It feels as though it was just yesterday that we were meeting each other, making our first trip to Safeway, and touring the Plug and Play Tech Center where we would have class for the next month. We were in awe, curious, and invigorated by Mountain View’s beautiful and homey scenery and by the remarkable list of companies we were
As our Duke in Silicon Valley experience comes to a close, I am ready to go home, but also reluctant to leave this amazing place and program. These past four weeks have been challenging, thought-provoking, exhausting, invigorating, incredibly valuable, and everything in between. We have spent days tested by Professor Azhar in class, bonding with my classmates on long bus
“It’s not a course. It’s an experience.” These are the words we see on the screen every day we walk in our class that teaches us how to build and sustain a successful enterprise. These words could not be more true. Since starting Duke In Silicon Valley, I have been introduced and exposed to many things inside and outside of
“Management is about persuading people to do things they do not want to do, while leadership is about inspiring people to do things they never thought they could.” – Steve Jobs Up until Silicon Valley, I always thought of leadership as someone who directs others – who brings them to success. I used to think that everyone at Duke was
“Don’t be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth.” -Rumi I share this quote not only because Rumi has been the resounding poetic voice throughout our course with Professor Azhar, but also because its message, to tell your story, has been repeated by everyone we’ve met here in Silicon Valley. As humans, storytelling is
We are halfway through Duke in Silicon Valley, and I have found the key takeaway of the program to be speaking with those that have personally dived into the startup and venture capital culture. Our class gets this exposure through interaction with the guest speakers at our Plug & Play classroom and site visits to diversified firms in Mountain
“Choose someone you hate. Now, put yourself in their shoes and reason why they would act this way.” Many of the volunteers who took on this task at the start of class had a difficult time setting aside one’s emotional bias against the hated person. Professor Azhar started our ethnography section of our course with this request. We learned that
Duke in Silicon Valley has been off to a great start! Starting off with the class with Prof. Azhar was a great and unconventional experience. He put us on the spot and made us think unconventionally – all part of his goal to simulate what it’s like to be a part of a startup. I think that we were all
