Silicon Valley

Considering that Lorenzo started his own web company and does social media marketing, we took an inspirational pilgrimage to the tech biz Mecca, including Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, and Stanford University.

We first stopped at search giant Google's headquarters in Mountain View, CA. Here we visited the vast campus which includes its own ampitheater, movie theater, and various restaurants. Google's campus is located in a large business park area, away from the rest of Silicon Valley, that also houses companies like Intuit. Isolation often births creative focus. There is an overwhelming presence of creativity, innovation and individuality here. Lorenzo couldn't help but to feel inspired and empowered in his current business ventures. While at the visitor's center in front of the main campus building, we suprisingly got the opportunity to see Google's co-founder, Sergey Brin outside on the way to a meeting. Though this guy is worth $15 billion, he appeared very unassuming, wearing jeans and a hoodie as he hopped on a bicycle to ride to the next building, with an iphone in one hand and a laptop tucked under his arm. This is creative capital in the flesh.


Google

Next we traveled only 10 minutes to the home of Apple Computers, Cupertino, CA. This area is much more built up than Mountain View. On this campus you will find employees checking their iphones while walking to the company shuttle buses. We went to the flagship company Apple store, where mostly all products are the same as you would find at any other Apple store across the country. But, this store did have a lot more apparel including our favorite, a t-shirt that stated "I've Visited The Mothership".


Apple


Apple visitor's center and company store

From Apple we drove to Sunnyvale to visit Yahoo. Yahoo is housed in a more residential area in twin silver buildings with the purple Yahoo logo, and unlike Apple, does not welcome visitors. Not much to see here. No one was outside as they were at both Google and Apple. Looks like their freely creative, experiential and playful business model has not yet rubbed off on Yahoo. Work-life balance doesn't seem to be as much of a priority, and maybe is what is affecting their marketshare and recruiting of the brightest minds on the planet.


Yahoo


Yahoo headquarters

We later went to Facebook, located in Palto Alto in what looks like an old library building in a residential area near Stanford University. Here you will see many flags of various countries and universities around the world, hanging over bright young creative minds hunkered down at their computers coming up with the next great social media creation. One of these flags included The University of North Carolina. Even Facebook is a Tarheel fan.


Facebook


Facebook headquarters inside old library

We passed through Stanford University and before heading out towards Sacramento, we stopped off in Menlo Park, CA, the home of the Venture Capitalists and Angel Investors that provide the financial fuel for these tech companies to go from university start-ups, to web giants. Here you will find many beige colored buildings with little to no signage nestled along Sand Hill Road, and housing such power players as Sequoia Capital, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and many others.


3000 Sand Hill Rd. The place to be if you're searching for Venture Capital.

Lorenzo left this area full of inspiration, knowledge, connections, and ready to work. Next stop, Sacramento.