Walt Disney Family Museum in the Presidio.  The exhibit showing Walt Disney's many animated films.

Walt Disney wanted an artist Herb to race all weekend and finish a sketch for the proposed Disneyland.  Herb didn't think there was enough time.  The story is that Walt looked at Herb with brimming eyes and said, "Herbie, will you do it if I stay here with you?"

Then Herb said, "Sure, if you stay here all night tonight and all night Sunday night and help me, I'll stay here and see what I can do."

The internet says Walt Disney was a slavedriver who worked his animators to the bone for little wages, which is what led them to go on strike in the 40s.  So why was he so nice to Herb?  

A telegram after his passing.  "At least he left an inspired legion of talent, taste, and imagination to guide the greatest show on Earth.  Our hearts are at half mast."

Another interesting point from the museum is that Walt Disney at age 21 lamented that he joined the animation industry "six years too late".  He felt like all the interesting work had been done, and he had missed the boat.

the Wang family secret of raising a kid

Recently I was talking to a friend Az, who is debating whether to ever have kids.  He likes the idea of having kids, but doesn't want to give up his freedom for 18 years.

American society places such high pressure on parents to spend face-time and money on their kid!  To wit:

• the parent and the child must spend many hours per day together, or else the parent feels guilty
• it is essential to get the child into the most hyped preschool and then private school and prep school
• must buy expensive brain-enhancing toys and games 
• must minimize usage of babysitters and nannies

Using these metrics, my parents scored 0 out of 4.  They were very busy being immigrants and working multiple jobs simultaneously.  My mom had a sandwich-making job by day and janitor job by night.  I was a latchkey kid.  I went to an average public school in a state ranked #49 out of 50 US states for education.  I was often foisted onto cheap babysitters.  Yet I turned out fine, by most parental standards.  I graduated Caltech at 18 and have led some cool engineering work projects at Minted and Google and am a cheerful person.  How'd that happen?

Because... those American expectations are not the most important!  My parents did these other things:

• taught my brother and me to read when we turned two
• taught us multiplication and division at age five, algebra at age seven, calculus at age ten
• as a result, we felt competent and enjoyed learning
• we became self-motivated and my parents never had to nag us.  We made our own decisions regarding education, which made us self-reliant

Some people hear this and reply, "You can't teach every kid to read at age two!"  I disagree.  I think people just give up too early.  I watched my mom teach my brother.  On the first day, she spent two hours teaching him to read two chinese words.  She did it patiently, with encouragement and hugs and laughter, so he was having fun.  There was zero sign of progress for over an hour.  Toward the end, it seemed that he could distinguish between the two words at a slightly-higher-than-random frequency, but he also could've just been guessing.

The next day, he had forgotten everything.  My mom started over.  After an hour, it seemed like he could say the right word 70% of the time.

The next day, he forgot everything again.  It took an hour to get back to the same state.

All of these sessions were loving and joyous, so my brother enjoyed them.

It took about five days of teaching for one to two hours per day before my brother learned to read four words.  90% of parents would have given up.  That's why 90% of kids cannot read at age two.

By age four, we read chinese books like "1001 Arabian Nights" and "365 Bedtime Stories to Read to Your Child".  We spent many hours per day reading.

The same goes for math.  I went to first grade in China.  Every single student in my class was required to memorize the multiplication table.  So, everyone did it.  If you expect it, and you are patient, every kid can do it.  In America, there is no expectation that a five-year-old memorize the multiplication table, so very few of them can do it.

My mom likes to say, "If you do the work to teach your kids things when they are young, they learn to love learning and you don't have to do any more work."

As a result, I find it shocking when parents actually have to sit down with their kids in the evening and nag them to do their homework.  My parents didn't even know what subjects I was taking in junior high.  They'd look at my end-of-semester report card and say, "You took geology?  Was that your choice or the school's choice?"

Now I've told you the Wang family secret!  Actually, my mom's last name is Su, so it's the Wang and Su family secrets.   I fully intend to violate most of the American expectations I listed above.  The biggest reason that I've worked and accumulated money is to hire nannies.  I'm going to hire as many nannies as possible, with zero guilt.  I'm also going to teach my kid to read when they turn two.


My imaginary future-child.  Not pictured: three nannies taking turns watching over this kid.

Also, if it turns out to be unworkable, and I never get my kid to read at age two or to love learning, I'm not going to sweat it!  Why must the kid be successful?  Why not just be content with a happy kid?

I will be bothered if I have an emo kid though, who doesn't like hugging.  That is my nightmare as a potential parent.


My fear. Please don't let this happen.

How I Became More Assertive

As a child and teenager, I was not assertive.  I rarely said no to people.  Sometimes people made sexist jokes in my presence, and I was very bothered but too timid to speak out against it.  Watching them get away with the offensive comments gave me a sick feeling in my stomach.  As a teenager, occasionally young men would keep touching my shoulder or squeezing me many times in an hour, and it made me uncomfortable but I didn't know how to stop it.

Now I am very assertive.  Some friends might say too much so.  Anyway, I would like to share how I personally achieved this, for the young people who are struggling with their own journey of becoming assertive.

When I was 20, I decided that I would become more assertive.  It was important to me.  But I was so unused to speaking up for myself that it often took several days for me to even realize that someone had made me uncomfortable.  It was too big a leap to go from where I was to being able to speak up for myself immediately on the spot.   So, the pact I made to myself was that when I realized that my boundaries were violated, I would email the person and tell them, even if the realization came several days after the fact.

This was so immensely awkward.

There were many email exchanges like this:

Me: On Saturday, when you made that joke about how Flight Simulator programmers are slackers because we all got two weeks of vacation after we shipped our product, it really bothered me.  We're not slackers.  We work very hard.  I'm really annoyed.

Friend: Wait.  You didn't say anything at the time.  In fact, we kept talking for another hour and you were laughing and having a great time.  Even the next day, you sent me a happy article.  Now you're telling me that it bothered you?

Me: Yes, that is accurate.

Friend: This is really awkward!  Why are you telling me three days later!  Anyway I didn't mean to insult you.  I was just envious because we only got one day vacation on Microsoft Office.

Me: Thanks.

There were numerous exchanges like this.  Many were far more awkward.  The most awkward one was when I had a happy group outing and then emailed one person 24 hours later:

"Yesterday you made a joke at my expense that really bothered me.  [details of the joke]  I just want you to know that I should've told you to go fuck yourself."

That person never replied.  They probably forwarded the email to others in the outing with a subject such as "Niniane is really weird".

But overall the plan worked!  At first it took me three days to realize that I was bothered by something.  Over a period of months, this became two days, one day, then just a few hours.  After more than a year, I was able to realize in the moment when I was bothered, and speak up about it.  Now it has been over a decade, and I am so accustomed to being assertive that I take it for granted as part of myself.

This has been so helpful in life, work, love, friendships.

Iron Lady

I happen to be in the middle of watching "The Iron Lady", a film where Meryl Streep plays Margaret Thatcher. I started yesterday, and today her passing is all over the news.

I like the proposal scene, where she gives the Terms and Conditions of her acceptance.



From IMDB:

Young Denis Thatcher: Margaret, will you marry me?

Young Denis Thatcher: [pause -Margaret stares at him] Well?

Young Margaret Thatcher: [pause -Margaret is still staring, Dennis kisses her hand] Yes. Yes!

Young Denis Thatcher: [Margaret starts to cry from happiness, Dennis leans in for a kiss, but she suddenly pulls back] What?

Young Margaret Thatcher: I love you so much but, I will never be one of those women, Dennis. Who stays silent and pretty on the arm of her husband. Or remote and alone in the kitchen -doing the washing up, for that matter.

Young Denis Thatcher: [Interrupts] I'm going to help with that...

Young Margaret Thatcher: No. One's life must matter, Dennis. Beyond all the cooking and the cleaning and the children. One's life must mean more than that. I cannot die washing up a teacup! I mean it, Dennis. Say you understand.

Young Denis Thatcher: That's why I want to marry you, my dear.

I also like when they go to the opera, and he gives her a little pink fake mouse.

Later, when she's running for office, the members of parliament who served as her campaign managers are very encouraging!

Liz Lemon, and how to get more female leaders in technology

Once I asked Kai-fu Lee whether he agreed that sexism is more rampant in Chinese professional settings, and what he thought would be the way to fix it.

He said that making sexist comments is still socially acceptable to a greater degree in China. The way to reduce sexism in society is to make those jokes socially unacceptable. At first, people only curb what they say on the outside, and they still think the same sexist thoughts on the inside. But gradually, over time, the mental attitudes change also.

I really agreed with this. If you make an overtly sexist joke in the US, most people will shift uncomfortably and won't find it funny. After this happens a few times, people become trained to stop making those jokes.  Altering how people talk, even when joking, is the first step to substantial societal change.

Recently a journalist asked me what I think is the best way to encourage women into senior positions in the field of technology. I said the most effective step would be to have female leaders who are compelling Hollywood characters on television and film. I'd like to see fully fleshed-out characters of female executives.

Once people get used to respecting the fictional characters, thinking about them, even using them as a role model, it will speed up the societal shift in thinking.

Liz Lemon from 30 Rock is a great example of a female leader on a modern television show. She is complex, lovable, and extremely competent. I would enjoy working with her or for her. If we could get some characters like her in the field of technology, I think that would do a lot.



By comparison, the Star Trek female captain on Voyager was highly irritating. Most people disliked her. She was night and day from the respectable and intriguing character of Jean-Luc Picard, or Captain Sisko on Deep Space Nine. Looking at this picture, I just realized the two bald captains were the best ones. I'm sure that advanced the cause of the bald anti-discrimination movement!

i imagined the two hills as hobbit hills

Talking over dinner to my friend Top, who I have known for 15 years.

Me: "I got into an argument with X over email.  It was stressful.  [more details about the argument]"

Top: "In these situations, I aim to re-iterate what our common goals are.  There are probably a lot more goals you share in common, than goals that conflict with each other."

Me: "True.  I did spend part of the email validating her goals.  But that was the third paragraph, after I spent two long paragraphs expounding on my goals.  Also the third paragraph was much shorter.  I probably should have opened with the third paragraph."

Top: "When we're each standing on a hill, and you want me to go over to your hill, the best way is to come walk over to me, and then say, 'Hey, let's walk together to my hill.'"

 

Top: "If you just stand on your hill and shout, 'Hey!  Come over here!', that doesn't work.  I don't want to hear you yelling at me.  I'm very comfortable here on my hill.  But if you come over to me, now I know that you see what my hill is about.  And you can see what your hill looks like from the perspective of standing on my hill.  So now I'm much more willing to walk with you to see your hill."

Me: "Wow, that is really well-stated."

car loyalty

I really like my car.  I've only ever purchased one car in my life (in 1999), and it is very reliable, so I have no intention of replacing it for years to come.  People at Google started making fun of my car in 2006.  I still have the same car.

Today I got an email about carpooling to an investor event 3 hours away.

In the evening, I was talking to my brother (in town for Game Developers Conference).

Me: "This carpooling guy is the CEO of a cool company, and says his all-electric car can't make it the whole distance.  So he probably drives a Tesla.  Do you think I should set his expectations that I drive a 14-year-old Honda Civic?"

Brother: [grinning] "No.  But you should tell me what happens."

Me: "There are going to be various problems.  Like, he'll want to plug in his iPhone.  Or he'll want to open the trunk using the remote."

Brother: "If he complains, just say, 'Why didn't we take your car?  Oh wait, we can't.'"

Me: "Ha, okay."

Brother: "You just assume he drives a Tesla.  Maybe he drives a 1994 Honda Civic, and he'll be really excited about your newer model of Civic."

Me: "I don't think there's an all-electric 1994 Civic, but that's a good thought."

Russia!

I am finally taking my dad on a trip to Russia, this May.

This was an item on my original bucket list. After this, the only non-completed bucket list item will be "have a family", which I probably will not get to for a little while.

My dad is a history buff and especially likes World War II sites.  He loved the Churchill Museum in London.  He knows many stories that are not in the history books or museums.

He told me a story of how Churchill was rushing to the radio station to broadcast a Fireside Chat. There were no cabs on the street, because everyone was at home in front of the radio. He finally flagged down a taxi. The driver said he was not taking any passengers. Churchill didn't want to reveal his identity. He kept offering the driver more and more money, until finally they guy said, "All right, to hell with Churchill! I'll take you where you want to go."

My dad is making flashcards to review the Russian he learned during his college years.

I am most excited about:

The Kremlin
  Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg
  Moscow metro stations
  Church of the Savior

Where else should we go?
...

---

A while ago, I sent a 9gag joke to a Russian friend:



Russian friend: "Got to play to your strengths."

Hogwash about slower learning as we age

I just saw this tweet from Paris Hilton.

It reminded me of when I was a little girl (5-7 years old), and adults would say: "I wish I could learn X (piano / foreign language / math) but I am too old now and cannot learn as fast as I used to."

I became very afraid of this aging process that would rob me of my memory and capacity to learn.

Well, now I am close to the age of those adults when they said this, and it was not true at all!  It was all nonsense.  If anything, I am better now at learning, because I know how to mix breadth and depth, and when to read a book vs practice the activity hands-on vs watch a lecture on the subject.

My memory is only worse in that I sometimes have interference.  I used to scan a file of code and rely that I could remember all the variable names and constants.  Now I get confused between the code I just scanned vs code I scanned in the past, so it is a bit harder if I just do it offhandedly.  But if I concentrate, my memory is just as good as before.

I also remember being on a recruiting trip for Google in China, and a young female student asking me with sincerity, "We all know women's memories become a lot worse at age 30, so should I still go into programming, knowing that I'll be unable to keep up with new technologies in a decade?"  I was outraged at the time, but I was not yet 30, so I could not completely debunk it.  Now I am over 30 and can definitively say that was hogwash!

Women have also told me that their memories got worse after having a child.  I have not had one yet, but when I do, I'll be sure to update and reject that one too.

All that fear-mongering for nothing!  Why do we do this to ourselves?

Cupcakes at work

Some of the engineering team at Minted are really into baking.

Cupcakes with chocolate-dust covering them.  The items in the little pots are cupcakes!  On the same day, a different engineer brought cookies and professional cupcakes (in the box in the background).

Green tea macaroons with white-chocolate filling.

A new Director of PM (from StubHub) just joined.  His first week was one of our most prolific baked-goods week, and we had something delicious almost every day.  On two of the days, multiple people brought in independent goodies.  The new PM director asked me multiple times with consternation, "Is this how it usually is?"  I could see him worrying about his waistline.  Hehe.

I felt like this:

reasons for working obsessively

James, Milli, and I have been debating whether it's helpful for startup founders to work obsessively, i.e. more than 65 hours per week.

Milli's stance is that people with no balance in their lives will be less inspiring as leaders, and also lack the perspective to make the best decisions.  He thinks founders should get a hobby, and do something at least one evening per week besides work.

I think there are a few reasons why people might work obsessively:

1. They find it fulfilling
2. They read an article or listened to a luminary talk about working all the time
3. They feel obligated to do it, to encourage others on the team to do it
4. They feel that it's a necessary sprint to prevent the company from failing

Of these, I only support #1 and #4.

To expand on #1, "fulfilling" is different from "enjoyable" or "pleasant".  If you set out to climb Mount Everest, there will be times when it is extremely unenjoyable.  You will hate your life at that moment, and wonder what possessed you to embark on such a stupid quest.  You will be angry at all the people around you.  But you press on because you have a tiny core deep-down that remembers this is a fulfilling activity.

When you summit, you are filled with a sense of awe-struck achievement, and it's all worthwhile.



Most of work is like that.  If your work is ambitious, there are moments that are grueling.  But there is a tiny core that keeps you putting one foot in front of the other, because you remember the mission was worthwhile.

The #4 reason is self-explanatory.

I think #2 and #3 are not good reasons.  Doing things because someone else said so will end in resentment and regret, no matter how well-known that person is.  At the end of the day, they're not going to be the ones reflecting on whether your time was well-spent.

We all have a voice of inner truth, deep down.  When we are quiet, we can hear the voice.  Sometimes the voice has been visited by a muse and wants to capture every minute of inspiration by working, before the muse flits off and we are mortals again.  Other times, the voice needs to go in search of the muse by absorbing new inputs or taking a break from the problems we've mentally rehashed endlessly. Listen to the voice.

Hangovers

Server room

We have a closet at Minted used for Internet cabling and to store a server rack. I started using it for phone calls, when all other conference rooms are full.

Before I knew it, others started using it too.

Yesterday I walked in to find four chairs and a standing desk.

LUV

I really agree with the management style described in this article: The Sinatra of Southwest Feels the Love:

When Mr. Kelleher, 77, entered the main meeting room, shareholders gave him the kind of standing ovation usually reserved for rock stars. The Southwest pilots union is also in the process of negotiating a new contract with management. But not only did the Southwest pilots not set up a picket line, they took out a full page ad in USA Today thanking Mr. Kelleher for all he had done. “The pilots of Southwest Airlines want to express our sentiment to Herb that it has been an honor and a privilege to be a part of his aviation legacy,” said the union president, Carl Kowitzky, in a statement.

When he brought up the pilots ad — and when he talked about how much the company’s employees meant to him — he wept. “I’m Lucky Herbie for having all of these years with all of you,” he said. More than a few people in the audience wept right along with him. 

No surprise there, either. Over the years, whenever reporters would ask him the secret to Southwest’s success, Mr. Kelleher had a stock response. “You have to treat your employees like customers,” he told Fortune in 2001. “When you treat them right, then they will treat your outside customers right. That has been a powerful competitive weapon for us.”

“We’ve never had layoffs,” he told me the day before the annual meeting, sitting on the couch of the single messiest executive office I’ve ever seen. “We could have made more money if we furloughed people. But we don’t do that. And we honor them constantly. Our people know that if they are sick, we will take care of them. If there are occasions or grief or joy, we will be there with them. They know that we value them as people, not just cogs in a machine.”

When you look at a company like American, with its poisonous employee relations and its glum customer base, and compare it with Southwest, with its happy employees and contented customers, you can’t help thinking that Mr. Kelleher was on to something when he put employees first. “There isn’t any customer satisfaction without employee satisfaction,” said Gordon Bethune, the former chief executive of Continental Airlines, and an old friend of Mr. Kelleher’s. “He recognized that good employee relations would affect the bottom line. He knew that having employees who wanted to do a good job would drive revenue and lower costs.”

I agree that the ingredients to produce devotion in your employees are:

1. clear goals with metrics, that people are held accountable for achieving
2. love 
3. joy and a spirit of lightheartedness

From wikipedia:

During his tenure as CEO of Southwest, Kelleher's colorful personality created a corporate culture which made Southwest employees well known for taking themselves lightly—often singing in-flight announcements to the tune of popular theme songs—but their jobs seriously. Southwest has never had an in-flight fatality. Southwest is consistently named among the top five Most Admired Corporations in America in Fortune magazine's annual poll. Fortune has also called him perhaps the best CEO in America.

Toppled by my own success!

Usually when I try to grow plants, I get very emotionally attached, but they die.

One Christmas-time when my brother came to visit, we had this exchange:

Me: "Tom, can you do me a favor?  I want you to throw this dead plant away.  [point at plant]  But I'm very sad about it, so I don't want you to tell me when you've done it.  Just do it quietly when I'm not looking, and then put the empty pot in the corner.  I don't want to talk about it again."

Tom: "Okay."

Later that weekend, I noticed that the plant was gone, and the empty pot was in the corner.

Photo of a representative plant.

The next day, I had a few people over for dinner.  Linda brought over a tiny potted spruce.  My brother took one look at the hopeful little spruce, and said with a sigh, "Well, I know what I'll be doing on my next trip to San Fran!"

The only exception were my succulents.  My realtor friend gave them to me, and they grew bigger every week.  I am so proud of them!  I love them dearly.

They got bigger and bigger, and then I came home yesterday to find this:

Horrors!

They got too big for their home.  A success problem!

Must strong people have strong weaknesses?

"Strong people have strong weaknesses.  Where there are peaks, there are valleys."

             - Peter Drucker, The Effective Executive

A few of us at Minted are reading the book "The Effective Executive".  Drew Houston recommended it when he did a fireside chat at our office.  The book contains the quote above.  It has some examples of people who were alcoholic or threw frequent tantrums, but still was the best person at one core part of their job. It goes on to suggest that you ignore the weaknesses in that case.

I agree that if the most effective candidate has major flaws, you should still pick that person over a mediocre candidate with no flaws.

However, I think it'd be better if the super-effective candidate can get over their alcoholism or tantrums, so that they are even more effective.  The book thinks this is unrealistic.

It's true that the famous visionary leaders (Jobs, Gates) are singlemindedly bent on fulfilling their vision, even at the cost of treating people poorly.  There are stories of Jobs firing people in the elevator, and Gates making people cry ("That was the stupidest thing I've ever heard.  What school did you go to?  We're never hiring from there again.")  This book implies that this is to be expected.  But is that really true?

Steve Lawrence, who I worked with for a year at Google, is pretty phenomenal and does not have weaknesses that are the same magnitude as his strengths.  Also Jeff Dean, Omst, and many other people.

I wonder if it's actually that strong people can often get away with having strong weaknesses.  Chris Brown can get away with smashing Rihanna's face into his car -- his records are still selling.  So he is not forced to shape up.

I hope there aren't strong leaders who were debating whether to do the hard work to mitigate their alcoholism / tantrums, and then read this book and decided not to.

oh snap! meteroid

Skype chat at work, with my tech ops manager.

E: "The pope resigning, fire from the sky, and now M [Minted colleague -- adamant Outlook user] wanting to use Gmail.  Yup, it's official, the end is nigh."

Niniane: "Fire from the sky?"

E: "Aliens attacking Russia.  Oh, sure, the so-called 'mainstream media' says it's a meteroid."

Niniane: "It's Aaron Swartz."

Niniane: "Too soon?"

E: "He missed the lawyer by a few thousand miles."

moving forward with tiny steps

There was a woman at the Google gym who had lost 50 pounds.  Every time I went to exercise, I saw her there.  She must have gone to the gym almost daily.

One day, I finally said to her in the locker room, "I'm really impressed at how often you work out."

She said, "My goal is to lose 100 pounds.  I have 50 more pounds to go."

The most impressive thing is that she was able to go every day, even though any given day makes little perceptible difference.  You don't see additional muscle tone or increased endurance after a workout.  It's only weeks and months later that the accumulation shows its effects.

It is the same way with work.  Every day you make steps forward with your company, product, team.  But even though you're putting in work, the outside world only notices every so often.  For some of the startups I'm advising, there's no external validation for a long time, until one day they've built up enough valuable work, and then the world takes notice.

Because you don't see immediate results, I find there are only three ways to motivate yourself on any given day:
1. Love what you are doing
2. Have enormous willpower
3. Get someone else to pay attention to you and tell you how great you're doing

With exercising, I rely on #3.  I see a personal trainer.  Occasionally I go to exercise classes.

With work, I rely on #1.  As a result, I only work on products that I love, with people I love.

I mentally debate whether #2 is worthwhile.  Is it valuable to build up your willpower?  Isn't it more efficient to just divert more resources into #1 and #3?  Let's say you hate going to the gym.  Why not find enjoyable alternatives (sports) and people to go with you, rather than relying on willpower?

An eloquent quote about programming

I was searching for an email, and came across these well-written paragraphs from an old friend.

It was in reply to an email I sent, about a weekend on a houseboat. There were a number of other engineers there, from Google and other companies. Some of them were jostling to determine who was smarter than whom, or a better programmer.

From my friend:

"Good programmers realize that programming is hard. We are all struggling along together or separately. We do the best we can with the limited brains we have. Dominance games are for the insecure, the incompetent, and the ignorant.

"Given human nature, I think those people will always be with us. All we can ask is to be in a place where good ideas and true ability and hard work can prove themselves without needing to play those games. And call me naive, but I really do think that for all the bluster of the echo chamber, that Silicon Valley really is such a place, and that's really why we're all here."

It is uplifting to read again, even years later. I am idealistic too.