“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
I cannot write this blog post without first expressing my deep gratitude towards those that made it possible. This program was transformative for me. I know it was transformative for other students in the program as well. Thank you to Kevin (Program Director), Megan (Assistant), Emilie (Assistant), Professor Azhar, all the guest speakers, the host companies, and the generous donors who
Our last week felt like a whirlwind as last-weeks often do. Monday was a bit shortened, which allowed us all to catch up on our work and enjoy the divine California sun. We also heard from a former Duke engineer-now entrepreneur- whose first words were “Don’t record anything I’m about to tell you!”. Despite his warning, he did not divulge
…..Don’t be afraid to fail….. ….There are 2 steps to success: 1. write it down 2. go do it…. ….100% intention, only then will you have execution….. ….I wanted to love what I do, and so I followed my passion…. Sounds inspirational? Motivating? Well, safe to say this is what has been ringing in every student’s ear at DSV this
These past two weeks have been filled with excitement as we have learned from some of Silicon Valley’s most influential figures. Thursday, we were fortunate enough to meet with Duke Alumni, Greg Badros, Founder of Prepared Mind Innovations Inc., Melissa Dalis a data scientist, Ryan Toussaint a software engineer, Suyash Kumar another software engineer at Uber, and Ryan Callback the
The Duke in Silicon Valley program is always busy. From 8:25am bus departures, three-hour classes, site visits, and guest speakers to dinners, Giants games, and hectic rush-hour Caltrain rides, no day is uneventful. Yesterday, however, was even more eventful than usual. The normal morning class at Plug and Play was supplemented with not one but two VC guest speakers and
Last Wednesday we visited Idea Couture’s office in San Francisco. Idea Couture is an innovation consulting firm that works with Fortune 100 and 200 companies. Their consultants utilize product design techniques such as rapid prototyping and 2×2 matrices to come up with ideas for how their clients can innovate aspects of their businesses. During our visit, we met with Nick
Ever since I set foot in the Bay, I was swept away by the energy and creativity. Even the first sunset had the finesse of a painter, coloring the skies in wide swaths of pink, orange and purple in ways that the New York skies had never shown me. I felt at home. Our first visit to Tesla blew my
By Ali Frank I have nothing negative to say about my 5 weeks spent on Duke in Silicon Valley. To start, I feel so grateful to have been exposed to the innovation, talent, creativity, and genius available in the Bay Area. Nuggets of lessons learned from successful speakers, classes I found mulling over late at night, companies I imagined myself
