Hsu finds Silicon Valley insular compared to the UK tech scene
David Hsu · 20VC: Retool Founder, David Hsu on Why YC Is Helpful Pre Product-Market Fit but Not Post and Why VCs Are Not Helpful Pre-Product Market-Fit but are Post, Why it is Difficult to Become Unprofitable if You Set Yourself Up For Profitability Early & Why VC Th · Dec 17, 2020 · at 33:53
David Hsu is the founder and CEO of Retool. During a quickfire round, he compares the tech culture of Silicon Valley with that of the UK.
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“Silicon Valley texting is quite insular. It's funny you ask this, because to some extent, I suppose the texting in the UK is definitely smaller, but it's actually, I think, much more positive and uplifting to some extent. I think, you know, the rest of British culture maybe not, but the texting actually is, because when you run into someone who is in tech in London, it's so exciting, you know, you're sort of so pleased to see them, and you can always sort of connect or bond about something. Right, and you want to talk with them. Whereas in San Francisco, or in Silicon Valley, you know, everyone works in tech, and so it's not special to work in tech. You know, if anything, all my friends are telling me they don't want to have more tech friends. They want to find non-tech friends, you know, and I think that's a little bit sad. I think that sort of tech has got such a bad rap in Silicon Valley, but also that the, I think the culture is quite insular, and to some extent, this is why YC works, because YC can sort of bring you into the fold, sort of get you connected very quickly into the tech scene, but I do wish as someone who, to some extent, was outside of the Silicon Valley tech scene, at least one First started. I do wish, sort of, there were less gatekeepers, or it was, sort of, more open, and people were more excited to talk about tech than they're not.”
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